Page 59 of Kiss Me at Midnight
Kitty took both Lily’s hands and gave them a good shake. “This is one of those moments, Lily. You need to look deep inside of you and figure out if your feelings for Judson Hambly are worth forgiving him for the hurt he caused you.”
“What?” Lily blinked suddenly tear-filled eyes.
“He’s looking at you the way Beck looks at me and the way Nino looks at Aubrey. He’s looking at you like a man in love.” Kitty had lowered her voice, but that didn’t make her words any less urgent. “If you love him, Lily, you have to step off our safe little ledge back here and go to him.”
“But everyone’s watching.” She shook her hands free and adjusted her glasses.
“He’s a celebrity,” Kitty said the obvious. “Everyone is always going to watch.”
“Lily!” Grandma Dotty squirmed her way through the crowd. She was wearing what should have been her bridesmaid dress for Rachel–a cream tank and silver skirt. “Marta brought me this dress this morning. Everyone’s envious of my pockets.” There was a bulge in her skirt where a pocket should be. Her flip phone? “Can you believe it? Jud is here in his superhero suit and calling your name.”
“Lily Summer. Paging Lily Summer,” Jud intoned from the other side of the large room. “Ladies and gentlemen, Lily is having a case of stage fright. Let’s clear a path to make it easier for her to come up here.”
Jud had superpowers for real. The crowd parted, creating an aisle for Lily to walk down.
“I should have worn a sexier dress,” Lily mumbled.
“He’d still love you anyway.” Grandma Dotty skipped ahead.
Love.
Lily knew that she loved Jud. But she found it hard to believe that he loved her. She kept putting one foot in front of the other anyway, trusting that each step might lead to something better.
“You know, I once told Lily that I only put this suit on for the cameras and if I’m paid.” Jud commanded the room with his presence. “For the record, there are no cameras and although I was offered money to appear here today, I turned the offer down. That’s how much Dotty and Lily Summer mean to me.”
Lily passed Maggie, Aubrey, and Violet.
“Make sure that you’re sure,” Vi told her.
Was Lily sure of anything? Everything was turned upside down. Abe and Rachel. Rachel and Paulo. And now Jud and…Lily? Despite her doubts, despite her hurts, Lily was drawn to him all the same.
Jud’s costume was silver and black with molded parts outlining where his very real six-pack abs were located. The supersuit alone was enough to mesmerize, that is, if you didn’t look into Jud’s amazing blue eyes. Whatever doubts Lily had carried with her on this long walk to the stage were soothed when she stared into his eyes. In them, she saw sincerity and love. So much love.
Jud extended a hand to help her onto the stage, lowering the microphone. “Was the suit too much?”
“No.” Heaven willing, she was going to be telling her grandchildren about the moment when their grandfather won her back as Titanium Talon, superhero extraordinaire.
“The day I met Lily Summer, I was at a crossroads,” Jud told the crowd, drawing her close to his side. “I didn’t know it at the time. I only knew that things weren’t working for me career-wise and that something had to change. I had a plan for that change, but it was a stupid plan.” His gaze sought out Lily’s. “I regret ever hatching that plan.”
“Oh.” One thing was clear, he still had the ability to melt her heart.
“What happened then?” Grandma Dotty was caught up in Jud’s story.
Jud smiled at her grandmother as if he didn’t mind the interruption. “And then I saw Lily, standing against a wall in the back of a large hotel ballroom. She was watching everyone else with a smile on her face that was part happy to be there and part sad to be there. I can’t tell you how many events I’ve been to in my life where I was both glad to be on the guest list and weary that I’d come.”
“You saw all that on my face?” Lily’s cheeks heated.
Jud nodded. “And from the moment I stepped into Lily’s world, I was in awe of her ability to stand up for herself and for others, to take a chance on trying something new, to trust a new group of friends, and then to draw a line when she felt an injustice had been done.”
“Injustices plural,” Lily murmured.
“Right,” Jud agreed. “So many of us just go with the flow because it’s difficult to step off the treadmill and reach for something different.” Jud gazed down on Lily with so much love in his eyes that Lily thought she might cry. “To reach forsomeonedifferent. Someone you didn’t know you needed but suddenly realize you can’t live without.” Jud dropped to one knee. “At whatever pace love needs to grow.”
And the crowd went wild–shouting, hooting, laughing. Phones came out. People stared.
Lily didn’t care. Because the only person whose gaze mattered was Jud.
“Lily Summer, when you know, you know.” Jud’s smile was as tender and loving as his words. “My heart knows that I will never meet anyone else who can hold a candle to you. You make every day full of promise, every hour a joy, every minute full of love. I love you, Lily. I’ve loved you from the moment I set eyes on you. It just took my brain a bit longer to accept that fact.”
