Page 73 of The Love Dare
He digs his fingers into Winnie’s flesh for a quick instant, sending a rush of heat through her, before stepping regretfully away. “I’ll find you later.”
He lifts her hand to his lips in parting, then winks. Winnie doesn’t understand why, until she feels the little ball of paper he slips into her palm. She waits until production is distracted, deep in the process of going over his speech, before turning away and unrolling the little clump. It’s a quote fromHamlet.
Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
She clasps her hands around the note and holds it to her chest as she breathes deep, overwhelmed, not only from the words, but from the meticulous way each letter is written. She knows Ty. She knows this wouldn’t have been easy. She can picture the way he bent over the small table in the corner of his room, utterly focused as he carefully crafted every line, trying to make sure it was perfect for her. And it is. It would have been perfect even if theds had beenbs, or the spelling had been jumbled, or the letters varying sizes, because no matter how he wrote it, she knows it came straight from his heart.
Winnie turns, trying to catch his gaze.
Instead, she meets hard brown eyes. Victoria glares at her from across the room, looking utterly ravishing in a fitted black sheath dress with side cutouts, the harsh angles of the dressmatching those of her face. Winnie stares right back, not shying away.
Bring it, she thinks, hoping her message makes it across the room.I’m not going anywhere.
Every time Tyler singles her out, the target on her back grows bigger. But she doesn’t care. For whatever reason, it doesn’t matter anymore. She’s twenty-five. She’s got her dream job. She’s got her dream guy. Tyler trusts her. It’s time for Winnie to start trusting herself, too. For the first time in her life, the world is her fucking oyster. And she’s not going to let anyone bring her down.
I’m defying gravity, bitches.
She walks over to her friends, not because she’s running—because she doesn’t care enough to give Victoria another moment of her time.
The rest of the evening passes in a blur. Winnie soaks in every moment with Ty, every moment with her friends, and she buries everything else—the judgmental looks, the whispers, the sneers. Then she goes back to her room and packs up her things, focused on the adventure ahead instead of the baggage she’s determined to leave behind.
CHAPTER TWENTY
tyler
Tyler pacesacross his dark hotel room.
7:59 p.m.
Nina said she would be here in ten minutes. That was fourteen minutes ago, not that he’s obsessively counting or anything. He’s just getting his steps in, staying in shape. He can’t remember ever being away from the gym for this long. Too much adrenaline floods his veins, too much energy with no output. He drops to the floor and starts doing push-ups instead. Anything to rid himself of this nervous, restless buzz.
A knock sounds.
He practically rips open the door. “You’re late.”
She offers him a pointed stare as she steps past him and into the room. “We’re doing this as a favor to you, in case you forgot.”
“No, you’re doing this because I wouldn’t sign on to this stupid show until it was written into my contract.”
“Potato, po-tah-to.”
“Give me the phone.” He holds out his hand.
She cradles the device against her chest. “Not so fast. You get one call to one number. I initiate the call, and I’m here for the entire duration. No texts. No emails. None of that. Capisce?”
He snorts. “Did you join the mob during our flight to Spain?”
“Capisce?” she repeats, gaze hard.
“Fine. Capisce. Whatever. Just give me the phone.”
“Give me the number.”
