Page 103 of Heart Set on You

Once we pull apart, I slip the ring on her finger. She stares at it, then up at me. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I love it. I love it so much. But not as much as you. I could never love anything as much as I love you.”

Her smile is bigger than the moon. I kiss my fiancée, and she melts against me. “I love you so much. I can’t wait for forever with you.”

“You know what?” she asks playfully.

“What?”

She smiles again and I feel it in my chest. “My heart was always set on you.”

I kiss her, and I see stars, and maybe even fireworks too. The woman who makes my heart expand to twice its size is in my arms, and I know I’m right where I belong.

Epilogue

6 months later

Rylee

Spring has arrived in Los Angeles, but I’m too busy to enjoy it. I’m surrounded by boxes and more boxes and have a to-do list a mile long, but I forget about all of that when I look up and see Miles holding a bottle of champagne in our new house – yes, our house, which we moved into last week.

“We need to celebrate, Ryls,” he says as he pops the bottle. The bubbly flows out, making us both crack up as Miles dips his head to drink it back. He gives it his best shot, but most of the champagne splashes to the kitchen floor.

“Celebrate?”

“Fuck yeah, we need to celebrate,” he says, cleaning up the mess with the towel.

“How should we celebrate?”

“I want to make every memory here with you. So we’re starting with today. Making memories, baby.” He kisses me so fast I don’t see it coming. “This calls for champagne and then you naked underneath me, or up against the counter. On the stairs will do too.”

I laugh, giving him side-eye. What am I going to do with this man? “What does sex have to do with celebrating? Shouldn’t we be eating cake or throwing a party? That’s what normal people do when they have something to celebrate.”

Handing me a flute, he clinks his glass to mine. “Insatiable, Ryls, when it comes to you. You said so yourself. I can never get enough. I’m just trying to decide where I want to have you first.”

My cheeks start to feel a little hot and I’m suddenly thankful for the balmy breeze floating in through the kitchen window. I flash him a cheeky grin. “With a house this big, you have plenty of options.”

Miles insisted we start fresh in a new house that we both chose together. The Bird Streets, where Miles lived when I first met him, were known for their parties, so we started looking in Beverly Hills for something more family-friendly with a big backyard.

Don’t even get me started on the interior of this place. Open floor plan with light hardwood floors and vaulted ceilings with the most glorious wood beams. The back of the house is a wall of glass panels that open to a kidney-shaped pool with an outdoor kitchen and a stone fireplace. The house is set on a cliff with a view of the hills overlooking an entire valley. The view from the balcony feels like you are standing on the edge of the world. I look around in awe. How is this now my home?

It’s not modest. A mansion is probably the right word for it. There’s a theater room, of course, and two kitchens because apparently in a house this large, one isn’t enough. I wonder what my mom would think of my six-burner stove or my sub-zero fridge with glass doors and a built-in ice-cream maker. It’s wild.

But the very best thing about my new house is the memory wall of my photos that Miles surprised me with. Every one of my favorite memories are hanging in our front entrance, blown up and professionally framed. There are pictures of my parents, Gran and Gramps, my brothers and my nieces and nephew and the Vancouver sunset that will always remind me of when we first met. Then there’s the photo that will always have my heart: The selfie I took of Miles and I on the farm, our kissing photo. Every time I look at it I remember how I felt that day, having just shared the best 24 hours with the man I was falling in love with only to have to watch him leave. I wish I knew then what life had in store for us, but I wouldn’t trade our love story for anyone else’s because this one is ours.

My eyes find Miles, who’s across the kitchen. He’s wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and nothing else. They’re slung low on his hips so I can see the V of his abdomen and the sexy happy trail that disappears into his joggers. His hair is a mess, but somehow he still manages to look like he just stepped out of a photo shoot. I drink him in, not knowing how the man manages to look this good with zero effort.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand what I did to deserve him. Every day with him is better than the one before. They say that true love is meant to last a lifetime, so there’s nothing wrong with being patient and making sure you get things right. I got things right. I found my other half and plan on never letting him go.

The fame I was so afraid of has become familiar to me. The attention I never wanted is something I’ve learned to live with. I continue to avoid the press whenever I can and rarely agree to comment on anything concerning Miles, but his fans seem to like me nonetheless. They like us together so much that they’ve merged our two names into one, so now we are Riles. I think it’s a bit ridiculous, but it doesn’t bother me. Tabloids refer to us as America’s Sweethearts. I’m good with that.

Gran and Gramps are happy in their nursing home. Miles and I video call them two or three times a week, but only get a chance to talk to them when they aren’t too busy to accept our calls. They’ve taken to bingo nights and poker and as promised, Gran is a regular at yoga. I’ve been able to fly out to visit them at least once a month, staying with Cole and Cara since the farm went on the market last month. Last week we received the news that it had sold. I cried for the better part of that day. It was tough to see it go but I told myself I would create new memories with Miles and the family we hoped to have after we married.

Gran always told me love isn’t something that you find, it’s something that finds you. We found each other, Miles and I. A small-town girl from Deer Lake, Tennessee found her one big love in a Hollywood heartthrob. A beautiful man who has fought for me from day one. Before Miles, I never knew what it felt like to be put first, to be loved so fiercely. When Miles Bennett loves, it’s with everything he’s got. He lays his heart wide open. And I’ll never take that for granted.

“The floor is sticky now. Look at the mess you made,” I say, dropping down beside him where he’s sitting on the floor going through a box. Miles grabs me by my waist and pulls me into his lap.

I giggle. “Can’t get enough of me, can you?”

“Never,” he says, sucking on my neck. We never seem to get enough of each other. We always want more.

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