We had a dance show the next day. Before going to the theater, I dropped by Chris’s apartment to pick up some of my stuff. I’d left some of my dance clothes at his place.
He wasn’t there, but the girl named Alana was. I was tempted to ask her what she was doing in Chris’s apartment, but I guess I didn’t have to be a genius to guess that.
I was even more heartbroken than I was before. We’d been broken up less than twenty-four hours, and there was already another woman in his house.
Sarah was close to berating me for showing up a few minutes late.
“I dropped by Chris’s apartment to get my stuff,” I said, motioning at the box on the floor.
“Wow! That does not look good!”
I laughed humorlessly. “It doesn’t. But I can’t think of that now! I need to dress up!”
I focused on my dance pieces. I had one with Sarah and some guys. It was a contemporary piece that told a story of a girl who was in love with a guy all her life, but he didn’t have eyes for her. He wanted another girl who was coveted by many others. I was the coveted girl. Sarah played the lead part. It was a difficult piece with many twists and turns and some lifting. It was acting, not just dancing.
We got an encore at the end of our performance. Sarah performed brilliantly, and I was pretty sure I provided a good supporting performance.
We rushed backstage. I had another piece coming. It was a lyrical hip-hop dance. Until a month before, I hadn’t even known I could dance hip-hop.
“What happened?” Sarah asked me as we changed into new costumes.
“We broke up!” I said.
“Why?”
“He didn’t want to be pressured about marriage at this stage. You know I have a deadline. And then he was so insecure about Travis! He asked me to choose between the two of them.”
“And of course you chose Travis,” she concluded.
“You know how important Travis is to me. He may be a difficult man who seems like he doesn’t have a care in the world, but for years, he’s taken care of me. He’s kept me safe, made sure I was provided for.”
“I know,” she said. “Even though you say you cannot love each other romantically, I know he’s just as important as the air that you breathe. But I can’t blame Chris, either. Travis Cross is one guy you hate to compete with!”
“But he isn’t competing with Chris!”
“I know. But Chris would never feel that way. He’d always think that no matter what he did, there was another guy in your life who would always do better! Always smarter, always richer…has that amount of history with you. He could never measure up.”
“Does it even matter that he’s the one I was in love with?”
“It should. But maybe some things are more important to Chris than…the fact that you’re in love with him,” Sarah said.
I finished fixing my hair and stared at myself in the mirror. I had on a lot of makeup. It was necessary, if I didn’t want to look like a corpse on stage.
Just then, one of the production assistants approached me with a bouquet of roses in her arms.
“This came for you, Brianne,” she said.
I stared at the roses and then at Sarah.
“Maybe Chris wanted to apologize,” she said.
I shook my head. “There was a woman in his apartment when I went by. Two words: revenge sex. How could I forgive him for that?”
“But didn’t you say Travis stayed with you last night?”
“But I didn’t sleep with Travis!” I argued. “I fell asleep on the couch beside him. When I woke up we were still on the couch, and we were both fully dressed!”
Sarah giggled. “All right, all right! Case stated. Read the card!”
When I read the message, I was surprised to find that it hadn’t come from Chris.
You were lovely onstage. I’ll wait for you after the show.
Love,
Travis
I was smiling widely, and tears welled up in my eyes. I was deeply touched by his thoughtfulness. I never told him about the dance shows I was participating in. How could he have known?
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Oh, my God! Will you please just snap out of it and marry the guy?”
I laughed. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect it.”
“He’s always watched you! What do you mean you didn’t expect it?”
“No! I don’t even tell him about the shows.”
Sarah was taken aback. “But…he…” She trailed off.
“What?”
“He asked to be on our mailing list a couple of years ago,” she said. “He purchases tickets in advance. I get contacted by his secretary for every show. I’m pretty sure he’s seen all our performances. I thought you knew!”
I was shocked. I shook my head. “No. I never did.”
Our conversation was interrupted by a production assistant calling us to go backstage to wait for our cue. And as we danced into our finale, I had a big smile on my face. I knew, for the first time, I had somebody in the audience watching and cheering for me.
***
I couldn’t help crying while in bed that night. I remembered being there with Chris…all those nights he kept me warm. All those nights we shared our thoughts and dreams with each other. And now, I couldn’t help thinking that he was sharing the night with Alana!
They could be having mindless sex right now! I thought. Alana seemed experienced enough. She might be a tigress in bed. I’d be out of Christian’s mind in no time.
Suddenly, my bedside lamp was turned on and I felt Travis sit on the bed beside me. I was really glad that he’d stayed with me. I was pretty sure I couldn’t do this alone.
He gathered me in his arms and allowed me to cry on his chest. The expression on his face was dark, cold…fathomless, and I knew he was trying to control his emotions.
“When I went to his apartment to get my stuff, I found one of his lady colleagues there. It looks like…he’s sleeping with her now,” I said. “She’s blond. She looks tough, and smart. She’s sophisticated. Professional. She’s a lawyer as well. Her personality is quite strong. She’s very pretty!” I whimpered. “I guess he was telling me he could replace me with someone prettier…someone who has more…success, much more going on in her life. I really felt small…and I couldn’t believe it only took him a couple of hours to throw it all away. Two years!”
Travis didn’t say anything.
“Chris is a very ambitious guy! He’s got so much control. He wanted me to be…a lot of things. I tried to change that. For two years, I built my life around him. I just didn’t expect it to end this way.”
Still, Travis kept quiet. But he continued holding me against his chest. I stared up at him. Usually, he would offer a sarcastic remark or tell me what a moron Chris was. But now he wasn’t saying anything. “Are you okay?” I asked him.
He took a deep breath. “I was trying my best to tune it out,” he said in a harsh tone. “Because I’m a few seconds away from hunting that moron down and punching all his teeth down his throat!”
I smiled at him. “Thank you,” I said to him. “I don’t think I can be alone for this. Not here,” I said. I looked around my apartment. “We painted these walls, you know. He chose the colors. He chose the bed…he chose almost every piece of furniture that I have here.”
“Thank God!” he said sarcastically. “I was afraid your taste had gotten boring! It’s a relief to know you weren’t the one who decorated your apartment.”
“Is it boring?” I asked him.
“It’s not you,” he said. “I noticed it the first time I came here. I know you would never settle for colors this…safe. You’d be more creative.”
“He didn’t come to a single show I had,” I said. “I didn’t play a major part in any of the shows, but it would have been nice to have someone in the audience cheering for me.”
“You had someone,” Travis said quietly.
“I didn’t know that,” I said. I stared up at him again. His expression was sober. “Thank you for watching me, Travis. Even if I didn’t know it, you were always there. Did you really come to my shows?”
He nodded. “Every single one of them,” he replied. “You were brilliant! I wonder why you haven’t had a starring role in the dances.”
“I am a part-time member,” I said. “I did it for fun. Sarah and the others work there full-time. They do it for a living. I was doing it to keep myself sane. Now I realize I was dancing to get in touch with whatever’s left of the real me. The me that Chris never really appreciated.”
“Do you even like managing a gallery?”
“I don’t hate it. But I always feel it could be my paintings I’m selling,” I said.
“Why don’t you pursue that path?”
“I need the money,” I replied. “I’m not as rich as you, Travis Cross.”
“You don’t have to be to pursue your dreams,” he said.
“I need to do it for Mom, too,” I said. “She needed help managing her galleries.”
“You can do that and paint, you know.”
I sighed. “Chris would never approve.”
“You’re not with him now,” he pointed out, his voice showing signs of irritation.
“I know. Another relationship gone to waste,” I said. “I’m not getting any younger. I need more time.”
“You have time,” he whispered.
I took a deep breath. “I need to find a guy who can fall in love with me and rush me to the altar. I cannot do that before I’m thirty. There’s just no way! I’m just starting to get over a breakup. Relationships take hard work. And I can’t just magically find a guy who can propose to me and save me from my family curse!”
He fell silent for a while. Then, he said quietly, “I’m sure you can figure this out, Brianne.” He pulled away from me and stood up from the bed. “Get dressed.”
“What? Why?”
“You’re not staying in this apartment an hour longer,” he said. “You can’t get over that guy if everything around you reminds you of him.”
“Where am I going?”
“I have a hotel suite that I have prepaid for a week, and I’m not using it,” he said. “Maybe it’s best you stay there for a while.”
“Are you serious?”
He raised a brow. “Do I joke about these things?”
I smiled. “No, you don’t.”
“Grab some clothes. You’re staying with me for a while.” And he exited my room, not giving me a chance to argue.
As I packed up my clothes and some essentials I knew I would need, I thought about what Travis told me. That I had time. He’d told me that before, but he said he’d leave it to me to figure it out.
I had to be married before I turn thirty-one.. How could I find a guy who would propose to me in such a short span of time? And even if I worked on a relationship really, really hard…like what I did with Chris…it still would not guarantee a wedding.
I needed at least another three years…to find someone. To fall in love again.
How could Travis think that I had time?
Unless…
An idea kept playing in my head…I would have time…if I called on Travis’s promise. If we got married, I would have years ahead of me to get my life back on track, and if I did stumble upon somebody and fall in love with him, it will be easy to divorce Travis and we go back to the way we used to be. If the guy I found really loved me enough, he would understand that the marriage between Travis and me was just an arrangement.
A month before, I had been hoping Chris would pop the question on my birthday! Now I was thinking of asking Travis to marry me instead.
I loved Travis so much. Could I really ask him to make that huge sacrifice?
Thirty minutes later, we were standing in Travis’s luxurious hotel suite.
“Wow!” I breathed. “This is expensive,” I said. “Do you have business in Connecticut that allows you to rent a suite like this?”
“I do,” he said. He stared at me for a moment. “You.”
I smiled. “Just me?”
“I meet with some investors here once in a while. But mostly, I come here to check up on you.”
“Must be a pain keeping tabs on me,” I murmured.
He raised a brow at me. “I’ve been doing that for more than a decade. Suffice it to say, you’re a part of my routine.” Then he took a deep breath and said, “And I would have done the same thing you did if another person asked me to give you up.”
I stared at him blankly. I hadn’t told Travis why I broke up with Chris. I’d just told him that Chris had been unreasonable and that he was jealous. But I never told him that Chris had specifically asked me to choose between the two of them. And that I’d chosen him.
“How did you know?” I asked him.
“Eric,” he replied. “He called me as soon as he dropped you off. He told me everything. I intended to pay Chris a visit first so I could give him a good beating before I came to your place, but I figured you would be alone and you needed me more than Chris needed a shiner.”
I smiled at Travis ruefully.
“I was waiting for you to tell me,” he said.
I shook my head. “You don’t need to know. I am such a burden already. You don’t need to feel guilty about this. You don’t deserve that.”
He touched my cheek with his palm. “You’re never a burden, Brianne.” He pulled me toward him and gave me a kiss on the forehead.
I inhaled the sweet, masculine scent of Travis. And now, more than ever, I realized that I’d chosen right. I would be ten times more miserable had I chosen Chris over him. Because I knew I could never lose him. I knew how painful it had been to lose Tom. It would be just as painful to lose Travis. No matter how cold, unattached, and unemotional Travis appeared to be, I knew he really cared about me. He was that one person I could always depend on…that one person who would never betray me.
“Nevertheless, do you want me to talk some sense into this guy?” he asked.
Even if Travis explained himself to Chris, we could never go back to the way we used to be. He’d been with Alana. He left her at his apartment at the exact time he knew I was going to drop by. He was rubbing it in my face that they were together now. That I was replaceable.
And Travis was right. This wasn’t me. I used to be fun! I used to be all colors and hues. I was reduced to the timid, insecure, boring little girl trying to fit into Christian’s world. I needed to find myself again.
“Do you want to? Do you think it’s the right thing to do?”
Travis stared back at me and he shook his head. “No. To both your questions.”
I nodded. “I thought so.”
“Although, I hope there is something I can do to ease your pain. To make things right.”
I looked up at Travis. I knew the time had come to call in the favor I’d asked him when we were sixteen years old. I needed time. He needed to buy me some! But it would be too much to ask. I felt like I was asking him for his life so I could extend mine.
I bit my lip and took a deep breath. “You’re right, Travis. I do have time…” I stared into his eyes and took a deep breath. “And I think I’m going to need it now.” I was not sure if he’d gotten what I meant, yet I didn’t want to say it directly.
What could I say? The choices that popped up in my head said, Travis, I’m desperate, will you marry me? and Travis, do you want to commit suicide now?
I didn’t think either was suitable at the moment. The first one was the best, but I’d be damned if I proposed to a man!
He searched my face. Then he closed his eyes and raised his face toward the ceiling for a while. When he looked at me again, his eyes were unreadable.
He took a deep breath. “This is not going to be easy for you, either, you know.”
I nodded. “I know. But I have you beside me, so nothing is too hard.”
“Brianne, I have needs…” he started.
“And you’re welcome to have them fulfilled as per usual,” I cut him off mid-sentence. “Just…don’t let my parents or my close relatives find out. Don’t have it printed in gossip columns…at least not for a year or two.”
He took a deep breath. He narrowed his eyes and said, “I need an heir, Brianne.”
That made me take a step back. “That…that wasn’t part of the conditions.”
“Your conditions. You haven’t heard mine yet,” he said.
“When? You’re too young to be a father,” I said.
“My parents had me when they were thirty-one.” His voice was hard, as if he was trying to make me understand one serious complication in our arrangement.
I took a deep breath. “In two years, we can have IVF if you really want. If…if by then, we’re still together.”
He narrowed his eyes. He shook his head then pulled me to him and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “You can be so naïve sometimes, Brianne,” he whispered in a frustrated voice. “It may be one of the reasons why you have me wrapped around your finger.”
“I do?” I was surprised. It wasn’t easy for Travis Cross to admit any sign of weakness. “I thought it was because Thomas asked you to give me everything I needed.”
“That too,” he replied. He sucked in a deep breath. “Just promise me we’ll discuss my condition after two years.”
I nodded. In two years, I might have found Mr. Right, or we could always discuss the possibility of having in-vitro fertilization.
Travis smiled at me. I didn’t know whether he’d said yes or no. I stared up at him.
“Sleep in the bed—I’ll take the couch,” he said. “I have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll give you a call in the afternoon.”
Though I tried so hard, I just couldn’t force myself to sleep that night. It’s difficult when you don’t know whether you’re engaged or not. What would I tell my family? How would I introduce Travis? Had he said yes already? Was he my fiancé? Damn it! All these questions were killing me!
A while before, I had been crying my heart out because of my breakup with Christian. Now my heart was pounding wildly in my ribcage, and I didn’t know whether I wanted to jump for joy or reel with excitement.
Damn! Only Travis Cross could do this to me. After all these years, I still couldn’t figure out how he could evoke such feelings within me when he shouldn’t have had any effect on me at all.
***
I woke up at noon the next day. Travis was already gone. I contemplated going back to my apartment, but I knew that would depress me even more. For hours, I hadn’t thought about Chris. All I thought about was Travis’s answer and the status of our relationship. Was I supposed to introduce him as my fiancé? Should I call my parents?
Because I was getting restless, I decided to go to the dance studio. I danced my worries away, and for a couple of hours, it seemed to work.
When I got back to the hotel suite, I took a nice, hot bath. The phone in the bathroom rang.
“It’s six p.m.,” Travis said on the other line.
“And?”
“And you’re invited to join me for dinner at Le Divalle.”
I giggled. “Wow! That’s…expensive! And formal! Am I allowed to ask why?”
“No reason. I’ve arranged for the hotel car to drive you there,” he said. “See you at seven.”
When I got out of the bathroom, I was surprised to find a big box sitting on top of the bed. I must have been in such a hurry to take a hot bath that I hadn’t noticed it sitting there when I came in. I opened it. There’s a card on top of the tissue cover that read, Wear me.
I pulled out the cream silk cocktail dress from the box. There was a matching pair of sandals that came with it.
I tried it on. It hugged my body to perfection. It was backless, and the hem ended above my knees. I tied my hair into a bun and curled some tendrils to flow around it, and then put on very light makeup. When I put on the glass sandals that came with the gown, I was satisfied by my reflection. The girl staring back at me was far from Alana. Alana looked tough, like she meant business. The girl in front of me looked elegant and lovely. Her facial features were soft and angelic. She looked like the girl who could make even devilish guys like Travis Cross bend to her will.
I took my purse and then went down to the lobby.
“We have a limo waiting outside,” the concierge said, and he had a member of the hotel staff assist me to the entrance.
Before I got inside the limo, I heard someone call, “Brianne?”
When I turned around, I found Christian staring back at me. He had just valet parked his car. Alana’s arm was around his.
I raised a brow at him.
“You look… different,” he said under his breath. Alana gave me one antagonizing look.
“Why? Did I grow an extra head?” I asked him, raising my brow.
He stared back at me, quite dumbfounded.
“That was a joke. But I forgot you don’t have a sense of humor.” I took a deep breath. “Anyway, thank you, if you meant that as a compliment,” I said haughtily. “If you don’t have anything else to say, I need to go. Travis is waiting for me.” I turned my back on him and got inside the limo. From inside, I could still see him looking at me until Alana made a pout and pulled him away.
I had fresh pain inside my chest, but I knew I had to fight it. At least now, I’d managed to stun Chris for a change!
I was taken to Le Divalle. It was an elegant, strictly reservations-only restaurant and the most expensive in the city.
“Travis Cross,” I said at the reception.
Immediately, the receptionist smiled and led me inside the restaurant. I was hoping to see Travis at one of the tables, but I was led to another door.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Mr. Cross made special arrangements. You’ll be dining by the poolside.”
When she opened the door again, I was stunned to find the poolside decorated with candles and flowers. Even the pool itself was adorned with floating candles and a lighted balloon in the middle. There was a table at the center, with two waiters standing at the sides.
“Do you like it?” I heard Travis ask behind me. I spun around and found him staring at me. I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
He took my hand in his and led me to the table. He pulled a chair out for me.
“What’s all this?” I asked him. “And you had to make me dress up?”
“You look lovely, by the way,” he said.
I laughed. “Travis? I’m getting scared. What’s all this about?”
He shrugged. “I just want to have dinner with you. Take your mind off things.”
I raised a brow. “Promise? There’s no catch to this?”
He nodded. He motioned for the waiter to bring us wine. We had Greek salad as an appetizer and then finally, pasta and salmon were served as the main course.
It did take my mind off things. It made me feel loads better remembering Chris’s confused expression when he’d seen me earlier. And being with Travis here made me feel much more secure. The way he prepared everything was…as romantic as a fairy tale, and yet as comfortable as home.
“Where did you go today? You weren’t in the hotel when I dropped off the dress.”
“I was at the studio,” I replied.
“Figured as much.” He looked at me for a moment and asked, “Do you want to stay here, Brianne? Or do you have plans of living somewhere else?”
“Right now? I think a change would be good. I am…close to asking my mother to transfer me to another city. Maybe I could do well managing another branch. Or maybe even better, I’ll try painting something this time.”
“Good” He nodded. He reached somewhere under the table and handed me a box of Godiva chocolates.
I laughed. “You’re not planning to make me fat, are you? Or do you believe that chocolates are the best breakup buddies?”
He shrugged but instead of replying, he smiled at me crookedly.
I opened the box. It was a collection of heart truffles in milk, white, and dark chocolates. There was a huge heart chocolate in the middle with an engraving at its center.
Voudrais tu m'épouser?
My heart caught in my throat. I didn’t speak French, but I knew that phrase sounded so familiar!
I stared at Travis. He was smiling boyishly at me. But he looked nervous! For the first time, I saw a different Travis Cross. One that didn’t look confident of his calculated movements.
He stood up from his seat. He held a box in front of me and then he bent down on one knee.
I covered my mouth with my hands. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. He didn’t have to do this!
He took a deep breath. “Brittany Anne Montgomery, I promised to take care of you for the rest of my life. For years, you’ve been the only thing that I’ve cared about in this world, the only thing that I loved. You’ve been the only family I have. And now, I hope to make that official. Would you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Brittany Anne Cross? Will you marry me?”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t say anything. I felt like I was going to die any minute.
I nodded. “Yes, Travis. I will marry you. You know I will!”
He chuckled boyishly and then he took my hand and slipped a huge diamond ring on my finger. He brought my fingers to his lips and kissed them.
He stared at me for a long moment, and then he took a deep breath before pulling me into his arms. The waiters cheered around us. And as if it wasn’t perfect enough, the skies suddenly lit in a display of spectacular colors.
“Did you do this, too?” I asked.
He nodded. “I wanted it to be perfect for you.”
I rested my head on Travis’s shoulder as we both watched the wonderful fireworks display. It felt… surreal. This was more than what I’d dreamt of. I’d hoped for a dreamy proposal from Chris, but not like this! What Travis did for me was not just a dream. It was a fairy tale!
I didn’t know this side of Travis. He was usually sarcastic, distant…unattached. He did show me that he had a loving and caring side. But this was different. This was nothing like the Travis Cross I’d known at all!
The Travis I knew, the Travis that everybody knew could be cold and ruthless. No one knew of his pains, his weaknesses, maybe except for me. He almost seemed invincible. I would never have expected him to propose to any woman like this. His proposal was so wonderful…so romantic…so perfect!
Travis was looking at me when I looked up at him. He wiped my tears with his fingers. “Why are you crying?”
I took a deep breath. “Why do you always have to make everything perfect for me? Why do you always go through all this trouble just to make sure my dreams will come true?”
I didn’t expect him to answer. But he held my face between his palms. “Because you deserve it,” he whispered.
“You didn’t have to propose to me!” I argued. “I asked you to do this. Why did you have to propose like this?”
He chuckled. “Because I will marry you. It’s not a fake wedding. The engagement is real. And every bride needs to be proposed to first before she gets married. You, more than anybody, deserved a proposal like this,” he replied. “In fact, if your ex-boyfriend hadn’t screwed up and had decided to marry you instead, I think I would’ve be disappointed if he hadn’t proposed to you this way…or at least some way close.” He looked me in the eye and added, “The engagement is official. You have a ring on your finger. So now, you can officially call me your fiancé.”
“Even if it was just a favor? Even if I just asked you to sacrifice a huge part of your life?”
He shrugged. “You are a huge part of my life, too. For a long while now, you’ve been the only family I have had. I told you I didn’t intend to marry at all. But if I do this with you, it won’t be that bad, will it?”
I laughed and hugged him. “No, Travis. I don’t think it will be bad at all!” I took a deep breath. “I love you. Thank you for doing this for me.”
He held the back of my head and took a deep breath. “I am doing this because you are probably the only person I love in my life.”
I stared up at him. “I didn’t know you could love at all,” I teased, trying to make the mood lighter.
He grinned. “Me neither.”
Travis may sound like a formidable force—manipulative, shrewd, and ruthless in many ways—but I knew how torn and broken he was inside. And sometimes, he wasn’t afraid to show me that side. After all, it is tiring to be so strong all the time.
He stared at me seriously. Then he said, “Close your eyes, Brianne.”
I did as he said. I felt his breath against my face. My heart pounded wildly inside my ribcage. Gently, I felt him brush his lips against mine. I tensed against his lips, and he sucked in a deep breath. “Do you realize that this is something you should get used to?”
I blinked back at him. “But didn’t we agree…”
“That we would not go to bed, yes. But do you want your parents and your relatives to suspect that?”
I shook my head.
“Then you should know that they expect us to make a show of affection toward each other.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I promised to protect you from the beast inside me, remember? I’m still good at keeping my promises.”
I understood that. I didn’t want my relatives to think I’d just commissioned Travis to marry me to escape the so-called family curse, whether or not there was truth to it. We did have to show them that this was a love match. Though nothing would happen in the bedroom, they didn’t need to know or suspect that.
I nodded at him. “Would you care to try again?” I asked him boldly.
He sucked in a deep breath, as if this was difficult for him, too. Then he leaned forward, and I closed my eyes. I felt his lips on mine, and he gave me one gentle kiss. And then he kissed…really…kissed me. Passionately.
It was a mixture of a whole lot of emotions for me. It was a combination of thrill, fear, excitement, weariness…it was nerve-wracking, it was mind-blowing, and sanity-disturbing!
How could I feel like this every time Travis kisses me?
When the kiss was over, Travis leaned his forehead against mine and sucked in a deep breath.
“That’s enough…for now,” he whispered.
I knew I was blushing violently. Travis smiled when he saw my flushed face.
“I can make you blush,” he whispered. And I wasn’t sure if he was teasing me.
“Didn’t you know that a long time ago?” I raised a brow.
He touched my warm face with his fingers. “It’s good to remember.”
Travis had been with a lot of women. I was just one of the many that he’d kissed like that. I doubted that he felt anything when he kissed me. I doubted that I could stir any emotion in him, the way he stirred so many emotions in me. And for that reason, I felt embarrassed. But I refused to let him see that.
“I’m not always soft-hearted or sensitive,” he warned me.
“You almost never were,” I said to him. “But I know you are. I know you have a good heart, Travis.”
“You have so much faith in me,” he said and hugged me to him. “This is not going to be easy for either of us.”
“I’m ready for that. Just promise I will still have you when all this comes to an end.”
He took a deep breath and tightened our embrace. “I promise, cherie.”
I smiled against his chest. I knew he meant that. After all, Travis was so good at keeping his promises.