When we got back to the hotel, Travis and I sat on the bed and talked. We were…well, basically planning our future. Although we were not lovers, we were betrothed and whether we liked it or not, we had lives that we would live together, for the next two years, minimum.
“You said you were thinking of moving cities,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Then come to Manhattan with me,” he said. “You can manage your gallery there instead. You can paint all you want. I’m pretty sure there are dance studios that would be happy to accommodate you.”
“That sounds like a plan.” I smiled. I found that proposal interesting.
“I have an apartment there. You can move in with me.”
“Why? Can’t I rent my own?”
“Useless,” Travis replied. His tone told me that he thought my idea was ridiculous. “When do you intend to get married anyway? You’re approaching your deadline, cherie. Didn’t you want to get married before that?”
I nodded. “Are we getting married in New York?”
“It’s up to you, really. We could get married at home. Or in New York, whichever you prefer.”
“New York is expensive,” I said. “I don’t think the money I have saved up is enough. But in any case, I intend to have a small ceremony.”
Travis raised a brow. “Did you really think I would let you pay for our wedding?”
“But, Travis, this is a favor!” I protested. “You already gave me this lovely ring! Which…I will return when we divorce, by the way. So you don’t have to buy a new one for your real fiancée.”
He smirked. “You are my real fiancée,” he reminded me.
“I mean…you know what I mean!” I said in a frustrated tone. Our relationship seemed to be getting harder and harder to define with each passing day.
“Well, in any case, you won’t be spending a dime on our wedding. I’ve been saving up for it since I was sixteen years old,” he said.
“You have been?”
He nodded. “I promised to be your safety guy. I had to make provisions for this event, you know.”
I sighed. “You really have the answer to everything, don’t you?”
“Not everything.” He took a deep breath. “So, are you fine with moving in with me…to my apartment in Manhattan? I personally do not like my fiancée staying in an apartment decorated by her ex-boyfriend!”
I laughed at that. Travis sounded like he was irritated and insulted at the same time.
“And besides, maybe you’d like to get married in two or three months,” he said. “It’s not forbidden for engaged couples to live together prior to the wedding.”
I nodded. “You state your case well, Mr. Cross,” I said. “Do you have a guest bedroom?”
He raised a brow. “My guest bedroom is a third the size of my room and has no walk-in closet. No way I would let you stay there. And besides, why would we stay in separate bedrooms?”
“Because nothing will happen between us, remember?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share a bedroom.” He raised a brow.
“We certainly can’t share a bed!” I protested, blushing violently.
He laughed. “Yes. But my bedroom is big enough to accommodate you. And I can always add a couch big enough to be a bed and I’ll spend my nights there. Same bedroom, separate sleeping arrangements.”
I looked terrified. Would I really be living with Travis? Staying in the same bedroom as him for the next two years?
He narrowed his eyes. “You haven’t thought this through, have you?”
I shook my head. “At least not this far.”
He slightly shook his head. “Oh God, Brianne!” he said under his breath. Then as if he were talking to a ten-year-old, he said, “We’re going to get married. We will live in the same house and we will stay in the same room. We don’t want to risk your parents or any of your relatives dropping by our apartment and finding us living separately. If they found out that this marriage is an arrangement or a favor I’m doing for you…you’d be ‘cursed’ no matter what.”
I sighed. He had a point. “I guess you’re right.”
“Furthermore, we will show affection as if we really are a happily married couple. We can kiss, we can hug, and cuddle with each other, but…” He paused, giving me a hard expression. Then he continued, “We will not have sex. And in two years, you promised to discuss the possibility of having at least one son with me.”
“Wow. You got that one mapped out.” I knew only that I had asked Travis to do this for me, but it seemed that he’d given it more thought than I had.
“I have to. I don’t want to confuse the do’s with the don’ts!” he muttered under his breath. “Are you going to be okay with all the rules?”
I nodded slowly. Then I said to him, “Women.”
“What?”
“We need to discuss the issue of your women,” I said. “I know you’re a player, Travis Cross. How would your marriage to me impact your…sex life?”
He narrowed his eyes at me and then he said, “Let that be my problem.”
“I said it was okay for you to continue your usual activities,” I said. “But I can’t let my parents know or think that you’re cheating on me. They love you like a son, Travis. If they thought you were hurting me, that would change. And I couldn’t let that happen. You don’t deserve that.”
“I told you…let that be my problem,” he said in a more serious voice, as if telling me to shut up, as if he didn’t want to discuss the subject matter anymore.
“Do you have a mistress? Girlfriend? That I should know about? I mean…not that I care, really. I just want to know if I need to watch my back.”
He raised a brow. “What do you take me for?”
I sighed. “Travis…I…don’t know your relationship profile. I know there’s been a string of women. I just want to know if anybody from that string actually stuck.”
He sighed and said, “No one has the right to hold a gun to your face or stick a knife to your back. You should be safe. There were women…but no one stuck for more than a couple of weeks.”
I was surprised. “Why?”
“Because I’m a difficult man, Brianne!” he said in an irritated tone. “No woman will want to have a relationship with me! No woman can!”
His voice was so forceful, it made me turn away from him. I swallowed hard and then I turned around to get up from the bed and walk out of the room.
I heard his sharp intake of breath as I exited the bedroom, and before I knew it, I felt him pull my arm, and then I was enclosed in his tight embrace. I closed my eyes. I didn’t hug him back. He didn’t say anything, but he kept hugging me tightly, and I was almost afraid I would be crushed.
“I don’t want to fight with you, Brianne,” he whispered softly. “Especially not on the first day of our engagement.” It seemed that he was struggling for words. “But it is true…as you will soon find out when you live in my world. I’m a difficult man. I’m ruthless! Heartless even! I do not care about other people’s emotions. Maybe that is why I was getting better at my game. Because I see things logically all the time. I make decisions based on what I think would be most profitable. Regardless of what’s at stake. I’m a stone, you know!”
I shook my head. “If you were a stone, Travis, you wouldn’t be standing here, holding me!”
Instead of letting go, he hugged me tighter. “You’re probably the only one allowed to see me…weak. Maybe it’s because you’re the only thing left to remind me what it’s like to feel love…and pain.” He took another long breath. “Maybe it’s a good thing that you’re the one I’m marrying. If it were somebody else, I’d probably just break her heart, shred her to pieces.”
“And you can’t afford to hurt me…because you promised Tom you wouldn’t.”
He sighed but chose not to answer that. Then he pulled away to look at me in the eyes. “I’m sorry I raised my voice at you. I will try my best not to let that happen again.”
I smiled at him. I took a deep breath and I stood on my tiptoes so I could give him a kiss on the lips. I knew I wouldn’t normally do that. But it was something that I would have to get used to. Something that I should be comfortable doing from now on to make it easier to pretend in front of everybody else. He was my fiancé now. Everything was real.
He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead against mine. “You’re a good man, Travis. I know you are. You can pretend to be ruthless all you want. But nothing can change the way I see you. I know you have a heart. And I know that even though you’re just doing this as a favor, I still am a lucky girl to have you for my husband.”
He smiled ruefully. “You have so much faith in me, Brianne. Sometimes I don’t think I deserve it.”
“You do,” I said and gave him a hug again. “And I won’t stop believing in you, Travis.”
***
The next day we were in Manhattan. Travis took my hand in his as we entered his building.
I couldn’t help but notice that everybody on our way upstairs seemed to have frozen in place when Travis walked past them. Everybody greeted him formally, Good afternoon, Mr. Cross. And then the path seemed to just open up for him, like everybody in the building knew better than block his way.
Travis walked past every single one of them without a word, not even a nod. It was as if he didn’t hear them…they didn’t exist, except for the bellhop who brought my bags up.
A man in an Armani suit opened Travis’s penthouse suite.
“Mr. Cross,” he greeted Travis. He didn’t smile, either. But I didn’t miss the quick look he gave me.
“Call the landlord, Karl,” Travis said in a cold, commanding voice.
“Right away, Mr. Cross,” Karl said. He turned to the bellhop, gave him a tip, and immediately asked him to go.
Travis turned to me. When he saw me standing beside a couch eyeing him curiously, he said, “You can sit, you know. This is your home now.”
“Oh. I was waiting for you to tell me what to do,” I said wryly.
Travis didn’t miss the sarcasm in my voice, but instead of answering back, he turned away from me and went to the bar and poured himself a whiskey.
Karl came back with a man in his fifties. They stood behind Travis.
“Mr. Cross. Welcome back,” the man greeted him.
Travis got straight to the point. “This is Brianne Montgomery,” he introduced me to both Karl and the landlord. “She’s my fiancée. She’s going to live with me in this apartment. Tell all your staff that I want them to treat her with the same courtesy you give me. I don’t want any of your guys giving her problems. Am I understood?”
The man nodded. “Yes, Mr. Cross.”
Travis turned his back on them. That must have meant they were dismissed now. They turned around, and the man nodded at me. I stood up from my seat and ran after them just as they were about to reach the door.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” I said to the older man.
He stared back at me blankly. “Excuse me?”
I smiled at him brightly. I extended my hand to his. “You can call me Brianne.”
He shook my hand and smiled. “I’m sorry, Miss Brianne. My name is Andres Ferguson.”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Ferguson,” I said.
Then I turned to Karl. He was staring back at me in wild amazement. “I’m…Karl Dereks. I’m Mr. Cross’s P.A.,” he said in a voice that was too feminine to belong to a straight man.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I smiled.
Mr. Ferguson nodded at me and then he exited through the door.
“Are you hungry, Brianne?” Travis asked, walking toward me and Karl.
I nodded. “Kind of.”
“What do you want to eat? We can have food delivered.”
I shrugged. “Asian cuisine should be fine.”
Travis nodded and turned to Karl. “Go to Pearl de Oriente. When you get there, read me the menu. You can bring the food over.”
Karl nodded.
I glared at Travis. He raised a brow at me.
I turned to Karl. “I’m new in the city! Perhaps if I go with you, I can start learning the streets of New York.”
“You will not walk the streets of New York, there’s no need for you to know them.”
“How do you expect me to get around?”
“I’m arranging for a limo and a driver to be at your disposal wherever you go.”
“Great! Lovely!” I rolled my eyes. “No, thank you. I’m not crippled. And I need to make new friends in the city. Perhaps Karl is a good start.” I turned to Karl. “I’ll come with you.”
He was open-mouthed as if he was appalled that I was daring him to defy Travis’s command. But I pulled him by the arm and started for the door. Then, just before we stepped out of the apartment, I turned to Travis and said, “I’ll read you the menu!”
I pulled Karl with me, closing the door behind us. He was still staring at me widely.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You’re going to get me fired!”
I laughed. “If he fires you for this, let me know,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I can make him hire you back.”
He gave me a weird look and asked, “Who are you?”
I laughed at that. “I’m Travis’s angel counterpart,” I joked.
When I called Travis to read him exactly what was on the restaurant menu, he didn’t even make me start. “Order whatever you want, and bring the same thing for me. Karl has my credit card. He’ll pay for the bill.”
“Are you sure you don’t have a personal preference?” I asked, provoking him.
“You know I’m not going to let you read that menu!” he said in a frustrated voice.
“I don’t mind, Trav.”
“Brianne…are you testing my patience?”
“Hmmm…nope. But maybe I want to find out just how short your temper really is,” I said evenly.
“Very short,” he answered curtly. “So please hurry home.” Then he hung up the phone.
Karl stood in front of me open-mouthed. “Okay, so I’m personally your fan now!” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“That is just amazing! I think this is the first time I ever saw someone stand up to Travis Cross!” he said.
I laughed and then turned to the waiter and ordered three of their beef set specialty.
“Why three? Their servings here are massive,” Karl said.
“Yes. The other one is for you.”
Karl shook his head. “No, no. I can’t.”
“Consider it my treat,” I said to him, smiling. Then I turned to the waiter. “Please don’t put sesame seeds on one of the sets.”
“Are you allergic to sesame seeds?”
I shook my head. “But Travis is.”
“How did you know that? I’ve worked with him for three years and that never came up. Who are you and where did you come from?”
I laughed again. “I’ve known Travis since we were ten,” I said. “He was my brother’s best friend.”
“How did you…end up engaged?”
“Ahhh…” I hesitated. I didn’t know how to say this. “Spur of the moment, I guess. Things just sort of happened. But before that, Travis and I were…like the best of friends.”
“How could you be best friends and engaged to an intimidating man like that?” he asked. “And how can you spite him…and make him bend?”
“I don’t really have an answer to that,” I said. “Since my brother died, Travis sort of…took it upon himself to take care of me. We’ve known each other for years.”
“And that makes it easier for you to stand up to him,” Karl said. “Do you mind if I look at your ring?” he asked.
I nodded and extended my hand to him. “Didn’t he ask you to pick this one out?”
He shook his head. “I know rings. This is gorgeous! The design is nothing like you’ll see in the shops today. It’s absolutely out of this world!” He looked at me. “Perhaps this is an heirloom?”
I pulled back my hand and stared at the design of the ring. The center stone was probably four carats or more, and the diamond was very clear. There were stones and carvings on the side that made it look elegant and classic. It was a beautiful ring. And I knew it was more expensive than any of the rings I’d dreamt of wearing whenever I thought about being proposed to.
“Where do you live?” I asked him.
“Same building as you,” Karl replied. “Travis was generous enough to rent an apartment for me. Part of my package.” And he seemed really happy.
We walked back to the building. “Are you sure you’re okay? You walked a couple of blocks!”
I laughed. “I’m a part-time dancer. I have much more stamina than you think.”
“You dance?” he asked. “Ballet?”
I shook my head. “Contemporary. And sometimes jazz, hip-hop. I’ll probably try breakdancing soon!”
He grinned. “Wow! You’re cool! No wonder he’s smitten with you.”
When we reached the lobby of the building, I told him that he could have lunch in his apartment.
“But Mr. Cross might need something.”
“And I’m here to take care of that. I’m sure he will not need a rundown of what happened to his businesses while he was gone. Just go to your apartment and enjoy your lunch. I’ll bring our lunch up. And besides, he might be pissed off with me when I get back. You don’t need to be there when we have our verbal judo!”
I took the paper bags from Karl when we entered the elevator. He pressed his floor.
“Are you sure this is okay? I’m worried.”
I smiled at him. “I promise you won’t get ‘disciplinary action’ for this.”
He grinned. “You’re a breath of fresh air, Brianne Montgomery. I think you really are what a guy like Travis Cross needs in his life.”
When I opened the door of Travis’s apartment, he was leaning on one of the walls, watching me come in.
“Where is Karl?”
“I sent him to his apartment to have lunch.”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“It’s lunchtime, Travis,” I said. “The guy’s been waiting on you for hours. He needs nourishment if you want to keep your assistant for a very long time. And whatever you need for the next hour, I think I can handle it.”
I placed the paper bags on the table and prepared our food. When all was ready, I came to find Travis. He was sitting on the balcony, staring at his wonderful view. He seemed lost in his thoughts.
I knew that he was raging mad at me right then. Travis was used to having things in order. I was slowly disturbing that balance, and I knew he wasn’t happy about it.
But he was too tense all the time. I knew he didn’t have to apply military tactic to everything he did. The Travis I knew still knew how to have fun, how to let things go. He used to be so mischievous and naughty when we were growing up. He even managed to joke and laugh whenever we saw each other in Connecticut. Now, here in his own world, he seemed engulfed with an invisible cold, tough case.
“Lunch is ready,” I said to him.
He slowly stood up from the chair and faced me. I smiled at him. He didn’t smile back.
I sighed. And because I didn’t know how to please him better, I stepped closer to him and gave him a hug. He didn’t hug me back, but I kept my patience.
“You said it wasn’t going to be easy for me to live with you,” I said. “Well, it isn’t going to be easy for you, either. Because while you’re cold and ruthless, I’m warm and sunny, remember?” I stared up at him. “Do you want me to stop smiling all the time?”
He stared down at me for a long moment. And as if realization had seeped through to him, he took a deep breath. He wound his arms around me and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “No,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t want you to stop smiling at all.”
I smiled. “I love you, Travis,” I said to him. I meant that. I might not love him as a lover, but I knew I loved Travis with all my heart.
“You’re the only thing I have left to love,” he whispered.
I pulled away from him. “Come. Lunch is waiting.”
***
Over the next week, I settled into Travis’s apartment. He was busy most of the time, but he checked up on me almost every hour. He left at eight in the morning and came home between eight and eleven at night.
I usually waited up for him. When he came home, I took off his coat, put his shoes back on the rack, and asked him if he’d had dinner. Usually, we had midnight snacks together on his balcony, and he told me bits and pieces of what had happened during the day.
“I’ll go to the gallery tomorrow,” I told him one night. “I haven’t called Mom yet. Perhaps I will surprise her. I sent her my resignation from our branch in Connecticut. She told me she would talk to me when she gets back from Paris. That’s tomorrow.”
Travis nodded. “I’ll send a car to drive you.”
I shook my head. “I can take the train, Travis. You don’t have to worry about that.”
He raised a brow at me. “You’re my fiancée, Brianne. You won’t take the train.”
“You don’t have to spoil me, Travis. I’m just an ordinary girl,” I said to him.
“Brianne, could you please…at least for the first few weeks while you’re still settling in…just allow me to do this,” he pleaded.
I sighed in defeat. Then I nodded. “Okay. But once I’m settled, the car and driver need to go.”
“What time are you coming home?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’ll go around noon. I’ll probably be back around five. Why? Do you need anything?”
He shook his head. “Just give me a call if you do.”
I slept on the bed, Travis slept on the couch in the bedroom. It was big enough to be a bed. Once or twice, when I couldn’t wait up for him, he slept in the guest bedroom, just so he wouldn’t disturb me when he came in.
Living with Travis was not as hard as I thought it would be. There were a couple of times that I still stared in space and thought about Chris…the last man I was in love with. But anger immediately crept in when I remembered Alana and how she was in his apartment a couple of hours after Chris and I broke up.
I had yet to give up my apartment. I’d sell my stuff…as soon as the idea that I’d be living with Travis for a very long time sunk in.
My mother was surprised when she saw me at her doorstep the next day.
“I saw the limo, and you’re the last person I was expecting to step out of it!” she said, hugging me.
“It’s nice to see you, Mom.” I hugged her back.
We sat at the coffee table by her glass window.
“What happened? You are resigning? And now I see you in Manhattan, being driven around in a limo.”
I took a deep breath. “Well, I might be living in Manhattan for a while.”
“Why are you leaving your life in Connecticut behind? Everything okay?”
I nodded. “Everything’s fine.” Although I still thought about Chris once in a while.
“I would like to have you here. I need help managing this branch when I travel most of the time,” she said. “And I think you’ll be safer here.”
I raised a brow and giggled. “This city is not crime-free, Mom.”
“True. But Travis is here,” she said. “I know you’ll be well looked-after here.” She looked at the limo outside. “I take it you have seen each other already.”
I smiled. “How else could I afford that?”
“He spoils you,” she smiled. “By the way…are you still with that guy you brought to Aunt Vicki’s party? Is he…getting close to popping the question? You’re gonna be thirty soon, you know.”
I sighed. I shook my head. “No, Mom. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out.”
She was taken aback. “Oh my God, sweetheart,” she sighed. “You’ve broken up? Why? I thought you’d been dating for a while now.”
I nodded. “But apparently, he has so much insecurity in life. He doesn’t sit well with…our marrying-early tradition.”
My mother looked at me apologetically. “Oh, sweetheart. It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I married your father young and look where we are now. Don’t mind the stupid family tradition. I don’t think it’s true. It’s better to wait for the right man to come.”
I laughed. “Thanks, Mom. But I’m not going to be the subject of table talks and family gossip, or risk being ‘cursed’ in love for life. I do intend to get married this year.”
“Well, this Chris character should come to his senses! He should know what a beautiful, amazing woman you are!”
“I’m not marrying Chris,” I said to her.
She looked confused and then her eyes drifted off to my finger. She immediately pulled my hand to examine my ring.
“What the…” she started. “This is expensive! And it looks like an heirloom! Are you marrying royalty?”
I laughed. “No. But I know he’s rich. Although that isn’t the reason why I’m marrying him.”
“You just broke up with Chris. How come you’re marrying another man? Chris didn’t propose to you and you dated him for two years. How long have you been seeing your fiancé?”
I shrugged. “Forever, I guess.” Because Travis and I never really started dating, I couldn’t figure out the right answer to that.
“Who is this guy?”
“Take a wild guess, Mom. I think I’ve only known one filthy rich guy in my life,” I replied.
She was thoughtful for a while, and then her eyes widened. “You’re kidding!”
I shook my head and smiled. I think I was blushing, too.
“I didn’t even know you two were dating!” she said. Then she narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t tell me you two just got drunk one night and then you got pregnant and you decided to get married. Because I will kill Travis if that is the reason!”
I laughed. “Relax, Mom. That’s not it,” I said. “I guess…Travis and I had always thought we’d get married one day. We treat each other like family anyway. I guess marriage is the way to make it official.”
My mother stared at me as if she was reading me. I felt nervous for a while, afraid that she might see through me, but what did I have to hide?
I loved Travis; he loved me. That was true. We didn’t love each other like lovers, but still we loved each other nonetheless. That counted for a lot. We promised to look after each other for the rest of our lives. That was a lifetime vow in itself. He did propose to me; I said yes. I had an engagement ring. The wedding would take place in a couple of months. So in truth, there was nothing to be guilty about. This engagement was as real as the real thing.
“Are you happy?” she asked.
I would not be ‘cursed’ by my family. I would not join their Hall of Shame. I would marry a guy who loved me and would take care of me better than any other guy could…and would do a better job than my father ever did. I was recovering from my breakup with Chris in record time. I had a new life to look forward to. I didn’t have to worry about losing Travis, at least for the next couple of years. What could be happier than that?
I nodded. “Yes, Mom. You know I am.”
She smiled at me and tears rolled down her cheeks. “I have been…a bad mother, Brianne. I abandoned you so many times, and in so many ways. But I’m glad you turned out okay. And I’ll always be indebted to Travis for looking out for you during those times that we couldn’t. Travis…is one of the many things we will always thank Thomas for.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks, too. Because now, more than ever, I felt that I was not only doing the safe thing by marrying Travis. I was doing the right thing.
When I got back to Travis’s apartment, I was surprised that he was home. The table was set for two. He emerged from the balcony with a beer in his hand.
“There you are!” he said. “I have a surprise for you.”
I smiled excitedly. “Really?”
He took my hand in his and pulled me toward the balcony. There, I saw an easel and a cabinet full of art supplies.
“Oh my God!” I breathed.
I realized just how much I’d missed painting. I felt nostalgic and excited at the same time. Travis just reminded me what I’d been missing about myself all this time.
“I figured you’d want to start making that masterpiece of yours. Paint the world, the way you see it.”
I lunged forward and gave him a hug. “Thank you, Travis!” For years, with Chris, I’d barely bought a brush. He wasn’t fond of seeing me being idle and just painting. He never told me to stop painting, but he also didn’t encourage it. And now, I realized just how much I’d really missed it, how much I missed that part of myself.
Travis hugged me back. “You’re welcome, cherie.” Then he pulled away from me. “How did your chat with your mother go?”
I smiled at him. “Great! She cried, of course. She said she felt indebted to you forever since you’ve been taking care of me since I was…fifteen.”
He looked at me with a sober expression on his face. “And now I will take care of you for the years to come.”
“Until I find the right one,” I said, examining the canvass on the easel.
He didn’t answer. When I stared back at him, his expression was fathomless.
“Do you mind at all, Travis? That you’ll look after me for a couple years more?”
He pulled me to him again. “I’m not worried about that,” he said. “With me, I’m sure you’re taken care of. It’s after the divorce that I’m worried about.”
I stared up at him. “Why?”
“I will only give you a divorce if you are sure that you’ve found the right one. That the guy you find will give you the life you deserve.”
“And you’re willing to stay married to me until I find him? What if…I find him after five years, or ten years? Will you stand by me for that long?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
“What about your own life, Travis?”
He took a deep breath. He pulled me against his chest and inhaled through my hair. “You’re going to be my life now. Before you, I wouldn’t think about marriage at all.”
“You’re saying that because you haven’t found her yet. But someday, Trav, you will find the girl you want to spend the rest of your nights with.”
He chuckled humorlessly, as if he thought that was an offensive joke.
“I’m not kidding! When you do, you’ll want to marry her…and stay married to her for the rest of your life,” I said.
“Is that what you were looking for?” he asked. “A guy you wanted to stay married to for the rest of your life?”
I giggled. And then I nodded. “Yes. And a guy who wanted to stay married to me forever. Because he loved me…because I ignited his senses, and he couldn’t live a day without me. Not just because I forced him into this fate a long time ago.”
He fell silent for a while. Then he said, “Until you find him, I’ll stand beside you.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. I hugged Travis tighter. “Thank you, Travis.”
“For what?”
I took a deep breath. “For you.”