Nick's heart swelled at the sight of her. She had a little smudge of dirt on her cheek. His precious, uptight, perfectly imperfect girl had dirt on her face.

Maybe they'd both changed after all.

He knew he had.

The look on her face was changing from disbelief to- something else- he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But she hadn't slammed the door in his face. That was a start, if nothing else.

"Hi Nick."

He exhaled with relief. He'd been unconsciously holding his breath. She had used his name. That was a good sign.

He said a silent prayer of thanks to the good lord above. And also his mum, who had encouraged him to drop everything and come after her.

Not that he was ever going to do anything else.

"Can I come in please?”

She nodded and stood aside. She was wearing jeans and a ratty old sweater over a rock t-shirt. He recognized it as the one he'd bought for her in Camden market.

So she had kept one of his gift’s after all.

A very good sign indeed.

He held out the flowers after she'd closed the door.

"I was sorry to hear about your father."

She took the flowers and lifted her gorgoues eyes to his.

"Thanks Nick. You didn't have to come just because of that."

"I didn't."

She was staring back at him with a look that mirrored his own. Cautiously optimistic.

“Please, come inside.”

He trailed her through the well-kept home. It was full of dated furniture and hadn't been changed in twenty years. But it was sparklingly clean and inviting all the same.

Cozy.

He liked it he realized. Better than that cold empty house he had overlooking the Pacific.

"I wrote a new song."

"That's good, Nick. You should be writing."

She was putting his flowers into a vase. He noticed how careful she was with them. She acted as if they were roses from the finest florist in London, instead of flowers he'd picked along the roadside while he gathered his nerve.

"It's called ‘Cold Mistress.' Do you want me to play it for you?"

She glanced at him.

"Not right now. But thanks."

"I've been thinking I should stop touring. Get back into the studio. It's been years since I released anything."

She gestured to the kitchen table and he sat.

"I think that's a great idea, Nick. Do you want coffee?"

He shook his head.

"Tea?"

"I'm fine. Are you going to offer me anything else?"

She gave a startled laugh from where she was leaning against the counter. He knew she was keeping minimum safe distance between them. Not that he blamed her.

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't the old expression 'coffee, tea or me'?"

She gasped and looked away. Maybe he'd read her wrong. But he had no choice. There was no turning back now. He had to forge ahead, or risk losing her forever.

Lord knows he deserved the pain after what he’d done to her. His guts had felt chewed out when he realized the implications. He had gone too far with her, again and again.

"I didn't sleep with those girls you know. The triplets. Or anyone else. I was just trying to make you jealous."

She lifted her eyes to his and smiled wryly.

"It worked."

He was on his feet in an instant.

"I'm sorry I got you fired. I was so upset- so hurt- but it was despicable.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Jerry is going to offer you your job back. I told him he had to or I would leave the label."

She shook her head.

“Thank you Nick, but no. I don't want to go back."

He reached out for her, running his hands up and down her arms.

"What do you want, Brina?"

She took a shaky breath and looked at him.

"I don't know."

"I have a job for you if you'll have it."

She gave him a fragile smile. Tentative and sweet.

"You do?"

He nodded solemnly.

"I need a new manager for starters. Marley is marrying one of my housemaids and moving to Argentina to make babies.”

“Argentina?”

“Yes, love. He’d been planning it for a while and decided to kick me when I was down. He asked her over the bloody phone.”

"That's a long flight."

He laughed, keeping his hands moving. Soothing her. Trying to project his love from his palms directly into her body.

"That's right, it is."

"I've never managed anyone, Nick. I'd probably mess it up. And I don’t need the charity.”

"Wait now, you haven't heard my full offer."

She sighed. But she hadn’t smacked him. This was going better than he expected.

"Okay."

"I've been thinking about starting my own label as well. I need someone to run it. And me. Really, that’s what I’m after. I could find another manager. But I need some sorting out on the home front. I’m a bit rough around the edges, don’t you think?”

She gave him a glance.

"What are you asking, Nick?"

"I'm bloody well asking you to marry me, aren't I?"

She stared at him as he pulled out a Cartier box. He'd had the damn thing since Paris. He’d bought the ring the moment he saw it.

"Nick…"

"Hush and let me do this thing properly."

She waited while he lowered himself to his knee. He pulled the ring out of the box. It was a dark blue sapphire that matched her eyes perfectly. It was surrounded by diamonds. He glanced up at her, hoping she'd like it.

"Miss Sabrina Newton, will you be my manager?"

She laughed and covered her face.

"No, sorry, that's not right. Let's try this again. Miss Sabrina Newton, will you run my record company for me? We can base it right here if you want. I don't care where we live. Anywhere you want. Mars. I don't care."

She was crying a little bit while he blundered through the longest proposal in the history of the world.

"Oh, bloody hell. No more joking. Will you marry me, love? Please? I'll do anything."

For a moment, he thought she was going to say no. He held his breath, refusing to exhale until he had his answer. And then she nodded and he scooped her up into his arms and spun her in a circle.

He only set her down when he started to get dizzy. His sweet girl looked a little green around the gills herself. Right, no more spinning then. He slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her.

"I thought you were going to say no."

"I thought you were trapped under a pile of groupies."

He threw his head back and laughed.

"No love, those days were over the moment I met you."

"Really?"

"Yes really. I've had no interest in other women since you handed me that first bloody schedule."

She smiled.

"You know, running a record label requires a lot of public appearances…"

"Oh, no you don't. No more appearances until the wedding. That's public enough. Can we do it in London, love? Or maybe just outside the city, in a cute little town. It would mean so much to me mum. Don't worry, we can take the boat over."

She nodded shyly. His beautiful girl. She was finally going to be officially his girl.

Once and for all.

And he wasn't ever going to let her go.

* * *

A trail of clothing led up the stairs. Nick was still trying to get his trousers off when he saw her childhood bedroom. It was a soft pink, with floral bedding. It looked like a typical little girl’s room, sweet and fluffy. That’s until you saw the concert t-shirts tacked to the wall, along with posters from some of the tightest bands in rock.

He grinned, seeing two of his posters up with the rest.

Sabrina gave him a look as he maneuvered her onto the bed.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Come on love, let me have my moment.”

She sighed heavily, gasping as their naked bodies collided. He tweaked her nipple, with a whispered ‘please?’

“Fine.”

He nibbled his way down her delicious body, settling his shoulders between her thighs.

“So you were a fan, then?”

He leaned forward to nibble on her gorgeous pussy while she attempted to answer.

“I told you I… oh, Nick!”

He slid his tongue inside her, fucking her with his mouth. He pulled out all the stops, even spelling out ‘I love you’ after he did the entire alphabet. His girl was trembling on the tiny twin bed, everything else forgotten.

He was smiling as he climbed back up her body, kissing every inch of her. But he couldn’t wait to get inside her. He was already using every bit of control just to hold back this long.

The time for holding back was over. It was time to unleash the beast. The jealous, lonely beast who had thought he’d lost her forever. The one person who got him. The only one who could make him a man again.

He gripped the headboard, the thick wood feeling sturdy under his hands. He slid into her sweetness, groaning in ecstasy as her body undulated around him.

Easy does it… go slow… and then he was in. All the bloody way in and it felt incredible. He stared down at his woman, feeling that all was right in the world.

“Nick… oh God… please…”

With a low grunt, he slowly pulled out and thrust back into her. Again. Again. He went from zero to sixty. He could not slow down. Could not tenderly make love to her. Could not stop, even if the walls came down around him.

In the end, it was the headboard that cracked, not the walls.

He was driving into her, pouring all the love and desire and fear in his heart into her with a roar.

Just as they both started to peak, a loud crack filled the room. They’d cracked the bloody headboard.

But he still didn’t stop for a second. Not until his cock had stopped pulsating. Not until her convulsions had slowed.

She was breathless, still shuddering in his arms when she spoke.

“What was that?”

He grinned, rolling them to their sides.

“We finally did what I’ve been wanting to do since the moment I set eyes on you.

“You didn’t even like me!”

“Oh love, you are sorely mistaken.”

She giggled, snuggling closer. Not that he gave her a choice. His arm was locked around her like a vise.

“So, what did you finally do?”

“We broke the bed, love.”

He smothered her startled laugh with his lips.

Next time, they broke the footboard.