CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Zoe strolled into her living room, two plates of chocolate cake in hand, and sat down next to Jessica. She handed one of the desserts to her friend, which Zoe had made especially for Jessica earlier that day, since this would be their last evening together for a while. Tomorrow night at Mandalay Bay was the opening of her new tour, and after that her life would be busy and chaotic for the next few months as she traveled across the country performing for her fans.
Jessica took a bite of the rich, decadent cake and sighed blissfully. “You’re so good to me, Zoe. I’m not sure I deserve you.”
“You do,” Zoe assured her friend with a smile, and ate a bite of the dessert, too. This same chocolate cake reminded Zoe of her first date with Sean, which had led to the hottest, most arousing make-out session she’d ever had the pleasure of indulging in.
Everything she did these days reminded her of Sean, and she didn’t see that ending anytime soon. Once her boutique was open, she had a feeling she’d be seeing a lot more of him at the Onyx, which would be painful, but she was determined to make it work.
“I’m going to miss you, Jess,” Zoe said, suddenly feeling a bit melancholy at the thought of not seeing her best friend on a regular basis. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know, and I feel the same way.” Jessica picked up a morsel of cake and popped it into her mouth. “But I’ll be back next week for the opening of your boutique. It might only be for a few hours, but you know I wouldn’t miss your big day for anything.”
“Thanks.” She was grateful that Jessica, as the face of ZR Designs, was able to squeeze in an appearance at the boutique to celebrate the opening. “So, how excited are you about kicking off your tour at Mandalay Bay tomorrow night?”
Jessica slanted her an anxious look. “I’m more nervous than anything else.”
“Why?” Zoe frowned in concern. “You’re not usually prone to pre-show jitters.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t usually have Noah Young sitting in the VIP section watching me,” Jessica said wryly. “He won those VIP and backstage-pass tickets at the auction.” She paused in thought. “Then again, maybe he won’t show at all.”
Realizing that the conversation had taken a serious turn, Zoe set her half-eaten cake on the coffee table in front of the couch and gave her friend her full attention. “Is that what you want? Noah to be a no-show?”
“Yes…no…” Jessica groaned in frustration. “I honestly don’t know anymore. A part of me is hoping he’ll be there, and the other part is so afraid that he won’t come at all. And if that happens, it’s a good indication that he’s done with me, for good.”
“You’re the one who walked away, Jessica,” Zoe reminded her, and she knew how badly such a rejection could sting, considering Sean had done the same to her. “If you want him in your life, you need to tell him how you feel before you go on tour.”
Jessica worried on her bottom lip. “What if he’s changed his mind? What if he’s had too much time to think about not being able to have a family of his own if we’re together and he’s moved on?”
Zoe seriously doubted that was a possibility, but she understood Jessica’s fears. Recalling the two slips of paper she’d come across just that morning, Zoe decided to share them with her best friend. “There’s something I want to show you,” she said, and headed back into the kitchen.
She opened what she fondly referred to as her junk drawer, which was filled with small miscellaneous household items she didn’t have a specific place for, and grabbed the two notes, then returned to the living room. Once she was sitting on the couch again, she presented Jessica with one of the small rectangular pieces of paper.
“Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when we had Chinese and read our fortunes from the cookies?” Zoe asked. “I must have put them in my junk drawer and found them this morning. Read yours again.”
Jessica glanced down at the writing on the paper. “‘Something you lost will soon turn up.’”
“At the time you thought you might find your favorite Cartier pen that you’d lost,” Zoe reminded her. “But I think it meant something far more personal. Like you losing Noah, then finding him again.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Come on, do you really think a Chinese fortune cookie can predict the future?”
“No, I don’t,” Zoe said with a laugh. “But I’d like to believe that you did find something you’d lost. Something precious and rare and irreplaceable. Like love, and Noah.”
Jessica hesitated as she considered what Zoe had said, then she exhaled a shaky breath. “You know what? I think you’re right.”
Zoe grinned. “Of course I am.”
“Remind me what your piece of paper says,” Jessica said, suddenly interested in dissecting Zoe’s fortune, too.
She’d fully expected her friend to turn the tables on her, which was only fair, she knew. “‘Sometimes the object of the journey is not the end, but the journey itself.’” Zoe glanced back up at Jessica. “At the time, you thought maybe it had something to do with ZR Designs and the boutique, but I think it has more to do with the journey of meeting Sean, discovering everything about my father’s past, and learning that people can and do change.”
“I like that,” Jessica said with a smile.
Zoe did, too, but she didn’t want the conversation to focus on her. “You asked me a few minutes ago what if Noah has changed his mind about you and he’s moved on. And to that I want to tell you that life is full of what-ifs, Jess. But you’ll never know the true answer to your question if you don’t give a relationship with Noah a chance. Wouldn’t you rather risk your heart one more time with Noah than spend years wondering what could have been?”
“My heart is already involved,” Jessica said, her voice emotion-filled. “Always has been. There’s been no one else for me since Noah; you know that.”
Zoe reached out and grabbed Jessica’s hand. “I do know that, but I think it’s time that you told Noah exactly how you feel about him and let him know that you’re willing to see what the future holds for the two of you.”
Jessica nodded, then tipped her head curiously at Zoe. “What about you and Sean?”
Zoe shrugged past the ache in her chest she’d been living with since Sean had walked away. “I risked my heart, and I have no regrets. You need to do the same with Noah.”
“I will,” Jessica promised, her voice infused with a newfound confidence.
Zoe smiled. “Good.” At least one of them would get the happy ending they deserved.
*
The moment Jessica stepped onstage the following evening to kick off the opening night of her new tour, the sold-out crowd packing the Mandalay Bay arena let out a deafening roar that reverberated through the entire stadium and sent a rush of adrenaline through her veins. Wearing a black beaded, skintight mini-dress and a pair of thigh-high stiletto boots—the first of a dozen costume changes she had planned for the show—she strutted along the perimeter of the stage and welcomed everyone with a wave.
“Hello, Las Vegas!” she said into her microphone. “Is everybody ready to have a great time tonight?”
Her question was met with thunderous applause and cheers of approval. As she passed the VIP section, her gaze scanned the seats, searching for the specific set of chairs that had been given to Noah as part of the VIP package he’d won.
He wasn’t there. Instead, Jessica recognized the seven-year-old girl beaming up at her as Emily, one of the patients she’d visited at the children’s hospital, with her mother sitting beside her. The only way the duo could have gotten the seats was if Noah had given his tickets to them. While it was a generous and sweet gesture on Noah’s part, the fact that he’d opted not to be at the concert on Jessica’s opening night spoke volumes.
But she had no time to dwell on the pain and disappointment of Noah’s absence, not when she had twelve thousand people to entertain. Emily waved at her, and Jessica blew the little girl a kiss just as her band played the intro to her opening number, “It’s All for You.” With a feisty toss of her wild mane of curls, she rocked the house with the upbeat tune that had everyone jumping to their feet and dancing in the aisles.
Over the next two hours there was no room in her mind for anything but the lineup of songs she performed, the numerous costume changes that were required throughout the show, and the complex choreographed routines that required her complete focus and concentration. Even after the concert ended, she spent another hour at a special meet and greet with VIP fans backstage where she signed autographs, answered questions, and had her picture taken with them.
It wasn’t until she was finally alone in her dressing room where it was quiet that she began to relax and unwind and thoughts of Noah returned. While the night hadn’t turned out the way she’d planned as far as he was concerned, she refused to give up hope that he still loved and wanted her. She needed to take a shower and change, and as soon as she did she intended to find Noah and lay her heart on the line.
The upscale changing room came with a large bathroom, complete with a shower and other necessities, which Jessica took full advantage of. Once the night’s sweat and makeup were washed away, she stepped out of the stall, dried off, and slipped into the casual cotton dress she’d brought in with her. Deciding to let her curls air-dry to save time, she exited the bathroom and came to an abrupt halt when she saw Noah standing in the middle of the room.
Shock rendered her speechless, while her heart beat double time in her chest. The slow, sexy smile curving his lips made her weak in the knees, and she knew that no matter how many years passed, he’d always have that effect on her. He was her first love, and she knew without a doubt he would also be her last and only love. There would be no other man for her except Noah. Ever.
“You were amazing tonight,” he said, his deep, husky voice adding to the slow heat of awareness building inside her. “So hot and sexy and exciting to watch.”
He’d been there tonight, and the realization made her incredibly happy, even as a half-dozen questions swirled in her head, the first of which was how in the world he had breached her tight security. “How did you get in here?”
“Simon,” he said with a sheepish shrug. “What can I say? The guy likes me.”
She shook her head, her mind still reeling with confusion. “I was hoping you’d come tonight, but I didn’t see you in the VIP section.”
“I had a regular seat.” Still standing too far away, he pushed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Granted, the section I was in wasn’t nearly as good as VIP, but I didn’t want you to see me and be distracted on your opening night, so I offered those seats to Emily and her mother.”
“That was very sweet of you,” Jessica said, recalling how excited Emily had been during the concert. Then Jessica asked the biggest question of all. “So, what are you doing here now?”
He tipped his head, his body language exuding pure male confidence. “Did you really think I was going to let you leave on tour with so much left unsettled between us?”
She swallowed hard, not sure what to make of that, considering the last time they’d been together she’d been adamant that things between them were over. “What do you mean, unsettled?”
“You being stubborn and so certain things between us just couldn’t work,” he said, still keeping his distance. “I wanted to give you time and space to come to your senses, but I have to admit that being apart was a good thing. It gave me the chance to think about what a life with you unable to have children would be like.”
Oh, God. She found it difficult to breathe, for fear that he’d come to the conclusion that her inability to give them a family was a deal-breaker for him. “And?” The one word escaped her on a croak of sound.
“I realized that there is one thing I’m absolutely certain of.” He paused for a moment, his gaze so tender and caring as it held hers. “My life isn’t complete without you in it.”
Tears filled her eyes, because she felt the exact same way about him.
He walked toward her, finally closing the distance between them until he was standing only inches away. Grabbing her hand, he placed her palm right over his rapidly beating heart, making her wonder how she could have ever doubted his love, his acceptance. This was a man who would care for her, protect her, and always be there for her.
With his free hand, he stroked his thumb gently along her jawline. “As for having kids with you…there are so many ways for us to have a family together. We can foster kids. We can adopt children who need loving parents. And then there are all those kids at the hospital who are a part of Wishes Are Forever that you absolutely adore, and who adore you. There will be no shortage of children in our lives.”
So overwhelmed with joy, she started to cry in earnest. He looked panicked, as if he feared he’d said something wrong. Or that she might turn him away again.
He framed her face in both of his hands and used his thumbs to wipe away the moisture on her cheeks. “I love you, Jessie,” he said roughly. “That’s all that matters, and if you—”
She pressed her fingers over his lips, stopping his flow of words. “Stop.”
He frowned and gently pulled her hand away. “But I’m not done.”
“Yes, you are,” she said, and managed a smile. He’d already said enough. More than enough. “You don’t need to say another word. It’s my turn to talk. I want you to know that I wasn’t going to leave on tour until I talked to you.”
“Okay,” he said hesitantly.
“I’m so sorry about the way I handled things in the past,” she said. “The only excuse I have is that I was young and scared and I thought I was doing the right thing. But there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about you, and I never stopped loving you. Whatever the future holds for us, however we’re able to have a family, I want it with you. That’s all I ever wanted.”
“It’s yours, Jessie,” he said earnestly. “I’m yours.”
And then he kissed her, slow and deep and passionate. Until she was boneless and breathless and so deliriously happy.
Once he let her up for air, she expressed one of her concerns. “My career and touring might make things difficult for us to be together on a regular basis,” she said, unsure how he felt about that.
“We’ll find a way to make it all work, guaranteed,” he promised, making it clear he was supportive of her career. “You being gone isn’t going to be for forever. I’ll fly out to see you on tour on my days off, and I have a lot of vacation time I still need to take. All that matters is that you’ll always come home to me.”
Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I will, guaranteed.”
*
Zoe finished rinsing the dinner dishes and loaded them into her father’s dishwasher. Since the incident with Sheila, Zoe had made a point of stopping by his house at least a few times a week to check up on Grant, and this evening she’d baked him a casserole, which they’d both enjoyed for dinner.
She figured in another hour she’d head home. With the opening of her boutique happening that weekend, there was so much she needed to get done. But spending time with her father had become equally important to her, especially after how close she’d come to losing him.
With the kitchen cleaned, she headed to the wet bar in the living room and poured a snifter of the cognac her father liked to drink after dinner, then took the glass to him where he was sitting in his favorite leather recliner.
“Thank you, honey,” he said with a smile. “Though I could have gotten the drink myself. I’m perfectly fine, you know.”
“Yeah, I do know,” she replied good-naturedly. Her father had received a clean bill of health from his doctor and had returned to work. The Meridian project was back in progress, and things were looking up for her father’s company, despite the embezzlement issue.
She sat down on the couch and curled her legs beneath her. “While I’m here, just let me spoil you a little bit, okay?”
Amusement danced in his eyes as he swirled the amber liquid in his glass. “Problem is, I might get used to being waited on.”
She quirked a brow at him. “In that case, you need to find yourself a wife,” she teased.
He swallowed some cognac and chuckled. “And you need to find yourself a husband to dote on, instead of me.”
Her father meant it as a joke, of course, but his comment made her heart squeeze tight and caused images of Sean to fill her head. “You’re the only man I have time for right now, Dad,” she lied. Truth was, while her days were full and busy, her nights were excruciatingly empty and lonely without Sean around. She missed not having someone to share the day’s events with, to bounce ideas off of, to be physically and emotionally intimate with.
The doorbell rang, startling Zoe from her thoughts. She glanced curiously at her father. “Were you expecting company?” A silly question, considering the only way someone could get to her father’s house was if he had given the guard at the main gate the name of the visitor.
“Yes, I am expecting someone.” Her father didn’t move from his comfortable position on the recliner. Instead, he focused on his drink and said, “Would you mind getting the door?”
She narrowed her gaze. “I thought you said you were perfectly fine and didn’t want me waiting on you.”
“I know what I said, but the person at the door is more for you than me.”
Curious now, she got to her feet and headed to the foyer just as the person rang the doorbell again. She opened the door and wondered if she was dreaming. A wonderful, sexy dream starring the man who’d become a part of her heart and soul.
Pulse racing, she blinked again, but the apparition didn’t disappear, which told her the man standing in front of her was flesh-and-blood real. “Sean?”
He smiled past the nervousness she saw in his eyes. “Hi, Zoe.”
Still, she stared at him, trying to make sense of what he was doing at her father’s house.
“Invite him in, honey,” Zoe heard her father say from the living room. “He’s welcome here.”
She snapped herself out of her shock and opened the door wider for him to enter. “Yes, come in.”
Sean followed her into the adjoining room. Her father stood from his chair, and Sean walked up to Grant and shook his hand. “Hello, sir.”
Grant nodded in a friendly greeting. “Good to see you, Sean.”
What was going on? Head spinning with confusion, she looked at her father. “What is he doing here?”
“He called me at work today and we had a nice chat about things that had happened in the past and, most important, you,” her father said, though he didn’t get into specifics. “When I told Sean you were coming over for dinner tonight, he asked if he could stop by to talk to you.”
She switched her gaze back to Sean, realizing there was something different about him but unable to put her finger on what it was that had changed. “Why didn’t you just call and tell me you wanted to talk to me?”
He shifted on his feet, looking more uncertain than she’d ever seen him. “Considering how we parted ways at the hospital, I wasn’t sure you’d want to talk to me.”
“On that note, I’m going to retire upstairs and let the two of you work things out.” Grant walked over to Zoe, pressed a light kiss on her cheek, and said in a low voice, “He’s a good man, Zoe, and he deserves a second chance.”
She had no idea what her father and Sean had discussed on the telephone, but she didn’t need her dad to tell her what kind of man Sean was. She already knew. But it was nice to know that her father thought highly of Sean, respected him even.
Once her dad was gone, she folded her arms over her chest and faced Sean again, waiting patiently for him to speak.
After a moment, he did. “When I took on this case through The Reliance Group, my main goal was to find your father and deal out a bit of justice for what he did to my dad,” Sean began, his intense blue eyes bright and clear. “But instead I met the sweetest, most amazing woman. A woman with the ability to believe the best in the people she cared about. Including me. That’s never happened before.”
With each word he spoke she felt herself relax, felt the tension drain from her body, and she couldn’t resist stating the obvious. “That’s because you hadn’t met the right woman before me,” she said, injecting a bit of humor into the conversation.
“So true,” he admitted, and grinned. “You saw the good in me, even when I didn’t think there was anything decent left because of the things I’d done in the past.”
“What changed?” she asked, needing to know.
“I paid a visit to my father in prison and we had a long-overdue heart-to-heart about a lot of things. It made me realize I was hanging on to a lot of shit that just doesn’t matter anymore and it was past time to let it go and move on with my life.”
For Sean, the revelation was huge. “Did you figure out what does matter?”
“You,” he replied without hesitation, his voice stronger and more certain than she’d ever heard it before. He approached her and clasped both of her hands in his bigger, stronger ones, holding on tight. “You matter. And what I feel for you matters.”
Hope swelled in her heart, filling it to overflowing. “I like the way that sounds.”
It was then that she realized what was different about Sean. He was calmer now, more at peace with the man he was. The blame and recriminations he’d carried with him for so long were gone, and she knew he’d finally forgiven himself for the past.
“I want you in my life, Zoe,” he said, entwining their fingers so they were intimately connected. “I need you in my life. You make me want to be a better man. A great husband, and the best father possible.”
Before she could respond to that, he dropped to one knee in front of her and pushed his hand into his front pocket, trying awkwardly to retrieve something from inside.
Unable to make sense of his sudden move, she frowned. “What are you doing?”
“I’m only going to do this once in my lifetime, so I want to do it right,” he said seriously, and finally withdrew a small black velvet box.
Picking up her left hand, he flipped open the top of the jeweler’s box and presented her with a generous-sized diamond solitaire engagement ring. “Will you marry me, Zoe Russo?” he asked, his voice wavering ever so slightly with nerves. “Will you be my wife, the mother of our children, and the woman I spend the rest of my life with?”
She was so shocked by his unexpected proposal, so elated, she couldn’t speak.
“I’ve already talked to your father, and he gave us his blessing,” Sean rushed on to assure her. “All you need to do is say yes.”
Not that she needed her father’s permission to accept Sean’s proposal, but it was nice to know her dad approved of the man she planned to marry.
“With you by my side, I know I can have all the things I never believed I deserved,” he said when she took too long to give him an answer. “A real home. A complete family. Love and total acceptance.”
Seeing just how anxious he was, she knelt in front of him on the carpeted floor, so that they were face-to-face and on equal ground, which was how she intended for their life together to be. Equal, in all ways.
She reached out, laid her palm against his cheek, and smiled. “Yes, Sean O’Brien. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Thank God,” she heard him mutter, right before he slipped the ring on her finger. Then he slid his hand around to the back of her neck and brought her mouth to his for a hungry, possessive, forever kind of kiss.
Losing herself in the wonderful, splendid moment, she fisted her fingers in his shirt and tipped backward, so that she was flat on her back and he was on top of her, right where she wanted him to be. She moaned as he settled his hips between her thighs and gasped as his hand squeezed her breast.
Even as the heat of desire spiked inside of her, she realized that there was one very important thing missing from his proposal. She tangled her fingers in his hair and slowly, reluctantly, pulled his head back until he was staring down at her.
“I think there’s still something left for you to say,” she said huskily.
He thought long and hard, then understanding dawned in his eyes. “‘I love you’?”
She laughed in amusement. “Is that a question?”
“Hell, no. It’s the truth.” He grinned, looking like a man who had everything he wanted in life and more. “I love you, Zoe Russo. And damn, but it feels good!”
She sighed, the sound blissful even to her own ears. “Yeah, it does feel good, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t you have something to say to me, too?” He gave her a mock-stern look.
She bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing again when he was trying to be so serious. “I love you, too,” she said, staring up at his gorgeous face. “But you already knew that.”
“Yeah, I did,” he said as he lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. “I just like hearing you say it.”
He kissed her again, the intoxicating blend of passion and emotion heightening the pleasure escalating within her. His hands moved over her body, seeking, caressing, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, groaning as the hard length of him caused a scintillating heat and friction between her thighs that made her restless and wild.
She wanted him naked, and she wanted him inside her.
With a low, deep growl, he tore his mouth from hers. He was breathing hard, and the hot need blazing in his eyes told her he wanted the same thing.
“We need to get out of here, because there are so many inappropriate things I want to do to you right now,” he said, his voice vibrating with the sexy threat. “And for that we need a whole lot of privacy.”
She shivered, knowing they had a lot of great sex to make up for. Knowing, too, that her father would understand when he found them gone.
“Then what are you waiting for?” she asked as she gave Sean a sassy, sexy smile. “Take me home.”
Thank you for reading TAKE A CHANCE. I hope you enjoyed Sean and Zoe’s story!
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