Epilogue: Ella

One Month Later

I swayed my hips on stage as the song I’d arranged fell effortlessly from my lips. Men were drooling and staring, throwing money for me onto the stage while I slowly walked around collecting it. The audience I’d garnered over the past three months provided me with enough income to quit my waitressing job and still have enough to afford the renovations on my apartment. Foster had kept his promise on paying the out-of-pocket difference, and with each lucrative night I had singing I came closer and closer to being able to pay for my dream home outright.

No loans, no debt, no nothing.

Which was especially helpful since I found out that I was pregnant.

I wasn’t showing yet, so I was still able to perform. I had told the owner of the club earlier that evening, and because of my fan base that I created, he was happy to keep me on staff, even after the baby was born.

I had told Foster right after I took my pregnancy test, and to my surprise he was ecstatic about it. I couldn’t believe I was excited as well, but I truly was. I never thought that I wanted kids, until that pregnancy test came back positive. Now it was all I could think about. I was going to start a family with Foster, and I couldn’t be happier.

The song faded to an end and the crowd roared and hollered. I took a small little bow, keeping my mysterious smirk plastered onto my face before I turned around to head offstage. I caught some movement at the corner of the stage, a man with a broad smile and flowers in his hand, and I became excited when I realized it was Foster.

Foster had come to see me perform.

I sauntered offstage before I raced back into the dressing room. I put on my robe before I pushed through the doors, and Foster was there waiting for me in the hallway. I ran to him, a massive smile on my face, and he picked me up and swung me around in his arms before he peppered kisses in the crook of my neck.

“You were fabulous,” he said.

“I take it the roses are for me?” I asked.

“But, of course.”

I took the bouquet from his hands and took a deep sniff of their scent. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as I felt Foster’s arm wrap around my back, then I felt his lips Ella the shell of my ear. I shivered at his touch, becoming weak in the knees as my body leaned into his strength. I was so glad I was done for the night. I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d make it back up onto the stage feeling like this.

“Have dinner with me tonight,” he said.

I got changed quickly and we headed to a late dinner, but I could tell something was on his mind. The car ride was fairly silent even though I tried to fill it with conversation, and it wasn’t until we sat down for dinner that I saw his wall drop. His eyes hung heavily upon mine as I grew nervous in my seat, and for a split second I thought something had happened with the renovations.

The question that flew from his lips, however, stunned me into silence.

“I want you to move in with me,” he said.

I sat there, studying him as the flowers sat on the edge of the table. My mind whirled with all the implications that would mean, but my gut reaction was to smile. Tears pooled around my eyes and I felt my hands beginning to shake, and it took me a second to gather my thoughts before I could give him my answer.

“My condo isn’t even done yet,” I said.

“You could redo my place, if you’d like.”

“I was kind of liking the furnishings you guys were installing in the place. I’m not sure if The Conrad could keep up,” I said, winking.

“You could make it your own. Repaint the walls. Redecorate. Add a nursery. Switch out all the furniture for all I care. Just… move in with me, Ella.”

“Hmmm… I don’t know. I might have to go back and get a good look at the place.”

“You mean you haven’t already?” he asked.

“I’ve gotten a good look at the pillows on your bed,” I said, smirking.

“Fine. We can get our dinner to-go.”

The chef packed up our ordered dinner and we headed back to his apartment. We sailed all the way up The Conrad to the 36th floor before the elevator dumped us out into his home, and immediately I began to clock things I wanted to change.

“There’s just so much… white,” I said. “I’ll get lipstick everywhere.”

“Then change it all to crimson so it blends in,” he said.

“And the gray is so striking. Maybe a mute color, like tan or champagne.”

“Anything you want,” he said behind me.

“And your tub is beautiful, but it doesn’t have jets. We’ll definitely have to replace it with one that has jets.”

“I’ll buy you a fleet of jets if it’ll make you stay,” he said.

“Oh, I don’t want airplanes, Foster,” I said, turning around. “I just want to enjoy relaxing evenings with you, and our child.”

“Does that mean you’ll move in?” He walked towards me, stalking me slowly as my eyes danced between his. I felt my body flush in his wake, rising to attention as my nipples began to harden underneath my bra. His hands slipped around my waist, pulling me close to his raging cock I could feel growing underneath his pants.

I stood on my tiptoes and brought my lips to his before I whispered the answer that would change my life forever.

“I guess so.”

His lips captured mine and my hands flew to his hair. His arms cloaked my back, bending me backwards as the moonlight above the city painted our bodies in its glow. Our tongues danced, licking each other like licks of fire reach for the wind, and suddenly I felt myself being lifted off my feet. In Foster’s arms, I didn’t simply feel beautiful. I felt wanted.

Safe.

Important.

“What’s your opinion of my bed?” he asked.

“I suppose it’s not bad. Though, I might need a second look at the frame. That might need changing.”

“Then why don’t we go take a look at it?” he asked deviously.

“Under one condition.”

“Anything,” he said.

“Never let me go.”

His eyes softened for just a second before his lips lightly landed upon mine. This time, the kiss was less hurried. Less forceful and more sensual. My body keened into his as his arms pulled me closer into his chest, and suddenly I felt my body come alive. I was about to start this new leg of my life with a man I simply couldn’t get enough of.

The words that fluttered from his lips to mine warmed me in ways I’d never experienced before. They solidified for me every choice I’d made in my life up until this point, and they made me more comfortable and excited for the future I was embarking upon. This man had captured every single part of me, and I knew for a fact he would do everything in his power to protect the woman he was cradling into his body.

“You never have to worry about that.”