Chapter Fifteen

Kealen

Her cool skin blushed, sizzling up my fingertips with force. I didn't want to have to see her here, I didn't ever want her to know.

Now she did.

Jumping to her feet, the tight smirk disappeared as her hand drove into her hip. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Cut!” Marc screeched, jumping from his seat and storming over. “What the hell are you doing? That was good, all of it was so good. Why are we stopping?”

“Why?” Snapping her chin, Allie let out a sarcastic laugh, rolling her head on her shoulders. “Are you kidding me?”

Marc eyed me, then bobbled his head back to her. “Allie, let's do this in my office, not here.”

Her chuckle grew darker as her eyes enlarged. “And why's that, Marc? Is it because you forced him here too? Or are you both in on this together? Hey, where's my father? Shouldn't he be here for this grand reunion?”

Dipping my brows, I held my arms up. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Don't pretend like you don't know, it was you all along, wasn't it?” Pointing her finger between Marc and myself, Allie nodded her head. “Marc has it, don't play stupid.”

“Allie,” I said, reaching for her shoulder. But she stepped away, jerking out from under my hand. That sudden repulsion stung, it hurt to have her move away and not closer.“I really have no idea what you're talking about.”

I needed her to believe me, to trust that I wasn't lying to her. There was so much already that hadn't been said between us. But now, I was done pretending.

I was done pretending I didn't know who she was, I was done pretending that I hadn't seen her on the set the day she stormed off. And I was done letting this show control her.

When I spotted her that day on the beach, I couldn't have imagined how far she would go to try and be someone else. I had seen the stories and thought that they were probably blown way out of proportion, the same as any other sideline story about a high profile face.

But when I saw her expression dull with any question about her past, I knew it went deep.

There would be no more of that sadness in her life, no more regrets, no more assholes.

Stepping into her, I cupped her chin, forcing her to look into my eyes. Her face held mine, reading me, watching me. “You're serious?” she asked.

Thumbing her cheek, I rolled the pad of my finger under her jaw line. “Yes.” Breaching the space between us, her head tilted higher on reflex.

Allie's face fell flat, her lush lips thinning tight. “You really didn't have anything to do with that picture?”

Curling my arm around her back, I forced her into my chest. “Look, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I had nothing to do with it.” Stroking my hand down the back of her hair, I held her close.

She was right where she belonged; in my arms.

Her eyes began to water, the tiny droplets pooled under her lids, just waiting to be released with a blink.

She looked so sad, so lost and alone. I wanted to steal her pain like I had her virginity, I wanted to be the reason for her to smile and the reason she would never have to feel this awful again.

Allie's face grew hard, scrunching up tight. “Then why are you here?”

“Allie, please, let's go talk in my office.” Marc skittishly looked at the herd of paparazzi with their jaws hanging open, fanning his arm out to lead us away.

A deep giddy laugh echoed behind the crew as an arm flew up high, waving wildly in the air. “This is great, really great.” Garrett stepped through the crowd, a smug grin plastered on his face. “I only wanted to get you, Allie, never in my life did I expect to get this rat bastard too.”

I felt her body start to shake as her head ticked slowly in his direction. “You! You did this!”

Shrugging his shoulders, he let them fall weightlessly back down. “I didn't have a choice, you walked out, you were going to ruin my career. I had to do something.”

Her small frame broke free from my arms in a rage. Angrily slamming her heels into the pavement, she kicked them off. “How dare you! How could you!?” Allie's long legs flew forward, inching her closer and closer to Garrett.

“It wasn't personal, Sweetheart, it was business.” Dragging a thumb over his chin, he smiled. “Okay, maybe a little personal.” Squinting one eye, he held his fingers millimeters apart.

I was still confused over what picture she was talking about, but this asshole wasn't going to threaten her like that. The sky turned red, leaking in behind Garrett. All I could see was him and his stupid fucking smile.

Lunging forward, I snagged his shirt and yanked him in. “What the fuck did you do?”

Holding his hands up, he still had the fucking balls to keep laughing. “You mean you haven't seen it?” Cocking his head toward Marc, he spoke over my shoulder. “Wasn't that a nice little pic of him and the slut getting it on?”

It's of us!

Motherfucker!

My temper surged, flaring and embracing my muscles. Snapping my forehead, I slammed it into Garrett's nose. The soft flesh crackled as he yelped like a fucking animal stuck in a trap.

Dropping him, he fell to his knees, cupping his face and groaning in agony. I didn't even look back down at him, he could lay there for the rest of his life, I didn't give a shit.

Storming over to Marc, I latched onto his microphone and threw it the ground. “Where is it?” Balling my fists, I held them by my side, forcing them to stay static. I wanted that picture and all of the negatives. I wasn't going to let him off easy if he didn't cough it up, but I couldn't hit him before he gave them to me.

Allie stood a few feet behind me with her arms folded together. Her lips were pursed tight, brows veered deep into the bridge of her nose.

I was aware of her, even if I wasn't looking right at her. Her safety came first, I wasn't going to lose track of where she was. I couldn't imagine how angry and upset she must have been after finding out about the secret image.

And to know she thought I might have been involved stung. I would never have done that to her, it wouldn't have mattered what they offered me to get her back here.

“It's. . . It's in. . . in my office.” Marc stumbled over his words, his arms curling up into his chest like a raptor. “And you can have it, but not until after we finish this show. You two can't be together until at least a month after we finish airing.”

He looked fucking pathetic. His demeanor was poor and lacked any true testosterone. That wasn't a man standing before me, it was a fucking child. He wouldn't look me in the eyes, he wouldn't stand tall and take any action.

He just stood there expecting his weak condition to hold enough weight for me to give in. But he was wrong.

“I want it, I want all of them. Now.” Gritting my teeth, I leaned in closer. “And you can take that demand and shove it up your ass. There's no way we're doing that. Not now, not ever.” Turning to face Allie, I held out my hand for her to take.

She looked resistant, unsure if she should or not. “Kealen, the contract—”

Cutting her off, I gripped her wrist and yanked her in. “I don't care about the contract.” Grabbing her face, I forced our lips together.

I didn't care what she had to say, I didn't care about a stupid piece of fucking paper. All I cared about was making sure she was mine.

Breaking away, I watched her lids open slowly. “Allie, do you know why I'm here?” Shaking her head no, she touched her lips softly with her fingertips. “I wasn't going to come, I was never going to set foot back in that building. But when Marc texted me the show was back on, I knew I had to. I knew you were here and I had to see you again. I couldn't stand the thought of this, of you being placed into the arms of another man.”

I had signed on to do the show looking to take the next step in my life; I wanted a wife, a family. But the whole premise of the show made me rethink it. Did I really want to deflower a young girl in front of the world just to get what I wanted?

No. I was about to walk out, to never look back, then I saw her.

And when she quite, I was glad to know she couldn't go through with it either.

But I never expected to see her again, even though she was all I could think about. So finding her second time, that meant something to me, it made my feelings legit, it made them real. It forced me to think that maybe some things happen for a reason, and not by chance.

“They have a picture of us, they told me that if I did the show they wouldn't use it against us, that it would all go away. But I didn't know you were on the show, I thought the guy's name today was Fredrick.”

“Fredrick Kealen Knight, that's me.”

Marc cleared his throat, trying to interject with his terms again. “We didn't want to do this, but we needed her back. And I'm sorry, it's all true. She signed the contract and so did you, Fredrick. But Garrett is the one who gets her, not you.”

Shaking my head, I bit my lip, releasing Allie and turning to him. “That's where you're wrong, I'm the one who comes out on top. Allie isn't yours to give away, you can't decide who she gives herself to.”

Clicking his tongue, Marc's head teetered side to side. “Actually, I can. She's supposed to give herself to the winner, Garrett's the one who's going to win, so—”

“No.” The words stopped him short, slicing whatever he was about to say in half. “I read the contract, I read every line and detail.” A dark chuckle slipped free as I pointed firmly in his face. “You think you have this all figured out, but you don't. The contract says she's supposed to give it to one of the contestants, not the winner, not Garrett. I am one of the contestants, so your contract doesn't mean shit. She didn't do anything to break it.”

“Wait, wait. . .” Marc waved at the crew, calling one of the team to run out with a copy of his precious contract. His fingers shook nervously as he flipped through the pages, his eyes searching desperately for the answer.

Garrett groaned again, lifting himself to his feet. Rubbing his eyes, he wiped his hand on his shirt. “I'm the one who was going to deflower that little whore, you took that from me! You stole my prize!”

Allie started to turn to say something, but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He wasn't going to talk about her like that. Not now, not ever.

She wasn't just some piece of property or an object he bought in some store. She was mine, she was my woman. And now he was going to learn to never disrespect her again.

Lunging forward, I grabbed him by his throat, lifting him to the tips of his toes. “You want to say that again?”

Garrett's nose was already swelling, his eyes glimmering with a tint of purple. “Fred—”

“Don't.” I growled, baring my teeth. “You aren't winning shit, you got that?”

Nodding his head, Garrett held his hands out to the side, waving his white flag. Dropping him back down, I jerked my body in his direction, watching him jolt. I didn't have to do that, I already knew I had made my point loud and clear.

But it felt good to watch the fear paint his skin in white. He was an asshole, had been since I met him the first time during the auditions.

Allie came up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I felt bad for not telling her the truth, for never letting her in on my little secret. I just didn't want her to think I was only after her for the sex, that my only goal was to have what every other man craved.

Her virginity.

“I'm sorry, I should have told you.” Dipping my head, I lifted one of her hands to my lips, kissing the back of her palm.

“You don't have to say a thing.” Her hands gently touched my chest, teasing my shirt. I felt the weight of her head against the center of my back and it turned my cold heart warm again.

I was afraid she was gone, but her touch held the answer I already knew.

She was never really gone. . . Just lost for a moment.

I loved having her wrapped around me, I loved having her close, and all I wanted was to keep her there.

But for that to happen, she had to hear the words, she had to know all of it.

“No, I do. I shouldn't have acted like I was oblivious to who you were. And I should have told you that I was on the show too. But, I just couldn't.”

“Kealen, stop. I didn't tell you either, we both left out bits of our past and who we were.”

“Yeah, but it wasn't fair to you. I knew who you were, you didn't know me, you didn't know that I had already seen you well before we met on that beach. I just didn't want you to run off, afraid that I wanted you just for sex.”

Twisting me to face her, Allie curled her arms under mine, holding herself as close to me as she could. “I don't think that, I wouldn't think that. You were too nice to me to just want sex.” Arching her back, she looked up into my eyes. “But I need to know, where do we go from here?”

“Alaska. . .” Saying her full name out loud for the first time sent shivers down my spine. I hadn't been able to say it before then, having to always pretend that she was just Allie.

But she was more than her name. Alaska was beautiful, she was amazing, and she was mine.

Pinching her chin between my thumb and forefinger, I whispered so only she could hear me. “As long as you're with me, I don't care.” Lowering my lips, I hovered over hers. “I don't know if this is love, Alaska, but I'm ready to find out.”

She had dusted my world for a moment in time.

And she had stumbled back in by sheer chance.

Now. . .

Now, I'm never letting go.

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