Two Months Later
Ally knew Travis was on his way, and she whispered her usual countdown.
“Five…
“Four…
“Three…
“Two…
“One…”
She sighed as she watched her handsome husband walk through the door of his office, dressed in one of her favorite dark suits, and shooting her the wickedly gorgeous grin that always made her heart start doing cartwheels inside her chest.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said gruffly, his eyes roaming over her possessively.
“Good morning, Mr. Harrison,” she responded mischievously. “Let me get you some coffee.” Ally was always willing to go get his coffee when he greeted her like that, which he hadn’t failed to do on any day since they’d returned from Colorado.
Most days, they rode to work together, but Travis had had an early morning meeting, so Ally had driven herself in her new vehicle. Travis had gotten her a Ferrari F12 as a wedding gift, a surprise that she hadn’t quite recovered from yet, although they’d been married a month ago in a small ceremony at his home. Even though the wedding had been small, it had been the most beautiful event of her life, the day she was joined with the man she knew she’d love forever and beyond. Asha, Mia, Maddie, and Kara had all pitched in to get it planned quickly, and they’d had all their family and closest friends at the ceremony and reception, which was everything Ally had ever wanted or dreamed of for a wedding. Of course, Travis had needed to have the best of everything for the wedding, and had shocked her later with a new F12.
Ally was pretty sure he was still anxious about her driving a fast car, and he’d texted her twice to make sure she’d made it safely to work, reminding her to watch her speed. If she was honest, she hadn’t been able to resist using a little of the enormous power of the vehicle, but only reasonably so, because she was still a little nervous about driving a car that damn expensive.
Travis had taken her out to his racetrack, but Ally hadn’t yet seen him use the superb racing skills that she knew he was capable of exhibiting when she was in the car. She teased him about driving like a little old man in some of his fastest cars, but he just grumbled that he wasn’t risking her life by doing suicidal speeds when she was with him. But she loved the exhilarating feeling of speed when Travis was doing his track runs, even if she knew he drove a hell of a lot faster on them when she wasn’t around.
Ally grabbed them both a cup of coffee and brought them into his office so they could have their morning discussion about business. She looked at him, his expression now pensive. “Are you okay?” Ally asked, concerned. He’d looked so happy a few minutes ago.
“I have something for you,” he said slowly, his voice low and serious as he added, “Please don’t get mad.”
Ally quirked a brow at him, wondering if he was referring to some of her lectures about buying her things she didn’t need. After her house had been destroyed, Travis bought, and bought, and bought for her, even when he knew she’d eventually get an insurance settlement to replace the things she really needed. And he hadn’t stopped yet, many of the things he was buying way more than she needed.
“I probably won’t get mad,” Ally told him patiently, although she always left herself some wiggle room in case he went over the top.
“You might,” Travis warned her, holding out an envelope to her. “This is for you.”
A little alarmed by the serious expression on his face, she hopped up and took the letter, looking immediately at the return address, recognizing the name immediately. “Why would I be getting something from them?” she asked quietly, perplexed as she opened the envelope, and then slipped her reading glasses from the top of her head and put them on.
As she started reading the enclosed letter, her knees gave way and she had to sit to complete the rest of the correspondence. “Oh my God. This isn’t real. It’s a hoax.” It was a notification that the first book in her young adult fantasy series had won one of the most prestigious awards possible for an unpublished manuscript. “I didn’t ever submit to them.”
“I did.” Travis’s voice was low and anxious. “But it was all you, Ally. None of the judges know who the manuscript belongs to and I swear I didn’t interfere. I just submitted it. What does the letter say?”
Ally’s eyes flew to his face, astonished. “It says I won first place, book of the year for an unpublished manuscript.” Her hands were trembling as she got up and handed him the letter, watching as he scanned the brief notification.
He grinned up at her. “I knew you’d win.”
If Travis was telling her he hadn’t made this happen, that she had won on her own merit, she knew it was true. If there was one thing Travis didn’t ever do, it was blatantly lie. He might have avoided the truth in the past, but he’d never lie to her about something like this. “You submitted for me?” Ally said huskily, her voice clogged with tears. Just the fact that Travis thought about doing something like that was amazing. She knew he had faith in her, but this was incredible.
“Are you angry?” He sounded nervous. “I know I should have asked you first, but I didn’t think you’d do it. And I knew you’d win.”
“I probably wouldn’t have,” Ally admitted, knowing she’d grown emotionally a great deal since she’d broken off her relationship with Rick. Still, submitting her manuscript for such a prestigious award would have been daunting, and it honestly probably wouldn’t have even occurred to her to do so.
“I wanted you to have official validation that your work is fantastic from people who wouldn’t be biased. People other than me.”
Ally got up and walked around the desk, and threw her arms around his neck. He seized her body immediately, pulling her into his lap.
“I’m not mad,” she told him tearfully, still so amazed at the strength and thoughtfulness of the man she had married.
“I just want you to be happy, Ally. I know you said you still wanted to stay here and work with me, but I want you to do whatever you want to do, reach for whatever dreams you have. You can finish your MBA, or write more award-winning novels now that everyone in publishing will be wanting to put out your books. I don’t care what it takes to make you happy. I’ll do it,” Travis said fiercely, his grip tightening around her waist. “As long as you’re always mine.”
“I’m already ecstatically happy, Travis, because you love me.” She brushed an errant lock of hair from his forehead. “And I don’t want to go back to college for my MBA anymore. I think I was studying business because it was safe, normal. I do want to write, and I want to be with you and make you happy. Those are my only two dreams now. And someday I’d like to have a child.”
“Sweetheart, I’m already happy. And I’m more than willing to do overtime to work on that baby dream,” he told her enthusiastically.
Ally smiled, knowing if he worked any harder at that, she’d be exhausted. Travis was already insatiable. And really, she loved her job at Harrison now that her husband wasn’t the billionaire boss from Hell anymore. “I’d like to stay, unless you want another assistant. I can write in the evenings and weekends when you’re busy. And you did promise me you’d take me everywhere with you. I can write anywhere.”
“Thank God,” Travis replied fervently, placing his forehead on her shoulder, relieved. “I doubt I could find anyone else to put up with me, and I wasn’t sure how I’d make it through an entire day without you here. I need you, Ally.”
Ally’s heart clenched, knowing he meant that he needed her in more ways than just an assistant. And she needed him, too. Maybe as the two of them got used to their intense relationship that left them both feeling vulnerable, they’d feel differently. But right now, Ally was exactly where she wanted to be.
“I’d never get another job with such great fringe benefits,” Ally told him teasingly. “And it would be sad if you started hating your desk again.” She reached out and stroked a hand over the polished wood.
Travis growled and stood, lifting her onto the desk in front of him. “I think I need a reminder of just how much I love it.” His expression was wicked as he started unbuttoning her blouse.
“Mr. Harrison, you have a meeting shortly,” Ally reminded him sternly.
“They can wait. I’m the damn boss,” he rasped.
Ally reached out and started unbuttoning his shirt, needing to touch his heated skin. “I need to touch you,” she murmured, her heart so full of love that she was afraid it was going to burst.
“Fuck. Then I’ll probably make it to the meeting on time,” he said harshly. “You know what happens when you do that.”
“Then kiss me,” she asked him sweetly.
Travis looked down at her, his eyes dark and swirling with emotion. “I love you, Ally.”
Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the intensity in his eyes as she replied, “I love you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, abandoning his buttons to sink into Travis’s passionate embrace.
He was still late for his meeting, but when he finally did arrive, he shocked his employees by entering the conference room with an enormous smile on his face. Halfway through the meeting, Travis’s phone blasted a loud, upbeat musical tone. Every face around the conference table was stunned when, instead of being irritated about Ally changing the ringtone on his phone…Travis Harrison actually laughed.