Did I actually wake up before him? I softly kiss his chest as I lift up on my forearms to see his face. He’s sleeping peacefully, and I can’t help but stare. I roll over and look at the clock. It’s almost nine.
“Shit!” I jump out of bed and run to the bathroom naked. I’m supposed to meet Fabian at ten and it’s a forty-minute drive. I’m never late! Never!
I run back and forth between the bathroom and the closet, pulling on a new pair of underwear, putting toothpaste on my brush, stuffing it in my mouth, and clasping my bra.
I glance at the bed as I rush past and Fisher is up on his elbows watching me. He has a ridiculous smile on his face.
“It’s not funny! I’m late!”
“I wasn’t laughing. I was admiring.”
I spit my toothpaste in the sink and rush into the closet. Yoga pants for a movie meeting? No. Fuck! What do I wear? I grab a pair of dress pants and sit on the edge of the bed, praying I can zip them. They slide on perfectly. I guess being too sad to eat has its perks.
“Your tits look amazing when you run.”
I roll my eyes at him but silently cheer that anything looks good on me naked.
Heading back into the closet, I grab a blouse and rush back to the bathroom. Where’s my dry shampoo? God bless the person who invented it.
Fisher leans on the bathroom door completely naked and crosses his arms. I stare at his reflection in the mirror and bite my lip.
“Don’t rush. You’ll be fine.”
“You don’t understand. I was supposed to look through videos and pictures last night to find a new Penn and I completely forgot. Fabian wants to tell his boss we found a replacement for—” I stop and turn to face him.
“What?”
I drop my hairbrush in the sink and take his hands.
“What’s going on?”
“How much do you love me?”
He grins. “I thought we covered that last night. Do you want me to show you again?”
“Would you do me a really big favor?” I pull his hands against my breasts.
He glances down. “Absolutely.”
“Be Penn.”
“No.”
“Fisher, please!”
“Greer, we discussed this the last time you brought it up. From the day I read that first page that job meant nothing to me. I’m not going to risk losing you again.”
“You won’t. Please?”
“I love you and I’d do anything for you. But I won’t do that.”
I try to avoid singing Meatloaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” but it’s no use. It’s in my head now. “Fabian was so angry with me. They loved you. They wanted you so bad their mouths were salivating. Fabian hasn’t told the director yet because I was supposed to find Penn last night. I did find him. At the airport.”
He rubs his face with his hands and walks back into the bedroom, bending over to get his boxers.
“Do you have another job lined up?”
He pulls them on and sits on the bed. “Not yet.”
I get down on my knees in front of him.
“Greer, stand up. Don’t do that.”
“Patrick Fisher, I made a huge mistake. I assumed all men were alike and I was wrong. You’re not like other men. The truth is you’re better than any man I could have ever written. All other book boyfriends I try to write and all book boyfriends I try to read will forever fail to compare to what I get to kiss at the end of the night.”
He huffs out my name. “Greer . . .”
“I always thought this was a fantasy: the butterflies, the phone sex, the dates that end with sweet kisses, and the guy who always seems to say exactly what I want to hear, until I met you.”
“Greer!”
“Shh. Let me finish. You stepped out of a book and showed me reality was better than fiction. You’re the real deal, Fisher. And there’s no other man in the world who could be Penn. There’s no other man like him because he’s based off of you. I used to say he was you, but that’s not true. He has nothing on you, you’re way better.”
“Can I say something?”
“No. Wait. You would slay this part. You’d be amazing. Hell, I’ll even tell the world I wrote the book off of one night with you. Then I’ll spend the rest of my life beating off women with a stick. Just please think about it. Don’t say no.”
“Are you finished?” he asks.
“Yes.” I lower my head, defeated.
“I tried to say yes the minute you got on your knees, but you wouldn’t let me. Don’t ever get on your knees in front of me again unless we’re being intimate. You should never, ever have to beg me to give you anything. Everything I have is yours, including my heart.”
“Really?” I jump up and tackle him on the bed. “You’ll do it?”
“If it’s what you want and you’re sure it will never come between us.”
“It’s what I want.” I kiss his face repeatedly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
He laughs as he spins me around so I’m underneath him. “Just promise me that if anything is bothering you, you’ll tell me. And there will never be any need to beat anyone with a stick. I only want you.”
I lift my head and kiss his lips. I try to deepen the kiss, but he breaks it. “I guess I’d better get dressed. Looks like I’m coming with you.”
I gaze into his eyes and see my love for him reflected back at me. “You’re definitely coming, but I think I’m okay with being a little late after all.”
He presses his lips to mine and all is right with the world. Maybe the law of attraction is true after all. I wrote an amazing man and the world one upped me. I can live with that.
Time doesn’t heal all wounds. But Patrick Fisher is the best Band-Aid I could have ever hoped for.
Book boyfriends are fun, but real men are even better.
The End