Valorous(40)

With his hands on my shoulders, he turns me to face him. “Where do you think this is heading? I’d marry you today if I didn’t think it was too soon for you.”

“Oh. You would?”

He frames my face in his big hands and kisses me. “You bet your ass I would. I want you to be mine, forever and always. I want to know that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. I don’t think I’ll be able to truly relax where you’re concerned until my ring is on your finger.”

“Flynn… You take my breath away.”

“Is that a yes?”

“So wait, that was a proposal?” My heart is beating so fast, I place my hand over it, hoping to calm it.

“It was more of a fishing expedition. The actual proposal will be much more romantic than that and will include an absolutely stunning ring—a ring that will do justice to the woman I love and want to spend my life with. So no, that wasn’t an official proposal. But if it had been, hypothetically… What might your answer be?”

I love him so much when he shows me his vulnerability and that he takes nothing for granted where I’m concerned. “My answer would be…”

“Fuck, Nat! You’re killing me here.”

“Yes. I would say yes a thousand times over.”

He lifts me into a kiss. “Only a thousand?”

“A hundred million.”

After another kiss, he says, “That’s a good number, and it’s about what you’ll be worth once you say ‘I do.’”

“I don’t care about that. I hope you know—”

Another kiss. “I do, sweetheart. I know.” He returns me to terra firma and holds me close. “Did we just talk about what I think we talked about?”

“I think we did. And despite what you think, I’d marry you today, too.”

“I love you, Nat. I was so f*cking proud of you during that interview. You amaze me every day, and all I can think about is keeping you forever, right here in my arms where you belong.”

“There’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be.”

“Not even in New York with your class?”

I think about that for a second, but it doesn’t take even that long for me to decide. “Not even there.”

His arms tighten around me until I can barely breathe. But who needs air when Flynn Godfrey is professing his eternal love?

A knock on the door interrupts the moment, but he only releases me partially, keeping an arm around my shoulders. “Come in.”

Addie ducks her head in. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“Were you able to get it?” Flynn asks.

“Please… Of course I was.”

“I apologize for doubting you.”

I have no idea what they’re talking about.

Addie comes in and hands a package and a piece of paper to Flynn.

I do a double take when I see my photo on the page. “What is that?”

“That, my love, is your newly issued State of California driving permit. Today you’re learning how to drive.”





Chapter 8





She’s so nervous her hands are shaking as she takes the wheel in the silver Mercedes sedan she admired when we were here for the Globes. I told her it was hers to use whenever we were in LA, and that’s when she said she didn’t know how to drive.

My poor sweet Natalie missed so many of the rites of passage the rest of us take for granted, and I want to make it all up to her, starting with teaching her how to drive.

“What if I hit something or damage the car? You love your cars.”

From the passenger seat, I take hold of her hand and wait for her to look at me. “I don’t love my cars anywhere near as much as I love you.”

Raising a brow, she says, “Even the Bugatti?”

She’s bringing out the big guns. I swallow hard. “Even the Bugatti.”

She loses it laughing. “You lie. You love that car more than anything.”

“No, sweetheart, I love you more than anything. The cars are things. They can all be replaced. And they’re insured. Fully insured.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive. I want you to know how much fun it is to drive and to be able to go anywhere you want whenever you want.”

In a nearby SUV is the security detail that’s sticking close to us until the story about Natalie’s past gets knocked out of the headlines by someone else’s scandal. We’re in the Quantum parking lot, where there’s plenty of extra room to practice the basics.