“I know. I just . . . I just need more time. Please be patient with me.”
“Okay.” Luke conceded her request, but his jaw ticked in frustration, betraying his facade.
“I mean it. You said I was worth waiting for . . . don’t take that away. It’ll break my heart.”
“And what about mine?”
“I . . . I . . .” Elle stared into Luke’s eyes. The possibility of her hurting him was unbearable. She’d rather experience a world of pain than subject him to any heartache. But she knew there was a chance it would happen. That she and Troy would find a way to move forward with their relationship and she’d be forced to walk away from Luke. Her stomach clenched again with that thought. The idea of walking away from Luke was oppressive, insufferable, cruel. It wasn’t at all what she wanted.
“I never finished my answer.”
“What do you mean?”
“In five years . . . I see myself acting, yes. But I also see myself with you. And I’m sure that scares you, but it’s true. I see myself with you, a baby in your belly, and my ring on your finger. That’s what I see and I’m not going to apologize for it.”
Elle’s heart fluttered and her mouth went dry. “I don’t deserve you,” she said, feeling her guilt consume her. But no matter the shame enveloping her heart, she couldn’t do the right thing. She couldn’t walk away to keep him from harm. She was falling in love with him, too.
“Yes, you do. And I deserve you. We deserve each other, Elle.”
Elle pressed her forehead back to Luke’s chest, running his words again and again in her brain. She imagined herself as Luke predicted. Her belly swollen, a diamond ring around her finger, and Luke at her side. They’d walk the red carpet together, Luke steadying her belly as she walked up the steps, never leaving her side. She saw them lying just as they were, in the hammock, wrapped in fluffy robes, their legs entangled, the cotton bed swaying in the summer breeze.
She saw their possible future.
And it was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
Whether or not it would come to pass was an entirely different story.
For another part of her brain imagined all of those things . . . but with Troy. Troy’s hand on her belly, Troy standing at her side, his ring on her finger. She pressed her eyes tight, fighting the fantasy brewing in her mind. She hated herself—her indecision, her inability to walk away from her past.
She couldn’t make a decision, no matter how much she was falling for Luke.
The truth was, she simply wasn’t ready. And until she was, no answer could ever be the right one.
When Elle arrived at work the next morning, she found an unmarked copy of Us Weekly on her desk. No note, no explanation as to who had given it to her, but a Post-it marked a page inside. Elle turned to it.
An interview.
With Gina.
A glamorous shot of Gina adorned the two-page spread, but Elle’s eyes jumped to the title of the article. “Love After Heartbreak: How Gina Romano Bounced Back.” Elle’s stomach flipped and her breath caught as she read the first lines of the article:
Gina Romano, the star of television drama Follow the Sun, has had a rough year. After a tumultuous affair with her on-screen love, Nolan Rivera, that ended this summer, she has found love again with a new member of the cast, Luke Kingston. Luke, a rising actor, has helped the actress heal her broken heart and learn to love again. We caught up with the actress to discuss her Golden Globe nomination as well as the new man in her life and the excitement of starring on the hottest show on television.
“No.” Elle’s heart sank as she read those words. There were two possibilities: either Luke had been lying to her for months, and he was balancing a relationship with both her and Gina at the same time, even after she’d confronted him in his dressing room. Or their showmance was in full effect, regardless of his proclamations that he would turn Gina down, that he wanted nothing to do with such nonsense. That he wanted his work to propel him to fame and nothing else. Either way, he wasn’t being honest with her, which was the one thing she had always feared. Yes, she was torn between Luke and Troy, but she was honest