Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,106
winsome, she wins him. Gold hair with a gentle curl. That’s the girl he chose, and heaven knows, I’m not that girl.”
As I sang about golden hair with a gentle curl, I searched for Tani’s face in the crowd. She was right at the front with Billy and my parents, smiling like a lunatic and singing along with me. Her friend, Bart, stood behind her with his arms around her waist and her hands holding his forearms.
I shot her a wink when I noticed it. She shook her head at me, but she didn’t let go of him. If anything, I swore I saw her leaning further into him before I had to move back to the opposite side of the stage again.
Wonder how long it’s going to take them to admit their feelings for each other run deeper than friendship. I knew Bart had a lot of stuff to work through, and it sounded like those issues were so deeply a part of him that I didn’t know if he ever would be able to move past them, but I hoped so. Tani deserved her own happily-ever-after. She deserved to be that girl for someone great.
“Don’t wish. Don’t start. Wishing only wounds the heart. I wasn’t born for the rose and pearl. There’s a girl I know. He loves her so. I’m not that girl.”
Reminding myself to tell her not to take Elphaba’s advice about wishing only wounding the heart, I belted out the last line.
And that’s all she wrote, folks.
I couldn’t believe it was over. All the months of preparation, fear, and doubt, and it was already done.
The crowd went wild and I knew I’d killed it. My chest heaved, my heart pumping heavily as I struck my final pose. I couldn’t stop the grin that overtook my face.
I caught Carter’s eye after dipping at the waist to take my bow, and he blew me a kiss. It was such a simple thing, but it warmed me all over. I said I loved him in front of millions of people and he’s still here.
This had to be the best New Year’s ever. Not even Nathan had spoiled it after all.
Chapter 37
CARTER
I got to Rylee as fast as I could after the show was over. When she came into view at the other end of a long corridor leading back to her dressing room, Ryan and Don flanked her. It was crowded in there, considering that the ball drop count would be starting soon.
We were going to watch the event from a hotel nearby, but I wasn’t waiting until then. She’d just declared her love for me in front of a worldwide audience. I was pretty sure I could handle two of the guys who worked with me.
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip when she saw me, her eyes widening for a fraction of a second. There were questions in her expression as we strode to meet each other halfway, our gazes never wavering from the other. Was that okay? Are you angry?
We slowed when we were just a few feet apart, reaching for each other at the same time. My arms wound around her waist while she tipped her head back and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“I love you too, Ry,” I said before she could ask her questions. “I love you so damn much that I don’t even know where to begin. You’re amazing. What you just did…”
I shook my head, hauling her as close to me as I could. So close that I was pretty sure she could feel my heart racing against her chest. “I can’t believe you just did that. I’m so fucking proud of you for going up there and laying it all out the way you did. You’re the bravest, most incredible woman I know. And that performance…”
Trailing off had never really been my thing. I usually only spoke when I knew what I wanted to say, but with her, after that, I couldn’t seem to find the right words fast enough.
“You were spectacular, Rylee Naples. I’m pretty sure everyone got the message that you’re back and that you’re not fucking going anywhere.”
A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “I take it you don’t mind that I didn’t talk to you before I did it?”
“You don’t need my permission, baby. I don’t even feel like I needed to be consulted about that. It was all you, and I’m so fucking proud.”