My heart was skittering unsteadily, a mix of embarrassment and confusion rising inside me. I didn’t like being the center of attention, and the whole room was looking at me now, wondering what the hell Ryan was talking about. I wondered what the hell he was talking about. Because I didn’t dare to hope that whatever he’d been trying to say in the barn could actually have been real.
“Tess,” he said, crossing the room to stand just next to where I sat. My heart pounded and I felt my cheeks flame as hope blossomed inside me. He reached down and took my hand, pulling me to my feet. He lowered the microphone a bit and turned me to face him, so we were standing face to face, the mic between us. It was obvious he’d handled a microphone before, an advantage of his background, I supposed. I still couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes, so I stared at his bow tie instead. It was an emerald green, like my sister’s dress. “Tess,” his voice was softer now, but still projected through the silent tent. “I’m so sorry about all the pretense, the acting … about it all.”
Someone in the crowd called out, “You should apologize for the way Charade of Stones ended!”
I stifled a laugh.
Who knew we had hecklers in Southern Maryland? But I couldn’t disagree with the sentiment.
Ryan shook his head, smiling in an apologetic way, like he agreed with the heckler. “Maybe I deserved that. But it wasn’t the acting there, right?” He looked around, chuckling, but then turned his focus back to me. “Still, about the acting. I can’t do it anymore, but not just because it was a bad idea in the first place and it never felt right. But because it isn’t fair to you. Or to my heart.
“I’m falling in love, Tess.” The crowd rustled in excitement, and I just stood there, not breathing, not looking at his face as he talked to me, inches away, everything in my body hanging on his next word. He took my hand again, where it hung at my side, and the warmth of his rough thumb rubbed over the top of my fingers, making my knees actually wobble. “I’m falling in love with Maryland, and with a life that includes crabs and rivers and miles of cornfields. But mostly, I’m falling in love with you.”
The room was silent, except that I thought people could probably hear my heart galloping loudly in my chest. I sucked in a breath and looked up, meeting his warm beautiful eyes.
“I bought a house,” he said, more quietly.
“You said that before. But I don’t understand.” This didn’t seem to fit with the rest of his speech.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you before. Here. I bought a house here. I’m going to stay.”
I could feel my head shaking, but I didn’t remember deciding to shake it. He couldn’t stay here. He was a movie star. And I thought he’d probably actually fallen in love with my sister. None of this made any sense.
“What about Juliet?” I asked in a whisper.
“She’ll be okay.”
“No, I mean … don’t you love Juliet?” It might have been dense, but I needed to hear it. Every boy I’d ever loved had loved Juliet. The idea that this one—this perfect man who I’d worshipped much longer than I was comfortable admitting—might choose me first? It just seemed impossible.
He laughed, a low rumble that twisted up my insides and made me want to lean my head into his chest to hear it better. “No, silly. I love you. Since the moment I first saw you—and I’ve never believed in love at first sight. But I love you, Tess. Only you. And I want to stay here, if you’ll let me.”
I was still shaking my head, but now I heard myself laugh incredulously. “If I’ll let you?”
“Let me stay. Let me take you out on a real date. On a bunch of real dates. Be my girlfriend. Maybe one day … be my wife?”
My mind exploded in sparks at the thought of marrying Ryan, and something inside me—my soul, maybe?—whispered yes. Yes.
The crowd erupted into applause, and for a second I thought maybe he had a ring hidden in his tux somewhere, but I was relieved when he didn’t produce one. All of this was overwhelming—I’d known him three whole days, after all. A ring would have been actual insanity.
“Will you?” he asked, and the tent quieted again.
I stared up at him, everything in my body already screaming yes. “Will I …?”
“Will you let me stay? Will you let me show you every day how perfect we can be together, how perfect our lives will be?”
“I don’t want perfect,” I said, not really thinking about the words first. His face fell, and I quickly added, “I want real.”
He nodded, understanding lighting his eyes. “Can I stay?”
I smiled up at him. “Please,” I managed. “Please stay.” It was a whisper, but the tent heard it and everyone jumped to their feet, applauding. Ryan put the microphone on the table and slid his arms around me, pulling me into his warm firm body and pressing the softest, sweetest kiss to my lips. It was a kiss that whispered promises and futures. It was a kiss that showed me cozy nights and snuggly sexy mornings. It was the kiss I’d dreamed of my whole life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ryan
Tess wanted me to stay.
As she said the words, her eyes shining and fixed on mine, her arms reaching for me, my heart filled and something like warm chocolate flowed through my veins, comfort and hope and excitement all mixing to produce a feeling of happiness like nothing I’d ever known.
And when I kissed her in that tent, in front of the crowd, when I revealed the truth that had been in my heart since the day I’d seen Tess Manchester, my world snapped into alignment. Tess was everything I
