Page 53 of King of Players

In that position, with her completely dominating the situation and my sitting underneath her mercy, I felt my heart race faster than it had when I fell to the floor. Harder than it had when I’d made love to her. Much more profoundly. It was all I had wanted to hear. Yet, I was skeptical. “What are you on, exactly?”

“Right now, I think I’m onto something big. Something that can change my life if you agreed to do it.”

“What?”

“Marry me,” she demanded.

At that moment, I understood fully why Kaira Bradley had been keeping my heart hostage for months. That woman was fearless—in both her reservation and openness. Her soul was free to believe whatever that had called it, and she did it fully. When she had faith in something, she sought it with everything she had. And when she changed her mind about something, she wasn’t embarrassed to admit it. Kaira Bradley was the strongest, most resilient woman I had ever met.

And right now, she was making me the adventure of a lifetime.

To be hers fully was to delve into her world with faith that matched her own; a dedication and intention to be wholly there.

Stunned and slightly dizzy, my eyes roamed over the room around us. Three dozen pairs of eyes, all mesmerized. None of them had ever imagined that this woman and I were ever a thing. And now, here she was, proposing to me. Doubtlessly, most of them assumed her to be a crazy fan or a stalker. I turned to my publicist who had her lips turned inward, petrified. Silently, she slowly shook her head, gesturing, ‘No.’ My manager did the same thing with his finger, while he kept his other hand over his head.

Yes, I knew how crazy all of this sounded. The urgency. The reversal of roles. The unexpected turn of events. But I would be damned as a shameful liar if I even thought of claiming that I didn’t want to jump in with all of my being. I might regret it later, but I was definitely going to regret not trying.

And with that thought, I whispered, “My wife will have to carry the Niles name.”

Kaira’s smile slowly turned into a grin before she whispered back, enunciating, “Kaira Niles it is.”

As she leaned down to kiss me, I forgot the pain and the headache; the fact that we were surrounded by colleagues; and the notions of time and space eluded me. Lost in a kiss I had been craving for months, I only opened my eyes when the sound of applause raged through my ears. Kaira’s face was practically crimson as she broke our kiss, tittering and struggling to lift up her gaze to face them.

“Well, future Mrs. Niles,” the director finally approached her with his hands on his waist. “Congratulations, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, because you just cost us a full day of shooting. Thanks to you, we need to treat his nose before we can resume.” He paused, looking down at me and smirking. “Figures though, Chad. The day you got engaged had to be the day someone knocked you out first.”

In the dressing room, and as I changed out of character wardrobe, I could finally relate to why some people felt like they needed to pinch themselves to believe things. This morning, I’d left the house looking forward to a full day of work to distract myself from the despair of not being able to get through to Kaira. Tonight, she was going home with me.

As soon as we stepped into the house, Kaira grabbed my hand and tugged for me to follow her. She led me through the reception hall and up the stairs, toward my bedroom.

“This is it, right?” She pointed and pushed the door open before I could even answer.

I smiled, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Turning to face me, she helped me take off my coat. “I’m letting you have me the way a fiancé should.”

“Shouldn’t I buy you a ring first?”

“I—” She tossed away the coat and proceeded to unbutton my shirt. “I was thinking of something else. Something better than a ring.”

“And what’s that?”

“A big tree,” she said, and I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. “Something outside the public library… to offer shade.”

I chuckled and nodded, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her close. “Ah, I see. But you see, I’d like for everyone to know that you’re spoken for.”

Her hands caressed my chest, slowly running up. “We’ll still get wedding bands!”

“You don’t want a diamond ring?”

“I have diamonds, Chad; another one is the last thing I need.” She then drew a long, deep breath. “Of all the things that could’ve happened between us, it was this great energy… and I don’t want it to fade. I want it to grow. And I want us both to be better people for it.”

“I’m afraid if you get any better than this, you’ll qualify for sainthood.”

“You’ll keep the little vixen in me alive,” she teased.

Her sweet laugh filled the air around me. So, when I pulled her in for a hug, I could hear the whispering aftermath of it resonating deep within me. My hands ran softly up and down her back, while I marveled at the thought of us spending the rest of our lives together.

Yes, I didn’t know Kaira Bradley as well as I should have to get hitched, and neither did she. But that was the beauty of it all. Too many marriages ended, even though the couple had known each other for years. It led me to believe that it had nothing to do with how much they knew about each other.

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