Page 114 of Bad Reputation

“I told Jack we’re together because weare. And being with you—it means more to me than that career. I can start over. I’ve done it before, and if I need to, I’ll do it again after this. Reinvention doesn’t scare me. But a life without you, that does.”

Cole pressed his mouth to hers. It wasn’t a sweaty, grappling kiss but one of firm sweetness. The kind of kiss that sealed a vow. The kind that was a down payment on something.

Like maybe a life together.

He leaned his forehead against hers. “I was pretty freaked out the other day when you pulled away from me.”

“I’ll try not to do that again.” Hopefully they weren’t going to go through many more disasters like the one they’d just lived through. But if they did, she would try to handle it differently. “You deserve to have me reach for you, not to ... isolate.” Even if for a few hours there, moving into a blanket fort in the woods had seemed like the only option.

“If I had to choose between you hiding out in the guest room for a few days and you leaving me, I’ll take the isolating.”

“I wasn’t going to leave you. I honestly never even considered it.” She slid down until her head was resting on his shoulder. “I was feeling just so, so alone, and it took me a moment to realize that I have people.”

He began playing with a section of her hair that had escaped the bobby pins she’d fastened it back with. “And you’re gathering more all the time. Tasha is ready to hunt Drew down.”

Maggie scoffed. “Yeah, he’s toast.” She tipped her chin back so that she could look up at Cole. “But that’s enough about me. What about you? How areyoudoing?”

“I’m ... okay. Brett thinks we’ve reversed the damage, but I realized I may never get away from the himbo label. Falling for the intimacy coordinator, being betrayed by my agent—those sound like plotlines onCentral Square.”

“In the last few days, I’ve seen you stand by your best friend against abuse in your industry. I’ve seen you deal with someone on your team who was lying to you and lashing out at you. I’ve seen you defend your girlfriend, giving up pieces of yourself to do it. If those are the actions of a himbo, then himbos seem pretty awesome to me.”

“I just want to feel ... grown up. And I thought I’d finally gotten there.”

“Youarethere. You’ve dealt with all of these messes calmly and maturely and beautifully—while I was breaking down, by the way. That’s pretty damn grown up. Time and again, I’ve seen you do the right thing, even when it was hard. Even when it wasn’t what you wanted to do. You are a good man, Cole James. Thebestman. Loving you is an honor.”

Cole’s smile then was boyish. It wasn’t Cody’s smile or Geordie’s smile. It wasn’t the mask he used for fans or for the press. It was real, and it was hers.

Theirs.

“You’d never settle, Maggie. Not ever. And so, you loving me, you wanting to be with me above, like, your job—a job you were so great at—makes me feel worthwhile. Even if no one else can see it, winning you makes me feel like I’ve redeemed myself. Washed the past off. You asked me once when I could stop atoning, and it’s now.”

“And now for my next trick, I’m going to help you see that you don’t need me to feel that way about yourself.”

“But I get you as a bonus, right?”

“You bet.”

Epilogue

EXT. THE EMMY AWARDS RED CARPET

Almost Two Years Later

Cole was tired of red carpets. He was tired of the banks of photographers and the coordinated pocket squares and the fake conversations. So many fake conversations. He was tired of all the travel and of sleeping in a different hotel room every night. Why didWaverleyhave to hold premiere events in New York, London, Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Mexico City,andLA? And why did he need to wear a different suit to each event? They were tuxes, for crying out loud. They all looked the same.

But he wasn’t tired of people saying nice things aboutWaverley, which had dropped its third season six months earlier. He wasn’t tired of the fact that it had received the best reviews in the show’s history, and apparently the best ratings, too—though Videon never gave anyone, you know, the numbers to prove that. He definitely wasn’t tired of getting nominated for things for the first time in his career. Like, say, an Emmy, which was what they were here for. And he extra-specially wasn’t tired of the outfits Maggie had worn to all those fancy events. Tonight’s slinky electric-blue column dress—high-necked in the frontbut swooping so low on her back that he’d wanted to know how it stayed up—was a particular favorite.

“Did you visit the set during filming for the fourth season?” Maggie was asking Libby.

At least for this conversation, Cole liked the reporter involved.

“I did,” Libby said. “It looks very sexy, even if you turned them down when they asked you to come back.”

Thanks to Drew’s leak, Maggie had become something of a minor celebrity. She was the most famous intimacy coordinator in the business, even if she’d only worked on a handful of projects. The Guinness World Records people ought to certify that.

“Well, I had other things to do.” Maggie gave Cole a knowing smile.

It took Cole a second to realize that she meant something appropriate for public consumption and not just what they got up to every night.

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