Page 42 of Between Now and Always

To my left, a loud wolf whistle pulls my eyes from the silent crowd. That’s when I see him. My knees nearly give out and I have to lean against the podium to steady myself as I stare into the verdant green eyes of Carter Bosh.

Over the last few months, I’ve heard him described as every woman’s wet dream. It’s true. He’s dangerously handsome, with a body that’s nearly as famous as the voice that launched him to stardom. He’s even more beautiful than he was last time I saw him. But, right now, all I see is the man whose love changed my life. Whose love I wanted to live on for as long as I drew breath.

And I know without a shadow of doubt, despite how it turned out, that if I had to, I would do it all again.

He’s grinning from ear to ear and the man sitting next to him stands, lets out that whistle again, and starts to clap.

The rest of the audience wakes up from whatever trance they were in and join him on their feet.

I don’t hear the thundering applause or cheers.

I don’t think.

I don’t do anything but let my heart lead.

I walk toward him, as if there’s a lasso wrapped around my waist. I couldn’t stop if I wanted to. I walk off the stage, down the steps, and out into the crowd.

He starts toward me and my heart whimper when an indescribably acute pang of longing swells in my gut and fills my body when I’m finally close enough to touch him.

He had a boyish youthfulness in his eyes the last time I saw him

The last eighteen months has stripped away all of that cushion and comfort. He’s chiseled, refined, honed and on the spectacular end of virile.

From his lush, perfectly cut dark hair, the carefully edged, close-cropped beard that’s bisected by a small scar on his chin.

His face is leaner, his cheekbones sharper, his jaw more defined. We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, the rest of the room falling away as I let my thirsty eyes drink their fill.

“Beth?” His expression is hesitant, like he doesn’t know what to do next.

But, I do.

Without waiting for an invitation, I launch myself at him.

His arm wraps around my waist and his hand cups the back of my head and pulls it into him.

I bury my face in his neck and inhale the mint, clean male scent of him.

I’m home.

Finally.

My Best Everything. Ever.

CARTER

I watched her with my entire heart in my throat. I have never been so proud of anyone, ever, in my whole life.

The whole room just witnessed her sweeping tower of her beauty and courage. Then, they saw the way her expression changed from pride to exultant relief….like a dead man walking stumbling on a cure, when her eyes landed on me.

Not everyone gets the kind of love I saw in her eyes. I feel like the luckiest man alive right now because she’s back in my arms.

We’re the magnetic halves of one whole - drawn together, locking into place, and then holding on for dear life through the seismic shift of our world righting itself.

I breathe in her sweet, familiar scent. There’s a new depth to it, less flower, more earth, but the essence of it is unchanged.

“Carter, oh my God, Carter,” she repeats over and over. Her arms are wrapped tight around me like I’m her lifeline.

Holding her again, there’s no doubt that she’s mine.

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