Page 127 of Heartbreaker

“Midnight Snow” released at midnight.

We celebrated with a bottle of champagne and then made love in the sun room, a blanket of stars all around us.

It’s certainly too early to know how the song is going to do, but my release days tend to follow a pattern: big jump just after midnight, a lull in the morning, and then a bigger jump around dinnertime. I don’t have access to real-time sales numbers at this stage, but I can look at the charts.

I open my phone and?—

Tears fill my eyes.

Number one.

Number one on Apple.

Number one on Spotify.

Four million views on YouTube.

“Baby?” Royal’s sleep-addled voice startles me, and I turn as the first tear slides down my cheek.

“What’s wrong?” he asks in alarm, immediately reaching for me.

“Look!” I hand him my phone, and it takes a second for him to digest what he’s looking at.

Then a slow, appreciative smile crosses his face. “Well, look at that. You did it.”

“Wedid it,” I whisper, moving into his arms.

“Why are you crying?”

“Because I’m so happy.”

He chuckles, lowering his head to lightly kiss me. “But why did you sneak out of bed?”

“Because…” I worry my lower lip.

How can I explain it?

“Babe?” His eyes are filled with patient curiosity.

“Well, I was afraid.”

“Of me?” His eyes widen in alarm.

“No, no, of course not.” I wind my arms around his neck. “Never. Not like that. But I was afraid that the song might not be doing well and you’d be…disappointed.”

He frowns. “Disappointed in what way? Disappointed that it’s not the hit we thought it would be? Maybe I would have been—a little bit anyway. But you didn’t think I’d be disappointed in you…did you?”

I drop my gaze. “Maybe?”

“Hey. Look at me.” He pulls me closer. “That’s never going to happen. Do you hear me? We both know how fickle this industry is. Sometimes it’s about timing. Something going on in politics. An earthquake in the South Pacific. Anything and everything can impact the performance of a release. But there is no universe,no set of circumstances, where I could be disappointed inyou. Especially not with this particular song. Baby, we put our souls into ‘Midnight Snow.’ Nothing diminishes that. Or how I feel about you.”

I rest my head against his chest and close my eyes.

This is my safe place.

My happy place.

The only place I want to be ninety-nine percent of the time.

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