Page 2 of Keeping Happily Ever After

“Tell me again.” Jeremy shook his head and laughed. “How did you make this happen?”

It had been less than two weeks since Bella had left Glacier Falls for the city. Barely enough time to take care of the meetings she had scheduled with her new agent and casting directors that her new friend, the mega celebrity Stephanie Starz, had introduced her to after hearing Bella sing at Christmas on her last visit to Glacier Falls.More than one awesome thing had happened on that trip, she thought as she let her eyes travel up Jeremy’s hard, naked chest.

Umm.It was good to be back in his arms.Verygood. As much fun as she’d had in the city, what she’d just done with Jeremy—and hoped to do again very soon—was pretty damn fun, too.

There had been a few very exciting weeks as she sang for more people than she could remember and even ran lines for potential movie roles, something she’d never considered doing. But even though she’d been so busy she barely had time to sleep, she still had a lot of time to miss Jeremy terribly. Which was why she’d decided to return to town earlier than planned. Definitely a good decision, judging by the smile on Jeremy’s face as he laid on his side, propped up on a pillow with the bed sheet slipping just a little off his bare hip. She let her fingers trace along his smooth skin where the sheet rested and he shivered under her touch.Yes.She’d definitely made the right decision to come back early.

“I knew you had to work,” Bella explained for the third time. “So I called in a favor with the chief. He’s still pretty pleased with me for singing at the Christmas Eve dinner.” She grinned and then squealed as Jeremy reached out and, in a move so quick, she didn’t have time to react, pulled her on top of him.

Her squeals quickly dissolved into satisfied moans as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply again. They’d just finished making love and reacquainting themselves with each other, but that didn’t seem to matter to Jeremy. Or her. Except for the fact that she’d promised her grandfather they’d start packing later that afternoon, the only thing she had to do was lie there with him and enjoy each other completely.

Reluctantly, Bella pushed herself up from his chest. “We can’t,” she protested. “Not again. We don’t have time. My grandfather will be home anytime. And I promised I’d help him pack up.”

“One more kiss. And then I want to hear all about your meetings and how famous you’re going to be.” He pulled her back down onto him, and she couldn’t bring herself to protest as his hands slid up her bare back.

In fact, ten minutes later, she still wasn’t protesting, but was participating fully in his distraction techniques when they both heard the front door open.

“Shit.” Jeremy jumped up like a teenager caught by his girlfriend’s parents and grabbed a pillow to cover his naked body with.

Bella couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing and only belatedly slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. A technique that didn’t work very well as the laughter slipped out between her fingers when Jeremy started dashing around the room, looking for his clothes.

“Bella! This isn’t funny.”

“It is, though.” She tried to swallow her laughter, but failed. “It really is.” She probably could have laughed at him all afternoon, but the genuine horror on his face when he couldn’t find his pants spurred her into action. “Okay, fine.”

It’s not as if they were going to go back to fooling around, anyway. She might as well help him out.

It only took Bella a few seconds to gather his clothes. She pulled his pants from the twisted quilt at the foot of the bed, and tossed them in his direction. “Honestly, Jeremy. It’s okay. He gets it. He does.” But even as she said the words, she didn’t believe them. Not really. It was one thing for her grandfather to know about them dating, and another for him to see it in graphic detail.

Obviously, Jeremy agreed and quickly pulled his pants on before tugging his sweater into place. “Easy for you to say. You’re his sweet, perfect granddaughter who can do no wrong. I’m just the guy sleeping with her.”

His choice of words stopped her and she turned to look at him halfway through tugging her leggings on. “That’s it? You’re just the guysleepingwith me?” She didn’t want it to, but his nonchalance bothered her. More than she thought it might. After all, they had only been together since Christmas. Less than a month. They weren’t serious. The words girlfriend and boyfriend were barely even used. In fact, they hadn’t really discussed anything serious about their relationship or their future and—

“No.” He interrupted her train of thought. Thankfully before her thoughts could spiral too far in a negative direction. Jeremy stood in front of her and grabbed her hands, forcing her to focus on him. “That is definitely not all I am, babe. I amsomuch more than that. At least I want to be. You know that.”

She nodded and her smile was genuine. “I do.”

“Good.” Jeremy leaned in to kiss her. “In fact…I would really like to be—”

“Bella?”

Jeremy jumped at the sound of her grandfather’s bellow, causing Bella to laugh again.

“One minute, Papa. I’ll be right there.”

She quickly finished getting dressed. “Can we finish this conversation later?”

“That’s a promise.” He kissed her again, and Bella melted into it the way she always did.

She forced herself to pull away from him again. Something that was becoming harder and harder to do. “Come on. Let’s go say hi.” Bella took his hand and led him out to the living room. She’d only been back with Jeremy for a few hours, and already the idea of being away from him again was becoming impossible to fathom.

And that was a problem. A big problem. Because those meetings she’d had in the city had been very promising. And if everything went according to plan, and the way she hoped, she was going to be spending a lot more time in the city and away from him.

Bella snuck a glance at Jeremy as he greeted her grandfather with a hug.

Or, she was going to have a very big decision to make.

Either way, she wasn’t looking forward to it.

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