Page 156 of All Twerk, No Play

Cruz’s trembling hands tightened on my waist. These moments when our schedules aligned and we were both in New York together felt precious. I lifted onto my toes to brush my lips on his cheek. “I’ll be right over there if you need me.”

I stepped out of the frame, watching Cruz from the sidelines—the spotlight solo on him now. The stylist stepped in to unbutton that leather vest, displaying those tattoos bearing tribute to so many artists who had graced the cover before him.

When Connor handed me a bottle of water, I asked, “Are you sure this should count towards Richard’s record?Rolling Stonedidn’t even want me.”

“Absolutely,” Dad answered. “Neither of you could have achieved what you have without each other. That’s what power couples do—they amplify each other’s success.”

My chest flooded with warmth. It had taken Dad months to come around to Cruz, to truly believe that he wasn’t using me to leverage his career, because otherwise, why were we only living together? One day I snapped at Dad that bullshit opinions like his were the reason we weren't engaged, because even though Cruz knew I wanted to marry him—for love this time—he wanted to be secure enough in his career that nobody could claim he was a gold digger. I respected the shit out of him for sticking to his guns, and I think Dad did too.

Cruz kept posing, charming the shit out of the photography team as theRumoursalbum played on. But when it arrived at 'Songbird,' Cruz paused the shoot to take my hand four our song. He held me in his arms as we danced, my cheek pressed to his chest to feel the resonance of the lyrics as his voice vibrated from his heart into my very soul.

“Victoria?” Margot called apologetically. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I just got an urgent press request.”

“This was 16, the tiebreaker.” Cruz said, cuing me to turn under his arm. “The next one will be the winner, right?” He spun me towards Margot, keeping our fingers interlaced.

“It’s a little different from the usual media requests we get,” Margot said. “But we’re trying to do more public interest stories.”

“What’s the source?”

Darius lifted his camera again. Margot looked over my shoulder at Cruz, her gaze lowering as she said cautiously, “Brides.”

Cruz cleared his throat. My heart skipped a beat as I turned slowly …

“Oh my god,” I murmured, my hand flying to my mouth in disbelief. His face swam from the tears brimming in my eyes.

Eric de la Cruz, the love of my life, was down on one knee, eyes brimming with hope.

Dressed like a 1970s bohemian pirate, because this was my life now.

And I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing.

“Victoria, since the first time you glared at me …” he said, his puppy dog eyes unable to hold back his excitement.

I interrupted with a laughing sob. “I can’t believe you’re doing this right now,” I said, gesturing to my cape sleeves.

He shook his head in feigned disappointment. “Always interrupting my marriage proposals.”

“Sorry,” I rubbed my forehead. “The floor is yours.”

“Before you came into my life, I missed you so, so bad … but the first time you glared at me, everything changed,” he said, his confident voice trembling with emotion. “We sang, and we danced, then I made you laugh. Then you threatened to punch me in the face, and I was a total goner.”

His smile widened, that radiant boyish grin, as he reached into his vest and my pulse ratcheted higher.

“So listen …” he said. “I have a legal question for you.”

A giggle escaped my mouth. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

From inside his vest, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper.

Holy shit. The sex contract. The original copy I’d signed with a flourish, causing our first fight.

“I figured I might need it to negotiate a second round. But I know that I should never sign a contract without reviewing it with my lawyer. And since you’re my lawyer, this seems like a good time to ask …” He tapped on a paragraph. “This clause, the one about how things end … What if we remove it?”

I nodded silently. My fingers shook and the tears streamed down my face, but I didn’t wipe them away, too entranced with him.

“And maybe we could add a new clause? Say … as long as we both shall live?”

Those sweet brown eyes were soft with love as he reached into his pants pocket and flipped open a box containing …

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