Page 68 of Guarded Hearts
I couldn’t remember how long the shooting schedule was forCenter Stage. Months? My chest tightened. “How do you feel about that?”
“Excited?” Her eyes lit with hope. “I think I’d love it.”
I collapsed onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Could I go months without being with her? Not months. Weeks, maybe. We’d find a way. I’d been spoiled by our coinciding schedules for almost a year now. “If you want the job, say ‘yes.’” I’d promised myself I wouldn’t hold her back.
“The shooting schedule is four months long.” Alyssa turned on her side and stretched out her arm, laying her head beside mine, curled into me but not quite touching.
I rubbed my forehead and glanced in her direction. “You love dancing, and I love you. It’s a good opportunity.”
“But four months…” Alyssa tangled her fingers in the waves just starting to form at my crown.
Last night, when I’d spoken to Mia, she’d told me she could be as flexible as I needed with work, depending on what job Alyssa decided to take. Maybe Mia had already known about Sarah’s offer. They were best friends, and with Sarah’s rocky marriage and the tabloids picking up any story—true or not, Sarah and Mia had been talking a lot. I’d overheard Mia telling Sarah that she needed to consider taking a break afterCenter Stageended, reevaluate what she really wanted.
“We’ll be long-distance for four months,” I agreed.
“Always been a disaster for me before.” Alyssa let out a nervous laugh.
“You want us to work?” I turned to mirror her pose.
“More than I want this job. If you don’t think we can do this, I’m not taking Sarah’s offer.”
I searched her face. There were no doubts about her, about the future, about whether we could weather the distance. I wouldn’t enjoy it. Not even a little. But I had faith in the foundation we’d built. It was solid, so solid I’d dragged Mia and Sarah to several jewelry stores last weekend when I was supposed to be on security detail. My happily-ever-after wasn’t slipping through my fingers twice. “Take the job.”
“You’re not worried at all?”
“Only about how much I’ll miss you.”
Her chin trembled, and tears filled her eyes. “I won’t take it.”
A hint of a smile touched my lips as I swept up her tears with my thumb. “Are you worried?” Maybe she wasn’t in the same place I was.
“I love you so much, and long distance is so hard because I’ll miss you so much.”
“Hard but worth it.” I cupped her chin and kissed her tenderly.
When I pulled back, she met my gaze. “Definitely worth it.”
Mia eyed me and sank deeper into the couch in her living room. “You just need to do it.” She flipped her phone over on the cushion beside her. “She leaves in two days to go work onCenter Stage. Pull the trigger.”
“I’m not murdering her.” At the island, I drank my second coffee of the morning. The caffeine ran through my veins, making me jittery.
“You know what I mean. Shit or get off the pot.”
I gave her an annoyed glance. “It should be romantic. Didn’t you want Tyler’s proposal to be special?”
“Tyler could have been covered in sweat from the gym and tossed me the ring and said, ‘So, what’d ya think?’ and I would have said, ‘Fuck yeah!’ and put it on my finger.” She held out her hand to examine the sizeable rock. “Well, maybe not if he tossed it at me. This thing could put out an eye.”
“So, you didn’t like how he asked you? The stage? The song?” I raised my eyebrows in challenge.
“Come on, now. Let’s not get carried away. I loved it. Couldn’t have asked for a better proposal. But if he’d turned to me while we were eating grilled cheese sandwiches on the couch and said, ‘Wanna get hitched?’ I still would’ve said ‘yes.’ I wanted to be asked, to know he was in as deep as I was.”
I shook my head. “No, no, no. Couches and grilled cheese? Sweaty from the gym? Tossing the ring? No. I want the moment to… have weight. The ring, the marriage, it’s forever.”
“Well, then, do what Tyler did. Figure out what’s important to her and give her all those things. He wasn’t just asking me to marry him. He showed me heknewme. Really knew me.”
Apples, reality TV, chocolate, and dancing. Those were her favorite things. While she might like watching other people’s “real” lives, she was a private person.
There’d be no live streaming of the proposal. I rubbed my face. So, apples, chocolate, and dancing needed to somehow be combined into a proposal.
