Page 85 of Reason to Believe (White Lace 2)

I was a fucking idiot. She’d had every intention of being there for the speakers series. This was probably her congratulatory present because she’d known I would do a good job.

She had believed in me, even when I hadn’t fully believed in myself.

But it had taken her disappearance for me to move forward on my own. Without even knowing it, by breaking my heart, she’d given me the one thing in the world I needed: confidence in myself.

And I had been such a fucking asshole.

Her gift was more than just movie tickets and a cat. It was a reminder that I had dreams. That I had so much pent-up creativity I was bursting to get it out. And it had more to it than porn. Pretty soon I’d have the world at my feet and I’d be able to do whatever I wanted. And for me to figure that out, I needed to go back to the basics. Tomorrow morning I’d call Professor Hughes and find out how to enroll in her program, or at least get on its damn waiting list.

But I knew none of that would be as great if I didn’t have Grace to share it with.

I needed to make this right, and I knew exactly how to do it. I might not be the stereotype, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t give Grace at least some of what she wanted.

I would have to do some major groveling if I was going to prove I was worthy of her.

And I’d do it, because it was time that Grace Nolan finally got her happily ever after.

Chapter 25

Grace

I had no idea why I had agreed to meet Ben here: at an empty downtown warehouse.

If I didn’t already know him well, I would have been terrified walking in there by myself.

But I knew him. I loved him.

And wasn’t that just too bad for me.

I walked in through a green door with an enormous number 3 painted on it. It was pitch black except for a light streaming from the back of the space. Plastic tarps hung from the ceiling, covering exposed fiberglass and old lighting fixtures. The heavy steel door banged shut behind me and I jumped, shuffling my feet a little faster with hope that I wouldn’t trip over a body.

This was definitely somewhere the mafia came to hide their kills.

The cement under my feet was dusty, and it cracked with the sound of gravel as I made my way cautiously to the light. The farther I walked inside the massive building, the more it became clear that this was a movie set. High-end cameras and

booms were huddled together in various spots. Clothing racks were haphazard around the space. But obviously this place was long forgotten. It looked like it hadn’t been used in years.

I walked toward the light, my heels echoing on the cement. “Ben?” I called out, but didn’t hear a response.

When I got to the end of the space, I turned the corner and stopped short. Along the back wall was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

A gray castle with blue and white flags was sketched on a vinyl backdrop. The castle included a tower and it looked like a ladder had been drawn up to the window. Water trickled from an outdoor pond that acted like a mote. And…oh, my goodness, there was a stuffed dragon with blood coming out of its mouth lying on the ground like it had just been slain.

But the most amazing part of the whole scene was sitting on top of a white horse—not a stuffed horse, a real fucking horse that fluttered its lips and stomped its foot on the cement—was a knight in head-to-toe steel armor and a sword hanging from his waist.

The knight flipped up the front of his helmet. Thick locks of blond hair fell out, and my heart stopped.

Ben.

My hand flew up to my mouth on a gasp. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know what this was, other than the fact that a Disney movie had thrown up in this warehouse. It was my fairy tale come to life. And it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

Ben jumped down from the horse, the clang of metal echoing around us. He swaggered toward me, and I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. His feet clicked sharply on the cement with every step closer, and with every step I grew more breathless, more excited.

When he stopped in front of me he stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, one hand on the butt of his sword, the other at his side.

“Ben? What is all this?”

He removed his metal gloves and dropped them to the floor. Next he removed his helmet. There he was. That face. The perfect line of his nose, the sexy stubble on his chin and cheeks. The dirty-blond hair I had come to love tickling my skin.

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