Page 42 of Certified Heartthrob

I felt tears of happiness stream down my cheeks as I replied, “I love you, too. I’m still a little scared, but I think you can fix that.”

He swung one arm down under my legs, picking me up and cradling me against his chest. “Challenge accepted.”

He started off down the sidewalk, carrying me to a cab. I didn’t know where we were going and I didn’t care. Before, watching that same moment play out in a movie would have made me gag, but now that it was happening to me...it was the most romantic thing in the world. All because it was with him.

Epilogue

Mark

Istirred awake to the best sensation in the world...Camille draped across my body, skin to skin. She purred and stretched, rolling over to hold me closer. It was becoming harder and harder to get out of bed every day with her lying there next to me.

“Good morning, beautiful.” I beamed down at her as her eyes slowly opened.

She smiled. “Good morning. Are you ready for the big day?”

“The better question is...are you?”

She laughed. “I was born ready.”

“Then we better force ourselves to get up and at it, before we slip into our usual habit of getting distracted by other things…” I glanced down at her breasts pressed against my chest, and felt an immediate regret for having advised against all that could happen if we lingered between the sheets a little longer.

She arched her neck and pressed her lips gently to mine, only making matters worse. “No reason we can’t let ourselves get a little distracted.” She grinned.

An hour later, we succeeded in our second attempt at getting out of bed, but only after having satisfied our relentless sexual appetite for one another. When we finally could pull ourselves away, we both got dressed and reviewed our notes for the day.

Life Beyond was a local non-profit that helped widows and widowers rebuild their lives after losing their significant others. I became involved with them after seeking help for my old friend from the shelter, Rudy. And after getting to know their organization, I realized that Camille’s company held a great opportunity for the grieving singles they served.

I invited her to start a new project with me that would use Heartstring to nudge Life Beyond’s members back into the dating scene once they were ready. Today was the first official day of the event, and we were all set to go to the center to introduce the participants to the Heartstring app.

We walked in together, hand in hand, which brought a big smile to Rudy’s face. He had signed up for the program after making great strides in getting his life back together, and now he was ready to see if fate had a second great love in store for him.

After Camille gave a little talk to the participants, we split off into smaller groups to encourage them and help them set up their own profiles. Rudy, myself, and a man named Hank huddled together around my laptop, scrolling through the Heartstring site.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” Hank confessed, dragging his hands down his face in indecision.

I considered how hard it must be to dream of moving on after the love of your life has passed away unexpectedly. I could imagine the grief better now than before, because I knew I would be destroyed if I lost Camille.

“I know this isn’t easy,” I said slowly, patting his shoulder. “Finding love is scary, no matter who you are or what stage of life you’re in. But…” I glanced over at Camille helping a group of women across the room and smiled wide. “A wise man once told me that when you find the right woman, the risk is worth it.”

Rudy nodded with a proud smile.

After we finished our work at Life Beyond, Camille and I walked around the corner to grab lunch. We talked about how successful we thought the event had been and then moved on to other things. She was catching up on some work messages on her phone when I looked out the window and noticed a man taking pictures of a woman on the corner. I laughed to myself as I remembered all the media fire we had been under not that long ago.

“At least everyone seems to have lost interest in us now,” I commented to Camille. “Just when I got used to seeing my picture plastered all over the internet, they moved on to something else.”

Camille stared at her phone and frowned. “Apparently not. I mean, us...yes. But not from Heartstring.”

She slid it across the table so I could see an article that had just been posted regarding her younger brother’s latest antics. He had come under fire a few times recently for his wild behavior, but apparently, he’d crossed into new territory the night before, when he got insanely drunk at a club opening. The picture boasted a crazy looking side of Joshua, standing on top of the bar while making out with two women at the same time.

“Oh no,” I murmured, reading through the gossip columns’ latest accusations.

While older Meadows siblings Lucas and Camille seem to have found their own matches, restoring our hope in their ability to find the rest of us love, too, their youngest brother Joshua reminds us why many women are skeptical about men in the first place. The one and only crown prince of playboys strikes again—is this the kind of guy we can expect to find on a website promising true love?

“Better him than us, I guess.” I handed her phone back and could see from her grim expression that she didn’t exactly share my sentiments. “If anyone can get him in line, I know it’s you.”

She smirked. “I wish I shared your confidence.”

After lunch, we took a walk through the park. It was a beautiful day, and the pathways were filled with skaters, bikers, runners, and other couples like us, strolling along and chatting while they enjoyed the warm weather. We held hands as we approached the gazebo in the center of the park, surrounded by fresh spring blossoms and fragrant plants.

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