Chapter 35
Isabelle
After a morning in bed, we ventured out to the surprisingly cool early-August day. There was almost no humidity, the clear
and sunny afternoon was perfect. And it took all of ten minutes sitting in front of the Peter Pan statue in Carl Schurz Park
to realize that we’d become those insufferable people who were all cuddly on a park bench.
With my entire back leaning into his chest while I enjoyed an ice cream cone, we were downright nauseatingly cute. Normally
I hated that kind of outward public display, but today I didn’t even care. I was having a nice time.
And Austin had this way of pulling every anxiety out of my head. I could relax.
“You don’t want one?” I took a long, purposefully long, lick up the mountain of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
His cheek twitched when he looked down at me as I teased him. “No, but I’m enjoying the view.”
Talking to him this morning, and then everything we did after, felt like the assurance I needed. That residual worry that I was losing something became invisible over the last few weeks. He wasn’t asking me for anything and that was so incredibly freeing.
I ran my teeth over my lower lip. “Just wait till later.”
He smiled brightly and pressed a quick kiss on my head. It was strangely intimate, like a tiny display that I could relax,
hell, I could fall asleep here if I wanted and he’d be there when I woke up.
I took another glob of ice cream in my mouth and enjoyed the sounds of the park. The distant sounds of traffic, the very present
sound of birds sloshing around the sides of the fountain.
Another few silent minutes passed, and I leaned my head back onto his shoulder with a content sigh. The soft, cuddly afterglow
we’d been soaking in all morning was jarred loose a few minutes later by a buzzing in my pocket.
I leaned forward and picked up the call. Austin’s hand began to slide up and down my back.
“Hey, Isa,” Selena said before I could answer. “I got the Voulez piece ahead of print.”
“Oh.” My voice curved up. “How is it?”
“Amazing. I’m hardly in it.”
I laughed. “What do you mean?”
“Your boyfriend is a prince. He sort of charmed Malcolm, and about a quarter of the piece is on him. Some of it on the locations,” Selena
listed off. “Almost nothing on me or Henry. It’s everything I was hoping for: we gave Voulez Magazine an exclusive that I’m hardly in and I got a wedding free of press. Please thank him for me.”
I looked over my shoulder and winked at Austin. His eyebrows jumped curiously. “Oh, I will.”
“One thing.” Selena’s voice peaked. “There is a picture of you two. You look great. I wanted to get your okay before I approve
it, so I’m emailing you the piece now.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
“I have to go but let me know if it’s okay with you. Love you.” The phone clicked off.
I swiped to my email and waited a few seconds. My phone buzzed again.
Austin sat forward. “Everything okay?”
His palm continued to move slowly up and down my back.
“It’s the article,” I told him, opening the file and scrolling through the three-page spread. Selena had highlighted a section
about him and us. It was two paragraphs. “You’re in it.”
“Really?” He looked over my shoulder. “Is it good?”
Two paragraphs about him and it was almost completely about the foundation.
“Yeah, it’s great,” I answered a little disbelievingly. He managed to steal the spotlight away from the bride and groom as
planned but also shine some light on the foundation. All while doubting he could.
Austin’s eyes scanned the article. “Selena’s okay with this?”
“That you stole her thunder?” I laughed lightly. “She’ll probably send you a gift basket.”
“Or maybe buy me something at an auction,” he teased, reading on. “Wow.”
When he was mentioned in the article, it practically mooned over him. It featured the current state of the foundation, but also the eventual plans for it. How it started and, hopefully, its future.
The deep, relieved sigh he took warmed my shoulder.
“This sounds great.” His eyes moved along the screen, reading as I did.
His eyes stopped at the same sentence mine did seconds later.
While accompanying his girlfriend to a wedding abroad, the honorable Austin Cade used the time to not only consider his second
act but also advocate for the same charity he’s championed since his early years on London’s . . .
My eyes rolled over the four words “while accompanying his girlfriend” three times. Something in my stomach fluttered at the idea of being his. And him being mine.
He looked at me but didn’t say anything. The warm breeze rustled in the silence between us. “I think it’s perfect.”
Being completely wrapped up in him felt easy. My mind quieted. I spent so much of my day in noise. Beeping from ventilators
and vital monitors in surgery. The constant, coordinated communication between surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, and everyone
else in an OR. The messy bustle of the post-op floor. Sitting here, with him, was a reprieve.
“Yeah?” he asked cautiously, like he was sure I would have seen that word and run.
“Mm-hmm, great picture of us, too.” I tapped the side of the phone. “Yeah, although Malcolm may need a reminder that you’re taken.”
Austin’s chest rumbled with a quiet chuckle.
He’d told me this morning he didn’t want to wreck my plans, and I believed him because Austin didn’t say things he didn’t
mean.
What I couldn’t get myself to believe was this new feeling. The seductive warmth in my chest, one that made me want to divert my plans because the little life we were carving out together was becoming terrifyingly close to perfect.
A kind of perfect that was rare and fragile. I wanted to—had to—keep steady, because one misstep and it could shatter.
I swallowed against a suddenly dry throat.
Because if that happened, I’d break along with it.