Chapter 42
CLEO
Iwas floating. Not because of the champagne. I’d only had two glasses, maybe three. Not because of the wedding, though watching Melody marry Austin had been everything I’d hoped it would be. Not because of the perfect beach setting or the music or the food or any of it.
Because of Cash.
The DJ put on an old school Nelly song. The girls and I screamed and put our asses into it. Dropping it like it was hot and bumping booties while laughing our butts off. I was laughing so hard my face hurt.
Then Cash was there. He moved behind me, his hands going to my hips and swaying with the music.
I did my thing, using my God-given curves to rock his world. What I wasn’t expecting was his own skills on the dance floor.
“You have moves,” I said breathlessly. “You never mentioned you could dance.”
“I have many secrets.”
“Apparently.”
The music shifted into something slower. He adjusted his grip, one hand firm on my waist, the other holding mine against his chest. Our bodies were pressed together. We swayed back and forth.
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
My stomach flipped. “Okay.”
“I was an ass when I gave you the ring back in Rome.”
I blinked. “It’s fine.”
“No it isn’t.” He looked at me, letting me see his regret.
“I was impulsive. I thought I was making the right call, protecting you from the mess I’d created.
I wanted to keep you out of the media circus and all the bullshit that comes with being associated with my family.
I regretted it the second you walked away. ”
“Then why didn’t you say something?”
“Pride, mostly. Fear.” He pulled me closer. “I was too proud to admit I’d made a mistake. Too scared to admit that walking away from you felt like cutting off a limb. I convinced myself you’d be better off without me.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
He smiled. “I’m starting to realize that.”
We turned in a slow circle. Around us, other couples danced. The ocean whispered behind us. The tent glowed with a thousand tiny lights.
“There was never any fallout,” I said. “I kept waiting for it.”
“I handled it,” he said.
“Do I even want to know?”
“I know people. I’ve rarely if ever cashed in on any of the multitude of favors owed to me.”
“Thanks for shielding me.”
“It was my fault. There will probably be a stray article or two, but I think we’re far too boring.”
“Yay for being boring.”
“I have a whole year ahead of me,” Cash said quietly. “A sabbatical. No plans. No agenda. Just possibilities.”
“That sounds terrifying for you.”
“It is.” He looked at me. “But there’s one possibility—out of all the millions—that I’m hoping comes to fruition.”
My breath caught. “And what might that be?”
“You,” he said simply.
The word just kind of hung between us. Like I was supposed to reach out and grab it. But I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. He had stunned me into complete silence.
“I want you in my life, Cleo. Not as a fake fiancée or a weekend in Rome or whatever we were pretending this was. I want the real thing. All of it.”
I was still speechless.
He kissed me and the world stopped. The other dancers disappeared. There was just him and me and his hands on my body and his mouth on mine. He was right in front of me. The very thing I’d been searching for my whole life.
When he pulled back, I was crying.
“You have me,” I whispered. “You’ve had me since the piazza in Rome. Maybe when you called me in the middle of the night and asked me to go to Rome.”
His eyes were so deep. So open. So full of everything I felt.
“I love you,” he said.
The words hit me like electricity. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Cleo Quinn. I’m completely, irrevocably in love with you.”
“I love you too.” I pulled him down to kiss me again. “I love you so much it’s actually kind of ridiculous.”
“How ridiculous?”
“Like, Disney movie ridiculous. Like, I want to sing about it from rooftops ridiculous.”
He laughed against my mouth. “Please don’t. I have a reputation to maintain.”
“Too late.”
We kissed again, and this time when we broke apart, Melody was standing there grinning like the Cheshire cat.
“I knew it,” she shrieked.
She shoved her bouquet into my hands. I looked at it, confused.
“You’re next,” she said, bouncing on her toes. “Oh my god, you’re actually next. We’re going to be sisters!”
“Uh, I’m still letting Lurch woo me. Let’s not plan the wedding yet.”
“Too late. I’m already designing your dress in my head.” She grabbed my face and kissed both my cheeks. “I’m so happy for you I could die.”
Austin appeared beside his wife, grinning just as widely. “Took you long enough,” he said to Cash.
“I had some things to figure out.”
“Yeah, well. Glad you figured them out.” Austin clapped Cash on the shoulder. “Welcome to the club, brother.”
“What club?”
“The ‘completely whipped by an incredible woman’ club.” He pulled Melody close. “It’s a good club. Excellent benefits.”
“The benefits are amazing,” Melody agreed, looking up at her husband with so much love it made my chest ache.
That was what I wanted. What Cash and I could have. That kind of partnership. That certainty.
The music picked up again and suddenly everyone was dancing. We were shaking it off, doing the whole thing with our waving hands and getting sassy.
Finn appeared and grabbed my hand, spinning me away from Cash with a whoop. Hayes cut in after that. Then Kent. Then some cousin whose name I couldn’t remember. His name was Colt or Cole or something like that. I felt like I was spinning away on the fluffiest cloud.
But through it all, I kept finding Cash. Our eyes would meet across the dance floor and he’d smile. He looked genuinely happy. I liked that look on him.
And when he looked at me, I saw that certainty I was used to seeing on his face. But it was different because I was part of that certainty. He was confident in us.
Around midnight, Melody and Austin made their grand exit. We all lined up outside the tent with sparklers, creating a tunnel of light for them to run through. Melody was laughing, Austin was carrying her shoes, and they both looked so radiantly happy that I started crying again.
“You’re a mess,” Cash said, pulling me against his chest.
“I’m happy.”
“I know.” He kissed the top of my head. “Me too.”
The party continued without the bride and groom. The DJ kept playing. The bar stayed open and now that I was no longer on maid of honor duty, I could really let loose.
As the night wore on, I found myself in the middle of the dance floor with Cash, both of us attempting the chicken dance alongside Finn and several increasingly uncoordinated groomsmen. Cash was flapping his “wings” with an earnestness that made me laugh so hard I nearly fell over.
“You’re taking this very seriously,” I said, watching him execute a perfect chicken-inspired squat.
“Bancrofts don’t do anything halfway,” he replied, his face completely serious while his body performed the ridiculous movements. “Even poultry-based choreography. Do you know how many weddings I’ve been to in the last couple of years? And at every single one of them, we do this stupid dance.”
I snorted with laughter. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re surprisingly fun?”
“No,” he said, spinning in a circle. “That would ruin my reputation. I negotiate billion-dollar deals without breaking a sweat.”
The music shifted to something with a thumping bass line. Cash pulled me close, his hands finding my hips like they belonged there. Which they did. They absolutely did. These hips were his to do whatever he wanted with.
“I can’t believe we’re here,” I said, looking up at him.
“At Austin’s wedding?”
“No. Here. Together. Like this.” I gestured between us. “A month ago, I thought Rome was just… Rome.”
He tucked a stray strand of hair that had fallen out of my updo behind my ear. “Rome was never just Rome. Not for me.”
“No?”
“No.” He looked serious now, even as we continued to move to the music. “I’ve been thinking about what happened with the press. How I panicked about our engagement getting out.”
“And?”
“And I don’t want to hide this.” He gestured between us. “Us. Not anymore. But I also don’t want to make a big deal about it.”
I considered this. “So we’re not going public, but we’re not hiding either?”
“Exactly. People might find out. They probably will. But we don’t have to announce it or confirm anything.”
I liked that. The idea that what we had was ours. Not for public consumption or tabloid fodder. Just us, figuring things out together.
“I think that’s perfect,” I said. “Besides, I’m going to need some time to prepare my social media followers for the fact that I’m dating a man who owns more gray suits than should be legally allowed.”
“I don’t wear that much gray.”
“Lurch, your closet looks like a banker’s funeral.”
He laughed, spinning me around. “Then it’s a good thing I have you to add some color to my life.”
“Purple is going to be a very good color on you,” I agreed.
“I was actually thinking about getting a purple tie.”
I stopped dancing and stared at him. “Who are you and what have you done with Cash Bancroft?”
“I told you,” he said, pulling me close again. “I’m figuring out who I am. And apparently, who I am is a guy who wants a purple tie.”
“Next thing you know, you’ll be wearing patterned socks.”
“Let’s not get carried away.”
The DJ announced he had a request for a sappy song and we were supposed to prepare ourselves.
Cash pulled me into his arms. I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Around us, the remaining guests were chatting, flirting, or dancing.
All of the kids were gone. The night was winding down, but something between us was just beginning.
“Stay with me tonight,” he murmured into my hair.
“Are you propositioning me, Mr. Bancroft?”
“Absolutely.” His voice was low, sending shivers down my spine. “I plan to proposition you extensively.”
“Well, when you put it like that.” I looked up at him, feeling brave and certain and completely in love. “I suppose I could be convinced.”