Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) (35 page)

The corners of his eyes
crinkled with his soft smile. “You better get used to it.”

I wasn’t sure that a
lifetime would be long enough to get used to the way he made me feel, or that I
even wanted to get used to it. I never wanted to stop being overwhelmed by
this, by who he was and the way he could so easily reach right inside of me, and
wrap himself around my heart and soul.

“So, I have another
question for you,” he said.

I waited.

“Have you given any
thought to where you want to finish your schooling?”

I grinned. “Yeah. I
think I know exactly where I want to be.”

 He leaned in close
again. “That’s good. Real good.” The last words were a whisper against my lips.

I didn’t go back to my
room after that.

Mia

3
Months Later . . .

“I know you’re
going to love this place. The pictures online were so perfect. I think this
will be the one!” Sadie insisted as we hopped out of her car to look at the
tenth apartment of the day. Her words would have been encouraging, except that
this was the tenth apartment she’d taken me to, and the previous nine had been
about as far from “the one” as an apartment for me could get.

Let’s
review. The first apartment we looked at had been in a good location, close to
Boston College, where I’d managed, through many letters and an official
interview, to convince them that letting me into their school would not be a
mistake and that I would not bring a negative spotlight down on their fine
institution.

That was the
only selling point of that apartment. Right away, the gloomy interior lighting
and broken elevator should have been an indicator to turn around and move on to
the next apartment. Sadie insisted we give it a look though.

We made it
up three flights of sketchy stairs, down a hallway with about ten roaming cats,
and the smell of deep fryer oil permeating the air, to a single bedroom
apartment at the end.

I don’t
think the appliances inside had been updated since the eighties. There was
peeling paint and cracked plaster. The carpet was older than the appliances and,
I’d wager, had been victim to one too many parties as the smell of stale beer
lingered.

Rent was
cheap though.

Apartment
number two was much nicer and more modern, not in a bad area and reasonably
priced, but it was above a meat shop. No way could I endure the smell of
walking down the alley beside it to get to the outer staircase leading up to
the apartment, not to mention that some of the smell seeped into the apartment.
I was actually considering becoming a vegetarian.

I thought
things were finally looking up when we got to apartment number three. Very nice
building, great location, neat landscaping around the complex, even had a pool
and gym. The fancy gate and rows of luxury cars should have been a clue about
just how nice this place was. I was just so excited that there was no meat
smell that I wasn’t thinking about much else. Once I saw how lavish the inside
was and then Sadie showed me the listing price, I wanted to cry.

After that
it was six more bummers, and I was giving up hope of being able to find a cute,
charming, nice smelling, reasonably priced apartment in a decent neighborhood
not so far from the school that I would have a long commute.

We walked up
to place number ten and right away my heart sunk, because this place did look
perfect. It wasn’t the standard apartment building, but a big beautiful home.
It had a big fenced in yard and wraparound porch and patio that led to the back
yard. There was staircase leading up to an upper balcony and door, the only
sign that the place could be split into two apartments.

The lot it
sat on was pretty big and was bordered with trees along the fence, offering
even more privacy. Something that seemed to be pretty standard in the quiet
neighborhood where almost every house was as big and beautiful as this one. The
yard and patio were beautifully landscaped with cobblestone walkways and lots
of flowers. Everything I saw made me want to fall in love with this place, but
I was too afraid to get my hopes up, thinking this was going to be a lot like apartment
number three, too good to be true.

Dad had
offered to cover rent at any place I wanted while I was in school, but this was
something I was trying to do on my own. I had my trust fund and during the
months I’d lived with Dad, before moving back to Boston last month, I’d done
intern work for him just to keep busy. I was pretty sure he’d paid me higher
than intern wages, but he insisted he hadn’t. So I had a good chunk that I
could live off pretty nicely for a while, but I wanted to be careful with it
and hopefully find a part time job while I was in school.

Unfortunately,
choosing to be independent and self sufficient meant no to the place with the big
pool and fancy security. I was afraid it was going to mean no to this place as
well.

Sadie said
someone was supposed to be meeting us here to show the place, but when we got
to the front door of the bottom story, she twisted the knob and pushed it right
open.

The entry
was floored with sleek hardwood that appeared to run throughout much of the
space, except for the living room area, which had almost brand new looking
carpet. Just off to the right was a hall that appeared to lead toward bedrooms
and the rest opened up into a big living room, dining room and kitchen area. We
stepped in further, taking in all the open space. Big windows on every wall let
in lots of natural light. Just off the back of the kitchen, gorgeous French
doors framed in a dark wood led out to the back deck and yard. The kitchen was
especially spacious with dark, stained cupboards, beautiful granite countertops
and sleek, black, state of the art appliances.

It was
absolutely perfect, except for one thing. The more I looked around, the more it
appeared as if someone was already living here. There was a pair of black
Converse discarded just inside the door. A vacuum was plugged in and sitting
just inside the living room, which was fully furnished, including a fully
stocked entertainment center with a giant flat screen, an X-Box and shelves
full of dvd’s and games that I was dying to peruse. The coffee table was
stacked with a few magazines and books. A vase of flowers and a half full glass
of water sat on the kitchen counter.

“Sadie, are
you sure this is the apartment we’re supposed to be looking at, and not the
upstairs one?” I asked her, thinking we had just barged inside someone’s home.

“No, this is
it,” she smiled like I was missing some secret. I heard a door opening down the
hall where the bedrooms were, followed by soft footsteps and then Chris appeared
and I knew I was definitely missing something.

“Welcome
home, pretty girl.” He walked toward me barefoot in a pair of cargo shorts and
a plain white v-neck that showed off his tan nicely.

“Home?” I
asked.

“Yeah, what
do you think?” He held out his arms in a wide gesture.

“I think it
just got even more perfect,” I grinned back at him.

“That’s
good, because I signed the lease yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”
I looked at him and then Sadie who was also smiling. “You knew?”

“Yep,” Chris
answered for her. “But I needed her to keep you busy this morning while I got
all of our stuff moved in. You were determined to go apartment hunting, so I
had her distract you with a few others until I had everything ready.”

I was still
stuck on “our stuff.” I loved the way that sounded, and when I looked closer at
the games and books on various shelves, I could see that my things were mixed
in with his, which meant he’d taken all my stuff from the guest room at Ace and
Sadie’s where I ‘d been staying since I moved back.

This was so
much better than being right across the hall from him.

“It’s really
ours?”

“Yeah. It
is. You want the rest of the tour?”

I bobbed my
head enthusiastically.

“Well, I’ll
leave you guys to it,” Sadie excused herself and exited out the front door.
Chris took my hand in his and led me through the living area to the kitchen so
I could look around more thoroughly and peek at the back yard. It was as
beautiful as I knew it would be.  Then he led me down the hall to the right. It
appeared that there were three bedrooms and a bathroom down here. He opened up
the door to the first, and I had a complete geek-out moment when I saw that it was
set up as a serious gaming/studying computer room. I already knew it was going
to be my favorite room in the house. My computer as well as his and every other
gaming system we owned, which between us was quite a few, were all hooked up to
different screens. There were two plush gaming chairs as well as a cushy
love-seat, and a desk with another comfy looking rolling chair, just under one
window.

The next
bedroom was of course his music room. His drum kit, as well as a keyboard and a
small grand piano, were set up in there. There were shelves and shelves of
records and music paraphernalia on the walls.

“Are our
upstairs neighbors going to mind you beating on those?” I asked.

“I doubt it
since our upstairs neighbors are Marcus and Maysie, and Marcus got pretty used
to music going at all hours when he lived with us before.”

“Really?” I
asked excitedly. I hadn’t spent a lot of time around Marcus and Maysie, but
enough to know that I liked Ace’s little brother and loved his girlfriend.
Maysie was about the sweetest person I’d ever met.

“Yeah. They
let me know when the downstairs place became available, knowing that I was on
the lookout. When I checked it out, it seemed pretty perfect, and I like the
idea of them being around when I’m on the road and you’re here.”

“It is
pretty perfect, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, just
wait until you see our bedroom.” He gave me a wicked grin that caused little
flutters in my stomach, and my knees to grow a little weak.

O
ur
bedroom.

It had been
three long months since we had the talk in his hotel room and decided we were
doing this thing. That night things had seriously heated up between us, but
we’d both put the brakes on before it went all the way. I’d been happy to let
him just hold me all night while he kissed me senseless.

After that,
it took me a few weeks to wrap up everything in Seattle and make arrangements
to move to Boston again, but Chris spent most of that time in Seattle with me.
Then we were pretty much living together at Ace and Sadie’s, just in a separate
bedroom situation.

During that
time, Chris insisted on taking things slow. Very slow. Which I knew was good
and sort of agreed to, but it was also torture.

We spent a
lot of time together outside of the house. He was constantly dragging me off on
hiking or river rafting adventures. We’d ridden every roller coaster within
three states, been to the Jersey Shore, which let me tell you, that was an
adventure in itself. He’d taken me all over New York City, even though I’d done
it before it was so much better with him. I went to his shows, got to hang out
on set and even be an extra in a music video they shot. We’d been photographed
together out to lunch, out to dinner, out shopping, in clubs, at movie premiers
and sporting events.

We were
about as couply as a couple could get, except at home. There was one major step
we hadn’t taken yet, and I was about to combust. He was so sweet and amazing
and his kisses still got my heart racing and blood pumping, but every time I’d
try to take it further, he kept it right where we were at. That was difficult
and frustrating and I knew I wasn’t the only one going crazy from want, but
still he kept us at a nice pg 13 rating.

His reasons
were sweet. He knew what I’d been through and wanted to make me feel special
and wait for the right time, but I was getting impatient.

Sharing a
bedroom sounded very promising.

When I saw the
room we would be sharing, I quickly changed my mind about my favorite room in
the house. I loved the gaming room. It was a gamer’s paradise, but this, this
room . . . this room was a dream. Huge four poster bed. Epic walk in closet.
More big windows and beautiful patio doors leading to the side yard. Beautiful
en suite with a bath tub I could sleep in. The best part was seeing all the
pieces of us together. His clothes next to mine in the closet. Pictures of the
two of us on the wall and on the dressers. His hats on a rack next to one
holding my purses. His watch and sunglasses sitting beside my jewelry box. His
deodorant and man stuff in the bathroom cabinet beside all my girly crap.

“Is it okay?
I wasn’t sure where to put some stuff, but I just wanted to get everything in
and figured you could decorate and arrange it however you want later.”

“It’s absolutely
perfect.”

“You sure?
Because if you don’t like any of the furniture or the bed set or the dishes I
picked out in the kitchen, we can get different ones.”

 I hadn’t
even looked at the dishes, but I was sure I would love them just as much as I
loved everything else.

“I’m sure. I
love everything you did.”

“Okay,
good,” he smiled that brilliant smile and took my hand again. “Then I just have
one more thing to show you.” He walked over to the patio doors, shoved aside
the curtains, and then pulled them open. I stepped out onto part of the porch
that wrapped around this side of the house and then froze in my tracks with a
big grin plastered on my face.

A gorgeous
patio set sat in the yard just off the porch, and on the table was another vase
of flowers, an ice bucket of my favorite sparkling cider (since my champagne
days were behind me) and glass covered cake pedestal with the most delicious
looking chocolate and strawberry cheesecake I’d ever seen.

Chris took
the steps down in to the yard, and I followed after him, stopping on the bottom
step when I noticed a small object on the table that I had missed at first
glance. It was a small black, velvet box.