Authors: Kahlen Aymes

Beyond Famous (Famous #3) (54 page)

“It’s fine,” she teased. “Marry them all as long as you’re in bed with me.” Some of the other cast heard her and raised their eyebrows. When I looked at Brook for her reaction, she simply said, “Fuck it, right?”

I laughed and the tension was over. “Right.”

Now she was curled up against my shoulder as we made our way to the airport. I had Bill and three other guards with us, because it would be madness and I wanted Brook protected at all costs. The plan was that I would walk through with Steve and Bill and Peter would walk on either side of Brook behind me. Closely behind. I wanted this over with as quickly as possible. We were taking the guards on the plane, because there would be bloody more of the same in London when we landed; likely more since the world would then know that Brook had been with me in France.

Fuck it.
The words reverberated through my brain and I laughed out loud.

Bill looked over the back of the front seat. “What?” he asked.

“Nothing. I’m just really bloody happy.” Brook’s small hand curled into the front of my shirt and I put mine over it.

As we headed through town, I remembered Mr. Abel and my promise to stop by again. Plus, Brook was here now and she could meet the old man.

“Bill, I need to stop at Abel’s, please”

He glanced at his watch. “We’ll be cutting it close, but we can spare a few minutes.”

“Thank you.” I leaned my head down to the sleeping head on my shoulder. “Brook, babe, wake up, can you?”

She moaned and shook her head. “No. Why?”

“We have to make a quick stop. I promised to stop and see the old man who made your pendant one more time.”

She sat up then and pushed her hand through her hair. “Okay. That would be nice.” A smile tugged gently at her luscious lips and I couldn’t help it, I bent down to capture them with my own in a brief kiss. “Love you,” she whispered, and I squeezed her hand.

Mr. Abel’s eyes glowed with excitement as I ushered Brook into the little shop. “Mr. Caden! You came back! Is this beautiful girl your young lady?”

“Yes, sir. This is Brook.”

Brook was beaming at the old man who placed his hands on both sides of her face. “Okay to kiss you?” he asked. His English was good but broken with a heavy accent.

She nodded and he kissed first one of her flushed cheeks and then the other.

“Very nice to meet you, Mr. Abel,” Brook murmured. “Thank you for making the beautiful necklace. It’s really pretty. I love it.”

“Oh! Pleasure!” We watched the hunched old man walk back to his workbench and then return. He held out a hand to Brook, indicating that he wanted her to give him her left hand. “I apologize for the size. You are smaller than I expected.”

My face ached from smiling. Brook was glowing as the old man slid a gold ring on the middle finger of her left hand. “My gift to you. Your young man loves you. You keep him.”

She blushed and smiled widely. “I’m planning on it, for sure.” She glanced down at the ring and gasped. “It’s amazing.” Her eyes filled with tears and she reached out to hug Mr. Abel. “Amazing. I’ll treasure it. Thank you.”

Her thumb ran over the ring and I asked to see it. “Look,” she said softly, wiping away the one errant tear that managed to fall from her eye.

I glanced down at it. It was simple. Solid gold and plain save for some embossing on one side. C A D E.

“It’s in your handwriting. How?” she shook her head in disbelief.

I only had gratitude and love for the old man whose gesture was so incredibly touching. “Mr. Abel. That’s… just brilliant. Beautiful. Thank you.”

“Oh, my pleasure, my boy.” He patted my shoulder then shoved a piece of paper in front of Brook. “You sign. I make one for Caden. I can ship to your home.”

Brook and I both stood there stunned. “Really? Oh, my God, that would be amazing.”

She signed her name and he measured my ring finger. It was the one I thought would be less obvious for everyone to notice. “I’ll cherish it always. Thank you for everything.”

We both hugged him goodbye and promised to stop in again if we ever returned to Toulon. It was a reminder that although we were surrounded with madness, we could have these rare moments of radiance when someone saw us as just a man and a woman. Real people who happen to love each other desperately. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched Brook shove on her sunglasses to hide her teary eyes. I reached down and threaded my hand through hers.

We were on our way to the airport and soon we’d be dealing with the river of madness. I knew these rings would become our wedding bands.

“Now I really feel like
fucking it
, yeah?” I tried to make her laugh, although my throat was aching with the remnants of the moment. The thumb of my right hand brushed over the top of the ring, feeling the letters of my name.

She laughed through her tears. “Yeah. Totally.” Brook’s other hand closed around my bicep and squeezed gently as she nodded. “That was just amazing, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I can’t wait until I get mine, Brook. It’s perfect.”

“The whole thing is pretty perfect.” Her hand reached out to brush along my jaw and I bent to kiss her. Our lips clung together for a brief moment.

“Mmm…I wouldn’t change one second of the last three years. Chaos and all, Brook, it’s the reason I have you. I wouldn’t change a bloody thing.”

The End

About the Author

Kahlen Aymes is a USA Today bestselling author who writes steamy romance novels that cross genre lines between New Adult, Adult Contemporary, and Erotica.

Kahlen has been on several bestseller lists including Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Smashwords, Publisher's Weekly, iBooks and USA Today! She began her writing career without ever planning on publishing a single word and won multiple awards in the worlds’s second largest fan fiction community, including BEST Author, BEST RPF, Best All-Human that Knocks You Off Your Feet, and several others! Her readers encouragement and support are what prompted publication.

Her interests include reading, as well as writing, theater arts, cooking, roller skating and going for long walks. She is the proud mom to one teenage daughter and two golden retrievers, who basically rule her world.

With a strong love of writing and romance, and you can count on her to deliver strong, relatable characters, deep and detailed plots, sexy love scenes, and emotion overflow!

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