Page 115 of Cast to be Mine

I stood there, frozen on my mark, tears streaming down my face now. Everything I’d been holding back for three weeks came rushing to the surface.

He loved me.

He’d just declared it in front of everyone. No hiding. No secrets. Just the truth, laid bare for all to see.

I nodded. It was all I could manage at first, just a small movement of my head. But then I moved, stepping off my mark, crossing the distance between us in what felt like a single heartbeat.

I crashed into him.

His arms came around me immediately, pulling me close, holding me like he was afraid I might disappear. I buried my face in his chest, breathing him in, feeling the solid warmth of him surrounding me.

“I love you too,” I whispered against his shirt. “I love you so much.”

He pulled back just enough to cup my face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away my tears. And then he kissed me.

It wasn’t like our other kisses. This was a declaration. A promise. His lips moved against mine with a tenderness that made my knees weak. I melted into him completely.

The soundstage could have been empty or packed with a thousand people. I wouldn’t have noticed either way. There was only Micah. Only this moment. Only us.

“Okay, everyone, I think that’s a wrap,” Toby called out.

Laughter rippled through the crew. Someone started clapping, and then others joined in, the applause building until the whole soundstage was filled with it.

I looked up at Micah, my face wet with tears, my heart fuller than it had ever been.

“You planned this,” I said, half-accusation, half-wonder.

He grinned, that crooked smile that had undone me from the very beginning. “Guilty.”

“There were no pickup shots.”

“Nope.”

“You’re insane.”

“Probably.” He brushed a strand of hair from my face. “But I couldn’t let you keep running. Not when I knew what we had was real.”

I shook my head, laughing through my tears. “Is this a good idea?”

“Fuck all of it,” he said simply. “I meant what I said. None of it matters. Only you.”

I pulled him down for another kiss, not caring who was watching, not caring about anything except the man in my arms and the future stretching out before us. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I could breathe again.

38

MICAH

Icouldn’t let go of her. The applause from the crew faded into background noise as I held Grace against me, feeling her heart pound against my chest. I had dreamt of holding her every night for weeks. I couldn’t believe how empty my life had been without her in it. My arms ached for her.

And now I had her and everything had been put out there for the whole universe. It was the best feeling in the world to have it out in the open.

“Come on,” I murmured against her hair. “Let’s get out of here.”

She nodded, her hand grabbing mine and squeezing tight. I understood the feeling. I’d spent three weeks convinced I’d lost her for good.

I took her hand and led her through the soundstage, past the grinning crew members and Toby, who gave me a thumbs-up.

We didn’t stop until we reached my car in the parking lot. I held the door open for her. Then got into the driver’s seat. Finally, just the two of us.