When the Heart Falls

The moon is high in the sky and my heart feels free. It’s exhilarating, and I know I’m ready to finish my novel. I open my laptop, and the words flow out of me.

It takes a week of intense writing. While most of the students are partying and cramming in sightseeing, I lock myself in my room and write. Cade and Jenifer check in on me and make sure I eat, and Cade forces me to take breaks, mostly by seducing me, which I don’t mind a bit.

At the end of the week, my book is done, and I’m happy with the rewrites. Lance's role is expanded. He no longer avoids the heroine. Instead, he keeps fighting for her love. And in the end, his actions teach her that she deserves to be happy. So she accepts the love of the hero—sorry Lance—and they buy a mansion in Hawaii. Fortunately, Lance hooks up with a sexy yoga instructor, so everyone's happy.

I do a final polish on it and send it to Daring for editing. She sends it back to me with an attachment. I open it and see the cover I’d always imagined for the book. Across the front it says “The Ice Queen” by Winter Deveaux.

I bypass my advisor and the publishers and agents. With help from Daring, my book is ready to go live.

I take my computer into Cade’s room. He looks up from a book and smiles. “Hey stranger. Have you seen my girlfriend by chance? I think she was kidnapped by a romance novel.”

“Hardy har har. Well, I’ll have you know, Mr. Smarty-pants, that the romance novel is done. And I’m publishing it tonight.”

He stands and comes to me as I set the computer on his desk.

“What does this mean?”

“It means, I’m taking control of my own career. It also means I’m moving back to New York with you when the summer ends.”

He smiles, then frowns. “But you’ve had your heart set on spending the year abroad. I can’t take that from you.”

I shove him playfully. “You’re not taking anything from me. I’m tired of pretentious professors snubbing me because genre fiction is so beneath them. I’m tired of trying to get respect for my work in a system that refuses to show that respect to anyone who writes romance. I want to do this. I need to do this. For me. Also, I can’t press charges against Rodney if I’m not in New York.”

I wrap my arms around his neck. “Listen, cowboy, I’d probably leave to be with you. That’s enough of a reason, because I love you and I can write anywhere. But the fact is, there are other reasons for me to go back. I was running away, even though I’d convinced myself I wasn’t. Now I’m facing my past and grabbing my future by the tail.”

He smiles, and this time it doesn’t turn to a frown. “You’re sure about this?”

“Positive.”

“What if I don’t get my scholarship? We still haven’t gotten our test results back.”

A fear creeps into my heart, but I shove it away. “One hurdle at a time. We’ll figure it out.” I pull out of his embrace. “Now, I have a book to publish, and I wanted you to be here when I press the button.”

“Am I your good luck charm?”

I grin, giddy from excitement and nerves. “Well, I get lucky with you, don't I?” I click the upload button and hold my breath, letting it out in a dramatic exhale. “I did it. I’m a published author.”

Cade swings me around and kisses me. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. And now I can say 'I knew you when.'”

I dig my fingers into his hair and pull him closer. “You’d better say you still know me. And by know me I mean in the biblical sense.”

He lifts me up and drops me on to his bed. “I think that can be arranged.”





CADE SAVAGE





CHAPTER 42





EVERYTHING IS FALLING into place for Winter, and for our relationship. This is the last hurdle, as she says, and my palms are sweating as Monsieur Bellugue places our tests face down on our desks.

"You worked harder than anyone," he says as he hands me mine. "Remember that."

Winter flips her test over, but her 100% doesn’t surprise anyone. She looks at me, and I take a breath and turn my paper over.

Dag nab it.

61%.

Winter bites her lip, her eyes sad. I’ve lost my scholarship.

"Will you move back to Texas?" she asks, her voice trembling with the question.

I reach for her hand, squeezing. "No. I'll get a job. I'll keep entering contests. I'll make it work. I’m not giving up on my dreams, and I’m not giving up on us."

"O. M. G!" Jenifer shrieks behind us, a smile plastered on her face. "I got 70%. That's like a C minus, right? Right? I got a C minus, bitches."

I smile at her antics. This is the outcome I dreaded, the results I thought would ruin my future forever, but I realize now that there’s more than one path to our destinies, and I just need to find a new path, one that includes Winter by my side no matter what. "We should celebrate.”

"Totally," Jenifer says. "We should go to the club."

Winter crosses her arms. "I don't know about that."

"It'll be fun." I lean over and kiss her earlobe. "We'll be together."