“Jesus, woman, do you know that you hold my heart and my entire life in your hands right now?” he rasped.
She did. She knew it. All it took was one look at his face to understand that he loved her just as much as she loved him. “Just like you hold mine,” she answered earnestly. “I love you, Julian Sinclair. I’ll guard your heart for the rest of my life.”
How many people had ever seen the real, beautiful man beneath the veneer of the superstar? Kristin considered how much people were missing if they didn’t see the kindness in his soul, but she was going to be greedy and keep that information close to her heart. Nobody needed to know him the way she did. She’d let the public have their gorgeous A-lister superstar. They saw a Julian who was handsome, but cool and aloof. She’d much rather have the real man beneath the facade.
“I love you, baby,” he finally answered. “There will never be a day when I won’t try to make sure you know that.”
His vow made tears spring to her eyes as she answered, “I know you do.”
The death of Julian’s parents would still haunt him sometimes, but she’d do whatever she could to help him preserve his memories while lessening the pain and regret. What happened had obviously changed him profoundly, made him the man he was today. She just wished it hadn’t taken so much painful loss for him to be the man he was right now.
Kristin didn’t really know what he was like before, but it didn’t matter. All she cared about was now, and the fact that she loved and accepted everything about him, just like he did for her.
“I have you exactly where I want you right now,” Julian told her wickedly.
She smiled back at him with an impish expression of her own. “Funny. I happen to be where I want to be,” she answered seductively, deliberately encouraging him.
Julian in caveman mode was one of the hottest things she’d ever experienced.
“Prepare to be thoroughly ravished,” he warned in an actor’s booming pirate voice.
“Feel free to pillage away,” she invited with an eager smile.
Julian didn’t need any further encouragement. He swooped down and captured her mouth in a heated embrace that made them both forget all about making s’mores until several hours later.
EPILOGUE
A Few Weeks Later . . .
The Youth Center had decided to make the Sinclairs’ Winter Ball an annual event. It seemed to energize the town just when the snow, cold, and gloomy season became intolerable.
This year, Kristin was there with her handsome husband, and so were her parents. Her mom was getting along well, with the help of some physical therapy and new medications the neurologist that Julian had found for her in Boston had prescribed. Not that she didn’t have bad days, but just like last year, her mother had felt well enough that Kristin’s parents could be in attendance again this year.
As Kristin hit the dance floor with Julian, he pulled her close and put his mouth near her ear. “Cinderella finally gets to attend the ball?”
Kristin knew exactly what he was talking about. Last year, she’d worked the bar so her parents could have their outing. Her mom had been feeling okay that day, and her dad had wanted to attend the first Winter Ball with his wife.
Kristin hadn’t wanted her mom to miss going out when she felt okay.
“You were right. I did want to go last year. But I wanted my parents to be there more,” she confided.
“That’s one of the reasons why I love you so damn much,” Julian answered huskily as he began to swing her around the dance floor.
“You would have done the same thing,” she accused, knowing that her husband had come to care about her parents a lot. Julian and her dad were close, not just because of the business, but due to a mutual respect and genuine friendship that had formed between them. And Lord knew that Julian could charm her mother with a word or two and a kiss on her cheek.
He was devoted to his brothers and his cousins, visiting Xander almost every day so Micah could spend some time with his new wife. Tessa had been approved for her cochlear implants, and she knew everyone in the family was nervous, especially Micah.
Julian shrugged. “Maybe I would,” he agreed. “But I’m glad we’re all here this time.”
Kristin was happy, too. Her mom couldn’t dance, but she was socializing with her dad, both of them looking so much happier and relaxed than they had been a year ago.
“I can’t believe how much has changed since the ball last year.” Kristin had seen Julian that night, but she’d never in her wildest dreams imagined she’d someday be married to him and so deliriously happy that she often wanted to cry because he showed her how much he loved her every single day.