I nod. “Trevor… I do feel the same way. I…” Oh gosh, why can’t I say I love him back? Why can’t I justsay it?I look into his hopeful eyes and a rush of emotion overtakes me. I lean up on my toes and grab his face and kiss him. It’s a quick kiss, hard and full of emotion, but I don’t give it time to develop into anything else before I pull away.
“Trevor, I got a job.”
His eyebrow quirks up. “You did? Another acting job?”
I shake my head. “I was just offered my dream job here in Texas. Not far away, actually. It pays well and it’s working with the elderly which has always been my dream career. I start next week.”
“Right,” he says, biting his bottom lip. “That’s really great.”
I nod eagerly, bursting at the seams with how excited I am for my new job. “It’s really a perfect job. It’s what I’ve wanted ever since I got my nursing degree, but I’ve never even had an interview for a job like this until now. So, I guess you can see why this is all so much for me to take in. I never expected you to have feelings for me. I thought I was being a total dork for developing feelings for you over the past few weeks because I didn’t think you’d ever like me back.”
His arms slide around my waist, holding me steady here on the porch. His lips are just inches from mine. “I definitely, definitely like you back,” he says softly. “You’re all I can think about. I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
“But don’t you see all the problems?” I feel like the world’s biggest brat bringing this up right now. But if I don’t stand up for myself, I’m in dire risk of getting hurt. “Trevor, you’re wildly famous and handsome. What if I uproot my entire life and then you get bored of me? Or what if some beautiful, rich actress decides she wants you and you don’t want me anymore?”
“Baby, that’s never going to happen,” he says, kissing my forehead. I feel his hands, strong and powerful, slide up my back, gripping my waist as he holds me to him.
“I’m scared,” I breathe against his chest.
“We don’t have to rush anything.” He peers down at me with a soft smile. “It’s not like you have to pack up your life and rush off to LA with me right now. We can date. We can take our time. I can prove to you, however long it takes, that I’m in love with you and just you.”
Again, the words stick in my throat and I can’t seem to make myself say them back. Admitting I love Trevor will be opening myself up to getting hurt. I peer up at him, my hands resting on his chest, his arms still holding me close, for several moments.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I’d gone back home without telling you how I feel,” Trevor says, letting his arms go. He takes a step back, which brings some much needed space between us and now my brain feels like it can function a little better now that I’m not wrapped up in how handsome he is. He takes my hand and squeezes it. “Why don’t you take some time to think about it? You don’t have to answer me now. I’ll come back later if you want me to. We could have dinner or something.”
I nod slowly, not because I want him to go, but because he’s probably right. I need to shower and get dressed and clear my head and think about this.
“I feel like this is one of those moments in the movies where the guy tells the girl he loves her and the girl says she loves him and they hug and live happily ever after, and I’ve just screwed it all up.”
He chuckles. “You haven’t screwed up anything. This isn’tOakbrook Lake. This is real life. Real life can be messy. That’s what makes it real.”
His words comfort me.
“Come back in an hour?” I ask.
“Sure.”
He leans forward and kisses me on the cheek.
As he walks toward his car, I call his name.
He turns around.
I smile. “I love you.”
CHAPTER20
Trevor
She loves me.
The wheels of my rental car may be on the ground but my head is on cloud nine. I drive back to the hotel with an amazing feeling of love radiating from me. I’ve never been this happy in my life. Nothing can bring me down.
I offered to leave Annie’s house so she could take some time alone to think about things. I didn’t want to leave, of course, but I had just dropped a huge emotional bomb on her lap and I didn’t want her to feel pressured into anything. I want her to think it through and decide if she truly loves me the way I love her.
Back at my hotel, my things are mostly packed since I’m supposed to leave soon. The film crew has only paid for the hotel up until today, but I paid for the rest of the week myself. I’m just not ready to go home yet. My agent is in talks with getting my next movie contract done, but for now, I don’t have anywhere to be. And I only want to be with Annie.
I grab a coffee from the hotel’s restaurant and take it up to my room. With the rest of the film crew gone, the fans have faded away and no one thinks to look for me here since they must assume I’ve left, too. It’s nice being able to walk freely, just like it had been that night at the engagement party. It makes me think of what my life would be like if I left acting for good.
