The camera floated in my peripheral vision as Derek kept pace alongside me. “I guess Micah’s not a big fan of the media now either, huh? Good job finally breaking him of his fame-whore ways.”
My legs started to shake again, and I stumbled. Each step I took felt heavy. I had the ludicrous thought that the gravity of the earth had increased. I put a hand on a tree for balance and pulled out my phone to call Zion, but my hands shook too hard. And I couldn’t remember how or what I was doing. I leaned against the tree and slumped to the ground. I just needed a few minutes so I’d stop feeling so dizzy.
The townhouse door opened, and Micah emerged with Eden’s hand wrapped around his bicep. He stopped and peeled her fingers off, yelling, “It’s my decision, Eden.”
She let go of him and shouted, “You never think, Micah. I’m just asking you to take some time and think.”
But he was already halfway down the steps, casting his eyes frantically up and down the street. He shot a shitty look at Derek and then looked down at me. “Oh, my God. Josie!”
He ran down the sidewalk and fell on his knees, screaming at Derek, “You just stood there and rolled tape? Did you call an ambulance?”
Derek laughed. “Hey, man, she’s drunk.”
“She’s not drunk, you asshole.”
Micah bent down and grabbed my phone off the sidewalk. He punched in the numbers and then paced around with one hand tearing out his hair. “Zion, it’s Micah.” Pause. “Yes, she’s here with me. What should I do? Should I call an ambulance?” His panicked sobs slowed as he listened. Finally, he nodded, and said, “Okay. Thanks.” He dialed again, “Eden, I need you to do me a favor.”
He spoke to her for a couple of seconds. Then he sat flat on the ground and lifted me in his arms, across his lap, caressing my hair and talking. “Josie. Oh, God, are you okay? Can you sit up?”
He leaned forward and laid a kiss on my forehead, then rocked me until Eden came outside and gave him a glass of orange juice. He stroked my hair while I sipped on it. After a few minutes, I sat up on my own. Together, Eden and Micah looped their arms around me and helped me stand up and walk back up the steps into the townhouse.
Once inside, Micah sat me on a sofa and dropped beside me, elbows on knees, looking like he’d been through hell. He wiped his face with the back of his hand. “Josie, I’m so, so sorry.”
He threw a glance at Eden. Eden backed out of the room and left us alone.
Micah’s voice broke when he started to talk. “Josie, you scared the hell out of me. When I saw you lying on the ground, I thought the worst.” He grabbed my hands like he wanted to make sure I wouldn’t leave. He pulled me toward him, and his arms around me made me feel safe and protected. I wrapped my arms around him, too. He hugged me tight, and his heart beat fast in his chest.
“Micah.” I leaned back to look into his eyes.
A tear rolled down his cheek. He scrubbed it off and swallowed. “Yesterday, when you asked for time, I let you go because I believed you’d come back in time. And I know I said I’d wait for you. I meant that. I would wait for you for the rest of my life. But today I realized I could lose you, for real, forever. And what if you never came back? You’re everything to me. I love you, and I need you.” He held my face in his and said, “Anika Jo Wilder, I don’t want to wait for you.”
He was right—today might be the only day we ever had. I tasted the tears running over my lips. “Micah, are you going to still want this tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.” He laid a kiss on my forehead. “And the day after that. As long as you’ll have me. No, longer than that because I won’t let you go again without a fight.”
He’d just said the magic words. “You won’t have to. I love you, and I trust you. And I need you, Micah. I can’t possibly live without you.”
He smiled that big smile, the one that made his dimple appear.
Then he kissed me proper. And, oh, how I’d missed that. But we had a mess to clean up. “Micah, can we talk about the news story? I want to explain everything to you. And to Eden.”
Before we’d made a move, a knock on the door brought Eden back through the living room, and I worried for a moment it might be Derek, invading her personal space further. I followed Eden to the foyer, relieved to discover Zion standing in the open doorway. There was no sign of Derek or any other paparazzi out front.
Eden led us all into the kitchen. Despite everything, it took me a moment to recover from the shock of seeing Adam at the table, nursing a beer in his own home. I hadn’t realized he’d come back from Japan already.
Micah said, “You remember Josie, right? You guys met two weeks ago.”
He nodded, and then his eyes tracked Eden. I guessed he planned to follow her lead where I was concerned. Was I still the enemy? Had she forgiven me? Or did she just feel bad for my collapse?
Micah held a chair out for me, and I sat. Zion had brought my glucose meter. While I messed with that, Micah went to the fridge and rummaged around. He came back with everything he could find and laid it before me. A cornucopia of options. My numbers were still low, so I grabbed the lone piece of fruit but snagged a couple of pieces of cheese as a chaser.
Once he had me all settled, he came back, and the four of us sat around the table, occupying our hands with our food and drinks, waiting for someone to break the ice.
Finally, I said, “Eden, I want you to know that I didn’t tell Andy about you. He had Derek following you, and they saw you coming from the OB/GYN and then watched you buy prenatal pills. He wanted to run the story on Monday, but I worked out a deal. He promised he wouldn’t run the story about you for another week. But he broke the promise.”
“What was the deal?” She gripped her beer bottle and took a swig.
As hard as it was, I maintained eye contact with her. I needed her trust. “First, I had to tell him who Micah was seeing.” I licked my lips. It sounded every bit as bad. “Knowing that it was me, I figured that was my information to give. Little did I know, he had already figured that out and only needed me to confirm it.”
