Careless (29 page)

Mike pulled her against his side. “You’re
allowed; you’ve been through hell these past few months.”

Trey looked at Mike and smiled. “I can’t
tell you how glad I am you decided to join our team. I couldn’t have picked a
better man for the job.”

Mike grinned. “Yeah, well, it was pretty
tough to refuse the perks.”

Everyone laughed as the women took turns
hugging Tori, demanding reassurance she was on the mend.

“I know my husband can be a tyrant,” Marisa
said, hooking her thumb over her shoulder. “If you’re not ready to do this,
just say the word and I’ll get him to back off.”

“I heard that,” Luc said, coming up behind
his wife. “You really think I’d try and force her to do this if she wasn’t
ready?” He settled his arm around Nikki’s shoulder. “Hell, Tori’s like a
daughter to me. I’d never try to convince her to go back to work unless I
thought it was the best thing for her.”

“Luc’s right,” Tori said, smiling at the
group. “I need to put this behind me, and gettin’ back to work seems like the
best way to do that. Besides, we’ve been preparin’ for this tour for months.
Sold out dates all over the continent. How can we disappoint our fans?”

J.T. smiled as he reached for her hand,
bringing it to his lips. “Our fans love you as much as we do. They’ll
understand if you need a little more time.”

The additional security Mike had hired were
doing their job keeping reporters and autograph seekers at a safe distance,
giving Tori the privacy she needed to say the things that had been running
through her mind when she was planning her escape from the dank shack in the
wilderness.

“When I got into this business, I was
scared to death. I was so sure it was gonna chew me up and spit me out inside
of a year.” She smiled when Mike threaded his hand through hers, silently
offering his love and support. “Hell, it probably would have, had it not been
for you guys. You took me in, taught me the ropes, but even more importantly,
you taught me to stay true to myself and not get caught up in all the
craziness.”

Trey sighed as he hooked an arm around Ty’s
neck. “If only I could’ve kept this guy on the straight and narrow. Look at him
now, swelled head, thinks he’s God’s gift.”

Everyone erupted in laughter as Ty elbowed
Trey in the ribs. “Looks who’s talkin’.” Anyone who knew Ty would say he was
the most down-to-earth guy they’d ever had the pleasure of meeting. Faith,
family, and charity were the principles that guided him through life and Tori had
learned so much from his approach.

“Y’all taught me so much about this
business… and life,” she said, looking to each one of them in turn. “Luc taught
me I had to toughen up if I expected to survive, Trey taught me not to take
myself too seriously, Ty showed me how to handle the fame without lettin’ it go
to my head, and Nikki…” Tori took her friend’s hand as she looked her in the
eye. “You taught me to stay true to myself. I didn’t conform just ’cause
everyone thought I should.” She winked at Avery. “And believe me, that wasn’t
always easy.”

Avery pulled Tori into a hug. “Quit busting
my chops. I was just doing what I thought was best for you.”

“You,” Tori said, smiling at her friend and
publicist, “you helped me most of all. You helped me to grow up and realize
that I’d been blessed with this incredible opportunity, and I owe a huge debt
of gratitude to the millions of people who make it possible for me to do what I
love every day.” Tori laughed self-consciously. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to get
so sappy; it’s just that I had a lot of time to think while I was trapped in
his cabin.”

Sierra reached for her hand. “I can’t even
imagine what that must have been like for you, sweetheart.”

“Ya know, it wasn’t all bad.” She laughed
at the look of surprise on their faces. “It forced me to put things into
perspective. For years, I’ve been all about my career, and I realize it’s not
enough for me anymore.” She looked up at Mike and smiled. “I’ve been afraid to
put myself out there because I didn’t want to risk makin’ a fool of myself or
gettin’ rejected, but I realized some things are worth the risk.”

“Can’t argue with you there,” Mike said
quietly.

“Excuse me,” Tori said, stepping away from
the crowd. She realized she’d been allowing fear to dictate her actions for too
long. It was time for her to take the ultimate risk with the hope of gaining
the ultimate reward. She’d never been one to tip her hat to convention; why
should she start now?  

With her hand still in Mike’s, she led him
to the crowd of reporters hoping for a statement. Her heart was pounding harder
than the first time she’d appeared on live TV or faced a crowd of tens of thousands,
hoping they wouldn’t heckle her off the stage. More than her pride was at stake
this time. Her heart was on the line.

“Good afternoon, y’all,” she said, smiling
brightly. “I want to thank you for bein’ so patient. I know there have been a
lot of rumors circulatin’ about me over the past couple of days and I just want
to set the record straight.” She took a deep breath as she said a silent prayer
that she wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of her life. “As you probably
know by now, I had a little trouble with one of my security personnel. It was a
difficult situation, but I got through it just fine, and I’m lookin’ forward to
gettin’ back to work.”

“Can you tell us more about your
relationship with your accused stalker, Tori?” one of the reporters asked.

Tori knew she had to let go of any
bitterness or animosity toward Joe before she could move on with her life. “He
was a good man, albeit a little misguided. He had feelings for me, which
obviously I didn’t share. He was someone I considered a friend at one time, and
I hope he can get the help he needs to work through his own issues while he’s
incarcerated.”

“Does that mean you forgiven him for what
he did to you?” another reporter asked, shoving a digital voice recorder in her
face.

“I have to.”

The same reporter turned to Mike. “How
about you, Lieutenant Cooper? Are you able to forgive and forget as easily?”

Mike clenched his jaw before smiling
through gritted teeth. “I just wanna help Tori get past this.”

“What can you tell us about your
relationship with Tori, Mike?”

Mike looked her in the eye and Tori felt
his love like a physical embrace. He’d already put so much on the line for her,
it was past time for her to return the favor. “I think I’d like to answer that,
if you don’t mind?”

Every reporter’s attention was fixed on her
as they positioned their recorders, cameras, and video cameras to capture her.

Tori turned toward Mike and took his hands
in hers. “If someone had told me it was possible to fall in love the first time
you laid eyes on someone, I’d have told them they were crazy. But when you
stepped out of your father’s pool that day, you made me a believer.”

Mike smiled as he cupped her face in his
palm.

She instinctively turned into his touch,
absorbing his heat. “I spent so many hours over the past four years wondering
what our lives would be like if you shared my feelings.”

“Baby,” Mike whispered, drawing her in
close, “you don’t have to do this here.”

“Yes, I do.” She bit her bottom lip as she
tried to find the elusive words. “When you find the person you were meant to
spend your life with, you’re a coward if you’re not willin’ to lay it all on
the line to be with them.”

Mike winced, and Tori knew they were both
guilty of running from their fears when they should have been brave enough to
face them together. She couldn’t undo the past, for either of them, but she did
have this one precious moment and she intended to make the most of it. “I ran
away when I should have stayed and fought.” She reached up to brush her hand
across his cheek. “I won’t make that mistake again, ever. I’ll fight for us
with my dyin’ breath, ’cause you’re my everything.”

“Jesus,” Mike whispered, bowing his head.

Tori knew he hated getting emotional,
especially in the midst of their friends, family, and strangers, but she didn’t
want to wait another day to say what she should have said four years ago. “I
love that you challenge me. You make me laugh…” She fought back the tears as
she said, “But I can’t deny you’ve made me cry a time or two as well.”

He raised his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s part of life, Mike. I know we’ll
argue, I may even get angry enough to walk out—”

“Not gonna happen,” he said, smiling. “I
won’t let you go.”

Their past flashed through her mind. Scenes
that included teasing, laughter, anger, sadness, passion, and regret. “You are
the only thing I’ve ever wanted more than my music. You inspired me to pour my
heart out in my lyrics…” Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat through a
watery smile. “You were the voice whispering in my ear when I wrote a song, the
image that appeared in my head when I sang about loss and heartbreak. I’ve
always known you were the one, the only one for me.”

“Tori—”

She pressed her fingertips to his lips.
Tori knew given the chance, he would save her from the embarrassment of having
to be the one to pose the question, but she couldn’t allow him to rescue her,
not this time. “You’re the only man I want, today, tomorrow, forever. Say
you’ll marry me.”

A collective gasp rose through the crowd
and Tori knew everyone was as shocked as Mike that she’d had the courage to ask
him, in this very public venue, and risk the kind of embarrassment she would
never live down if he said no.

She held her breath as she waited for him
to respond.

“I can’t believe you did this,” he said,
quietly.

She didn’t know it was possible for a heart
to ache, but hers was in the moment it became clear that she’d made the biggest
mistake of her life. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like
this.”

He nodded. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

Tori tried to push through the crowd, but
he wouldn’t release her hand. When she turned around, he was on one knee, a
velvet ring box opened to reveal a breathtaking diamond solitaire. “You’re a
tough act to follow, Tori Warner, but since we seem to be all about the public
declarations today, I’m gonna give this a try.”

She covered her mouth as she watched him
trying to collect himself.

“I’d never met anyone like you. You tore
through my life like a cyclone, makin’ me question everything I thought I knew
about my
type
of woman.” He chuckled. “Turns out I didn’t have a clue
until I met you. I thought I wanted sweet, soft, and submissive. Instead I got
sassy, opinionated, and strong, and there’s not a single thing I’d change about
you.” He kissed her trembling hand, letting his lips linger on her skin. “Many
people might say I’m the luckiest guy in the world to be with Tori Warner, the
superstar, but I happen to think I’m the luckiest guy in the world ’cause the
Tori I love doesn’t even realize she
is
a superstar. She’s the girl who
gives a hard-working waitress free concert tickets or donates her time and
money to a charity that’s close to her heart. She’s the girl who burns her
daddy’s favorite dinner every year on his birthday, but is still too stubborn
to order in.”

Everyone, including Tori, laughed.

“She’s the girl who makes me laugh and
makes me willin’ to give up the life I loved ’cause I know my life with her is
gonna exceed my wildest dreams. So yes, baby, yes, I’ll marry you, and in front
of the millions of people who are gonna inevitably see this, I promise to spend
the rest of my life tryin’ to make you as happy as you’ve made me.” He slipped
the ring on her finger before standing up to pull her into his arms.

Buried in his strong arms, Tori barely
heard the laughter or the applause, the tears, or the “awws” from the crowd.
The only thing she heard was the echo of Mike’s words as he promised to love
her forever. 

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Thank
You

October 2012  

High
Stakes  

Book One in the Nashville Nights Next Generation Series   

Other Books in the Nashville Nights Series

Shameless – Book One