Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (22 page)

I
swallow nervously, as she turns to face me. Her eyes are glistening with emotion.

“Leila,
I love you so much that it’s sometimes hard for me to breathe. You have changed my life. You have altered every cell in my body. You own me, completely. By simply staring into my eyes, you can bring me to my knees.”

I gently lift her hand, placing a kiss on her ring finger. “
I know things have been difficult. I will have to live with the pain I’ve caused you. I still don’t understand why you are with me.
But I want you to know I will do everything in my power to make you happy. I will laugh with you. I will cry with you. I will keep you safe. I will remind you how much I love you every day for the rest of our lives.”

A single tear rolls down her cheek. I gently wipe it away
before dropping down onto one knee. “Leila Marino, will you marry me?”

Her nod
begins before my sentence is complete. Her smile illuminates her face.

“Yes.”

I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring that I’ve chosen for her. According to Lizzy, it’s simple, it’s elegant and it’s stunning. As I slip it on, her finger trembles adorably. Still holding her hand, I stand before her.

“I love you more than anything in this world
. It no longer matters to me if we reach fame or not, because my career has taken a back seat to you.” We gaze into each other’s eyes, my heart racing from the reality of our connection.

“Jack, I
also love you more than anything in this world. Everything I do, I do for you. Everything that happens from here on in, I’ll be standing right beside you, good or bad.” She moves towards me and circles me with her embrace. I bury one hand in her hair, the other I use to press her into me.

“Promise me something.” She whispers into my chest.

“Anything.”

“Promise me you will say those exact words to me the day I marry you. I never want to forget them.” She looks up at me as her eyes
once again fill with tears.

“Oh, baby. I promise.” I lift her chin until
our lips touch. The kiss becomes passionate and heated. She pulls away gasping for a breath.

“One of these times, I’m going to pass out from lack of oxygen.” She teases
, as the tears

continue to
escape. I gently wipe them away, while taking in her beauty. She simply takes my breath away.

“I’ll revive you.”
Bending to give her a chaste kiss, I ask, “Do you like your ring?”

She smiles
adorably. “Oh yeah, I have a ring.” She pulls back to inspect it as her eyes bulge in the process. “Jack, it’s absolutely gorgeous. When did you do this?”

“
A few weeks ago.” I saw the ring online and tracked it down at Tiffany’s in New York City. I had Lizzy pick it up for me. I used her mom’s wedding ring as a size indicator and hoped for the best. This was all before Leila broke up with me. Afterwards, Lizzy kept insisting she should return the ring, but I wouldn’t have it. At the time, she thought I was losing my mind. I guess my heart just knew we weren’t over yet. As it turns out, my heart was right. Liz had to travel across the country with it.

“There’s more to the story
, but I’ll tell you later. I just want to make sure you like it. I can return it if…”

“Don’t say another word.” She interrupts. “I absolutely love it.”

There’s a knock at the door. “That’s dinner.” I pull away to let the bellhop wheel in a cart that is filled with enough food to serve four. He wordlessly sets up our plates and pours the champagne. After I offer a tip and close the door behind him, I watch Leila as she gently lifts random lids. She grins when she sees what’s under the silver dome. “Grilled cheese and fries?”

“Our first meal together
at Leo’s. Don’t forget the apple pie. I could have gotten lobster, but this means more to me.”

She gently pulls her bottom lip between her teeth before she whispers. “Why are you so perfect?”

I shrug and respond, “Because of you.”

During our meal, the fountains start up again giving us another front row view.

“This has got to be the most romantic proposal ever orchestrated.”

Shrugging, I admit. “Maybe.”

“You are a man of many talents.”

“What are your favorites?”

“What, talents? I have too many to list.” She grins at me and adds, “So, what’s my other surprise?”

“You’ll see.”

She stands and moves around the table. I shift sideways to pull her onto my lap. I am literally aching for her.

“When do you want to get married?”

“I don’t know. We are kind of busy for the next few months. Once we get home we can see what dates work.”

“Can you promise me it will be sooner than later? I don’t know what kind of wedding you want, but my only request is it be quick.”

“I’d be happy with our closest friends and family. I don’t want something big.” As I nuzzle her neck, she asks, “I have a request.”

“Anything you want.”

“Can you make love to me?”

Pretending to debate this
torturous invitation, I smirk, “Hmm. Can I?” Standing with her in my arms, I carry her into the bedroom and deposit her on the king size bed. “I just need to text someone real quick. Don’t move.”

She frowns adorably. “Hurry.”

I close the door and text Lizzy as quickly as my thumbs can move.

Ok. u cqn comr bavk
and dont mke noixe

HUH?
English please.

Huffing, I try again.

Keep up please. Come back and don’t make noise. Text hunt too.

Oh.
Ok.

When I open the bedroom door, my gorgeous fiancé
is patiently waiting and she isn’t wearing a stitch of clothing.

“Holy shit.”

“What took you so long?”

“
I’m sorry.” I remove my clothes as if they are on fire. Leila watches me with a heated gaze. I never once break eye contact with her. Once I’m as bare as she is, I move to lie next to her on the bed. “You had asked me for something?”

“Yes, make love to me.”

My response is to attach my lips to hers. As I hold her head still, I suck on her top lip, then her bottom lip, then both together. My tongue follows the pattern, running along the top, then bottom, then inside to stroke along hers. In an attempt to push me along, she moves closer, eliminating the sliver of space that is between us. I don’t want to rush this, but the effort it takes to move at such an unhurried pace is pure agony.

She moans and wraps her
fingers in my hair and then slides her leg in between mine. I can feel her nipples teasing my chest as she presses her breasts against me. All of her reactions are normally triggers for me. Today, I summon every ounce of willpower I have to continue with just this one kiss.

After a few more minutes, she begs.
“Jack, I need you, now.” Her plea causes me to surrender. I slowly position myself over her and she tightens her grip in anticipation.

Words cannot begin to describe the connection I feel towards her. There isn’t one single suitable word. Th
e closest I can come up with is severe, consuming, crushing, and maybe fierce? But even combined, they are still lacking.

I stop moving my lips over hers
, and she slowly opens her eyes staring straight into my soul. I’m completely exposed to her in a way I’ve never been in my entire life. She has the ability to end me, the power to destroy me. My beating heart sits in her hands. I’ve never been this vulnerable to anything or anyone, and all I can do is surrender.

“Saying I love you isn’t enough. There’s so much more I feel. I don’t know how to tell you.”
She nods quietly in agreement. “Even showing you isn’t enough. It’s simply not enough.”

“I know. Sometimes I have moments of panic, moments where I feel so connected to you that being apart for even minutes makes
it hard to breathe.”

I contemplate her words. I know exactly what she means. It’s sick
, actually. It’s obsessive and fanatical, but it’s absolutely true.

“No one would understand this. I don’t think anyone I know could relate to this. The constant need to touch you, to see you, to need you.
I need you. More than air, or food or water.”

She holds my face and strokes
my eyelids, my nose, and my lips with her thumbs.

“
I
understand.” 

She pulls me lower to join our lips once again. I need more now. I need all of her. I
slide into her torturously slow. Her eyes widen ever so slightly as she inhales me in every way. She raises her knees to take me deeper…and still it’s not enough.

We’ve never gone this slowly
. At the moment, there’s no need to rush. We have the rest of our lives together and there’s no need to quicken this for any reason. It’s pure perfection. There have been times, and there will be times, when frantic and hurried sex will be our only option and we will still appreciate it. Today, we are savoring every rub, every caress, every kiss, and every thrust deliberately.

We each bring
the other closer with subtle movements or shifts. She moans in frustration when I hold back, because I start to feel the familiar tightening in the base of my spine. But I am now at the point where I need to let go and more importantly, I need her to let go.

“Baby, please come for me.”

She is right there, right at the edge, and my words are the
gentle shove she’s been waiting for. Her arms and legs encircle me. Her fingernails mark the skin on my back. Her muscles constrict around me, prompting me to tremble inside of her.

The more I quiver, the more she tightens her grip. She’s pull
ing every emotion, every sensation out of me, until there is nothing left.

“I love you.” She says, staring into my eyes.

“I love you.”

Once we both relax from our climaxes, I
collapse from exhaustion. What I just experienced crushed me physically and mentally.

Murmurs and noises
coming from outside our door wake me up from a sound sleep. Leila is sleeping beside me, while wrapped in my arms. I don’t even remember us moving positions.

The voices I hear tell me
it’s time for her next surprise. I watch her sleep peacefully before waking her.

I kiss the top of her head, gently running my hands up and down her back. She stirs and slowly opens her eyes. “Hey
, baby.”

“Hey.
You feel so warm.”

“
You too. I could stay here forever, but we need to get up for surprise number three.”

She stretches in my arms, smiling shyly. “You are spoiling me.”

“Not nearly enough.” I kiss her cheek and add, “Come, the next surprise wouldn’t appreciate us naked.”

She looks up confused. Putting on my best poker face, I move around the room adding items of clothing as I go. She starts to dress as well, but her brow is still puckered in confusion. When we both freshen up and are presentable for company, I take her hand and lead her to the door.
She can obviously hear the noises on the other side.

She narrows her eyes suspiciously. “Will this be embarrassing to me?”

“No…of course not. Ready?”

“Yep.”

I open the door to Hunter, Trey, Scott, Dylan and Oscar standing around talking casually and hiding in the back are Evan and Lizzy. Her eyes move around the room. It’s obvious when they land on Evan.

She looks to me excitedly
, while squeezing my hand. “Oh my God! I love you.”

She runs
past everyone else and straight into Evan’s arms.

“What are we, invisible?” Hunter pretends to be offended.

“I see you each and every day.” Leila quips back. “What are you doing here?”

“Surprising you.”
Evan states the obvious.

“How long are you staying?”

“Four nights. We are coming to your show tomorrow night.”

“Hey, Lizzy. How are you?”

Lizzy and Leila hug comfortably. “I’m great. Welcome to the family.”

Evan remembers what occurred tonight and adds, “Oh
, yeah. I guess congratulations are in order.”

She pulls away to show Evan her ring. Liz
zy looks at Leila fondly, before meeting my eye. She’s been great during this whole thing. I drove her nuts, and once again I owe her big time.

Evan and I exchange a hand
shake and I hug my sister tightly. “Thanks for keeping this to yourselves.”

Evan nods. “I’d do anything for her. Hey, I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time.”

“Don’t worry about it. I understand.” I wrap my arm around Leila and smile. “Thanks for prepping Mr. Marino for me.”

Leila looks up at me and asks, “With what?”