Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Her legs grip my center, her arms wrap around my neck, but it’s her lips that kiss me like she hasn’t seen me in a month when it’s only been a few hours that confirms this is right. We are, together. Not that I needed reassurance. I knew she was the one when we met and she asked me for my cigarette like she already owned it. She did, and me, from that moment on.
With a smile shining brighter than the North Star, she asks, “Do you know how much I missed you, Poet?”
“Since two this afternoon?” I deadpan.
She nods, tossing her head back freely in laughter. “It could have been thirty minutes ago, and I’d miss you the same.”
I study the sweet expression—the smile, those eyes that light up when I’m near, and the way she licks her lips after we kiss like she didn’t get enough the first time. Her fascination with taking photos of me is quite the ego trip, but it’s her love for me that is always coming through. “I missed you, too.”
“Is that why you came to see me?”
Holding her up is easy, but I was built for loving her. “One of the reasons.”
A mischievous smirk slips into her fine features. “What’s another reason?”
“Do you remember I asked for a sign?” I set her down and caress her cheek. “One sign was all I needed.”
The memories steal her smile and drain the happiness from her eyes. “I remember.” She bites her bottom lip, but then says, “I cried for days, maybe months after you left. The tears just wouldn’t stop. I knew in my soul that we were supposed to be together.” And she calls me the romantic one.
“We’re together now, but you were with me all along. A beacon for me to rely on. Every time we saw each other, every time we talked gave me the sign I needed to hold on, even when fate tried to keep us apart.” I take her hand and twirl her out before bringing her back to me just to see her smile again and lead her into the empty cobblestone street to look up at the moon.
Her eyes glisten under clouds streaking across the deep blue skies as night bellows to greet us above the treetops of the West Village. I hold her hands in mine and do what I’ve always done—pour my heart into her.
“I was so fucking lonely, angry at the world for having to fight for everything I got. And then there was you, Sosie. A shining star. A muse in need of an artist to inspire. The most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on in a Jackson Pollock shirt, dark eyeliner, and combat boots, bumming a smoke from a server ducking out on his break.”
“Sounds like kismet, Poet.”
“It sure was, and it changed my life for the better. You inspire me every day with the way you hold strength and still manage to stay soft at heart. I’ve said it before. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I must have been one helluva guy in a past life to get the reward in this one.”
Her bubbling laughter makes me think she’s onto me. I’m not the best with secrets, always wearing my heart on my sleeve like she does. Reaching up to run the tips of her fingers over my jaw, she says, “Oh, I definitely earned you in this life. So I’m not going to take one day for granted. I love you too much for that.”
“I love—”
A car horn blasts, sending my heart into orbit, just as the taxi’s headlights shine so bright that we run for the curb to avoid being blinded. Laughing takes some of the heat off the situation and gives my chest time to retrieve my heart from outer space and calm down again. As soon as I do, I reach into my pocket and drop to one knee before her because I just want to be married to this woman. “Will you marry me, Spark? I promise to be the husband you deserve.”
She kisses me before the words leave my mouth, sealing the deal like our destiny always was. “Yes, Poet. I’ll marry you. You’ve always had my heart, so we might as well make it official.”
CHAPTER 34
SOSIE
Icouldn’t wait to get my hands on it, and now I can’t stop staring. It’s so big and thick. GAH, holding it in my hands is incredible. I’m so glad I bought a copy of Keats’s book as soon as the bookstore opened even though I preordered a copy for delivery at home. That copy didn’t arrive until after lunch, so no regrets on the early morning trek. And now this evening, the line for the signing wraps around the block, confirming it’s sold out.