“Married?” I sucked in a breath.

He nodded. “Someday you’ll be Mrs. Sebastian Tate.”

“You’re so sure?”

He swept his hands around his chest. “Have you taken a good look at this sexy piece of male? Chicks are dying to get with me.”

I slapped his arm. “Blair? She listened to you?”

He shrugged. “She told me you had the pics, and then I got crazy worried. What did you give her? Please tell me it wasn’t money.”

We’d both been busy, protecting the other.

I touched his face, his shoulders, his chest, my hands finding their resting place over his heart. “I—I sold my personal story to Hing so he can develop it into a movie. I got a few million in the process, along with an assurance that Blair will get a tiny part in the current movie he’s making.”

He paled, a wrinkle between his brows. “Why would you do that to yourself? You hate attention.”

“But I can do it one time, especially if we’re together, and then once the entire story has been told, no one will care. It will all be laid bare. Raw. Just like my music. I also have complete say on everything, even down to who they cast.” Emotion clogged my throat. “I—I chose you.”

“What do you mean you chose me?”

“Yes, it’s my life, but it’s going to be told from a guy’s point of view.” I smiled softly. “Yours.”

Instead of looking elated, he looked confused, his eyes searching mine. “I love you so much, but I can’t allow this to happen. It’s insane for you to open yourself up like that.”

I shook my head. “I want to tell my story. I didn’t at first, but that was before I realized how much life I have to live. I want others to see how my life was and most of all, how I survived the grief. Because I have. And the money will keep the orphanage running for years.” I smiled. “My heart aches to see you—playing me. Because you have been where I am. You know my pain.”

I kissed him, chuckling a little at his still stunned face. “I love you, silly. I’d do anything for you.”

He closed his eyes and then opened them, a dawning light of wonder in them. “I love you with or without this movie.” He bent his head to me. “You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. Inside and out.”

I grinned. “It gets better. I’m not going to New York. The orphanage is where I want to be right now.” I toyed with the button on his shirt, feeling shy. “Maybe I could go on the road with you in between my semesters at school.”

He picked me up and twirled me around. “That is my dream, V.”

He pulled a piece of paper out of his jeans. “I wrote a song for you. I’ve actually been working on it for weeks, and I know it’s too early to sing it in public because I didn’t want to put the spotlight on you—but may I?” He held it up.

I felt myself glowing. I nodded.

“With your permission, I’d like to make it the first track on the next album. Spider agrees.”

I leaned against the wall. Out of breath.

“I don’t have my guitar, but it’s so powerful that a cappella suits it. You ready?”

I nodded, and he whipped out of his coat and tossed it on the floor. He hummed to get the right pitch. Then he snapped his fingers to a beat in his head, emotion evident on his face, and sang.

Get up, dress and eat,

Move my fingers, my feet.

Play my popular song,

All day long.

Violin Girl in my dreams,

I got it bad it seems.

Dark and twisted,

Music with skin.

I saw you there,

Across the way.

Play your song,

Laying it bare.

Date girls, drink champagne,

Try to forget the pain.

Weep, sweat, and plead,

Violin Girl, you make me bleed.

Quote Romeo and Juliet like a fool,

When all I wanted was to be cool.

Did you know they end in tragedy?

Violin Girl in my dreams,

I got it bad it seems.

Dark and twisted,

Music with skin.

I saw you there,

Across the way.

Play your song,

Laying it bare.

Sit on a couch, watch a vampire show,

Kiss and make love til we blow.

Fall in love under the sky,

I’ll take it all, the comet too,

We’ll fly.

Violin Girl in my dreams,

I got it bad it seems.

Dark and twisted,

Music with skin.

I saw you there,

Across the way.

Play your song,

Laying it bare.

I saw you there,

I saw you there,

I saw you there …

Violin Girl,

Will you be mine,

Be mine.

Be mine.

Silence fell when he ended the song.

Sometimes in your life you just know things, and I knew with certainty that he loved me beyond measure.

He took me back in his arms and wiped my tears. “That song is the first song to the rest of my life.”

I bit my lip.

“V, don’t cry. It was supposed to make you happy.”

“I love you so much.” I melted against him. “Kiss me.”

He kissed me for a long time.

“We should go,” I whispered against his mouth a bit later.

“First, I want you to come, V. Right here before we go out there and blow them away with our music.” He slid his hands inside my panties, his fingers working me, sending tingles over my body. I shivered at the need coursing through me.