Page 27 of Notorious (Hollywood Heartthrobs #2)

Emotion clogged my throat, and as I squeezed his hands. “You don’t have to thank me for anything. I wanted you to have a night where you could relax and have fun. And no, work doesn’t count as fun.”

I chuckled at his expression at the moment someone stepped up to the table. It took a moment to pull my eyes away from Connor’s expressive gaze.

“Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Elio. How are you two this fine evening?”

I blinked up and smiled at Elio. The tall man with his dark hair slicked back dressed in a crisp white shirt, black vest, and black pants. But it was his smile as he looked between both me and Connor, which had me smiling back.

“We’re good, Elio. Thank you for asking. And you?” I asked.

He beamed a smile at us; his radiating happiness surprised me. “Now I understand why the gossips can’t stop talking about you two.”

“Sorry?” It came out as a stutter before turning to look at Connor, who seemed just as confused. “We’re the subject of…”

“Yeah. But there’s no need to worry. My parents own the restaurant and most of my siblings and I work here, and we will protect your identity.”

“Thank you, Elio. I already told the hostess I would take pictures with you after dinner, but I’m grateful for the assurance.”

“Ah, yes. My sister. Thank you for your kind offer. While you peruse the menu, would you like something to drink?”

My eyes flicked down to the menu, but since I only drank a few times in my life, I was unsure what to order other than water.

Connor reached over and squeezed my hand. “May I order you something you’d enjoy?”

I nodded, “Please.”

“Two Bellinis and water, please, Elio.”

With a dip of his head, he walked off, leaving us to peruse the rest of the menu. Connor reached over and laced our fingers together and squeezed. After a few minutes, he set aside the menu and asked, “What would you like?”

I shook my head. “We are celebrating you, so I want you to decide. Besides, you know me. I’ll eat just about anything.”

“Then I think we should get the four course tasting menu, since we’ve never been here before.”

I nodded at his suggestion, but turned curious. “What’s a Bellini?”

“Oh, you’re going to love it. It’s peach purée with sparkling Italian wine. Since we have plans after, we should take it easy on the alcohol for dinner.”

Until our food arrived, we spoke of other scripts we read and interested us.

“You should pick a script you like and star in it yourself.”

Connor laughed. “But now I know what it’s like to be in charge, so it might take some convincing to get me to back away from the director’s chair.”

With a casual shrug, “Why don’t you do both?”

Intrigued, he grew silent as he contemplated his choices.

I hid the smile because I planted the seed.

Connor was brilliant at everything he did.

Not only because of the passion behind his drive to be the best, but because he loved what he did as an actor and now a director.

But that was a subject for another night.

Everything was exquisite from the Cesar salad with charred romaine, a bolognese with wild boar and veal, both a first for me, followed by a smoked dill salmon on a delicious risotto, and to top off the meal, a delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter gelato.

The chef, who turned out to be Elio and Aria’s uncle, Dante, welcomed Connor into his kitchen and after I took about a dozen photos with them, loving the ones where my boyfriend made the entire staff laugh, we left with promises of returning soon.

Connor slid his fingers against mine as we headed toward the parking lot. I entered the address into the GPS and in less than fifteen minutes later; we arrived at the second half of his birthday night celebration.

“Where are…” he paused as he took in the neon sign and the rainbow arch above the entrance.

“Perfect timing. Let’s head in and get a seat close to the stage.

” As we entered, I verified our reservation and paid for several cards and two daubers, and led Connor to an open table right off the stage and in shadow.

There was recognition in the eyes of the employees and people here for bingo, but no one bothered him.

As we sat down, I slid in next to Connor, who was closest to the stage, and handed him six bingo cards and kept the other six. I turned and glanced at the stunned expression on my boyfriend’s face and asked, “Have you ever been to drag queen bingo before?”

“No, I don’t think I’ve even played bingo in my life.”

“It’s low key enough you should be fine, and from what I researched, it looks fun.

I’m sure they will go over the rules, but they call out a letter and number, and you place a dot over it with your dauber.

You win if all the dabs are in a row, whether horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, and you shout bingo and they come over to verify you won. ”

“Um, what if I win? What do I get?”

At this, I shrugged. “No clue. But with a host of drag queens in the mix, it’ll be interesting.”

Interesting didn’t even describe it. Since they hosted bingo every month, the crowd was raucous when the night started off with a gorgeous queen in a black sequined dress, introducing herself and cracking a few jokes as we relaxed into our seats.

As they started the wire tumbler rolling, a queen in a pink strapless dress sashayed over to us and I noticed her eyes widened as they took in my boyfriend. Her hand ran up his arm as she leaned closer and said, “Hey, handsome.”

He smiled at the queen, causing her to put a hand on her chest and fan herself. “You should come with a disclaimer, sitting your sexy ass over here with that smile.”

I laughed, and although she had eyes for Connor, she asked, “Who’s this cutie patootie?”

“I’m…”

“No, let me guess. You’re part of his harem and you’re here to recruit others to this very just and sexy cause.”

“What qualifies as a harem?” I asked.

She threw her head back and laughed. When she recovered, she winked at me and said, “No clue, just a girl’s fantasy.”

The games and the queens were entertaining, and I won a huge flesh-colored dildo while Connor won a hard, sleek purple vibrator, which looked uncomfortable to use, no matter how much lube was involved.

But who was I to judge? We gifted them both to a bridal party near the front as we left, and Connor was gracious enough to pose for a couple of pictures and wished the bride the best for her upcoming nuptials.

As we got into the SUV, my heart jolted when I spotted a small smile on Connor’s face.

His relaxed posture, especially his shoulders, made my chest swell with affection for the man.

Being a first-time director was stressful because there were a lot of unknowns.

But I told him, as did many of the crew, how supported they felt by him and because of that, they worked to make the movie go as smoothly as possible.

He was a wonderful example of do unto others, as well as a gracious friend and a wonderful man.

“Did you have fun?”

Without a word, he turned to me and slid his hand behind my head, pulling me in for a scorching kiss.

With ease, he drew a loud moan from me in the quiet confines of the SUV as traffic and the world went on around us.

As he pulled back, both of us taking deep breaths, I noticed the strange expression on his face.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“I want to marry you.”

The statement came across as so matter of fact; it stunned me stupid. My mouth dropped open, and no sound escaped as I floundered to understand his words.

Although we’d expressed our feelings for each other several months back, marriage wasn’t even in the realm of possibilities I saw us headed in because…

well, I didn’t know, because maybe being in a committed relationship seemed like a fantasy already.

Anything more would demand too much of the fates.

“You… do?” I asked, still floundering.

His look, so exasperated, brought a smile to my face as I ran my thumb underneath his bottom lip.

“Don’t pout, beautiful. It was… I wasn’t aware you ever thought about marriage. Have you thought about wanting to get married for a while?”

“Is it so strange to believe that I love you and desire a committed relationship with you for the rest of our lives?”

My brows drew down, and I said, “No.”

“Then why…”

“Connor.”

“Oh, you don’t want to marry me,” he said, sounding wounded.

I gasped out, “It would be an absolute dream to marry you, but I’m, we’re… this is your first relationship and I’m afraid you’re allowing the newness of it?—”

He cut me off when he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me breathless. I melted into him and when his tongue met mine; I whimpered into his mouth, tilted my head, and savored his dominance.

“Do you love me?” He asked between pants.

“Yes,” I hissed, “Of course I fucking do! With all that I am.”

“Enough to take a chance on me. And I don’t mean until you get sick of me. I mean forever. You are it for me, carino mío . My true love, my forever. I know you think I’m flighty?—”

It was my turn to interrupt with a huff of disgust.

“The fuck you are! But that’s something we’ll discuss later.

No, the reason for my hesitation was because I wasn’t sure if you were ready for the next step in our relationship by committing yourself to me, in a legal sense.

I love you with everything I am. No matter how many years pass, I will continue to hold you in my heart.

In truth, you own it, beautiful. You own every piece of me.

But my instincts want you to be as happy with the decision as I would be.

Because you’re it for me, too. The love of my life, for the rest of my entire existence. ”

At my words, he gathered me in his arms and held me. I worried for a moment since his entire being seemed to vibrate.

“That’s why I want to marry you.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Because I’m an opinionated bastard who’s has no issue defending you from you.”

“Yes, and so much more. I never realized how closed off I was until you came into my life. I held people at an arm’s length, never letting them close.

Even family. Maybe it’s because of my dad, or this industry, but something always held me apart.

But you; all niceness and love, support and a true listener, broke down all my walls, allowing me to be different.

I’m a better person when I’m with you. A better son, brother, and friend.

But marrying you is because I love you, with everything I am. ”

After a quick press of our lips together, I blew out a breath and said, “I want to marry you, too.”

He let out a whoop and pulled me closer, pressing his lips to my neck as he breathed me in.

His hold tightened as he whispered, “Thank you for being in my life. I thought I knew what love was; my parents being the perfect example, but I’ve never felt it.

Experienced it. Closed myself off to the possibility of it.

But you with your cheery disposition, positive outlook, and a pure good that people see when they meet you, I know I lucked out finding you first.”

With a bit of distance between us so he captured my gaze with his own shining light hazel eyes, he continued, “But this all-encompassing devotion I have for you, craving this closeness, is what I want for the rest of our lives. I loved making the movie with you, experiencing the camaraderie with the entire production team and actors, and want to direct more movies with you at my side.”

Connor leaned back and studied my face as I watched the byplay on his, as his thoughts lulled him into silence. I reached out and laced our fingers together, waiting for the epiphany his thoughtful expression brought.

“Years ago, when I was on the promotion tour for a movie Kaid, Spencer, and I were in, I met Spencer and Lee outside a hotel and my heart pounded in my chest to see how happy the two men were. But there was a shroud of sadness as well because I never connected with anyone the way those two had. Spencer must have recognized my emotions and asked me when I would settle down and I told him, even though at the time I’d never thought it would happen, that I hadn’t met my Lee yet. ”

Unable to stay away from him, I leaned in and cuddled into his chest, smiling as his arms banded around me and held me close.

“But by an extreme coincidence, you sat next to me. Even then, you never looked at me as an actor or a playboy, and saw through the mask I was way too comfortable wearing. Drawn to you on the flight became happiness when you came home with me. I’m thrilled I get to be this open with you, allowing you to see the real me. ”

The silence stretched between us as I processed the sincerity of his words.

“You are easy to love, Connor. Not to mention how gracious you were bringing me home with you and introducing me to your family. It’s amazing how freeing it is to have the support of people you love and who love you back. I hope they’re all thrilled when you tell them.”

He spluttered. “What do you mean? We’re doing this together. I know I’m throwing a lot at you, but what do you think about kids?”

I laughed. “In a general sense? Or having one of our own?”

“One of our own. We could get a surrogate or adopt. Either way, they’ll be ours.”

A gasp escaped as I pictured Connor reading to a toddler or finger painting and making a mess everywhere on the dining room table while mama looked on with a smile on her face.

“Oh.”

The man’s smile widened, and I caught the shimmering in his eyes. This affected him and, knowing my boyfriend, he’d been thinking about taking this direction in his life for a while.

“You… Yes, I can see it. I think adoption would be the best. While a child, through a surrogate, would share DNA with one of us, it’s a lot of strain to put a woman through, especially considering the number of children already out there without homes.”

Connor laughed and hugged me closer. “You have the biggest heart of anyone I know. But that’s settled. Let’s head home and tomorrow, we plan our wedding.”