Page 120 of Under Your Spell

‘I’d like you to be happy too,’ Theo says, and he wraps me in his arms, tucks the top of my head under his chin and gives me one of those perfect hugs. ‘I want you to be happy more than I want anything else in the world. Even more than I want David to stop force-feeding me kale.’

I press into him, hold on tight for another second, then draw back. ‘What would make me happy right now would be for you to go and finish this concert.’

He kisses my nose. ‘You’ve got it. But when I’m done, we’re leaving here together, okay?’

‘Okay,’ I grin. ‘But only because you look so good in that suit you’ve scrambled my brain.’

He kisses me again, so thoroughly that my knees dissolve like water. He steadies me. Grins.

‘Later,’ he promises.

‘Later,’ I agree.

Theo is still laughing as he bounces back on stage, joining Ripp for the last couple of verses of the song he’s performing. It seems my father has had no trouble at all vamping for the crowd, and they cheer and stomp their feet in appreciation.

‘Ripp Harris, ladies and gentlemen,’ Theo says, leading the applause as Ripp takes a bow.

Ripp appears beside me, panting and happy like a Labrador.

‘Did you two sort things out?’ he asks.

‘Yeah, we did.’ I nudge his shoulder with mine. ‘Thanks.’

‘No worries. Good show, this.’ His eyes sharpen. ‘Do you think your Theo might like a guest spot on the next tour?’

‘You can always ask him,’ I say lightly, utterly confident in what my boyfriend’s answer will be.

‘Okay, okay,’ Theo is saying, settling himself behind the microphone with his guitar, once more. ‘Now, as some of you may know, yesterday we announced my new album, and I thought maybe I could give you a bit of a sneak peek at one of the tracks. What do you think?’

The crowd go wild.

Theo strums his guitar. His eyes slide over to me, and his voice dips as he says. ‘This one is for the woman I love. It’s called, “Oh, My Darling”.’

And while he plays, I don’t feel scared or overwhelmed at all. I feel like I’ve come home.

Epilogue

Nine Months Later

‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that your boyfriend is trying to sneak you out of here early,’ Serena sighs, ‘but I wish he’d be more subtle about it.’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I say from my position, upside down and slung over Theo’s shoulder.

‘It’s not like this is the actual wedding, S,’ Theo grumbles. ‘And I’ve been in LA all week. Have you seen Clemmie in this dress?’

‘Put my sister down, you degenerate,’ Serena insists, and with a sigh Theo lets my feet slide to the floor. The fact that my whole body presses against him on the way down is just an added bonus for us both.

‘I thought she’d be more relaxed now that the album’s out,’ I whisper to Theo, adjusting the neckline of my pink dress which is, admittedly, a little on the low side. It seems that, yet again, the bigger boobs spell has been hard at work.

‘She won’t be happy until we’ve swept the Grammys,’ Theo says, distracted by the view he has straight down my dress and clearly not displeased with the situation.

‘Which we will.’ Serena flicks her hair with satisfaction. ‘Multiplatinum in two months? It’s my best work yet.’

‘I think I had something to do with it, too,’ Theo protests, his warm hand curling around the back of my neck in a way that has me sighing with pleasure.

Serena obviously hears because she lifts a warning finger. ‘The two of you need to keep it in your pants for the rest of the rehearsal dinner.’

We’re in a luxury eco lodge deep in the Cornish countryside where tomorrow Lil and Henry will get married in the woods under a chuppah that Henry built himself.