“Is he trying to convince you to move to LA again?”
“I don’t know…we’ll see I guess.”
“The only place you’re moving is into that house we were looking at…”
“We’ll see about the house. We’ve barely gotten the apartment remodeled; I don’t know if we’d have time to do a whole house.”
“We’ll make the time. Now that the merger and reorganization is complete, we should have more time together…as long as you’re in town at least.”
“Are you asking me to slow down Tyler?” she stated moving back into his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck. She didn’t care if the Coopers were watching; the look in his eyes told her he’d forgotten the other woman was even around already and she loved that.
“Would you if I did?”
“Only one way to find out Tyler…”
“Then I’m asking Bella. You’ve been working non-stop for over a year and a half, and I miss you. My assistants are leaving left and right again…”
She laughed knowing it was true. “Well, then I guess if people want me, they’ll have to come here to get me. I have a couple things already booked but once September rolls around I should be free, at least until the Holiday ads need to be shot.”
“And maybe we could work on that other project?” he said giving her a serious gaze that made her heart flutter.
“I think I could be agreeable to that…” she grinned as his lips settled on hers.
She was breathless when they parted and the whooping and hollering from the crowd told her they’d been causing a scene. Her cheeks tinted with pink, and she lowered her head against his chest until he tipped her chin back up to meet his gaze.
“I love you Bella…”
“I love you too Ty,” she sighed as he kissed her forehead.
“Go on…there are a million people out there who want to talk to you,” he said.
She nodded and slowly turned. She caught the look on Penelope’s face and a satisfied smirk tried to make its way onto her lips. The other woman might want her husband, but she didn’t have him.
She found herself watching Tyler throughout the afternoon and more than once she found Penelope’s hand on him arm, lingering for far too long.
“It appears she didn’t get the message earlier,” Paul said following her gaze.
“Hmm…”
“Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on. The press coverage of it is everywhere.”
“Tyler would never cheat on me.”
“Certainly not with her, but she’s trying her best, isn’t she?”
“She is,” Bella agreed. “Okay, so I might have thought they were getting too close but Ty’s oblivious to her.”
“Much to her dismay…and what about you and the dashing Quinn Ross?”
“Quinn is a friend, nothing more. I don’t have time to cheat on my husband and I am not inclined to either. I simply don’t like people purposely trying to get between us.”
“So, what are you going to do with her?”
“Let her hang herself. The more I’m around the more desperate she’ll get and then Tyler will realize it. You know better than to underestimate me and she’ll figure that out soon enough.”
“This isn’t a press release Bella,” he warned.
“No, it’s my life and I’ve had enough people try and mess with it. Paul, I didn’t get to the top of the industry as a teenage simply on my looks, that’s only part of the world. It doesn’t matter how beautiful you are, how good you look in the clothes, how well you can walk the runway, or how well you take photos. If you can’t win over the client and the public, you don’t make it. I may look like I’m an angel but deep down I’m ruthless when it comes to what I want.”