Charlie’s arrival on the scene when she was eleven had been the best thing to ever happen to her, until he’d been accused three years later of the abuse her mother had inflicted.
Stephanie shook off those memories, unwilling to fall into that rabbit hole when her life today bore no resemblance whatsoever to what it had been then. From the minute she’d fallen for Grant McCarthy—which had happened almost the second she met him, if she was being honest—everything had changed for the better. It was only thanks to him and his lawyer friend Dan Torrington that Charlie had been freed and exonerated, and that was the story that would be told in the film Indefatigable, set to debut that night.
Tears burned her weary eyes. Her beloved husband had worked tirelessly to write and coproduce the film that would share their story with the world. He’d gone all out to do justice to the epic war she’d waged to free Charlie.
And she couldn’t bear to watch it.
“Hey.” Grant’s voice startled her from the disturbing thoughts. “You’re up early.”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
He sat next to her and turned so he could see her face. “Did you sleep at all?”
“Not much.” With her head resting against the back of the sofa, she turned to look at him. “Are you excited for tonight?”
“I guess.”
“You don’t know for sure?”
“I’d be more excited if I didn’t sense you melting down about it.”
“I’m not.”
He gave her a quelling look that made her feel silly for trying to downplay it. He always saw through to the heart of her. “Talk to me, Steph. Tell me what you’re thinking, and let’s figure it out.”
Her eyes flooded with tears that infuriated her. She didn’t want to be an emotional disaster area, but past agony resurrected by the film coupled with pregnancy hormones made it impossible for her to combat the overload.
He gathered her into his warm embrace. “Aw, baby, come on. Don’t cry. You know it kills me when you cry.”
She rested her head against his bare chest, loving the soft fuzz of chest hair under her cheek and the steady beat of his heart against her ear. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I actually expected this to happen.”
“Expected what?”
“That when push came to shove, you wouldn’t want to see the finished product, and that’s totally fine. I understand.”
“I wish I did. You’ve worked so hard for so long. This is the biggest night of your life, and I need to be there.”
“This isn’t the biggest night of my life.”
“Right. You won an Oscar. What am I thinking?”
His low rumble of laughter had her raising her head to see what was so funny.
He tipped her chin up, compelling her to look at him. “The biggest night of my life was the night you finally married me and made me the happiest and luckiest guy in the entire world. Nothing I ever do or have ever done would or could top that.”
She sighed. “You still have a way with words.”
“I hope so. They’re my bread and butter.”
“I want you to know how proud I am of you and how hard you’ve worked to tell our story in a way that’s respectful of what we went through.”
“It was a labor of love so big, it’s the one thing I can’t seem to describe in words.” He caressed her face. “I want you to stay home tonight.”
“I need to be there for you.”
“You are. You’re there for me every single day. You’re the reason I had this incredible story to tell, a story that’s resurrected my career, which was flagging badly before you came along with your guts and your grit and your determination. You inspired me, and you’re the star of this entire thing, Steph. And while I can’t wait for the rest of the world to know what an amazing woman my wife is, I’ve known that for a long time now. I get that it’s too painful for you to relive the past, even for me, and I’d never put you through something that would hurt you.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know if it would hurt me, and I’m too scared to find out.”
“You’re not scared. You’re protecting yourself from old wounds, and I completely understand that.”
“Thanks to you and Dan and so many other people, I’ve traveled a million miles from the mess I was when we first met and—”
Grant kissed her. “You were not a mess. Please don’t say that. You’re the reason this film is called Indefatigable. You refused to give up, no matter how big the mountain was that stood before you. That’s what people will see when they watch this film. They’ll see the same brave, strong, resolute woman I saw when we first met.”
“That’s not what you saw,” she said with a small smile, desperate for a bit of levity.
He grinned. “Well, after I got past your sexy body and saucy mouth and how you put me in my place like no one else ever has, I saw the rest of you, and I was in awe. I still am.”
Deeply moved by his sweet words, she said, “I want to be there for you tonight.”
“Let’s do this… I’ll go to the premiere by myself and send a car to pick you up for the after-party. That way, you can achieve your most pressing goal, which is meeting Flynn Godfrey and Hayden Roth.”
Stephanie smiled. “Do you think we’ll ever hear the end of Dan talking about Flynn playing him?”
Laughing, Grant said, “Never. I’ll be hearing about that for the rest of my life.”
They’d cast unknown actors to play Charlie, Stephanie and Grant, but they expected the star power of Flynn Godfrey, Quantum Studios and Hayden Roth’s direction to make the film a massive hit. It was already generating Oscar buzz, and it hadn’t even been released yet.
“What do you think? Sit out the screening and come to the party?”
“That sounds good. Thanks for understanding. I love you so much, and I’m so, so proud of you.”
“I love you more, and I’m prouder of you than you’ll ever be of me.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Uh-huh.” He kissed her lips and then her neck. “Come back to bed for a while.”
“To sleep?”
“Sure. Unless something else comes up.”
Stephanie laughed at the suggestive way he said that. “When we’re in bed together, something else always comes up.”
He helped her up and led the way to the bedroom. “I can’t help it that you’re so sexy, you make me want you all the time.”
“So it’s my fault, is it?”
“Absolutely.” He eased her onto the bed and came down on top of her, careful not to put too much weight on the baby bump. “You make me crazy with wanting you, Mrs. McCarthy.”
As she looped her arms around his neck, she drank in the sight of his handsome face, messy hair and scruffy jaw. She loved him like this, the way only she got to see him—completely relaxed, a little messy, incredibly sexy. “You make me just as crazy, and you know it.”
“Mmm,” he said, kissing her. “That makes us very lucky.”
She reached around him to turn her Pooh bear to face away from what was apparently about to happen, making Grant laugh the way he always did when she shielded Pooh from what went on in their bed. “Now, what were you saying?”