Chapter 9

By the time Elizabeth reached Kelly's, she'd convinced herself that her feelings for Jason were nothing but sleep deprivation. Since Laura brought the modelling issue to her, she'd slept very little. She was tired. Her emotions were so tangled up; she didn't know what she was feeling.

She was nervous and anxious about being a model. She remembered the first photo shoot. She'd jumped at every flash. Even with Lucky taking the pictures, she couldn't relax. All she kept seeing was his hand covering her mouth and feeling his heavy breath as he was on top of her. She couldn't get his face out of her mind.

She wished Lucky would see her discomfort. He didn't even seem to care that the anniversary was coming up. All he wanted was for them to be together. She couldn't understand why he was pushing so hard. They were together. And they would be together regardless of if they worked together or not.

She wished she could just tell him what she felt. Why did she keep putting it off? Why couldn't she stand up to him? Was she afraid of him? No! She wasn't afraid of Lucky. That would be ridiculous. Lucky was her soul mate. Lucky would never hurt her. The man she was going to spend the rest off her life with. He had returned from the dead for her. They were destined to be together. So why are you lying to him? I don't want to hurt him, she thought. He has been through enough. She didn't want to add to it. She wanted to support him. To make him happy. Even if you're not happy? Yes, even if she wasn't happy. That's what love was all about, wasn't it?

She thought of Jason. He had given up Carly and Michael so that they could be happy. He might say it was for the best now, but at the time, she knew it had hurt him a lot. She could be a model to make Lucky happy. She could. It was a small sacrifice to make to build a future with the man she loved. Would Jason agree with you? Yes, he would. Jason would support her decision. He never told her what do to. He respected her and her decisions.

She thought back to the studio. She was tired. She wasn't really having feelings for Jason. Not in that way. Jason was her friend. Since his return, he had become her lifeline. The person she could go to and be herself. She didn't want that relationship to change. It couldn't. She didn't know how she would get through being the Face of Deception without him. But she was also hurting Lucky by keeping Jason's secret.

She needed to stop lying to Lucky. As much as she didn't want to disappoint Jason, she couldn't lie to Lucky anymore. For now on she was going to put her full effort into becoming the next Face of Deception. She would stop lying about her painting. She would put all her being into doing everything she could to make Lucky happy. The first thing was to tell Jason he couldn't stay at the studio anymore. It wasn't fair to keep Jason's secret from Lucky any longer.

"Elizabeth?"

She looked up and realized she was outside of Kelly's. How long has she been here? She turned in the direction of the voice. Lucky was coming from the opposite direction carrying a white rose.

"Lucky, hi."

"I glad you're here," he said handing her the rose. "I'm sorry about this morning. You were right. You are going to get the job because you are the most beautiful girl in the world and you deserve it. Gia doesn't hold a candle to you."

She blushed as she accepted the rose. "Thank you, Lucky. I knew you would do anything to jeopardize your mother's company. You're not that type of person. You're not like Gia and Carly. You're better than that."

He took her in his arms. "You make me a better person. Without you I don't know what I would be."

She smiled, "You would be Lucky, the same man I love."

"No, Elizabeth, every good part of me is because of you. I wouldn't be half the man without you. I love you." He leaned in and kissed her.

"I love you, too."

He laced his fingers through hers and turned in the direction he came from. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

He looked back and flashed the smile she had fallen in love with. "You'll see," he replied. At that moment he looked just like he did before the fire. She knew she had made the right decision. She just needed to tell Jason.