Chapter Ten
When Lucas wakes up, Nathan, Haley, and Jaime are already up and eating breakfast. "Hey." Lucas says as he walks into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Hey. So I hear you and Peyton had quite the blowout last night." Haley says. Lucas shoots Nathan a dirty look and Nathan just shrugs. "I'm an idiot. I know this." Lucas says.
"I better call her and let her know that I'm here." he says.
"Already called her last night and she didn't sound too happy. She told us to keep you for all she cared." Nathan says.
"Wow, that's heartwarming."
After breakfast, Lucas gets in his car and drives home. As soon I hear his key in the lock, I inadvertantly grit my teeth. I go back to working on my sketch and a minute later, I hear him come downstairs. "Hey." "Hey." I say through clenched teeth.
"Peyton, I'm sorry about last night. I really am. I need to stop being so protective of you, but I can't help it." he tells me.
I spin around in my chair. "Luke, I know that you worry about me. And I know that you don't want anything bad to happen to me. It took me a long time to even be able to be outside when it was dark without freaking out. It took me a long time to even be able to walk into thud without having a fucking panic attack."
I lift up my shirt to expose the scar down the middle of my chest where the doctors repaired my lungs. "I'm reminded of that night every time I go to get dressed, every time I take a shower. He made sure I had scars so that I would never forget. You think I don't worry about you? You don't think I remember all the times I almost lost YOU? The car accident, the shooting, the heart attack. We've done enough fucking worrying to last us a lifetime!"
I take a deep breath and try and recover from my rant. I look at Lucas who's hanging his head. I grab his hand. "Listen to me. I love you for worrying about me but you're not the only one who worries. I'm sorry that I didn't call last night. But you gotta cut me a little bit of slack." I tell him softly.
We both stand up and hug. "I love you too much to risk losing you." Lucas says.
"I know. Same goes for you too." I tell him.
A month later Lucas gets a call from a publisher in New York City who wants to publish his book. After he gets off the phone he rushes into the bathroom where I'm taking a shower. "Peyton! Peyton!! They want to publish it!" he yells as he bursts through the door. I shut off the water and jump in Lucas' arms soaking wet. "Baby, I'm so proud of you! What did he say?" "He wants me to come up to New York on Friday. Come with me." he says. I laugh. "Okay." I kiss him softly. "I"m so happy for you babe." I tell him.
It suddenly dawns on him that he's holding a very naked, soaking wet me in his arms. We kiss again softly. He sets me back on my feet and he pulls his shirt off while I work on unbuttoning his pants. I turn the shower back on and we let the hot water run over us as we continue kissing urgently. He runs his fingers through my hair and I pull him closer to me.
Lucas slips two of his fingers inside of me and I moan. I grab onto his shoulder for support to keep my knees from buckling underneath me. "Lucas, please..." I moan softly. We move against the shower wall and he enters me slowly, savoring it. I try and rush him but he just smiles, teasing me. FInally he enters me all the way and he slowly brings me over the edge over and over again. With one final thrust, he collapses against me, shuddering. I reach down and touch him, causing another orgasm. He moans my name and I smile.
We get out of the shower and make love one more time on the bed, totally soaking the sheets but not really caring.
Afterwards, we lay in bed wrapped up in the sheets and each other. I lay my head on Lucas' chest and sigh contently. "What are you thinking about?" he asks me. I prop myself up on my elbow and look at him. "About how lucky I am to have such a hot husband, who's soon to be a published novelist." I tell him. He smiles.
"This is something that you've worked so hard for. All the interviews, the letdowns, and it's finally happening. You poured your whole heart and soul into that book, and everyone should know what a great writer you are."
"Yeah, well, that book wouldn't exist without you. So everything that's happening I owe to you." Lucas tells me.
I brush his hair out of his eyes. "I was just the inspiration. You were the one that made it what it is now. This is yours."
Thursday night we fly out to New York and check into our hotel. "We've had more hotel stays in the past few months than I think we've had in the past three years." I laugh. "At least it's a chance to have you in a new place." Lucas says winking. I laugh. "Perv."We go out to dinner and to a club to have a few drinks before calling it a night.
The next morning we drive to the publisher's office in the heart of the city. We get called in and we sit down with the editor, Kelly. "Hi, I'm Kelly Turner." she says shaking both of our hands. "I'm Lucas Scott, this is my wife, Peyton." Lucas says.
She smiles. "I was hoping that I'd get a chance to meet you. I was pulling for you guys in the book and I'm really happy that you guys made it." she tells me. I smile proudly.
We sit down. "Let me start off by saying that I read your manuscript in one night. I just couldn't stop reading it. It's been a long time since anything has come across my desk with such heart and raw emotion. Your words made me feel like I was there along with you through it all, and that's hard to find. I've already talked to my boss and we've both agreed that we would like to publish your book. We can email you the final drafts and you can make any changes you feel necessary, so you won't have to travel back and forth from North Carolina to here. We want to produce it in both hard and softcover, and once it's published and is released, we will be doing book tours and signings." she tells us.
I don't think that I've ever seen Lucas look so happy. He squeezes my hand tightly. Before we leave, Kelly shakes both of our hands again. "Congratulations Mr. Scott." she says. "Thank you for making a dream come true." he tells her.
When we get outside, he stops and takes a deep breath. "Did that just actually happen? Or was it just a hallucination or something?" he asks me. "No, it really happened. Honey, the book is being published! The whole world is going to be reading our story." I tell him. He hugs me tightly. "I think we should celebrate. Come on." I tel him as I hail for a cab.
We spend the rest of the day shopping and sightseeing and making phone calls sharing the news with everyone back home. We head back to the hotel to get changed before we head out to dinner. I get out of the shower and change into a slinky black dress that I bought and my black heels. I come out of the bathroom and Lucas stands up, amazed. "Wow...you look incredible in that dress." he says. "Enjoy it now because it'll probably end up on the floor later." I tell him with a gleam in my eye. He groans as I pull him out the door. We go to dinner at one of New York's fanciest restaurants and order an expensive bottle of champagne and our dinner. "Here's to new beginnings and dreams coming true." I toast. "Here's to my muse." Lucas says. We clink glasses and take a sip of our champagne.
When we get back to the hotel, we're both pretty bubbly. We get back in our room and Lucas goes to pour us more champagne. While he has his back turned, I slowly start unzipping my dress. He turns back around just as it hits the floor. I have on lacy black lingerie complete with a black garter belt and stockings. The champagne glass that he was holding crashes to the floor and I raise an eyebrow. "Pretty good huh?" All Lucas can do is nod "yes" repeatedly.
I push him back on the bed and make work of removing his clothes verrrry slowly. I unbutton his shirt, running my hands over his chest softly. "Peyt-" he moans softly. I smile and continue a little quicker until we're both naked.
Three hours later, I'm fast asleep on Lucas' chest with my hair all wild around me. Lucas strokes my arm as he thinks to himself. This is is going to be the day that changes our lives.
Little does he know it's not for the reason that he thinks.
A/N: Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! I'm really pleased with how this chapter and the whole story are turning out. Don't forget to check out my other new story that's in progress 'I'm a fool for loving you'!! And don't forget to give me your opinions on the story and any recommendations you have!