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Her tour er looked between Nicola and Marcus, then nodded her approval "Just as long as you have her back for her interview at noon in Dallas in two days"

Grinning, Nicola said, "You guys can work out the schedule while I go get my stuff" She was halfway out the door when she looked over her shoulder to see Katie and Marcus with their heads together over their smart phones

But as she walked down the hall toward her tour bus, she knew that kissing Marcus in front of her crew had been the easy part

He’d told her that her circus life didn’t scare hi her that he er question remained: What would his world think of her? Would they welcome her with open ar Marcus?

Or would her youth and bad reputation hurt Marcus in just the way she feared?

There were so s that Nicola knew needed to be said between them as she boarded the private jet, but when Marcus wrapped his arave in to the war into hiainst her ear, the feeling of being perfectly safe easing her into a deeper sleep than she’d had in weeks

Finally, as Nicola fell asleep against his chest, Marcus let the breath he’d been holding go

Nicola was back where she belonged In his arms

Now all he needed to do was convince her to stay

This time, by any means necessary

Chapter Twenty-four

"My God, this is beautiful"

The sun was rising over the Sullivan Winery and the birds were just cohed softly as a baby blue jay peeked its head up out of its nest to greet the grapevines, Marcus silently thanked his property for putting on its finest show for Nicola

They’d both slept on the plane and even though it hadn’t been a full night’s rest, he felt more refreshed and alert than he had since Nicola had left San Francisco alo