Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 41373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Do you miss the faster pace of New York?”
I watched his lashes as he glanced down at the bar, then looked back up at me. “I thought I would,” he explained, “but the longer I’m here, the more I feel at home. I was good at what I did in New York, helping run the acting school. But it never felt like what I wanted to do forever. I liked teaching students, but… it was so cut-throat. It’s not like that here.”
I nodded, trying to keep my composure on the outside even though inside I felt like I had a whole cheerleading team jumping for joy. The loud clack of people breaking up a cluster of billiards balls from a pool table came through the air, reminding me of the night Rowen and I had met—and how far we’d come since then.
He liked it here.
Rowen really liked it here in Tennessee, even though it used to seem like the middle of nowhere to him.
I sure as fuck liked having him here, too.
“That makes me so happy,” I said. “Tennessee loves you, too.”
He smiled. “I think I like it when you speak for the whole state of Tennessee.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I slid it out thoughtlessly, glancing at an email I’d received, expecting it to be the usual junk mail.
My whole body froze as I read and re-read the notification on my screen.
“They want us on the show,” I said, my voice breaking as I spoke. Already I felt tears welling up behind my eyes. “I—I thought they forgot about us.”
Rowen leaned over and read the notification. It was from the Fixer Brothers official email account, and the email was unmistakable.
Congratulations, Shane and Rowen, for being selected to star in an episode of The Fixer Brothers: Couples Edition!
“Fuck yes, Shane!” Rowen shouted, leaping out of his chair. By the time his arms were wrapped around me, tears had already broken off from my eyes, falling down my cheek.
“I thought they forgot about us,” I repeated in a whisper.
It had been over a month since we’d last heard from Shawn and Nathan Wood, and I’d been convinced my house wouldn’t be selected for a renovation. I’d thought it was over. That they must have picked someone else.
“You’re going to get your house renovated, and we’re going to be on your favorite show,” Rowen said, hugging me tight and rocking me from left to right.
“What’s the celebration?” a bartender said from behind the bar.
“We’re going to be on the Fixer Brothers TV show,” Rowen told him, finally releasing me from the hug.
The bartender nodded at us, then reached over to give each of us a high-five. “Congrats, guys,” he said. “That’s reason enough to have a drink on the house.”
“You’re going to be on the Fixer Brothers show?” a woman at a booth nearby asked, getting up and walking over to us. “That’s my favorite, too. How cool.”
“Hey, Em!” the bartender called over to a different guy working behind the bar. “You like the Fixer Brothers, right? This guy’s going to be on the show.”
“What the fuck? That’s awesome!” the other guy said, coming out and fist-bumping us. “Hey, when they’re in town to film, tell them to come for drinks here at Hard Spot. We’ll take good care of them.”
“I will,” I said.
“I knew they’d want you,” Rowen said. “It was a done deal, as far as I was concerned.”
“I never could have done it without you,” I told him, meaning every last word. “I mean, literally, because it’s a couple’s edition. But… I never would have had the confidence, even on my own.”
His eyes sparkled. “I knew you had it,” he said. “It’s called the it factor in the acting world. You’ve got it, Shane.”
“God, I haven’t even opened the full email.”
I looked down, tapping on it, opening it up. The last part of the email made me emotional all over again.
Not only did we love you and Rowen as a couple—we also loved the location of Bestens, Tennessee, and all of the small-town charm it has to offer. We also loved when you shared memories of your beloved grandmother, and we will be sure to honor her on your episode of the show, as well.
Rowen was reading it over my shoulder, and he squeezed me close as he read the last line.
“Your Gram would have been so proud of you, Shane,” he whispered. “I wish I could have known her, but I feel like I can, through you.”
I sucked in a breath. “Thank you so much,” I told him. “And she would have loved you, by the way.”
“You think so?”
I nodded. “She would have been your best friend. And congratulated me on being with someone so smart and funny and handsome, too.”