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I went back into the living room, where Orlando sitting on the sofa, leafing through my Wicked script. I kneeled down in front of him and ran my hands up and down his legs.

“Hey, you,” I said softly, feeling such tenderness as I looked up at him that it scared me.

He gave me a sweet smile, put down my script, and sank his hands into my hair. “Hey yourself,” he said, leaning down so he was just inches from my face. I felt so lucky to be with him in that moment, to know that he wanted me and only me. I really did love him, and I felt foolish for resisting it.

“Orlando,” I breathed, love flooding through me. His forehead touched mine and I felt shivers race through me as his hands slowly moved from my hair to my neck, where his fingers gently kneaded my flesh. He really did have the most amazing hands.

“Charlie,” he whispered, then brushed a gentle kiss over my lips. “I love you so much.”

I smiled lovingly up at him. “You do?” I whispered, cupping his face in my hands.

“I do.”

I sighed and sobered a bit. “I think we have a problem here,” I said, trying not to grin.

“We do?”

I nodded. “Oh yes,” I said. “I’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with you, my dear, in spite of my intentions.”

An expression of pure joy crossed over his face and he pulled me up so that I was leaning between his legs, hugging him securely. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted you to say that,” he said, squeezing me so tight I could barely breathe. “Say it again.”

“I love you,” I cried, laughing. “I love you, I love you, I love you!” It felt so good to finally say it, to let him know how much I cared about him.

He stood up and pulled me with him, his mouth crushing down on mine. A tidal wave of passion swept through us, and we couldn’t get enough of each other. He took my hand and we practically ran upstairs to the bedroom. There was more to our physical passion this time, as it really had become making love. We were expressing with our bodies what our words could only say.

Afterwards, Orlando cuddled me against him and stroked my hair. I couldn’t believe I would have to leave him so soon. The thought made me ache, and I buried my face against his shoulder and cried.

“Charlie, love, shhh,” he said, shifting onto his side so he could hold me. “Don’t cry, darling, please.” He tipped my chin up with his fingers and gently wiped away my tears with his other hand. “We’ll get through it, don’t worry.”

“I feel like I just found you, and now I’m losing you,” I said between sobs. “How am I supposed to go to New York alone, without you?” This was exactly what I hadn’t wanted, to begin doubting my decision to go.

He kissed me, a lingering kiss that comforted me somewhat. “You’ll go, and you’ll do the show, and you’ll be incredible, love, I know you will,” he said, cuddling me tighter against him. “Then, when things settle down, we’ll have another chance to be together.”

“But I’m contracted for eight months,” I said, the tears coming even faster. “Do you know how long that is?”

“I have some time off in February,” he said, trying to reassure me. “I’ll come to New York and we’ll be together then, okay?”

“That’s still five months away,” I said, compulsively holding him tighter. “It’s too long.” I went quiet for a minute. The words seemed to come out on their own power, without my control. “I don’t want to go to New York, Orlando, I want to go with you.”

He leaned back to look down at me. “Charlie, love, you don’t mean that,” he said, an understanding expression on his face. “This is your dream, and you’re going to go and live it. I’m not going to be responsible for you throwing that away.” He kissed me. “I love you, you know that, but we have to do what we have to do for now.”

I shook my head and sat up. “No, I can’t just let you leave tomorrow,” I said, believing it even more by the second. I drew my knees up to my chest. “There’ll be other parts in other shows, and I’ll get those. Wicked isn’t the only show going.”

“It’s what you wanted before I ever came along, and it’s what you’ll have now,” he said, sitting up and wrapping himself around my back. He kissed my bare shoulder. “It won’t always be as hard as it seems right now, darling, I promise.”

I wanted to believe him, to believe that it wouldn’t hurt as much the following day as it did right then. I was ready to give up Wicked, to give up Broadway, to just go with him and be where he was. But a little voice inside my head told me to do what I had planned to do, to do the show and be with him when it was over. I couldn’t give up my dreams, I’d been adamant about that from the beginning, so why was I suddenly wanting to throw everything away? The answer was simple. I had in the bed beside me the most amazing man I’d ever met or would ever meet, and I couldn’t stand the thought of losing that. Eight months was a long time, and who really knew what could happen?

“Charlie?” Orlando said when I’d been quiet too long. “What are you thinking, love?”

“How conflicted I am right now,” I said, snuggling further into his arms. “I want to be in two places at once. How do you deal with this?”

He sighed. “To be honest, the last time push came to shove, my girlfriend and I ended it. But that’s not going to happen here, okay?”

“That’s what happened with Kate?”

“Yes,” he said, pulling away from me and laying on his back, his arms folded under his head. I turned to face him. “Our schedules just never seemed to be in sync, so we decided we were better off apart.”

“What makes you think we’ll be any different?” I asked, hating the idea of not being with him.

“I don’t know,” he said, staring at the ceiling. “But I don’t want to just give up on us, Charlie.”

I laid down beside him again, and ran my fingers over his chest. “I don’t either, Orlando,” I said. “Promise me we’ll make it work?”

“I promise, love, I promise.” He rolled me beneath him again and showed me just how strong his promise was.

***

Orlando took me out for dinner that night, as a celebration of our two weeks together. He made reservations at the Elmhurst in Ingersoll, about 15 minutes from Aunt Tess’s, on her recommendation. I’d been there several times, and it was very classy and exclusive. It was the kind of place Orlando could go and not have to worry about being mobbed.

I dressed very carefully for the evening, deciding on a soft pink dress with spaghetti straps, an empire waist, and a fuller skirt that came to my knee. I put my little white sweater over it, and I was ready to go. My hair was curled, thanks to Aunt Tess, and I had pink ballet flats on my feet. I felt like a fairy princess, to be honest.

When we got to the restaurant, we were seated right away and our drink orders were taken. The waitress had recognized Orlando, but she was very inconspicuous about it. Luckily, we were the only ones in that particular dining room at the time, so we were completely alone.

“Do you like this place?” Orlando asked as he scanned the menu.

“Very much,” I said, setting my own menu aside and taking a sip of the white wine he’d ordered. “My dad brings clients here when he wants to impress them. It’s a very expensive place.”

“That’s not a problem,” he said, grinning at me. “I think I can scrimp together enough for one meal.” He winked.

“Smart ass,” I said, then laughed. As our shopping trip had proven, he wasn’t exactly thrifty with his money when it came to his loved ones. I mean, he was Orlando Bloom, it’s not like he was poor.

The waitress took our orders a few minutes later, and then left us to ourselves. We talked quietly for a while, then the waitress came back, slipped Orlando a piece of paper, and left again.

“What’s that?” I asked as he read the note.

“Nothing,” he said, grinning as he put it on the table. He stood up and offered me his hand. “Charlie, would you like to dance?”

“There’s no music, silly,” I said. I put my hand in his anyway and rose from my seat.

Before he could say anything else, music began to filter into the room. I recognized the song as one I had played for him a few times in the car, “The Wonder Of You” by Elvis Presley.

“What did you do?” I asked as he pulled me into his arms and began to dance with me. He was actually quite light on his feet and danced beautifully.

“Just a little something I worked out with the management,” he said, smiling down at me. “Listen to the song, Charlie.”

I laid my head on his chest as we swayed back and forth to the music, listening to the words. “When no one else can understand me, when everything I do is wrong, you give me hope and consolation, you give me strength to carry on,” Elvis’s voice drifted through the room. I had loved Elvis Presley since I was a kid, and I was touched that Orlando had remembered. “And you’re always there, to lend a hand, in everything I do, that’s the wonder, the wonder of you…”

“This is such a beautiful song,” I said, as he tightened his arms around me and rested his cheek on my head.

“I thought you’d like it,” he said, his warm breath tickling me.

“And when you smile the world is brighter, you touch my hand and I’m a king,” I sang along softly, though the key wasn’t quite right for me. “Your kiss to me is worth a fortune, your love for me is everything. I guess I’ll never know the reason why you love me as you do, that’s the wonder, the wonder of you…”

When the song ended, Orlando tilted my face up to his and brushed a feathery kiss over my lips. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too,” I whispered back, just as the waitress came in, carrying our food.

After dinner, Orlando paid the bill, and we went back to the car. When we’d put our seatbelts on and he’d started the engine, I put my hand on his arm. “I have something for you,” I said. I reached into the backseat and pulled out the box that I’d put there earlier, before we had left Aunt Tess’s. I handed it to him.

“What’s this?” he asked, his eyes sparkling in the lights from the parking lot.

“Just open it,” I said, grinning.

He pulled the top off the box and pulled out the beautiful black picture frame I’d bought for him. Inside was a picture of us at Aunt Tess’s birthday dinner, not a posed shot, but one Aunt Tess had taken while we were laughing about something, right before we left. We were side-by-side, and I was grinning up into his face as he looked down at me. We looked so happy. I didn’t have any pictures of us together, and neither did he, so when Aunt Tess showed it to me, I had her get an 8×10 of it so that I could frame it. I had my own copy at home, hidden in my suitcase.

“Do you like it?” I asked. He’d been staring at it for far too long. “Orlando?”

“I love it,” he said, finally looking at me. He had the sweetest smile on his face. “Thank you, darling.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t even know this had been taken,” he said, chuckling. “I’m guessing your aunt is to blame?”

I laughed. “Oh yes, who else?” I said. “So what now?”

“Anything you want,” he said, putting the picture back in the box and setting it gently on the seat beside him.

“Let’s go dancing,” I said, grinning.

“We already did that.”

“No, I mean club dancing,” I said. “We need to have some fun, and not be so serious about tomorrow. I don’t want to remember our last night with tears.”

He smiled and gently caressed my cheek. “Our last night,” he repeated.

“Don’t,” I said softly. “Fun, remember?”

“Right,” he said, and shifted the car into gear. “Just tell me where to go.”

I gave him directions to a dance club not too far from Aunt Tess’s. I loved to go there with friends, but I hadn’t been in a long time. We were slightly overdressed, but I really didn’t care.

We got inside the club and made our way to one of the tables at the back. The music was loud and the beat was pounding, and I couldn’t wait to get on the floor and let loose.

“What are we waiting for?” Orlando called over the music. I swear he could read my mind sometimes. He grabbed my hand and we went out on the floor.

For the next few hours, we danced and laughed and had a good time. He wasn’t the greatest dancer, but I loved watching him try to keep up with me. There were so many people in the club, and it was so loud, we didn’t have to say anything, we let our bodies move to the music instead. It was a nice change from how serious everything had been lately.

What I loved best was how Orlando seemed oblivious to the other women around us, especially the ones who were only half dressed. Some were trying to cut in on us, but he wouldn’t let them, he just kept pulling me closer so that there was no room between us. Whoever said dancing is great foreplay has no idea how right they are. By the time we took a break to get something to drink, Orlando’s eyes were dark, and my heart was pounding.

“Are you having fun?” Orlando called as we went back to the table with our drinks.

I pulled his arm around my waist and cuddled into him. “Oh yes,” I said, as his hand slipped below my waist to the swell of my hip. “Are you?”

He nuzzled my ear, even though I was sweaty. “What do you think?” He took my drink from me and set it along with his on the table, then pulled me roughly to him. “Charlie,” he breathed, only an inch from my face. The music seemed to fade away as he crushed his mouth down on mine. My body leapt at his kiss, and I tangled my hands in his damp hair, grinding myself against him.

“We’re in public,” I said into his mouth after a few moments. Someone bumped into us from behind, as if to prove my point. My body was practically screaming for him, but I knew we couldn’t do anything in the club.
“Should we go?” he said, yelling to be heard over the music. “It’s getting kind of late.”

I nodded and grabbed my purse from the table. “Let’s go,” I called. He led me from the club, to the car.