THE REUNION is the 5th part of The Dream Catchers Series. It acts as a direct sequel to “Take Me Home“, following the storyline of music mogul Cami Woods and Yankee short-stop Drew Ashton.  Enjoy this sneak peek…
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Prologue
I lie awake, holding the small black velvet box. My boyfriend, Drew, was passed out next to me. It wasn’t often he got drunk, but tonight it seemed everyone at Carney’s Pub wanted to buy Drew a shot for his winning homerun. No, Drew doesn’t play baseball for some bar league. He’s Andrew Ashton, #12 and co-captain of the New York Yankees, my favorite baseball team since birth.
As for me, I’m not sure how I got so lucky to have his heart for over three years now. Drew brings out the best in me. He argues that fact repeatedly, though. Everyone knows me, Cami Woods, as a hard-ass bitch, who is a savvy entertainment mogul with a cold heart. Or at least they knew me as that.
Things kind of changed when my marriage to Danny DeSano, drummer for the chart-topping band Tortured, ended miserably, and I gave birth to our son, Benvenuto. That year was the best and worst for me. I fell into a deep depression that had me re-evaluating my life.
Out of nowhere, Drew Ashton swept me off my feet. What I thought was purely a physical thing with the kid, after all, he is eight years younger than me, wound up being love. Real love—not just the stuff I pretended to feel for my ex-husband.
Fast forward a few years, and here I am, the eve of my fortieth birthday trying to muster up courage to propose to the love of my life. I meant to do it at dinner, but one drink led to another, and before I knew it, we barely made it to our penthouse apartment on the Upper East Side to have sex.
Drew has made it clear to me from the beginning that if I wanted to get married, I would have to propose to him. He had proposed to his college girlfriend, Katie—his first, and only love before me. She turned him down and it crushed him. I really can’t help but to hate that girl for hurting my baby that much, even though I understood her not being able to handle his career. Some girls just can’t deal with all the traveling and crazy schedules, or the fame.
As for me, I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t support his high profile career. These days, my name is in the press just as much as his. Not only am I his girlfriend, but my relationship and divorce with Danny was big news a few years ago, and I am the most known music manager in the industry. I am constantly signing waivers to be involved in various reality shows—whether to be a guest judge on music competitions or to have one of our artist meetings filmed.
Drew and I deal with each other’s careers just fine. We get how important it is; how our careers gave us confidence, purpose, drive and passion that we just did not have growing up. On top of Drew “getting it,” I knew he’d make a great stepfather to my little Ben. The kid already idolizes Drew. So, why am I wide-awake pondering the decision to marry him? Fear. Drew’s hang-up is the proposal; mine is the actual marriage. Danny and I were married for so long and we’re lucky we didn’t kill each other. I know Drew and I have a totally different dynamic, but still. Marriage can change everything. Why ruin a great thing?
Still, nothing would make me happier than becoming Drew’s wife. Would that make him happy, though? He would love nothing more than to have a child with me. We’ve been trying for months. Between my age and difficulty conceiving in the past, I didn’t have to wait to hear it from the doctor to know it would be difficult, especially without fertility drugs. I decided I wouldn’t put Drew through the side effects of those drugs. I heard horror stories of how women acted, and I didn’t want to become a raging bitch, especially not to Drew. He still has hope though. I admire his confidence and positivity, but if we get married and can’t get pregnant, will he wind up hating me?
“What’s that?”
I jumped and nearly threw the ring box at the ceiling. I looked over and Drew chuckled.
“What is it?” he asked again, as I slipped my hands under the blanket, trying to casually find the ring box.
“Nothing,” I glanced at him quickly.
“Nothing, huh?” he fumbled around under the blanket.
“Drew!” I yelled, trying to restrain his hands, and I felt the box slip further down the bed.
“Do you have a sex toy or something down there?” he asked, lifting the blanket, trying to peek in the dim lighting.
I laughed hysterically, “What?”
“Seriously,” he stared at me.
I turned on my side and rested my head on my arm.
“Why would I need a sex toy, first of all? And if I did like that sort of thing, why would I keep it from you?”
“Maybe I just don’t do it for you anymore,” he smirked, tracing a finger down my cleavage.
“Um, did it seem like you didn’t do it for me earlier?” I asked, scooting closer to him, feeling the ring box ricochet off my knee.
Drew smiled and leaned in closer to me. As I got lost in his kiss, I forgot all about the ring box. When we pulled apart, he held it up to me.
“What’s in here that you need to hide from me?”
“Drew,” I sighed, ripping the box from his hand.
“What? Did some guy give you jewelry? Should I be jealous?” he asked, not looking the least bit worried.
I’m glad he trusted me so much. It made me smile. I knew what I had to do, but more importantly, what I wanted to do. I turned on the light and sat up in the bed. Drew did the same.
“Everything okay?” he asked. “I wasn’t really worried, but now you’re scaring me.”
I leaned over and pecked his lips.
“I love you, Drew, and I want to be with you forever, but I need to know how you’ll feel if we can’t have kids.”
Drew’s big brown eyes crinkled at the thought.
“It’ll happen for us. I know it,” he smiled, taking my hand.
“But if it doesn’t?”
“Cami, did the doctor say something?”
“Just what she’s been saying. At my age, and with my complications, it’s unlikely. It was a miracle I had Ben.”
Drew sighed, “Right. It was also a miracle Haley and Jordan had Aylin, remember?”
Haley and her husband Jordan are my best friends. Jordan is also Drew’s older brother. Again, I admired his optimism.
“We’ll keep trying,” I said.
After all, trying was the easy part that didn’t change anything about our dynamic other than holding out hope for something that just wouldn’t happen.
“But I just… if you won’t want to be with me, I’ll understand…”
“Shut up,” Drew groaned. “You’re talking crazy. If we can’t have a baby, we’ll adopt or something.”
I nodded, and looked down at the ring box before handing it to him.
“Open it,” I smiled, tucking my hair behind my ears, and cuddling closer to him.
“It’s for me?”
“Yes.”
“But it’s your birthday,” he said, squeezing my thigh, and glancing at the time. It was 12:09 a.m. “Happy Birthday officially, baby,” he kissed my cheek.
I smiled at him, “Just open it.”
Drew opened the box. He looked down at the platinum band in astonishment. I got up on my knees and he looked over at me as I leaned over him.
“Will you marry me?”
His face broke out into a huge grin and he laughed.
“Hell yes!” He grabbed my face and pulled me into a kiss, causing me to fall into his chest.
He rolled me onto my back.
“Thank you,” he whispered, kissing my neck. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Me neither,” I laughed.
“We have to get you a ring, too,” he said, rolling my nightshirt up to my navel as he began sucking on my stomach.
“I don’t need a ring,” I said.
“Right,” he chuckled, sending goose bumps across my skin.
“Well, there is this one ring I saw when I went to pick up this one…” I laughed, setting the ring box aside.
“It’s yours,” he said, moving lower on my body.
I realized I could probably get him to agree to anything at that point as he loved on my body. I can’t believe I’m getting married again!
Continue reading THE REUNION on Amazon!
Read the rest of the Dream Catchers Series!
Dream Catchers (Book 1)
Breaking The Moon (Book 2)
Expressions (Book 3)
Take Me Home (Book 4)