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I grinned and did as he said, giving up on the whole sexy heroine and just being myself, because myself was a pretty damn amazing thing to be these days.
Chapter 31
-Owen-
If I hadn’t been in love with her before, I certainly would’ve fallen hard and fast now.
Watching her stand in front of her peers, giving a dissertation of the book that changed her life as a kid was like watching a rare flower bloom.
Over the last three weeks, I’d watched her stress and pull her hair out over this bloody paper. She’d worked so hard on it, blood sweat and tears, literally, when she’d bitten her nail so short with nerves she’d actually bled.
Now, it was like all those days of stress and anticipation were non-existent as she told her classmates, instructors, and the Dean about a simple child’s book that changed her entire world.
“I think Ms. L’Engle said it better in her book than I ever could,” Mia said, looking up from her paper.
She’d memorized this part because she thought it would have more impact if she looked people in the eyes when she said it.
“She said, ‘Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.’ And in a lot of ways, our youth is a vast nothingness that we’re constantly filling in and lighting up with knowledge. But more than that, more than knowledge of physical things, our youth is filled with emotions and feelings that often feel too big for us. I suppose that’s a sort of darkness, too, voids that we fill with the love that authors give us through the pages they’ve poured their hearts into.”
God, I loved this woman!
When she put her papers down, finished with the dissertation, claps erupted from her peers, and I tossed a look toward the Dean, who looked begrudgingly satisfied.
I still couldn’t believe I’d had the balls to talk to him the way I did. But when I realized that he wasn’t going to take my job, but Mia’s place in the school, some beast had burst out of me and given me the confidence to call the asshole’s bluff.
Now, her paper was given, and there was no way she’d fail. My girl was going to graduate with flying colors.
Little did she know, I had a secret up my sleeve that was going to make her piss her sexy panties.
When we got home from our final day, Mia let out a screech of relief and exhilaration as we stepped through the door of our incredible home.
“That felt amazing!” she shouted to the cavernous entry.
“You were amazing,” I told her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
She beamed back at me, taking my face in her hands to smack a fat kiss to my cheek.
“I have a present for you,” I murmured against her lips.
“Really?” she asked, still excited.
I laughed and nodded, then took her hand and led her to my office.
“So, I might have sent your manuscript to a friend of mine,” I said, opening one of my desk drawers to pull out a thick manilla envelope.
“You did not!” she practically shrieked.
I laughed at her as I handed her the envelope.
“Yeah, so after I read the half of the manuscript you wrote, my guy called another guy that deals in the romance book space.”
She stared up at me with big, eager eyes, but I just motioned to the envelope in her hand so she’d open it.
“Anyway, they liked it, even though it was a bit rough. He said to contact him when you have the full manuscript.”
She pulled out the pages of her book printed and marked by the agent and looked up at me with confusion written in her eyes.
“It’s not a full contract exactly, but he said he wants the book when you’re done with it and he’ll send it to his editors, then a small publisher said they’ll take it on.”
