Just Like in the Movies Read online

  And by some miracle, it had morphed into him finding his own dream – to live with Ruby by his side for the rest of his life – and then finally figuring out how to make it come true.

  He would buy that place in Chepstow Villas, and set up an office in London to develop his business in Europe. And Ruby could run The Royale.

  But he also intended to prise her away from time to time so they could travel, and he could give her the adventures she’d missed out on.

  The Royal wasn’t her whole life anymore. And his business wasn’t his whole life anymore either.

  They had each other now, and there was nothing they couldn’t do together. He was sure of it. Just as he was now pretty sure Auntie Em and Uncle Henry had managed to rescue Toto from the abattoir for Dorothy after all.

  Ignoring his mom’s laugh of encouragement, and the murmur of excited conversation from their eager audience, he gripped Ruby’s cheeks and said, ‘You’re welcome.’

  Before sinking into the kiss.

  Selling his half of The Royale wasn’t an end, it was a beginning.

  For them to get started on the rest of their lives.

  THE END

  If you enjoyed Just Like In The Movies, be sure to follow Heidi Rice on Twitter @HeidiRomRice , on Facebook @HeidiRomRice25, and check out their website at heidi-rice.com for all the updates on their latest work.

  You can also find us at @0neMoreChapter_ on Twitter and @0neMoreChapter on Facebook where we’ll be shouting about all our new releases.

  Acknowledgements

  Firstly, I need to say a big thank you to Charlotte Ledger and her team at One More Chapter.

  Thanks Charlotte for being so enthusiastic about this rather sketchy idea when I first pitched it to you over burgers and curly fries one rainy February night in Five Guys in Soho … I can’t help thinking at the time that my pitch and your enthusiasm might have had something to do with all the Prosecco (aka dutch courage) we’d necked before ‘having’ to watch Magic Mike Live (totally for work! Honest) but thanks for sticking with it and even coming up with the ‘high concept’ which turned it from a sketchy idea to a fully fledged labour of love.

  Big thanks also to my writing support posse – Fiona Harper, Iona Grey and Susan Wilson – and most of all my best writing mate Daisy Cummins. Without you guys, I’d probably sink into a puddle of writer’s angst every time I switched on my computer (instead of just every other time)!

  I should also say a special thanks to Alice Roberts at the Everyman Screen on the Green for answering all my stupid questions about how to manage a cinema. And also running my favourite local cinema which has turned movie-going into an all round fabulous night out.

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