by Belle Brooks
“Pancakes?”
“You read my mind.”
Arlie pecks my lips when he lays the tray onto my lap.
“Are you eating with me or going for a run?”
“I’m staying,” he says, climbing onto the bed.
“What’s today’s task?” I ram a forkful of pancake into my mouth.
“Zip lining.”
“What?”
“Zip lining. It’s where you throw yourself off somewhere high, like in our instance a mountain, and you zip from the top to the bottom.”
“I know what it is, but I’ve never done it.”
“You’ll be fine. I promise.” Arlie presses his sticky maple syrup-sauced lips to mine. “You said you couldn’t ride a horse bareback, and you’ve done it. You also said you couldn’t windsurf, but how much fun was windsurfing?”
“So much fun.”
“You’ve climbed a coconut tree.”
“Like Fletcher.”
“Yes, like Fletcher … you told me. You’ve gone scuba diving.”
“I have. Seriously, how beautiful was the coral?”
“Spectacular.”
“We’ll have to find a way to come back here.”
“We will.”
“Promise?”
Arlie nods. “I think if you can do all those things, then zip lining will be a piece of cake. If you’re too sore, though, use an out card.”
“No. I’m not backing down. I’m giving everything a go.”
“Good girl.”
***
The harness is pulled tight across my chest before Arlie re-checks the straps at my hips.
“Are you sure you know how to fasten this properly?”
“I’ve done it a million times, babe. You’re going to be fine. I promise.” Arlie places his lips to mine and claims my mouth for only a moment.
“I can’t do this.” I’m rattled.
“You can. I believe in you.”
I’m shaking with each step that draws me closer to the edge. I fix the glove on my right hand. I take a deep breath and lean back like Arlie said to do once he connects me to the line.
“Okay. Ready?”
“No.”
“Three, two, one, go,” he shouts.
I squeeze my eyes together and scream so loud my throat burns. I shoot open my eyelids and laugh.
“It’s beautiful,” I shout. “So beautiful.” A gully of trees below and endless sky surrounds me. “So amazing.” I cheer as I soar as freely as a bird, more free than I’ve been in so long.
The zip line becomes shorter and shorter. I drop my legs and pull my body back, ready for the impact at the bottom, as Arlie instructed I do. It’s nowhere near as rough as my mind had tricked me to believe it would be.
I did it.
There are no screams when Arlie comes into view just a lot of woo hoos, laughing and fuck yeahs, but no screaming coming from his lungs.
When he reaches the ground, I rush towards him. He doesn’t hesitate to hoist me up until I’m clinging to the front of him.
“Such a rush.” His smile says it all.
“I loved it.”
“Do you want to do it again?”
I bob my head. “Yep!”
“You’re turning into a real adrenaline junky. You know this, yeah?”
I bob my head again.
“Okay, but first I want to give you something, and I want to talk to you about something.”
“Me?” I point at my chest.
“Yes, you.”
“Okay. What’s up?”
Arlie gets down on bended knee.
My heart pounds in my chest. My stomach rolls like the waves we’ve surfed on. “Arlie, I’m not ready to get engaged.” Fear leaches onto my heart and squeezes it tight. I can’t marry him yet. I love him, but it’s only been two weeks. I don’t want to rush into marriage.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay.”
He pulls out a square box from his pocket. It’s much bigger than a ring box. My fear, although still present, lessens. He opens the lid.
“A key?”
He nods.
It looks identical to the key he’s been using to unlock the stores on the island.
“I want you to live with me.”
“A key. To your share house?” My hands shake.
“No, not exactly. It’s the key to unlock all the treasures of Heart Key.”
“Oh, okay.” Confusion lifts my brows.
“I have a confession to make.”
“Okay.” I drop to the ground in front of him. He takes my hand and places the key into my gloved palm.
“Heart Key belongs to me.”
“Pardon?”
“Heart Key. It’s mine. I own it.”
“What now?”
Arlie’s lips curl as he takes a deep breath. “Don’t be mad.”
I can’t find any words to say so I say nothing. My brain is working in overdrive. My heart is pumping blood so quickly around my body I feel dizzy.
“There was no television show—only a documentary on my search for love.” He keeps his eyes connected to mine. “Twenty-one days to see if I could find the love of my life under the charade of a ‘perfect catch’ show. It turns out I didn’t need twenty-one days. I love you already.”
I place my hand to the side of my head. I’m not quite understanding what he’s saying. He owns the island. The television show was a sham. Is he even who he said he was?
“Say something.”
There’s a long period of quiet.
“Do you own a gym?” I don’t let him answer. “Do you have a sister, and a niece, and is your mother alive, not deceased?”
Arlie’s strong hands clamp my upper arms. “Babe, everything is true. Just not the type of show you’re on, or my social standing.”
“Social standing?”
“Melinda, I do own a gym, but I own more than one gym. It’s a chain, a worldwide chain.” Arlie’s eyes narrow. His lips become a thin line. Concern is inked on his face. “I don’t live here permanently. I have a place in Melbourne. And I do live with my friends. However, it’s a much bigger house than I let on, and when we go home, I’d like to get a place with you.”
“Arlie.”
My mind races. My heart beats hard. He wants me to live with him? Me? He really does love me like he says. I’m happy, so, so happy.
“Will you move in with me?”
Move in with him. Not marry him. Move in with him. I want to, so why am I not speaking?
I nod, completely gobsmacked at the fact Arlie Blight is not exactly who he said he was. But it all makes sense. His social media account was locked down like Fort Knox. He was already here when I arrived, and he knew his way around the place. He was more than comfortable in these surroundings. The kitchen he’s used like a whizz kid, and he surfed the waves as if he had done so many times before. He just launched himself from the cliff above us like a professional.
“Your sister—she’s been to this …”
“Of course. She’s been here, many, many times, and Aggy, too. Hazel’s protective of me after Elissa. I’ve been hurt before, as you know, and she doesn’t want me to get hurt again.”
“So, are we going home to Melbourne tomorrow?”
Arlie swings his head to me and smiles. “No, not if you don’t want to. But we can. It’s up to you.”
“Okay.”
“However, you might want to make your decision after this.”
“What?”
Arlie leans forward and presses his lips to mine. My eyelids instantly close as our tongues tangle.
I’m staying for at least this week.
When I open my eyes, Arlie whispers, “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“So you’ll move in with me?”
“Yes. I will. I want to very much.”
Arlie holds me tightly in his arms. I’m still shaking, but now I’m shaking because the man I’ve fallen head over heels in love with owns a
n island. Not any island, but one as amazing as Heart Key. And he wants to live with me.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
“You can tell the cameraman to bugger off now, Arlie. You’ve spilled the beans.”
“Yeah, not exactly.”
I gasp. I leap to my feet. I squeal. “Chris,” I yell, running towards him.
“I’m as shocked as you,” he says when I throw myself into his arms.
“You know! What the fudge?”
Smiling face after smiling face appear. Hazel’s little girl of about four with blond hair and light blue eyes identical to Arlie’s. A man I don’t know, but soon learn is Arlie’s dad. My sister, Bridey, and my mother, who never travels. I’m left completely gobsmacked when Matthew Muller joins them.
“Melinda, I’d like you to meet Matthew.” Chris appears smitten.
Holy Jesus, Joseph, and the Mother Mary. Matthew Muller in the flesh.
“It’s lovely to finally meet you.” He steps towards me. He’s wearing a pair of cargo pants and a button-down shirt with a thick gold chain around his neck. He’s even more stunning in the flesh. “You too.”
I’m trembling. I’m confused. “What does this all mean?” I draw in a ragged breath.
“We have one week to relax and get to know each other. Are you okay with us doing such a thing?” Arlie’s eyes find mine.
“Oh my God.” I rush towards Arlie, who catches me mid-leap. “I can’t believe this.”
“I can’t believe I finally found you. I thought you were lost and never going to come.”
And—I thought he was stuck on a bus bound to Nowhere, somewhere between Single Town and Happily-Ever-After Couple Land with no prospect of ever making the destination. It turns out I was wrong. He finally found his way to me.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Six months later
Reality has been harder than our time on the island, and the place we now call home, a sweet cottage-style house in the suburbs of Melbourne, has nothing on the mansion we often occupy for weekend getaways. Our new place is humble, sweet, and relatively lush, but not overly extravagant.
My life isn’t a perfect vacation filled with every luxurious item accessible, but it’s the life I want, and the life Arlie knows is important to me. I wouldn’t change it for any amount of money in the world even though we have plenty of that.
It’s true—even crazy girls can find love, and I found love with Arlie Blight. The man who I met in a grocery store, dined with in a local Chinese restaurant, and unknowingly followed to a secret hideaway fit for a king and queen in a place called Heart Key. Who knew he’d end up being the man who owned it and a bunch of gyms around the world? Not me.
“Babe, are you nearly ready? You’re going to be late for work.” Arlie’s light blue eyes find mine in the mirror. Toothpaste foams over my lips. My hair status is currently unruly. “God, you’re sexy as fuck in those scrubs,” he growls, stalking me from behind. “How do all those doctors and patients keep their hands off you?”
Arlie’s wide, naked chest takes my vision as I dip my eyes downwards while looking at his reflection.
“The things I want to do to you right now are not PG-rated; they’re so R-rated it would make even the most sexually prolific person blush.”
I squeeze my thighs together to tame the sudden pulsing I experience, then spit toothpaste into the basin, running water over my mouth.
“Come here,” Arlie says, all deep-voiced and sexy. I squeal the moment he snakes his arms around my waist and lifts me with ease, carrying me to the bedroom. “Me, Tarzan. You, Jane, and I will mate with you. No doctoring for you today.”
My body bounces against the mattress when he throws me against it like he’s the king of the jungle and I’m his woman to do what he wants with. He stands tall, wearing only a pair of hot pink boxer briefs, and puffs out his chest, beating his fists against it until I groan in complete discomfort.
“Oh, shit. Are you okay?” He drops to the bed.
I sit half upright, grabbing my waist.
“Did I hurt you?”
“Foot. His foot is in my ribs again.” I clutch my side.
“I’ve got you.” Arlie stacks some pillows behind my head and moves me until I rest against them. “This little fellow is going to be a kickboxer, I think.”
“Agreed.” I wince.
Arlie lifts my green scrub top under my breasts and places his big, strong hand high up on my ever-growing baby bump. “Dude, shove over—you’re hurting Mummy, and you’re kind of messing with playtime for Daddy right now.”
I laugh, then wince, scrunching my face.
Small circular movements—it’s how Arlie normally convinces our little rib kicker to move. “Any better?” he asks.
I shake my head. “It doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.”
Arlie shifts to his plan B and dips his head until his lips brush over my skin. “Maybe he wants some love and attention.” He speaks against my belly before leaving small kisses in place of his words.
“He’s so needy already.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go to work today, babe. You should probably stay here so I can care for the both of you. You don’t even have to work.”
“I’m pregnant, not dying, and the little gem has just moved so I’m good to go now.”
“He’s moved? Excellent.” Arlie wiggles his eyebrows.
I giggle.
“Well, in that case, before you take off and save lives with outstanding medical diagnosis genius powers, I have a parting gift for you.”
“You have already parted a gift inside me.” I point at my rounded tummy.
Arlie throws back his head and laughs. “I have more gifts where that came from,” he says, standing upright. “Now, let me take these off. I’m going to rock your world before you have to go out into the real world and kick sickness’s arse.”
I twist my neck and eye my watch. “I’ve twenty minutes until I have to leave, and I’ve not even brushed my hair. Can you work with that?”
“Oh, I can. I’ll take fifteen minutes of your time and we’ll get you in shipshape and out the door in the remaining five. Deal?”
“Bring it.” I cup my palm in the air and signal for him to take what’s his—me.
I’m his, and he’s mine, and we’re madly, deeply, and insanely in love. Arlie gets me and all my little quirks. He cherishes me for the crazy woman I am. Every weakness and strength I possess Arlie accepts, and no matter what happens around our happy little life bubble, it doesn’t matter because we’re strong enough to rise to any challenge. We have each other, and a new little baby on the way. And although we’re not married and we’re not exactly taking all our steps in order, we’re content. Life’s not about rushing things, it’s about living in the moment, and I’m doing just that. Living every single moment.
“Goddamn, you’re fine.” Arlie runs his hands over my small bump and cups my boobs. “Yep, they’re bigger than yesterday. I’m so happy.”
I giggle.
“Hello, sugar dumplings, Daddy’s home.” It’s Chris, calling out with the most feminine tone a male can possess.
Bang!
The door slams shut.
“You know you don’t live here,” I yell from the bedroom.
“Where are you two?” he shouts.
“Why did you give Chris a key?” Arlie lays his head to my chest. “He’s the biggest kid interrupting our Mummy/Daddy playtime, I’m telling you. It’s like he has a radar for when we’re about to get busy.”
“We’ll be out in a moment,” I yell, attempting to rein in my humour.
“Hurry, hurry. I have a gift for you two.”
“Of course, he does.” Arlie groans, causing laughter to explode through my lips.
“Get dressed,” I say, trying to roll out from under Arlie.
“Can’t we pretend we’re not home?”
“He knows we’re home.”
“I’m getting the key back today.”
“
And what if we get locked out?”
“A locksmith, I’ll call a locksmith. It’s not like I can’t afford it.”
“Play nice. He’s my best friend,” I tut.
“And he’s great and all, but he seriously has no boundaries.”
“Are you two naked in there?” Chris’s voice grows closer.
“We are. Go away.” Arlie takes my hands and holds them above my head. “Fifteen minutes. Those fifteen minutes were mine,” he whispers against my lips.
“I know, baby, but we have company.”
“Unwelcome, gift-bearing company.”
“Exactly. Now unhand me and get dressed.”
“Fine,” he groans, climbing to his feet and adjusting himself while sporting a pout.
Pulling down my scrub top, I straighten my pants before running my hands over my locks. “I’ll meet you out there. Don’t be long,” I warn.
“Okay.” Arlie sulks.
I stalk my way over to him, running my finger along his jawline until I pistol grip his chin. “You’re my one and only,” I whisper against his lips.
“I know.”
“Now get some clothes on and play nice.”
“Play nice. I can play nice for you.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I press my lips to his, and he takes my mouth in a way which speaks volumes of his frustration and hunger. For a split moment, I think maybe if we don’t come out, Chris will disappear, but then I remember it’s Chris, and he’d not hesitate to barge into the bedroom whether we were naked or not.
When our lips part, I twist on my heel. Arlie taps my bottom, causing me to gallop a few steps. “Tonight. We’re going to resume this when you get home.”
I peek over my shoulder and blow him a kiss before finding the door handle and exiting the bedroom.
“There you are.” Chris’s teeth are exposed in a wide smile.
“Hello, bestie. You look very chipper today. I don’t have long. I need to get to the hospital.” I glance at my watch. “In ten minutes.”
“Sex hair,” Chris blurts.
“Totally sex hair,” Matthew chimes in, stepping into my view.
“Oh, you’re both here. This will make Arlie extra happy.” I pinch my lips together to rein in my laughter.
“Girl, have I got a big surprise for you.”
