by Adele Hart
When we finally stop, the helicopter is landing on the beach, spraying sand in a wide path around it. Mac pulls out of me and stands in front of me to hide my body. I duck behind him, completely embarrassed that someone has seen us like this and completely terrified that this is the person who owns the house. What if they get really mad and start shooting at us?
I grip Mac’s back with my hands. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. I’d never let anything happen to you, baby. Never.”
The engine cuts out and the blades slow to a stop. “Baby, what do your parents look like?”
“My dad is tall with grey hair. My mom is a short blonde.”
“Well in that case, your mom and dad are getting a long look at me.”
My head pops up and I see them getting down from the aircraft. My dad gets down first, then helps my mom. “Shit. That’s them.”
“Paige! You’re alive!” My mom comes running toward us with her fingers splayed over her eyes. My dad stands back with his head down.
“Mom! Dad! You found us!” My heart soars to see them and to know that their nightmare is over. “Did Brooke have the wedding without me?”
“She had to, sweetie. Everything was already paid for…”
“Oh,” My heart drops and tears form in my eyes. Mac tucks one arm behind me and gives me squeeze to let me know he’s there.
My mom’s face falls. “I’m sorry, Paige. We just assumed you didn’t find a flight and you were sitting in an airport lounge in St. Lucia.”
“No, I guess it makes sense. I told you I found a ride, but you probably thought it wasn’t going to pan out.”
“Exactly. These things happen to you so often, we’ve had to get used to going on without you...”
“Was it a nice wedding?”
“It was perfect. Well, not perfect because you weren’t there, but otherwise it was lovely.” When my mom gets close to us, she says, “Would you and your…friend…like to put some clothes on, honey? This is a little awkward for Daddy and I.”
“Definitely. Just give us a minute, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll wait here.” She turns to my father. “Call Brooke and the boys and tell her we found Paige!”
Mac hides me as we make our way carefully to the door. When we get inside, he takes my hand and we walk to the bedroom to get some clothes. I’m overcome with emotion by the time we reach the room. Tears form in my eyes, and not the happy kind.
“You okay?” Mac asks, wrapping his arms around me.
I nod. “I think so. I know I should be happy, but I don’t know what this means for us.”
“We’ll figure it out together, Paige. You and I.” He cups my face with his hands and kisses me long and hard. “I’m in love with you and no matter what happens when we leave here, that won’t change.”
“Me too, Mac. I’m crazy in love with you. We can make this work, can’t we?”
“Can and will, baby.”
And I believe him, I do. But as we dress in silence, my mind starts spinning. What if he changes his mind when we leave? What if this was all just a fantasy and when we go back to reality, what we had will break?
I put on a brave face and take his hand as we go face the world.
Chapter 12
Mac
I’m back at my house. It’s late at night, and I’m alone. I sit outside on my veranda, listening to the waves crash against the shore and sipping a cold beer. Paige is at a hotel with her parents, who were too overwrought with the thought of her death over the past week to let her go tonight. I get it. If she were my daughter, I’d feel the same way. Hell, I do feel the same way and I only just met her.
I don’t know how I’ll fall asleep tonight without her, even though it’s been one hell of a long day. When we arrived back on St. Lucia, there was a huge media presence there. Paige’s parents took center stage with the whole thing, as they’ve been the face of what I now understand has been world news. I stood back while they hugged her and held her and answered questions for the reporters. Of course, they didn’t give me much credit. Her father can’t even look at me after everything, and I don’t blame the man. First, I took her up in the air when I had no business flying. I could have easily gotten her killed. Then when they found us, I was pounding away at her pussy right out in the light of the day. So, he’s pretty much going to hate me for life. Her mother seemed like she didn’t know what to think. When she looked at me, there was a strange grin on her face that said she might have seen a little more through her fingers than she was letting on. The thought of it makes me blush.
After the press conference, I was hauled upstairs at the airport to deal with everything I fucked up when I left here. The two biggies of course are flying out without permission and leaving my Jeep parked on the tarmac. By the time I pay the fines and pay for having my helicopter towed and repaired, I’ll pretty much have to forget my plan to pay off my house this year. But it could be worse. I could have my pilot’s license removed for what I did, and the fact that I didn’t should make me feel very lucky.
But I don’t feel lucky. I feel lonely. And scared, too, if I’m really honest. I don’t know if I’ll ever see Paige again. She could decide to leave tomorrow morning and not tell me she’s going. She could easily go back to her real life and forget all about me.
I go inside and grab another beer, then down it while I stand at the kitchen counter. That ought to be enough to fall asleep. I hope.
I take a long, hot shower, imagining she’s with me under the spray of the water. I can still smell her scent on my skin, I can still feel the curves of her soft, delectable body against me, I still ache for her like I’ve never ached for another woman before her. The taste of her honey when she comes, the taste of her tongue when she opens her mouth for me. The feeling of her tight little pussy as it pulses and throbs and grips my cock. I need her, even if I have to give up my life and move to New York just to be near her, I’d do it. I’d hate it there, but I’d do it for her if it’d make her happy. If she wanted me there with her, I’d go.
But for now, I need to let her go. Let her decide if she wants me to be part of her life or not. If you love someone, set them free…
Fuck me, I don’t want to set her free at all. I want to chain her to my bed and keep her here forever, creepy as that sounds.
I get out of the shower and collapse into my soft bed, feeling the emptiness that fills the room and overtakes my soul. I need her. And if she doesn’t come back to me, I don’t know how I’ll go on without her.
I think about our last moment together. She was just about to get in the limo with her parents and she asked them to give us a minute. She hugged me, long and deep, and then looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Did you mean what you said, Mac? Did you mean it all?”
“I did, and I always will.”
“You sure? Because if you’re not, I can leave now. We’ll always have what happened on that island, but it doesn’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want it to.”
“I want it to, Paige. I want it to last forever. If you don’t, then I won’t ask you to stay. I’ll be here loving you from a very long distance, but I want you to be happy, so if that’s not with me, don’t feel bad.”
I wiped her tears with my thumbs. “You go get some rest. Go have a taste of your real life and see if it’s sweeter to you than what we had.”
Chapter 13
Paige
“No, Dad, it wasn’t like that at all,” I hiss at him.
We’re at breakfast in the hotel lobby and the waiter has just dropped off a carafe of coffee at the table. My father is asking if Mac was forcing himself on me and if I need a counsellor to help me when we get back home.
“He loves me, Dad. And I love him.”
He shakes his head. “No, sweetheart, you don’t. You’re suffering from Stockholm syndrome.”
“Stockholm—? Dad, I wasn’t his hostage. He saved my life and took care of me the entire time we were on that island.”
&nbs
p; “I’ll say,” my mom chimes in. She’s opted for a mimosa instead of the coffee.
My cheeks flush at the thought of what they saw.
My mom’s cell phone rings and she hands it to me. “Look, it’s Rick calling for you! He’s been very concerned the entire time you were missing.”
I roll my eyes and answer the phone. “Hi Rick.”
“Paige, baby, is that really you?” he asks.
Baby? Really? He’s never called me that before. Which is good because he’s my boss. “It’s really me.”
“You came back from the dead! I can’t believe it. You okay? I hope you’re okay and ready to get back to work because the phone is ringing off the hook! Everyone in the entire universe has seen your story on the news and they’re calling. They all want to list with us.”
“How do they know—?”
“I went to the press to beg people to help find you.”
Of course, he did. Anything for P.R., right?
“Listen, I’d love to hear all about it when you get back, but right now, I’ve got clients waiting. When you get here tomorrow, you can fill me in. Be here at seven a.m. because there is a shit-ton of stuff for you to take care of. And I have some good news for you—I’ve decided to cut you in on the commission from now on. Zero-point-two percent for you on all sales you close. Gotta run, babe! See you tomorrow!”
He hangs up, leaving me a little dizzy.
A week ago, that offer would have had me jumping up and running to pack, but now, I see it for what it is. Bullshit.
“What’s the matter, Paige? You look angry.” My mom says, then she reaches up with her thumb to rub the tension out from between my eyebrows. “Relax, you’ll give yourself wrinkles.”
I brush her hand away. “Maybe I want wrinkles.”
I get up and walk away, out of the restaurant, out of the hotel, and down to the beach. Maybe I want wrinkles. It doesn’t even make sense. Or maybe it does. Maybe I just want the choice. Maybe I want to wake up each day and do what I want to do where I want to do it with the man of my choosing. Maybe I want wrinkles so I’ll catch up with Mac and we can look like a couple.
I stand on the beach, staring out, wishing I could be back on our little island again. Back where the only decisions were what are we going to eat and what position are we going to try next. But I’m here, and I don’t even know how to find Mac.
I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see my dad looking down at me. “Your mother was just trying to be nice.”
“I know, I just get…a little tired of being mothered sometimes.”
“Me, too.” He grins down at me. “Listen, Peanut, I know Rick is a little asshole, and I can tell that you don’t want to go back to work for him, and I think you should quit. I’ll fund you so you can start your own agency. With all the publicity, you’ll easily double my money in the first year.”
“What?” I’m shocked because my father has never once showed any faith in me. The fact that he’s willing to put some money into my career means that he must actually believe that I’ve got some potential.
“Take this whole helicopter crash thing and really run with it.”
I stare at him for a minute. “Start my own agency?”
“Yes, Peanut. We can find you the perfect location for your office and I’ll back the whole thing.”
“Anywhere I want?”
“Of course. Your mother and I would love you to come back to New Hampshire, but if New York is where you want to be, that’s fine, too.”
I throw my arms around his neck and give him a huge hug. “Thanks, Dad.”
Chapter 14
Mac
It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen or heard from Paige. Well, I did see her on the news two days after we were rescued, when she got back to New York. There was a big crowd waiting for her. She had tears in her eyes as she came down the ramp at JFK. I found the clip on Youtube and have taken to watching it over and over, pretending she’s walking toward me with that big, gorgeous smile of hers. Pathetic, I know.
I spend my days down at the mechanic’s bay, working on my helicopter as the parts trickle in one at a time from the various suppliers. I’m fucking miserable. I barely sleep, I have no desire to eat, and I’m in a shitty mood all day long. It’s gotten so bad that the other guys give me a wide berth wherever I go. I’m losing a ton of money every day that I don’t have my business running, but that’s not what’s got me upset. It’s because I set her free and she’s not coming back. I know it. She went back to her real life and she’s forgotten all about me by now.
It’s late on Saturday night when I decide to call it a night. I wash up my greasy hands, strip down out of my coveralls and slide my shorts back on so I can go home. I’m just locking up when I hear her voice behind me.
“Hey, helicopter man. I need a ride.”
I turn and bust out laughing, pure joy running through my every muscle. It’s the first thing she ever said to me. When she said it the first time though, it irritated the shit out of me. Now, it’s the best thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.
I stride to her as fast as my legs will take me and swoop her up in my arms, kissing her hard on the mouth. She wraps her legs around me and we lose all sense of where we are and how we should be acting. I finally break away from her lips long enough to say something. “You came back.”
“Of course, I did. I just had to go back to tie up some loose ends.”
“Does that mean you’re staying?”
“Do you want me to?”
“More than anything in my entire life.” I kiss her again to make sure she’s real.
“Good, because I’ve been developing a new ten-year-plan and you’re pivotal to the entire thing.” She grins down at me.
“I fucking love you,” I say.
“I fucking love you, too,” she answers, reaching down for her shirt hem and lifting it over her head.
“Paige, we’re at the airport.”
“Who cares? I need you right fucking now.”
I grin and carry her back inside the mechanic’s bay, clear a table, then strip us both down so we can do what’s been on my mind for weeks now. I kneel down and taste her ripe, juicy pussy, licking and sucking until she goes over the edge, soaking my tongue with the taste I’ve been craving. As soon as she’s done, she tugs me up urgently, and grips my ass with her hands. She smiles down at my rock-hard erection.
“Oh, yeah, that’s what I came back for,” she says, licking her lips.
I line myself up with her dripping pussy and push my way inside her, feeling her tight warmth. She’s home for me. Wherever we are. As long as she’s with me, I’ll be fine. We kiss and grope and touch and fuck for another hour or so before I take her home so we can do it again.
Later, when we’re lying in bed, naked in each other’s arms, she turns to me. “By the way, part of my ten-year plan is that we’ll have a nine-year-old running around.”
I freeze for a second. “Do you mean…you’re…”
“Going to have your baby? Yes.”
My heart feels like it’s going to explode with happiness. “Oh, my God, Paige, I’ve never been this thrilled about anything in my entire life.” I lean on my elbow and kiss her, then make my way down to her tummy, planting kisses all over her belly. Then, suddenly I panic. “I shouldn’t have done all that stuff to you this evening. What if I hurt the baby?”
“It’s fine. It’s perfectly safe to resume sex while pregnant.”
I look at her for a second. “Everything?”
“Everything. Perfectly safe.”
“Well, then while I’m down here, I could go a little farther south if you like.”
“I was hoping you’d offer.” She giggles and pushes my head down, making me laugh before I get to the business of putting her first.
The next day, I keep Paige in bed all day. I feed her meals there and make love to her as often as she’ll let me, which, lucky for me, is every time I try. She fills me in on the rest of her p
lan. She’s opening a real estate office here on St. Lucia. Her dad was going to back her, but she wants to do it all herself, and I couldn’t be more proud. I’m going to love spending my life with her watching her plan and succeed at whatever she does. I’m going to love watching our children grow up. I’m going to love having her in my bed every night. It’s going to be the two of us for the rest of our lives.
Epilogue
Paige-Ten years later
“Shh! Guys, Dad’s still sleeping. Let’s go play outside so he can rest some more.”
“Why does Dad sleep in so much on the weekends?” Alice asks me in her six-year-old version of a whisper which is more like yelling.
I give her a wry look that she won’t understand. “Mommy kept him up late again.”
“That’s not very nice of you, Mommy. You should let him sleep.”
“No, she shouldn’t.” Mac wraps his arms around my waist. “Daddy loves to stay up late and play.”
I laugh, turning my head to him so we can kiss some more. Our son, Nicholas makes a puking sound while Alice says, “Eww! Stop that.”
“I can’t,” Mac says, giving her a mock-serious look. “Your mother has me under her spell and I can’t help myself. I must kiss her every time I see her.”
Alice screws up her face and shakes her head.
Nic says, “You guys are so gross.” He’s got a little grin under that disgust though, and it makes me happy that our kids know how much in love we are with each other.
I want them to know what love should be and what it looks like. Mac and I are true partners, supporting each other and helping each other whenever and however we can. We’re not rich, but we live a very comfortable life here in paradise. We know what matters and what doesn’t and we don’t waste our time on things that don’t matter—like keeping up with my sister Brooke and her husband. They’ve achieved what they wanted to financially, but I don’t think they’ve laid a finger on each other in years. They’re totally miserable, and as much as I wish things could be different for her, I’m glad that Mac and I have it all figured out.
