“Everything okay?” he asked.
Sienna was grateful that her back was to Aaron so he couldn’t see how his words affected her. No doubt he felt the way her body had reacted to his touch. She turned, loosening his hands from her shoulders. “Yeah. It is now.”
“Come on, we need to talk.”
“I really should go get Caleb. Frankie’s had him longer than expected.”
“Ten minutes is all I need. Please, Sienna.”
Deep down she was scared. His time on the island was coming to an end. Even though he’d told Steve and Glenda that he loved Caleb, he never said anything about his feelings for her. If he even had any.
It was clear he wasn’t happy with her delayed response, as he maneuvered himself so he was beside her, one arm around her waist. He directed her to the back of the house.
She was grateful that it wasn’t the sitting room. That room had had one heavy talk already.
Once he’d seated her in a wicker chair, Aaron scraped another one across the concrete patio so that he was facing toward her. “How are you? That can’t have been easy.”
A breath whooshed out of her. Part of Sienna still couldn’t believe she didn’t have a custody battle threat hanging over her head. “I’m good, now.”
“And…?”
“And we’ve come to an agreement that works for everyone. I’m Caleb’s mom, as David and Shannon wanted. Glenda and Steve are grandparents, just like they should be.”
“I’m glad.”
She took a risk and laid her hand over Aaron’s. “Thank you for everything you did.”
“Do you believe me? I wasn’t responsible for the picture.”
“Someone so heartless as to arrange for the picture to be taken wouldn’t have shared the childhood memory that you did. So yes, Aaron, I believe you weren’t involved with it all.”
“Good. I will find out who sold it to the magazine.”
Sienna cringed at the thought of her private life being exposed in the way it had been. Before, when she’d been in the limelight, it hadn’t bothered her too much when things were written about her. Sure, some of it was true. The majority of it was false. She’d liked the attention because it created a buzz for whatever movie she was starring in. Plus, some of the news stories were because of her own actions.
This picture being blasted all over the internet was different. It could’ve hurt Caleb and that was the thing bothering her most about it.
She didn’t care about herself or her reputation. She’d given up acting and wasn’t going to go back. They could say and print whatever they wanted about her.
Caleb was off limits.
“This was supposed to by my haven, Aaron. A place where no one could find me or Caleb and disrupt our world. I can’t move, because I made a promise to Glenda and Steve, but also, I like it here. I like this island paradise. I think it’s the perfect place to bring Caleb up. Shannon and David would agree.”
“No doubt they’d agree, because you’ve moved so their son could still connect to his family. If there were any other pictures of you, they would’ve been plastered all over the internet by now. Plus, the article just said you were on an island off Florida. Do you know how many little islands there are? You’ll always be safe here.”
In the heat of Caleb’s grandparents’ visit, it hadn’t dawned on her how Aaron had discovered where she lived. She hadn’t told him anything about the location of the property she purchased.
“How did you find me?” she asked, once again concerned that her privacy was about to be lost for good.
He laughed softly and shook his head. “You’re not going to believe it. Charity at the Super Min told me where you lived.”
“Charity? Oh my God, now I know I’m going to be hounded. She’s the biggest gossip on the island. I’ve stayed away from her store simply because I was worried she’d be someone who would recognize me.”
“I guess she has her finger on the pulse of Mimosa Key. But you don’t have to worry. She’s not going to say anything.”
“How can you be so sure? Some of the stories I’ve heard about her make my antics pale in comparison.”
“Because she got rid of all the magazines with the picture on the cover.”
“What? How do you know that? Why on earth would she do that?” None of this made sense. From everything she’d heard about Charity, the older woman lived and breathed gossip.
Then again, with the amount of high profile people that stayed at the resort, and even with having a security firm on site, the place didn’t crawl with paparazzi.
Could she have been wrong about Charity? Could the woman have a softer side, but used her gossiping tendencies as a cover?
Even if she confronted the woman, Sienna had a suspicion she wouldn’t get a straight answer.
“She was the one who gave me the magazine. Insisted I take it, in fact. It was the only one on the counter at the time. I’m guessing she recognized me from the picture and decided I needed to know about it.”
“Still doesn’t explain how she knows where I live.”
“I have a feeling there’s more to Ms. Charity of the Super Min than even the long-term residents on the island know.” Aaron scooted forward on his chair and grabbed her hands. “Enough talking about Charity. I want to talk about us.”
Here it was, the moment when he told her that it’d been fun, but his life was in LA. She understood. It seemed like they were always destined to find each other at the wrong time. Before the last couple of weeks, it had been because of their business relationship. Now her life was going through a major adjustment.
Could there be a wrong time for Mr. Right?
“Lame,” she muttered.
“Lame? What’s lame? Wanting to talk about us?” Annoyance tinged his tone, his eyelids closing in disappointment.
“Is there an us?” Sienna countered and braced herself for the inevitable rejection.
“I want there to be.”
What?
“You want there to be.” Her voice pitched higher than she’d ever heard come out of her mouth. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.
“Yes, sweetheart, I do.” Aaron smoothed a hand over her head.
She loved the way he touched her like she was a precious gem.
“Do you?” he whispered.
“Well, ye—it’s impossible. You live on the West Coast, and I live so far on the East Coast it’s not funny.”
“What if distance wasn’t an issue? How about then?”
Her heartbeat doubled in speed. He couldn’t be talking about moving here, could he? “What do you mean?” Sienna blurted. Her question sounded dumb, but she couldn’t let herself hope after all this time that here might be a chance of a future for them.
“I want to build something with you. I’m in love with you, Sienna Fairley. I’m tired of the LA way of life. After spending the past couple of weeks with you, here on this little piece of paradise, my eyes are open to a much better way of living. What do you say?”
Yes.
She wanted to shout the word because being an ‘us’ with Aaron was something she wanted more than anything. But…it wasn’t just her she had to think about.
“What about Caleb? It’s not just me anymore.”
“I couldn’t be happier. That little boy is so special. I didn’t lie earlier when I said I loved him. I do, and I want to be a part of his life. Just like I want to be an important part of yours, but I’m aware, before you make any decisions, his well-being will come first.”
He got it.
Aaron understood she and Caleb were a team.
“You’re almost too good to be true, you know that? How have you remained so real, working in the world of smoke and mirrors?”
“After a while, you get immune to it. You learn to recognize the good ones.” Aaron stood and pulled her up with him. “So what do you say? Yes or no?”
There were still so many questions Sienna wanted to ask but they had plenty of time to work
things out. It wasn’t as if he could move into her house tomorrow.
“Yes, Aaron.” She slid her fingers through his head and pulled his head close to hers until their lips were almost touching. “A million times years.”
They both closed the distance so their mouths met in a kiss full of promise of a beautiful future.
Epilogue
One year later.
“So, I didn’t need to save you from wedding planners and stressed out brides?”
Aaron laughed at Tom. An echo of the text message his friend had sent him when he’d first walked into Casa Blanca Resort.
Who would’ve thought that a year later, he’d be standing on the beach waiting for his bride to walk down the sandy aisle toward him.
“Nope. Everything went off without a hitch.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well…” he let the rest go as music started playing. The time for talking was over. Aaron faced the resort instead of the ocean.
Tom’s wife Caryn made her way over the sand, her eyes totally on her husband.
The low whistle emanating from his best man told him he appreciated how good his wife looked.
She could’ve been wearing a paper sack for all Aaron cared. He was more concerned with who would be coming down the aisle next.
His couldn’t hold back his smile as he watched the two most important people in his world walk into his line of vision.
When it had come to who would walk Sienna down the aisle the decision had been a no-brainer.
Caleb.
The little boy looked adorable in a miniature version of Aaron’s tux. Sienna, well, she looked amazing, like the beautiful queen she was.
Her dress hugged her torso before flaring out to a full skirt below the knees. There was some special name for the style, but he didn’t care, nor could he recall it. She could’ve been wearing a sundress and he’d still think she was the most gorgeous woman in the world.
The past year had been full of ups and downs. The good had far outweighed the bad.
The first time he’d had to leave Sienna and Caleb had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. Thank goodness for Facetime. The video chats they’d shared had kept him from missing them too much. Having only spent a short time with them, he hadn’t expected to yearn for them.
In the end, he’d made arrangements with another management company to take over most of his clients. He’d kept Tom as his only one, sold his condo in Malibu and moved into a villa at the resort until Caleb felt comfortable around him. Then they’d become a family.
Now it was time to legalize it all. Fortunately, Glenda and Steve were happy he and Sienna were getting married and giving their grandson another family.
Sienna stopped next to him and the scent of wildflowers assailed his senses.
He took hold of her free hand after she’d handed her bouquet to Caryn. Aaron reached out and Caleb slipped his hand into his.
They formed a circle.
A unit.
A family.
The ceremony passed in a blur. Vows were exchanged and promises made to each other. Promises made to Caleb.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the celebrant announced.
By mutual agreement, he and Sienna kept hold of Caleb as they leaned in and shared their first kiss as husband and wife.
While he wanted to increase the intensity, Aaron was aware of the little boy watching them as well as their friends and family.
They parted and smiled at each other.
“I love you, Sienna Madison.”
“I love you too, Aaron Madison.”
“And we love you, Caleb Johnson,” they turned to Caleb and said together.
THE END
About the Author
If you enjoyed this book you can subscribe to my newsletter at http://bit.ly/2quatWN to receive notifications about new releases, sales and other pieces of news.
On her very first school report her teacher said ‘Nicole likes to tell her own stories’. Many years later she eventually sat down and wrote her first book.
Nicole writes sexy contemporary romances, seducing you one kiss at a time as you turn the pages. She enjoys taking two characters and creating unique situations for them.
Learn more about Nicole Flockton at http://www.nicoleflockton.com.
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to Roxanne St Claire for letting me be part of her Barefoot Bay world again. I love her characters and honestly wished the resort existed because I would love to visit it for real.
Chrissy Szarek, thanks for your insight, guidance and help in ensuring my story is stronger than it was when it landed on your desk.
Thanks to my good friend, Wren Michaels, we may not have got a lot of writing done while the kids enjoyed roller skating, but we had a lot of laughs together. Now onto coffee mornings!
Jennifer of More Than Words Promotion, my assistant and amazing cover artist. Thanks for not yelling at me when I asked for a last minute change in cover.
Abigail Owen not only are you an amazing author, you’re an amazing friend. From our skype chats, to our FB messages I love knowing that you’re there to bounce ideas off. Here’s to more books we brainstorm together.
Finally, as always, my family whose unfailing supports allows me to bring these stories to my readers.
Available Now - Swipe for Mr. Right
Caryn's finger hovered over the send button. She couldn’t believe she was about to take the plunge again. Her best friends would have a field day if she let them know she'd joined a dating website—for the second time on her get-my-life-back-on-track trip of a lifetime. After constantly being hassled by them for her to get back on the dating scene following the disastrous end to her last relationship, they would laugh their heads off knowing her first attempt had failed spectacularly. How many disastrous coffee dates had she been on? She gave up counting after about the fifth guy turned up looking completely different than his profile picture and was yet another sleazeball. Did she have sucker embedded in her profile that only loser guys could see?
This time though, Brad Jones looked like a decent guy. He'd been friendly and open in the few emails they'd shared. But this suggestion was something bigger than meeting for coffee. This was an invitation to meet up at a resort known for its exclusivity and location on a gorgeous bay in Mimosa Key, Florida. Was she insane to take a risk like this? Was loneliness encouraging her to make a rash decision?
No, she was taking charge, pushing aside the doubts that she wasn’t perfect enough for the guys she met, that they had to lie to her and present a persona that wasn’t their own.
She was twenty-six years old. A capable businesswoman who'd built a successful Internet fashion accessory business from nothing to one she sold less than a year ago for more than seven millions dollars. If she could make the decision to sell her company—her baby and the one thing she’d been super proud of—in order to start the next chapter of her life, she could send a friggin' response to a guy she'd spent the last three weeks exchanging emails with.
Taking a deep breath, she hit send. Oh God, no, she’d lost her mind. You couldn’t take back an email. The only thing to do was move forward. And maybe pray the email got lost in cyberspace. In case it didn’t, she opened an Internet browser and pulled up a travel site, looking for flights to Florida. This Aussie girl was excited to visit a beautiful beachside resort, something she hadn’t done on her exploration of the United States.
Her email pinged a few minutes later and Brad Jones’s name popped up in the corner of her screen. Well, nope, the email didn’t get lost in cyberspace. Caryn wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment that made her insides wobble like Jell-O. With trembling fingers, she double-clicked the email, closing her eyes for a second before opening them and focusing on the middle of the screen.
Hey pretty lady,
I'm thrilled you’ve agreed to join me at Casa Blanca Resort. We’
ll have a lot of fun. Why don’t you go ahead and book your flights and accommodation and email me the details, and I’ll do the same. We can always change our accommodation arrangements when we get there ;)
Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.
Brad
There was no going back now, even though his comment about changing the accommodation appeared skeevy. Maybe he was trying to have a little joke with her. When she committed to something, she always followed through. It was how she’d become successful with her business. All she hoped was that she'd made the correct decision to swipe right this time.
Caryn pulled her convertible Camaro into the circular driveway of Casa Blanca Resort. She loved the location on sight. The main building paid homage to the movie setting it was named after. She had no idea which part of the resort Brad was staying in; he hadn’t mentioned it any of his emails, which kind of surprised her, now that she stopped to think about it. She assumed, like her, he'd be staying in an exclusive villa. But he may have decided to stay in the main hotel, as it was cheaper and she had no idea of his financial situation. He was an accountant, so he might be a bit of a penny pincher. She certainly hadn’t let on to him about her finances. At the end of the day, it didn't matter where either one of them stayed—there were plenty of places they could meet up and have drinks or take a walk on the beach or be daring and sign up for a hot air balloon ride.
God, she hoped his comment about changing the accommodation details when they got here didn’t mean that he failed to book any and planned to stay with her. No, no way could he have meant that, but she crossed her fingers just in case.
Their correspondence had been sporadic over the last two weeks, as she’d spent an enjoyable week at Disney World before hiring the car and driving down to Barefoot Bay. But his last email had confirmed that he was arriving today and would meet her in the bar at 6:00 p.m.. A quick glance at her watch told her she had four hours to get settled in, maybe take a swim before getting ready for her date. Or if the villa had a tub, a nice relaxing soak.
Barefoot Bay: Wrong Time for Mr. Right (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 9
