“Why do you want me back, Curtis? Is it because you hate to lose? To save face with the media?”
His eyes widened in alarm as he loosened his grasp on her. “No. I wasn’t honest with myself when I decided to ask you to pose as my fiancée. There were other solutions that would have worked. Kendra is a media puppet master. I had to have it my way, because then I’d have you. It started when I found out you’d been offered another job. I rationalized why I didn’t want you to go, and I was so out of touch with my feelings, I didn’t realize work had nothing to do with it.
“I asked you to try on the life, but I fell for it completely. You seduced me into wanting everything you could offer, all of it.”
“I seduced you?” She’d thought she was merely a piece in his game. If she affected him in the same way he did her, maybe she’d been right, and he did feel something. Something intense enough to search deep into his soul for a way for them to be together.
“I’ll never look at a swimming pool the same way again.” His lips twitched into a smile.
She tried not to answer with a grin of her own. “What is it you want, Curtis?”
“I need to know I have you to come home to every day. I want to be your husband. A real one. I could be good at it. I’ve taken good care of you since the surgery, right?”
“Yes, you have, but I don’t need to be taken care of, and that wasn’t our problem.”
“You’re right. I needed to face the real reason why I didn’t want children. It wasn’t being adopted, and it wasn’t my father’s crimes. Without your pushing, I never would have looked close enough to see that it wasn’t having a child I was afraid of, but of shutting one out the way I do everything else, of abandoning one.”
“You would never—”
“Do what he did? Choose vengeance over dealing with life? It would be tempting.” He framed her face again, kissing her softly this time. “I don’t know how I’d live if you were gone. I’ve missed you so much, and you were only an hour away.”
Hot kisses trailed across her mouth, over her jaw. Heat swirled through her body, already warm from the shower. Could she trust what he showed her, believe that actions spoke louder than words, or was she deluding herself again?
Trust. She had to trust him and his actions, trust herself and her feelings. “You know, if you never fill in the blanks, I’ll write my own story.”
“A fairy tale?” Laughter vibrated against her skin as his hands traveled down her body. “They always get married before they live happily ever after.”
“You are like a broken record.” She giggled as he lifted her off her feet and pressed her back against the tiled wall. “Okay, you convinced me.”
“No, I’m not done convincing you yet.” He grasped her hips, and she squealed.
“You have to be. I could get pregnant.”
He narrowed his eyes, touching his nose to hers. “What?”
“My birth control only lasted for three months. I didn’t get another dose.”
“Okay.” He dipped his head, kissing her neck again, his wet hair brushing against her cheek.
“Not okay.” She gripped at his shoulders.
“But you want a baby.” He met her gaze, the incredulous look in his eyes making her smile.
“Not right now. You want a baby now?”
He shrugged his shoulders, shocking her to the core. Doubt evaporated into the steam rising around them. Unless he loved her, he wouldn’t be willing to give them a child, not with the way he felt about family.
“You know what we could do instead?” She trailed her hand down his chest, where he caught her wrist.
“Make use of the condoms in the bathroom drawer?”
“Oh, thank goodness.”
He flashed his megawatt smile and dashed out of the shower. Robyn wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the happiness bubbling up from her toes to the top of her head. She’d always known someday her prince would come.
Epilogue
One month later…
Meet me on the beach to watch the sunset.
Robyn read the note scrawled in Curtis’s scratchy script and smiled. For the last week, he’d been trying to convince her the sprawling Maui estate would be perfect for their next project. Watching the sunset from the beach might have her falling in love with the place, just as she had the man.
Situated on the north shore between a sprawling cattle ranch and a botanical garden, the house and its cottages were breathtaking. The site barely needed a facelift. Still, it would be a great investment property, especially if they could visit frequently and find that waterfall off the Honoapiilani Highway again. And again.
With a naughty laugh, Robyn spied another surprise on the bed. Sprawled across the duvet were a creamy silk gown and lei of pink flowers.
A thought struck her as she slipped into the dress and looped the lei around her neck. If she transformed the estate into a private wedding resort, it couldn’t fail. Romance blossomed with the flowers on the island. The cottages made for perfect accommodations for a collection of guests. And who didn’t dream of getting married on a private beach, barefoot, with their toes in the sand?
Quite proud of herself, she found a pair of sandals and made her way out of the house and to the beach. Humidity wrapped around her like a lover’s embrace as she stepped outside, the sweet scents of plumeria and oleander dancing in the air. Pulling her hair over one shoulder, she took the path that wove through the seven cottages, taking mental notes as to what improvements could be made.
The grassy path dipped, the shrubbery clearing as the sound of the surf grew louder. She slipped off her sandals and started for the beach, the taste of salt sprinkled in the air.
Her toes touched sand, and her heart stalled. On the beach stood her family and Curtis’s, everyone dressed in white. Except for a large man in a bold Hawaiian print shirt holding a small black book, and a woman in a floral wrap dress already snapping pictures with a camera.
Catching sight of her, her father waved, prompting the small collection of people to do the same. The first tear fell before she could think.
With confidence, she walked to them, her family, or she guessed they all would be in a matter of minutes. Her footsteps faltered. Where is Curtis?
Shielding her eyes with her hands, she scanned the beach. The clip-clop of hoofbeats turned her around just in time to see Curtis and another man riding down on her. She shrieked with laughter, the absurdity of her prince on a white horse making the scene dreamlike.
He hopped down a few yards from her. “Have you ridden a horse before?”
She shook her head, words having escaped her completely.
“Tomorrow then.” He tossed his reins to the other man, who turned both horses and made his way back up the beach.
Who needed words when body language could speak for you? Robyn closed the distance between them, vining her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her as she rose up on her toes to meet him. She scarcely had time to enjoy the feel of his mouth on hers when he straightened back up and unwrapped her arms.
“I love you, too, but you don’t get to kiss me until after.” He took her hand, tugging her to where their families had gathered.
She didn’t hear a word of what was said. Her thoughts even muted the sound of the ocean. He loved her. She’d known it before, but she hadn’t heard it. She stared at him as they stood in front of the man in the Hawaiian shirt, holding hands and smiling like crazy.
She’d been silly to think the words mattered more than the actions. If she’d just trusted what he showed her from the beginning, instead of getting hung up on the details, it wouldn’t have taken half as long to get here.
“Robyn.” Curtis squeezed her hands, bringing her back down to earth.
“I love you.” The words flowed like water from the falls.
“Yes, but will you marry me?” He smiled, tilting his head toward the officiant.
“I will,” she said to Curtis, then repeated he
rself to the other man while their families laughed.
“So she can kiss me now?” Curtis asked, pulling her closer. “She’s been waiting all afternoon.”
“You may kiss your bride, Mr. Frye,” she teased, brushing her lips against his.
The sun blazed in the distance, flirting with the sea. Time to get their feet wet. She pulled him with her down the beach until the waves lapped about their ankles.
He kissed her with a savage passion that filled her with anticipation of the life to come. Who needed to chase a fairy tale when your happily ever after was in front of you all along?
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About the Author
Jenna Bayley-Burke is known for her fun, sexy romance novels, baking banana bread, and over-volunteering. She thinks she has the best jobs in the world—mother, wife, and author. When she’s not lost in her latest story, she can be found pursuing whatever hobby her characters are enamored with—photography, yoga, shoes, gardening, crafts, and cooking up a storm. Keep up with Jenna online at:
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