Bring It On (24 page)

“Lena,” he said, “what are you doing here?”

She wanted to launch herself into his arms. The sheer joy of seeing him was so overwhelming that she could hardly contain it. But she wasn’t certain of her reception, so she didn’t. Instead, she halted several paces away.

He looked good, although she had no idea what she’d expected. He’d only been gone a week.

“I came to find you.”

“Find me?” he asked, parroting her words. “But I was heading back home to you.”

She laughed, elation filling the sound. That was a good sign, right? All the fear and anxiety that had been riding her for the past twenty-four hours dried away to nothing.

A couple of times she’d almost chickened out, convinced that it was madness to follow him to Peru. But she’d clamped down on the doubts and told herself to get over it. It was difficult to ignore years of conditioned reactions and emotions, but for Colt she was willing to try.

Rolling up her sleeve, she showed him the tiny round bandages that covered her vaccination spots. “I even got shots.”

Colt reached down and grabbed her, lifting her up off the ground and crushing her against his body. He stared down into her face. The sheer intensity in his gaze overwhelmed her, but not nearly as much as the love she could now see clearly in the depths of his eyes. Had it always been there and she’d just been afraid to accept it? Or, like her, had their days apart been enough to make him realize what they had together?

“Do you need me to kiss them and make them better?” he finally rumbled.

A welcome shiver of awareness racked her body. She wanted him to kiss her senseless, but there was plenty of time to give in to the passion pumping deep and dark inside her. They had more important things to deal with first.

“Maybe later. Why were you going home?”

“Why are you in Peru?”

She pursed her lips, wiggling in his hold and silently asking to be released. He ignored her.

“I’ve always wanted to see Machu Picchu,” she answered.

“Huh,” he grunted, obviously not convinced by her lie. “Too bad it’s not anywhere close.”

“Why were you leaving? I thought you had a job to do. The break you’ve been waiting years for.”

“I do. But none of that mattered without you,” he whispered.

A sense of peace stole through her body. They’d find a way to make it work.

“Good thing I’ve cleared my calendar, then. That way you can have your cake and me, too.”

“What about your life in D.C.? Your job, apartment, friends?”

“I don’t have a job.”

“He fired you? What an idiot.”

Lena chuckled, appreciating the heat of Colt’s support. “Actually, he didn’t. I quit and he offered me a severance package. And then a position freelancing for the company.”

“Freelancing?”

“I’m seriously considering it. Once I’ve built my client base I could work from just about anywhere. Even from the middle of the Peruvian jungle.”

Colt stared down at her, speechless. Finally, he licked his tongue across his lips and cautiously asked, “What, exactly, does that mean?”

“It means that I can follow you wherever you go…whether you want me there or not.”

“I want you there.” His mouth claimed hers in a hot, hard kiss that didn’t last nearly long enough. “Always. Anywhere. I want you with me, Lena. But I’d happily settle for a little house in the suburbs of D.C. I’d settle for anywhere you wanted to be.”

“Good thing for you where I want to be is with you. For now, we can gallivant around the world. Later, when we have kids, I’ll want to talk about settling down and giving them some roots, but there are always summers and school breaks.”

She smiled up into Colt’s bright eyes and realized something that should have been clear years ago.

“All these years, I’ve been searching for roots. For a sense of the stability I never had as a child. Until you left, I didn’t realize that having roots means surrounding yourself with people you love, trust and respect. It’s about having a partner to share your life with—good and bad. It has nothing to do with one specific place.”

“Well, hell, I could have told you that.”

“So what made you change your mind?” she asked, snuggling tighter against his chest.

“I realized I love you. And have for years. I was too scared to admit it, to risk what we already had and open myself to the potential for more pain. It was easier to pretend that I was happy alone. I was so afraid to lose you, but by not admitting how I felt I lost you anyway.”

He pulled back, making sure that she saw him when he said, “I love you, Lena, and I need you in my life.”

“Well, for better or worse, you’ve got me.”

A few minutes earlier, Lena would have claimed there was nothing Colt could say that would surprise her. She’d have been wrong.

“Does that mean you’ll marry me?” he asked, his lips brushing down the side of her neck.

Lena didn’t know what to say. Her heart fluttered inside her chest. Until that moment she hadn’t realized that’s what she’d wanted to hear. But even as she wanted to scream yes, a bone-deep need for caution welled up inside her. Old habits were hard to break.

“Maybe it’s a little too soon? I mean, two weeks ago I was marrying someone else.”

A wicked gleam drifted into Colt’s eyes and Lena suddenly had the urge to turn tail and run. “What difference does that make? You have a dress—a beautiful dress that looked amazing on you, by the way. Bridesmaids. The groomsmen would have to change, but I bet we could have this wedding ready in no time flat. I want to make this legal, bind you to me so you can’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

His arms tightened around her, arching her body into his so that she couldn’t help but feel the hard press of his erection lodged between them. “You better not be.”

“Don’t you have a film to direct or something?” she asked breathlessly.

“Yes, but that won’t take forever,” he answered as he bent down to taste the hollow of her throat. His hot mouth seared her skin. Her fingers dug deeper into his shoulders. “Besides, if we get married right away you can come back here with me as my wife.”

Lena’s head was spinning, a combination of lust for the man holding her and the feeling that she was getting everything she ever wanted…just a little faster than she’d planned.

“We both know that I can get you to say yes, Lena.” His hand skimmed down over her body. Need blasted through her, hot and hard.

“That’s playing dirty.”

“Maybe.” His mouth sucked at the racing pulse at the base of her throat. “But I’ll take what I can get.”

She was on fire. And happy. And for the life of her, she couldn’t come up with a reason not to say yes. She’d been ready to tie her life to a man who was completely wrong for her just two weeks ago. Then, she’d had jitters that she ignored. Now, the only thing jangling inside was an insistent little voice that said if they didn’t find a bed soon the entire village was going to be shocked.

“Bring it on,” she said, laughing with happiness when he spun her around.

They
were
perfect for each other. They had a history and a friendship that was the solid base for so much more.

She’d gone to the island hoping to find a few days of peace. To figure out how to put the pieces of her life back together. Instead, she’d found the love of her life…a man who’d been standing in front of her the whole time. She’d scoffed about the legend of Île du Coeur, but maybe there was more to it than she thought.

And when they were old and gray, they’d show their grandchildren the pictures from the island where they found their hearts’ desire.

Epilogue

MARCY WATCHED AS Lena and Colt boarded the ferry back to St. Lucia. They’d only stayed for a few days to celebrate their honeymoon—something about finishing a project in Peru. But they’d promised to return often, and despite all the trouble they’d caused her, Marcy was looking forward to having them back. She liked those two. And she liked the fact that they’d both woken up and realized they were meant to be.

“Don’t tell me you have a romantic side after all. It’ll ruin my opinion of you.”

Marcy’s back stiffened at the sound of Simon’s voice behind her. For once, she wished her boss had stayed locked inside his office where she’d left him.

“I have no such thing. Romance is a big hoax, lust wrapped up in a pretty package so that everyone feels better about their animalistic tendencies.”

Simon walked up beside her, folding his arms over his chest and staring out after the ferry as it pulled into the bright blue water.

“You know, if you’d take that stick out of your ass, Marcy, you might actually find that life is usually enjoyable. Oh, and that sex isn’t half bad.”

“You know nothing about my sex life, Simon, so stop pretending that you do.”

He shrugged, his careless attitude pissing her off even more than his little digs. Part of her wanted him to care, wanted him to wonder who and what she was. But that was just asking for trouble.

And she had enough of that where Simon was concerned.

“The photography team will be here at the end of the week. I’ve cleared the new concept with
Worldwide Travel.
Everyone seems excited and I’m hopeful it might actually work out better.”

“That’s good, considering you’re the one who screwed it up in the first place.”

Marcy ground her teeth to keep from saying something that would get her fired.
I need this job, I need this job,
she chanted silently.

Simon hadn’t even cared about the first photo shoot. And, honestly, she’d eat her own shoe if he cared about this one. He just loved the fact that he could throw the hiccup in her face.

Without waiting for her response—
coward
—Simon turned around and strode off. He was halfway up the walk when she remembered that she’d needed to talk to him about the shoot. She hated how he could make her forget things. It drove her insane.

“Simon,” she called.

He turned to look at her, and she could tell by the faraway, distracted expression in his blue eyes that he’d already gone somewhere else. She wondered where it was, this place that could so easily engross him. Normally it bugged the hell out of her, especially when she wanted his attention. But today it worked in her favor, since he wasn’t going to like what she needed to ask.

“The production crew would like to shoot in your office. It’s the highest floor in the main building and the backdrop of the water and sky should work perfectly for the concept we’re using.”

She watched as he shook his head, trying to focus on what she was saying. That might not be good.

Before he could come around, she added, “I just wanted to remind you that you’d agreed to let them shoot there.” Waving her hands, she sighed in relief as Simon turned on his heel and walked away.

She might regret that later—as in when the crew showed up at his office door—but she’d worry about it then.

She’d gotten awfully good at putting off until tomorrow what she didn’t have to worry about today.

Her sigh of relief was a bit premature—at the head of the path Simon paused and turned slowly back toward her, pinning her with his eyes. Gone was the preoccupied expression, replaced by a sharp glint that had unwanted heat suffusing her body.

Marcy yanked her gaze away, swallowing. She did not want Simon Reeves.

Hell, she didn’t even like the man.…

* * * * *

ISBN: 9781459220492

Copyright © 2012 by Kira Bazzel

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