Island Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (The Kisses Series Book 9) (18 page)

I had no idea what my next post was going to be. None. I couldn't lie to my mother about a proposal, but I didn't want Brian to break up with me, either.

I purposefully relaxed and exhaled out through my nose. The post was done, and that was that. Any sort of resolution for the situation was not going to magically appear, no matter how much I wanted one to.

This is good for now,
I thought.
This will be a popular post and then whatever happens, happens. Maybe everything will end up solving itself. That’s a thing, right?

I sat quietly for a few minutes without even doing much thinking until the sound of my watch alarm woke me from my daze. It was time to get ready for dinner. If I was actually getting ready for a dinner with a possible proposal, I probably would have left myself more than twenty minutes for the process. But instead I changed into clothes fit for an evening in Miami and threw on a pair of heels. There wasn’t going to be a proposal, but we were still going to my favorite spot, an upscale Italian restaurant with the best garlic bread in all of Miami. The location was so conveniently close to the hotel where Cora was staying that I couldn’t resist.

I was getting excited and had begun to mull over exactly how I was going to tell Cora that right before I left I had posted a blog about how I expected to be proposed to at our dinner. With the absurdity still on my mind I grabbed my purse, fished out my keys and dashed out the door.

“
S
o all of
your readers think you’re out with Brian right now?” Cora asked.

I nodded. “Yep, I’ve duped them all into thinking Brian is a real person that loves me just the way I should be loved. It’s too bad I had to make all that up, though, isn’t it.”

“Whatever. I think it’s fine.” Cora just shrugged. “But I have to ask you an important question, Harper.”

“What is it?” I asked, a little nervous.

Cora turned to the side and set her jaw, making a serious face. “Do I look like a Brian to you?”

I busted out laughing. Her goofy antics got me every time.

“You know, you actually do!” I exclaimed. “You make a perfect Brian! Wow, I’m one lucky girl to be on a date with such a handsome man.”

“Aw, thanks!” she said, as she turned back to face me and grinned. “If I talk like this does it make me sound like a Brian, too?”

She lowered her voice as much as possible and crinkled her eyebrows together. I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. The good kind of tears, though, not the ones that I had had for weeks after my breakup with Gabe.

It’s kind of funny that Cora is a better date than most of the men I’ve been out with,
I thought.
At least she can keep me laughing.

The waiter strolled up and set a small plate of tiramisu in front of us. Cora and I picked up our forks and began to nibble on it.

“This is my favorite thing in the entire world,” I said, as I licked my fork clean. I tried not to think of the tiramisu I'd had with Gabe.

“It’s good, but I can probably think of a few others things that I like more than this,” Cora replied. “Like coffee and martinis. Just to name a couple.”

“Good point,” I agreed. “But this is right up there in the top three.”

The dessert was gobbled up within a few minutes and I sat back, gently patting my belly. “I’m stuffed.”

“Me too,” Cora agreed.

“Should I ask for the check?” I asked. This dinner was going to be my treat since she was doing so much to help me with the blog, but I knew Cora would at least try and split it with me.

“Yeah, get the check when you see the waiter again,” she said, setting her napkin down on the table. “I’m going to run and use the bathroom really quickly before we leave.”

“Sounds good,” I told her, stealing the last bite of tiramisu.

Cora hopped up from her chair and weaved through the other tables in the restaurant, making her way to the bathrooms. I chuckled to myself. For some reason, I thought about the date with what’s-his-name, where he stayed in the bathroom for twenty minutes until he knew that I had paid our tab. Of course, Cora would never do such a thing, but the memory of that date had me laughing to myself.

Things could be worse,
I thought.
I could have ended up with that guy. Or worse yet, what if I had ended up with the “professional bowler”? God, I’d be sitting in a bowling alley right now just hating my life and trying to drink as much beer as possible from those little plastic cups just to ease the pain.

The waiter walked up, pulling my attention away from my thoughts.

“Can I get you anything else this evening?” he asked.

“Oh, I think we’re good,” I replied. “We’ll take our check whenever you get a chance.”

“Of course. I’ll be back in a moment.”

The waiter disappeared around the corner. As I waited, I casually leaned back in my chair, looking at my nails.

I really need to get a mani-pedi sometime soon. It’s been too long since I’ve spoiled myself. It’s definitely time for some of that.

When I looked back up, I noticed the waiter had already dropped the check off on the table. I reached for my purse to grab my card to pay for the meal.

Cora’s helped me so much over the past couple of months with getting over Gabe, that a nice dinner is the least I can do.

My attention suddenly lifted to the front part of the restaurant, where the wooden hostess podium was located. I saw a man standing there, speaking to the young lady who worked for the restaurant. I squinted when I saw the man and then rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand.

I must be seeing things,
I thought.
I mean, this isn’t the first time I think I’ve seen him somewhere.

When I looked back up, though, I knew that I wasn’t hallucinating. Gabe, the man who had taken my heart and then broken it, was standing at the front of the restaurant. He was wearing a black suit with a white undershirt. He looked frantic, as he moved his hands around while speaking to the hostess.

I didn’t even know what to think. I felt a rush of adrenaline fill me and all I could do was try not to fall out of my chair from shock. I watched as he spoke to the hostess, who turned and pointed toward me. Immediately, Gabe pivoted his head and for the first time since I had left his house in anger two months prior, our eyes met.

“What’s he doing here?” I whispered to myself.

As soon as he saw me, Gabe marched past the hostess and made his way straight toward my table. He looked furious, or was it frightened? I couldn’t tell. But he was walking quickly, making large strides as he maneuvered between the other restaurant patrons.

My heart began to pound so loudly that I could hear the blood whooshing behind my eardrums. It almost felt like I was outside of my body, watching as he approach me. It was as though it was happening to someone else, maybe someone on TV, for a reality show or something. It just didn’t make any sense. I had a hard time believing that what I was seeing was real.

Within seconds, Gabe was standing next to me. He was breathing hard and there was a little sweat on his forehead. It looked like he must have been running to get to the restaurant.

“Harper.” My name came out in a rush.

I was completely shocked. So much so, that my brain couldn’t even get any words out to my lips.

“Harper, I’ve spent the last two months in my house, hating myself. I’ve been so mad and so embarrassed about what happened that I couldn’t face anybody,” he explained. His eyes never left my face. “But then I read the blog post that you put up tonight. I wasn’t going to show my face again, but when I saw that you thought Brian was going to propose to you, I had to come here to stop him. I can’t let you go through with it. I don’t want you to marry him.”

As Gabe spoke, I realized that I hadn’t moved a single inch since he had approached. I was completely frozen, unable to do anything but listen.

“I can’t live without you, Harper. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he announced. The words seemed to be spilling from him like water from a well. “I know I screwed up. I screwed up bad. I should have told you about what I did for a living. There was no real reason for me to hide it from you, except that I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be with me because of it. But now I want you to know everything. No more secrets. Ever. I want you in my life and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

Gabe looked over at the empty seat, the one that Cora had been sitting in before she went to use the bathroom.

“I don’t know where this Brian guy is right now. Maybe he’s getting you another drink or using the restroom or whatever.” Gabe's green eyes met mine and his pupils dilated and constricted. “But I don’t care. I just want you to tell me one thing. Can he kiss you like this?”

Gabe then placed his hands onto the top of my shoulders and knelt down. Without any hesitation, he brought his lips to mine.

It was the most electrifying kiss of my entire life. The passion in that simple act was more intense than any I had ever experienced. It was genuine. It was real. It was exactly what I needed. His touch brought so much relief to the turmoil I had been fighting ever since I had left his house that morning. I breathed him in, not wanting to break the kiss. His cologne, his musk, everything was the same as I remembered and all of it felt like medicine for my wounds.

I reached up and placed my hands onto his cheeks, feeling the familiar stubble that I had missed so much. We kissed for a long time. My eyes were closed, but I knew people in the restaurant were watching. Did I care? Not in the least. This was love. I had no doubt about that.

After a bit, though, Gabe slowly pulled away. I opened my eyes to see his green irises looking back. They were full of love and fear that I would reject him again. I melted in front of him.

“Gabe,” I whispered. “I-”

“-You don’t need to say anything,” he said, cutting me off. “I’m sorry and I hope that you can forgive me. If you can’t, then I guess I can understand. I can’t force you. As long as you know how I feel about you, then at least I’ll be able to live with the fact that I tried.”

“Stop it, Gabe. Just stop.” I brought a finger to his lips to quiet him as I got up from my chair.

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him again. He brought his hands down to my sides and pulled me into him. I melted once more, as all of the stress and emotional pain fell away. I had never in my life felt such relief.

When we finally broke the kiss, I took a look around the restaurant. An older couple was looking over at us and smiling while a young couple out on a date gave us a thumbs up. It seemed we had garnered some attention. My face heated with a blush.

“Do you forgive me?” he asked.

There was really no decision to be made. Gabe was the one I had been searching for up until I met him, and Gabe was the one that I needed the entire time we were apart. It was always Gabe and it would always
be
Gabe. Nobody could fill that place in my heart and it had taken two months of separation for me to realize that.

“Of course I forgive you,” I replied. “I don't usually kiss people like that who I'm angry with.”

Gabe’s lips curled up into an unforgettable smile. He managed a laugh before fixing me with his gaze again.

“I love you,” he said, reaching out and brushing a strand of hair from my face.

My heart lifted as he spoke the words. And without any thought at all, I repeated them back.

“I love you, too.”

Gabe leaned in and kissed me a third time. He lifted me a few inches from the floor, spinning me around. When he set me down, he took a step back and looked at the empty table where Cora and I had eaten dinner.

“But what about Brian?” Gabe asked. “I can’t imagine he’s going to be too excited when he sees us like this.”

I looked past Gabe, watching as Cora finally stepped out of the bathroom. She looked confused as she approached us.

“There’s Brian right there,” I said, pointing toward Cora.

Gabe glanced behind him to see Cora giving a goofy face while waiving obnoxiously. When he turned back, there was a priceless look of shock written all over his expression.

“I’m so confused right now,” he said.

Cora made her way up and wrapped an arm over Gabe’s shoulder.

“Hi there, I’m Brian,” she joked, in her deepest voice. “You must be Gabe. Good to finally meet you.”

Gabe frowned, his dark brows knitting over green eyes until his expression changed to one of understanding. “You’re Cora, aren’t you?”

Cora let out a giggle. “Yeah, you got it. But seriously, it’s good to meet you, Gabe.”

The tension in Gabe's body relaxed slightly, but he still felt like a coiled spring beside me. “Is Brian a real person?”

I couldn’t keep the story going any longer, and I didn’t really want to anyway. I didn’t need Brian any more.

“No, Brian doesn’t exist,” I admitted. “He never did. I made him up so I wouldn't have to go on dates for my blog.”

“So you’re telling me that there isn’t anyone else?” he asked, the tension slowly slipping out of him.

“That’s right. There’s nobody else. There
couldn’t
be anyone else.” I turned to face him, but looked at my shoes as I admitted the truth. “I made up Brian so that my readers wouldn’t think I hadn’t completely lost my mind over you.”

Gabe kissed the top of my head and slowly drew in a breath of relief.

“That might be the single best news I’ve ever heard. You scared the hell out of me, Harper,” he whispered. “But God, I’m glad I’m here right now. I never thought I’d be this happy again.”

“Me either,” I agreed, looking up at him. He pulled me into him, his smile lighting up my world as we held each other closely in the middle of the restaurant, with Cora standing patiently nearby.

The pain in my heart had subsided and was replaced with the tingling sensation of love. I cried, as Gabe held me close. These were tears of deep joy, though, not of sadness. In just these few minutes of holding Gabe, my sadness had become nothing more than a distant memory and my future was already looking brighter than it had in some time. He and I definitely had some things to work through, but for now, the aching in my heart had ceased. And in that moment, that was good enough for me.