Page 74 of Fate In Fiction

“I didn’t know she would be there.” His voice is louder as the wind picks up. “I haven’t spoken to her since we walked off the yacht.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“You’re frustrated,” he says as I turn to face him. “I didn’t know Stella would stoop that low.”

“Over it.” Shrugging, my eyes follow his hand as it slides down my arm to take hold of mine. “You can run back to her if you want when this is done. You’ve had to give up models for a while. I’ll be knee deep in foreign dicks. Right?” What the hell is wrong with me?

“Have some damn respect for yourself, Josie. You think I want to visualize your future plans with other men?”

“You asked me to!” My voice grows louder as the frustration builds. “Do you think I wanted to watch you allow that bitch to rub your arm and flirt the second I left the room?” Heavy breaths weigh down my lungs and the burn in my nose arises as I try to control my emotions.

“You seem jealous.” A small smile has the nerve to grace his lips.

“Oh, and you’re not?” The wind off the ocean blows my hair in my face, salt adding to the thickness in the air. “Dammit, Emmett, I––” A million emotions pump through me as my heart races. I know if I speak my mind out loud, it could ruin everything. Yet part of me is sure he feels even part of the way I do. “I’m just trying to figure out…” I swallow the lump in my throat and suck my cheeks in, desperate to find the proper words.

“To figure out when this act stopped being one?” I suck in a breath as butterflies swarm my stomach. His hand brushes hair out of my face as he holds my head in place, staring up at him.

“Please tell me I’m being ridiculous and this is a result of all our acting,” I plead, hearing my voice waver as the waves crash.

“Then I’m ridiculous as well.” He swallows roughly, looking out at the beach, ignoring the fact that a big storm is about to hit, and we should probably leave.

“Emmett,” I whisper in disbelief. “Look at me.”

“I am.”

EMMETT

My name falls from her lips, under the crash of ocean waves. Her beautiful eyes, full of hope and compassion, are what I’ve been fighting to not fall for. She’s never tried to be anything but herself. The time and energy she had spent getting to know me beyond the façade. Josie’s judgment is nonexistent as she uncovers every layer.

But she deserves her freedom and a man who didn’t begin to win her over with a ploy for a material object. A man who meets her soul organically and falls for who she is without stipulations. Thunder rumbles with dramatic effect as I search her eyes for reciprocated feelings.

And so, I stand here, with ragged breaths and shame in my soul. My rough hands cling to her face, desperate for another lifetime.

Angelic eyes baptize me with every beat of her pure heart.

I don’t deserve her.

I don’t deserve her breaths igniting my skin through every exhale.

I don’t deserve her accepting heart for every wrong I have done and will do.

“I don’t know if I’m right for you.” It’s a pained whisper. “But you’re what I’ve been looking for all along.” My cupped hands tighten around her face, wanting this porcelain doll to break and make easier to leave behind. “Tell me to let you go, and I will.” An invisible snake around my throat tightens as I force a swallow, bidding off a lifetime of suppressed tears.

When her lips tug into a soft smirk, my heart clenches. Delicate fingers encase my wrists as her eyebrows scrunch together. “Your past doesn’t define who you choose to become.” Her voice doesn’t waver as her eyes hold truths I should run from. “You were supposed to be the one I didn’t end up wanting so badly. But I do. I only want you.”

All willpower snaps. My lips crash onto hers and thunder erupts through the sky, acting as an authoritative warning for everything at stake. Her arms lace around my neck as my hands glide down the soft skin of her exposed back. Reaching down, her ass fills my palm as my other encompasses her waist, pulling her as tight against my body as possible. My pulse thumps as our lips continue to collide, sending a beautiful reel of our future through my brain.

This moment is ours.

I want her.

All of her.

I want to come home to her sweet face and soft eyes every damn night. Pull her in for a kiss I thought about all day and devour her signature chicken dish—if that’s the extent of her culinary skills. Watch her curled up as she twists a strand of hair around her finger and ignores me while sucked into the pages of a fictional world. Relish the way her eyes brighten when my name falls from her lips as she comes for me, then falls asleep in my arms. I want her to continue to put me in my place with her sassiness, to make me laugh, be the one I feel safe talking to. One day, I hope to come home to her dancing around with our own children. When that last thought sinks in, I know, without a doubt, I’m done for. She’s the only woman who has made me think of my life this way. The only one to make me long for a future I can actually look forward to.

Lightning flashes, causing a group of people to screech, reminding us we aren’t alone. My hands hold her face as I end our kiss too soon. A whimper of desire falls from her lips as her arms tighten around my neck, pulling me in for another kiss. She presses herself into my hard cock, and my hands drop to her waist, holding her against me. Fuck, I need her right now. Taking her against the nearby palm tree is tempting, but I know how unpredictable Miami storms can be.

“Emmett.” Josie’s voice rises with a look of desire as her eyes search our surroundings. I pause, trying to read her expression for any once of doubt. “Take me. Right now.”