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“Yeah, that’s why I rushed off the evening we came back,” I said. “He’d taken a bad turn, and I didn’t have much time to get to him. I was lucky enough to spend his last three days at his side. But I swear, I’ve been planning to track you down since the moment we got separated at the airport.”
“And why is that?”
Her expression gave nothing away, but I knew that she was testing me. She wanted to hear me say the words. I rolled my eyes, even though I thought it was cute.
“Come on, Rylee,” I said, giving her a flirtatious grin. “Leaving that island didn’t change a damn thing between us. I still want you, and you’re stillmine.”
“We never established that,” she refuted, but there was a twinkle in her eyes.
“I think we did when I became the first man to ever really have you,” I pointed out. “Allof you. You becamemy woman.” Rylee bit her bottom lip, and I squeezed her fingers. “Do you disagree?”
A pretty blush spread over her cheeks, and I was suddenly rethinking my plan to meet in a public place like this. I should’ve arranged for it to be somewhere with a bed.
The swinging door leading to the kitchen opened then and a plump woman with curly brown hair and dimples in her cheeks came into the dining area holding two plates of food.
“Y’all ready to eat?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure where the waitress was from, but she had a strong midwestern accent. She was also a warm and friendly woman. When I approached the management of this place earlier today with my crazy plan, she happily volunteered to stick around and serve our food.
So, I paid the owner a small fortune to clear this place out. Rylee probably wouldn’t approve, but I’d also donated a nice amount to a homeless shelter yesterday, so I figured she’d forgive me.
The waitress was waiting for a reply with nothing but patience on her face. That was probably because I’d already given her the biggest tip of her life in advance. It didn’t matter to her how long we took.
“Yes, I think we are,” I said as Rylee pulled her hands away and sat back in her chair.
The waitress sat a cheeseburger in front of me and a chicken Caesar salad in front of Rylee.
“My favorite,” she said, her eyes flitting to the glass of diet coke on her side of the table. She took a sip. “And this too…how did you pull all this off?”
I grinned. “With a little help from a friend.”
“A friend?” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “You can’t mean…”
“Your mom?” I finished for her. “She sent you over here, didn’t she? And she’d know what your favorite foods are.”
She shook her head, causing her silky hair to brush across her shoulders. “There’s no way she’d help you.”
I gave Rylee the same charming smile as I’d given her mother. “I told you I’d win her over. I’ve already done it.”
“Bullshit.”
I could see the disbelief in her expression. She was convinced that it was impossible.
I laughed lightly. “I swear it’s true.”
“How?”
“I hired her to redecorate my whole apartment,” I said. “I want to focus on an island theme to remind me of where we were when I fell for you.”
Rylee still looked shocked, which I completely understood. “And it was that easy?”
“She could tell that I’m crazy about you,” I said, meaning it. “We had a long talk about . . . the past, and she gave her blessing. She even agreed to help me with this surprise.”
“That explains her weird behavior,” Rylee said as she stood up and came around to my side of the table, the hope and real emotion in her eyes shining through.
I didn’t hesitate to pull her into my lap.Finally, I kissed those sweet lips, taking my time to reacquaint myself with the addicting taste of her. God, I missed her over the past five days. I had to deal with my family drama, but I thought about her every single day that we’d been apart.
If I’d been told before the plane crash that a woman would come to be imprinted on me like this, I never would have believed it. But it was one of those things that couldn’t be predicted. The way that I felt about Rylee felt right.
