AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bastien was close behind and ran to her side to verify the find and move her away from the waves that seemed to get rougher all of a sudden. Charlotte watched in delight as he lifted her to the height of his waist and twirled her around and away from the sea until they were both safe and dry but dizzy. They fell to the sand laughing while Ivy clutched the sand dollar, and Charlotte ran over to join them.
She had underestimated the depth of the sand and stepped on her dress’s hem, causing her to stumble and fall onto the soft sand too. She would have been embarrassed, but Bastien and Ivy laughing so hard filled her heart with so much happiness that she laid back and laughed as well. Especially at Ivy, who was now pretending to be a mermaid by holding her legs together and moving them like a tailfin while her hands elegantly weaved through the air. Her expression was focused, eyes glimmering, as if she was lost in an undersea world of her own.
The sun was setting and the cool air wafting above them signaled it was time to go in. “Alright, mermaids, it’s time to get ready for bed,” he said.
Charlotte’s gaze caught Bastien’s as he sprang upward and extended his hand to help her up from the sand. “I love being here like this. I love you.” The words poured out of Charlotte’s mouth with the same ease and joy as the laughter that preceded them.
Bastien didn’t respond immediately. Instead, Charlotte noticed he was checking to see what Ivy had heard. Charlotte wanted to sink into the sand and be washed out to sea like one of her wishes. How could she have just let that slip out in front of Ivy? What was she thinking? What was she expecting? What happened to playing it cool, dialing it back, and letting everything sit for a time? She was such an idiot. She had forgotten that Bastien had every reason to wonder if the things she said were real. After all, she had accepted a payment to help solve his problem and then made a last-minute switch. He would protect Ivy at all costs, especially from someone who could leave her again.
“Good night, Charlotte,” Ivy called, waving goodbye as Bastien walked with her toward the house and away from Charlotte. Bastien turned. “Aren’t you coming? Ivy would love you to read and tuck her in. After, we can have a glass of wine.”
Charlotte’s heart pounded. What would happen once she got a glass or two of wine in her? Could she tell him about the conversation with Emmaline and have him believe, by coincidence, she had to oust Tiffany to protect his ruse?
She had already said too much or too much of the wrong thing. It always seemed strange to her that those three words could be an awakening salvation or the relationship equivalent of a nuclear bomb destroying everything in its wake and creating fallout that couldn’t be overcome. She had heard them often enough but had never said them in the same way they had escaped her lips on the beach. At that moment, she meant I love you for who you are. I want you. I need you. Your happiness means as much, if not more, to me than my own. And I will cherish and protect you and our love forever. Charlotte realized she was much better at having these conversations with herself or Emmaline than with Bastien, but that was going to end tonight. She had to lay it all on the line. There was no longer any question about whether they would marry. Her bursting onto the scene at the diner and declaring her undying love for Bastien over fish and chips had left them with no “out.” It wasn’t as if he could say he’d changed his mind and loved Tiffany instead. Still, she had to know under what conditions they were getting married. Was it for love or money? That thought made her laugh. Of course, it wasn’t for money in the way people usually thought, but in this case, people might get that impression. His mother wasn’t shy about mentioning his billionaire status.
Once inside, Ivy got into her unicorn pajamas and brushed her teeth. She insisted on reading to Charlotte and not the other way around. Good thing, too, because Charlotte’s mind continued racing, and she felt terrible about not being fully present for Ivy and the Adventures of Paddington Bear. When she finished the book, she placed it on the nightstand.
“Goodnight, Charlotte. I’m happy you love us. We love you too.” She pulled the covers over her shoulder and turned on her side.
“I do love you. Sweet dreams, little bug.” Charlotte kissed Ivy sweetly on the forehead and closed the door quietly as she left the room.
Bastien looked troubled sitting in the easy chair by the window. Two glasses of cabernet said he’d been waiting for her. “How’s Ivy?”
“Fast asleep and so sweet. She read to me. I can’t believe how well she reads. She’s like a thirty-year-old trapped in a kid’s body.”
Bastien motioned for Charlotte to sit down, and she complied, although she was disappointed that they were sitting apart. She thought “I love you” should lead to snuggling and more, not exile to another piece of furniture, especially one that could easily hold them both while they held each other. He reached across to the sofa and handed her a glass of wine. She steeled herself with a fair gulp of the liquid courage and began, “Bastien, I have a confession to make.”
He held up his hand to silence her. “Charlotte, I can’t go on like this, just making it up as I go. It’s not good for any of us.”
Oh God. Charlotte braced herself for what would come next. They had just gotten engaged, sort of. Was he breaking up with her because she loved him? “I understand.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and begged her eyes not to tear.
“I know I’ve put you in an impossible position, and I’m sorry,” he continued. “I appreciate all you have done for Ivy and me.” He paused.
“But?” Charlotte’s head suddenly felt too heavy for her shoulders. Her eyes cast downward as tears welled, then fell to her cheeks no matter how hard she tried to defy gravity and hold them back. Was he giving up? On her? On Ivy? “Bastien, please let me explain.” Charlotte composed herself and her thoughts. Like any well-raised Southern woman, she wasn’t without grit. “I went to the diner intending to stop the marriage between you and Tiffany. And I would have done it even if I hadn’t overheard your mother on the phone talking about how Tiffany wasn’t the one you were kissing on the beach. I know it was wrong, and I will not accept your payment for an arrangement I broke on purpose. I’m sorry you’ll have to pay Tiffany, but I will pay you back.” Charlotte wasn’t thinking about the pile of bills in her drawer, the insurance company refusing to compensate her losses on the store, or her house on the beach where generations of her family had played and sought refuge and that she would surely lose without Bastien’s fee. None of it mattered when she had to tell Bastion how she felt or lose him forever.
“Bastien, I often fire before I aim. I jump into things without much thought or planning, but it’s worked for me, and I can’t imagine doing anything differently now when my heart says fire away. I love you—everything I know about you—and imagine as I get to know the rest, I’ll love you even more. Not for today or tomorrow, but for all the moments of my life.” She breathed out in relief at having let escape what had been building inside her since the moment she first laid eyes on this man stepping in to take care of his niece. “I don’t care about a dream wedding, the dress I hoped I’d wear, or the chocolates. All I care about is you and Ivy. Please don’t break up with me.”
“Break up with you? I’ve always been a planner, but maybe that’s the problem. I need more spontaneity in my life. I need to learn not to only trust my instincts, but also my heart. I’m not breaking up with you. I want to marry you, for love, life, and us, as well as Ivy. I love you too, and as crazy as it seems, it also seems right.” He gently brushed a lingering tear from her soft cheek and knelt on one knee, extending his hands to reach hers. “Charlotte Sutton, I don’t have ring, or a plan, but will you be my wife?”
There was only one answer, and she whispered, “Yes.” She wanted to shout it so loud that it would be heard across the world, but that would wake Ivy, and while she was happy to share Bastien tonight, she wanted him to herself.
Bastien leaned forward and cupped her face tenderly. He traced his thumbs over her cheeks, with his eyes never leaving hers. His gaze was like a caress, a beautiful benediction that spoke volumes of love. His lips found hers, and he kissed her deeply, slowly, with a passion that seemed to be never-ending, yet was only the beginning.
Time slowed, and the room and its contents faded away as he led her to the bedroom and the bed. The moment had come to quench the hunger Bastien ignited when he’d kissed her for the first time. A craving that became only more and more intense the harder she tried to deny it. All that mattered was the two of them together. He laid her on the bed and kissed her again, this time more passionately and hungrily than before. The intensity of their desire for one another was palpable, like electricity arcing through the air. Bastien’s hands roamed her body freely as he peeled the layers of her clothes away. He explored the soft curves of her waist, her breasts’ soft swell, and her skin’s smoothness. His touch was gentle and reverent.
“You’re perfect,” he said.
“You’re crazy.”
“Crazy for you.”
She tugged at his clothes. “You’re also wearing too much.”
He chuckled. “I agree.”
Charlotte felt a large lump between her shoulders and reached around, removing the unicorn backpack from underneath her. Suddenly she felt pulled back from her voyage as if she'd forgotten her passport. “What about Ivy?”Charlotte asked, barely able to find her breath.
Bastien smiled, never letting her go. “She sleeps like a cub in hibernation.” Charlotte felt Bastien shift his weight before he stood. She was mesmerized by the sight of him. His body was a masterpiece, and she marveled at how perfectly sculpted it was. Even though she could feel her heart pounding, she felt safe and secure with him.
