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I elbowed him. “Just because she has a crush, doesn’t mean she’s kissing. It’s more fun when you fantasize.”Well, that’s as far as it went for me.
Jonas checked his watch. “How many lessons does she need to learn how to snorkel? Wait…the crush is the snorkel guy?” He frowned, but it quickly evaporated when Lily hugged him, and they sat down on the lounge chair together.
“How are you doing, Nadia? Congratulations on all your accomplishments.” Jonas’s praise felt wonderful, genuine, and so different to Dani’s.Like my father would have welcomed them. Which reminds me, I must let Mom and Dad know that I traveled away.
Dad updated me daily just to tell me he was fine. I appreciated it, but I wanted him to share more details. That usually left Mom, but now she censored things to stop me from helping them.
Jonas and Lily hadn’t had much time to think about us coming to visit them. We had left so quickly from New York.
“Thank you, Lily and Jonas for opening your home to us.”
“I’m glad you’re here; we’ll rematch our checkers tournament.” Jonas winked at me.
“I’ve been practicing,” I joked, and we all laughed. Whatever tension I had disappeared.
Paul hugged me from behind. “Nadia needs a meal and a nap first.”
We followed Lily down a flight of stairs to a bedroom with a view of the sea and a step-down bath, which I couldn’t wait to try. A few minutes later, a woman came in with a fresh mango salad, soup, and flatbread that I devoured like I hadn’t eaten in years.
“I’ve been so busy. Sorry,” I said between bites.
“If you want more, I’ll get it for you.”
“No, thank you,” I replied, then yawned.
Paul smiled, and I sunk into the most comfortable mattress in the world while Paul took off my dress and removed his jacket before climbing into bed next to me. He picked up a book on the side of the bed and laughed, showing me the cover. A huge muscular man with a hairy bare chest pressed against a woman in a tiny red dress that had a hood.
My brows rose. “Erotic Fairy Tales?”
“They’re keeping it…hot.” He went quiet and leafed through a few pages. “It’s actually damn good. Should I read it to you?”
“I want you to hold me.”
Paul wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck.
“Now, can you read a little?”
He chuckled. “That’s my Nadia.”
My heart was so full that I couldn’t speak.That’s my Paul.He whisked me away and gave me all his attention and care. Not to some place separate from his life but to his close family that warmly welcomed me into their home. I couldn’t be more grateful to him.
I snuggled against his chest, and he read aloud all the naughty parts while I laughed until I fell asleep in his arms. Where I most wanted to be.
Iwoke up to familiar sea-blue eyes and an impish smile that I see so often on Paul’s face. Except this time it was on a teenager perched on the side of my bed.
“Hello, Leia,” I mused commenting on her hair. She had it styled like Princess Leia’s inStar Wars the New Hope.
She scoffed. “You mean TK. Wow.”
“Oh…yeah,” I muttered.Who’s that? Feeling very old now.
Her serious face dropped into a fit of giggles, and I laughed with her.
“I made the name up. Mom is obsessed with Star Wars. I was the only kid in school who could quote the movie word for word. Anyway, I’m Darling, Lily and Jonas’s daughter and Paul’s sister. He told me to check if you’re awake.”
I sat up on the bed. “I’m awake now.”
She gazed intensely at my face. “You look like a princess.”
