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“Don’t think, Ariella,” I whispered as I dipped my head down and brushed my lips against hers. “Just tell me what you’re feeling. Ignore what your mind is saying right now. Tell me what your heart is telling you.”
Our eyes met and held. Staring into those vibrant emerald depths was nearly my undoing. I’d never seen anyone more beautiful in my life. I thanked every deity I could think of for placing her in my path. Even though we’d just met, I knew without a doubt that I couldn’t live without her. Now that I knew she existed. Now that I had tasted that sweet mouth and held her body against mine, there was no way that I could let her go.
“Lucas?” Ariel said, interrupting the train of my thoughts and bringing me back to the present.
“Yes?” I whispered again, tracing the line of her chin once more. I couldn’t help myself. I had to touch her. The need to touch her, to feel her was like an addiction. One that I’d gladly feed until the end of time.
“Where are you staying?” she gasped, staring at my lips like they were the sweetest candy.
“My hotel’s right over there.” I pointed to the building across from us.
“Your place, then. Mine’s too far and I don’t want to wait any longer than we have to.”
It was all she said as her eyes stared into mine. Before I could react, she touched the back of my head and pulled me down to meet her mouth. Unable to control myself, I grabbed her face between my hands and kissed her until she was breathless. Once I was able to get a grip back on myself and my actions, I took her hand and escorted her back to where I was staying.
Once we arrived, I guided her up to my room and there, with the canopy of stars shining through the open window, she and I shared the most magnificent night of my life. As I spent the hours making love to her, taking her slowly at first, savoring the feel of her body wrapped around mine, I forced myself to admit that everything I’d thought about fate and love at first sight was bullshit. From that day forward, I would never deny that Fate was real. I’d never call her a made-up concept for those who couldn’t see past their own inadequacies to grab the bull by the horns. I was a firm believer now because Fate had just handed me Ariel on a silver platter. Ariel was mine. I knew it from the moment I looked into her eyes. She was made for me, and I was made for her. We were destined to be together. Soulmates that would never spend another moment apart for the rest of our mortal lives.
Or so we thought…
five
Ariel
Present Day
Thesunwasslowlyfading under the horizon. The final rays of its indigo light had left the sky as I stepped out into the hotel’s gardens. The hue reminded me of that first day that I’d spent with Lucas in Rome. A warm wind blew against my skin, but it did nothing to distract me from my thoughts or why I was here. Even though most of the wedding party, including the former bride-to-be, were now on their way home, I remained behind. There was no way in this universe that I would go leaving Lucas’s request unfulfilled.
He was mine.
From the moment we met, he’d been mine.
Yes, Fate had thrown us for a cruel loop, but we belonged together and this time, it would be forever.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, would separate us again.
When we arrived back at the hotel after the wedding-that-did-not happen, I buzzed around the room that I was supposed to share with Lou. I felt her silently watching me as we both removed the hideous bridesmaids’ dresses and changed into outfits that didn’t make us look like giant, poofed-out sunbursts. Once I was properly outfitted in my favorite relaxed jeans and a sheer, white linen blouse, complete with a lacy camisole underneath, I resumed my pacing. I counted down the minutes until we were to meet.
What would happen? I wondered as a string of thoughts flitted through my brain. It was during my umpteenth turn that I began to panic. What if I read everything wrong? What if Lou was wrong and he didn’t call off the wedding because of me? I’d never been one to cave to paranoia before, but now, I understood those that did all-too well.
During my many laps across the room, my best friend never questioned me. Instead, she kept quiet until she abruptly got up from her chair, grabbed her rolling suitcase, told me goodbye with a brief, but solid hug, and left with the promise that she’d call before her flight took off. My phone rang exactly an hour and a half later, just minutes before I was to leave to go and meet the man I loved.
At first, Lou told me about the airport and how busy it was. She followed that up with a disgusted groan, claiming that she had just seen Lucas’s “douchebag best friend”—her words, not mine—, at the Starbucks and audibly wished that he wouldn’t be on her flight.
That’s when she went for gold, asking me if my ‘odd’ behavior had anything to do with ‘the blond dreamboat’ and the note he’d left me.
“Lou, I just have a lot on my mind. You know that my shop closes in just a week and I’m still not sure if I’m going to stay in New York or go back to Seattle.”
The thing with Lou is that she has a hair-trigger bullshit detector. She saw straight through my cover-up and called me out on it. When Lou questioned me further, I lied and told her no. Once again in true Lou fashion, she wasn’t buying it.
“I’m visiting my aunt tomorrow. I’m having lunch with her and my cousin at noon tomorrow,” I offered up as an excuse, one that was true, but it wasn’t why I was staying. Lucas was the reason why I was staying. Wild horses wouldn’t be able to drag me away from him. He was finally back in my orbit after two excruciating years. I knew with every fiber of my being that there was a reason why Madame Destino had weaved her magic to bring us back together. She was offering us a second chance and there was no way in hell that I was going to let it just go.
“You can lie to yourself Ariella Grainger, but you’re not fooling me. You see Aunt Tuney and your cousin, Rachel, several times a year. In fact, you saw them last month when they came up for that surprise visit. None of you would care if you missed seeing each other one time. You’re staying because you’re still in love with him. His note asked you to meet him, didn’t it? Admit it.”
“Fine!” I gave up. I didn’t have the energy for a fight and no matter what I said, Lou would wheedle it out of me anyway. “I’m going to meet Lucas. That’s what he wrote in that note. He asked me to meet him in the Japanese gardens here at the hotel at 7pm. The one with that magnificent waterfall. The one that breathed those sweet, peaceful romantic vibes as I gazed out of my window last night.”
As soon as the words rolled off my tongue, the loudest, most ear-piercing squeal rendered me temporarily deaf. “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!” Lou squealed again, louder this time. I could hear someone in the distance tell her to shush which Lou promptly responded to with a bite me. “I knew it! I told you that Fate would bring the two of you back together, didn’t I? I’m so happy for you, Ari! Really, I am. I wish I was there to see you—no, wait. I don’t, because that would be gross—but that doesn’t mean that I’m not sorry that I can’t be there for you instead of sitting in this tin can that’s about to shoot me back to New York.”
“Lady, would you—” Someone shouted harshly in the distance. For a second, I thought the voice was somewhat familiar, but I shook it off.
