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Joel scoffs triumphantly. “You see, that’s what I said you’d say! That you didn’t need anyone at all and that I’d just be an inconvenience.”
“No you didn’t,” I say, reaching down to take his hands in mine. Already in a week, I’d begun to forget what they felt like, the way our fingers slotted together, the warm pressure of his skin against mine.
“I did, I swear! I said to him, Ben, Anna doesn’t need any kind of man to make her happy. And he said to me, Joel, I know that, but she wants to see you again and I want to see her happy, so if you can make her even a teeny-weeny bit happier then that’ll be great.”
As I wrap my arms around him, I say, “I think you might be paraphrasing.”
“I would never!” he says, his own arms wrapping tightly around me.
We stand for a while just like that, breathing each other in, holding on for dear life. How can it be that when you love someone, even a week away from them feels like a lifetime? How can it hurt so much to miss them even for such a tiny amount of time, and feel so good when they come back to you?
And the thing is, they’re both right. I don’t need anyone to make me happy. But Joel makes me feel so good, and it’s easy to be happy when you have people who love you around you. It’s easier to take the bad parts of your world when you can come home and put your hand in the hand of someone who loves you.
“I missed you,” I whisper into his chest.
“Me too,” he says. “But I’ve become a super awesome boss now.”
I split apart from him, giggling. “What, you show up now?”
“Every single day,” he says proudly.
“Whatever happened to the Joel Lockhart who fell through the window?”
“Well, he met this really great girl and realized he needed her way more than she needs him, so decided he was going to do his best to become the kind of guy she could love back.”
I sigh happily, feeling my stupid eyes prick with tears again. This is a good kind of crying, though. I think I can allow myself happy crying.
“Please tell me you’re not about to propose,” I joke, but there is a tiny part of me afraid that he will. It’s not that I don’t want to spend my life with him, but I don’t think that’s the kind of thing we should rush into.
“Hey, I’m not even allowed to call you my girlfriend until tomorrow,” he says, his knuckles running over my cheek like he can’t believe I’m really here.
I’m honestly surprised he remembered that because I’d forgotten. He doesn’t need to prove that he’s serious, but that just seals it for me. “I think,” I say, reaching up as if to kiss him. “We can bring that one in a day earlier.”
His lips meet mine and my heart feels like it’s home.
“Make a life with me,” he whispers when we break apart. “I don’t mean like marriage or anything. Just, let me be yours.”
“Forever,” I whisper back, and as I lean in to kiss him again, I know I really mean it.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER: ANNA
“Ithink we should get some more cocktails,” says Joel, his fingers dancing over my belly.
I grin and lean in to kiss him. “I think you’ve had too much sun. And too much to drink.”
“No such think on vacay.”
I laugh, kissing him again and swatting at him. “Okay, definitely no more mai tais for you. Literally nobody in the whole world saysvacayunironically.”
His fingers creep up towards my breasts and I don’t complain.
We’re lying in bed, half naked, the late afternoon sun bathing us in its light, watching as a warm but not-too-hot tropical breeze blows the sheer curtain hanging over the French doors in a tastefully cinematic way. This is the kind of vacation I thought only existed in movies.
Turns out, if you’re a billionaire or his girlfriend, you can literally do anything.
I’m not abusing my powers, though. I still feel guilty when Joel tries to pay for everything, even though logically I know it doesn’t matter to him. It’s the principle, and even if I couldn’t have restarted my business without his help, I don’t want to take more than I need. I don’t want him for his money.
