Page 28 of Cloud Nine Love

I understood why she would be worried, but honestly, I was more upset about not knowing Ana’s real name than I was about my relationship ending. Which probably said a lot more about the relationship than I cared to admit.

The last thing I wanted was for my sister to worry, especially before her wedding. I figured I’d fill her in on my meet-cute with my mystery woman. “Yeah, I am. Actually, I met?—”

“Daddy, can we go get banana splits when we get home?” Harper, Kane’s daughter, asked as she skipped up behind him.

I looked over at her and then noticed a woman walking a few steps behind Harper. Not just any woman. It was Ana. I blinked, thinking I must be seeing things. This had to be a mirage in the middle of the desert-type situation. She was a figment of my imagination.

Then she spoke. “I told her to ask you because I didn’t know…” The moment our eyes met, her words trailed off, and I knew that this was real. She was real.

It was her. It was Ana.

Beside me, my baby sister clapped her hands together excitedly. “Taylor, this is my brother, Remi!”

Taylor? This was Taylor? Kane’s baby mama, Taylor?

Ruby continued the introduction. “Remi, this is Tay?—”

“We—” I started to say we had already met, but she spoke at the same time I did, at a volume that drowned out my voice.

“Hi, Remi. It’s nice to meet you. Finally.” Ana, er Taylor’s, demeanor was clipped and formal. Her shoulders stiffened as she held out her hand and stared directly into my eyes. My brain was still trying to catch up with what was going on when she doubled down on this being the first time we’d ever met. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Taylor clearly didn’t want to reveal the fact that we knew each other. I understood her not wanting to broadcast that I was inside of her just a few hours ago, but it seemed she wouldn’t even acknowledge that we’d spoken before.

I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or not by her reaction—but I wasn’t. If anything, her behavior only intrigued me even more. Actually, it amused me. Taylor clearly believed that we could keep our illicit night together a secret. She thought we could spend time around one another and no one would pick up on our chemistry—in Wishing Well, where the entire town was fueled by gossip and goodwill. If she thought that was possible, that we could go on like nothing had happened, then I’d love to see her try.

Game on.

My lips curled in a slow half-grin. “It’s nice to finally meet you, too, Taylor.”

I placed my hand in hers and felt it trembling against my palm. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was nervous, although she’d said she didn’t get nervous. Or if it was because she felt the same thing that I did about us. Well, maybe not the same thing. I’d claimed that if I saw her again, I’d get down on one knee, and as I looked at her now, I knew that I hadn’t been bluffing. If I thought she wouldn’t hate me forever, I’d drop to one knee now. I loved this woman. I knew that might sound crazy, but I also knew what I felt was real.

The problem was, I couldn’t even tell if she was happy to see me or mortified. If I had to guess, I would say a combination of both. I waited patiently, in what could only be described as a staring contest, to see what her next move would be. I refused to blink or back down first. If this was chicken; she was going to have to bail or deal with the collision.

“Hi, Uncle Remi!” Harper shouted, causing me to forfeit whatever game we were playing.

“Hey, squirt!” I dropped my hand and picked up Harper, spinning her around as she giggled. The moment I set her feet back on the floor, my gaze lifted back up to Taylor’s, but she was ignoring me completely.

She held out her hand to Harper. “Do you want to help me find my bags on the carousel, Peanut?”

“Yes!” Harper shouted before taking her mom’s hand.

As I walked behind mother and daughter, I was doing my best not to grin from ear to ear. Not only did I know who ‘Ana’ was, we were going to be spending the next week together. She might want to avoid me, but that was going to be a lot easier said than done. And I did not plan on making it easy on her.

12

TAYLOR

“Ninety-five percent of decisions take place in your subconscious mind.” ~ Tim Rhodes

This cannot be happening.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, I instructed myself as I walked down the corridor, hand in hand, with Harper, and tried to stave off a panic attack.

With each step I took, my stomach rolled with nausea. The entire airport felt like it was spinning. I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up or pass out. If it was the first, the contents of my stomach were going to have a difficult time making it past my heart, which was lodged in my throat.

I did not like surprises, and this one blindsided me completely. Kyle was Remi. Remi was Kyle. What were the chances of a random guy I met at the Chicago airport being Kane’s best friend and Ruby’s brother?

One in a million?

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