Page 34 of The Bride's Secret

“Yes, thank you.” She turned. “Henry! How have you been?”

“Uh, great. How have you been?”

“Good. I’m going up to see the freeze tag champion right now. Anything you want to tell him?”

“Tell him he’s going down.”

She laughed. “Looking for a rematch, huh?”

“Unless he’s chicken.”

“Ho ho. I’ll pass on the message.”

“He nodded and then they both climbed in the elevator together. He got off two floors above and then she waved the key card over the black sensor, and the top floor lit! She pushed the button five times for good measure and bounced on her toes, waiting for it to arrive

The door opened, slower than usual she was sure of it and she ran into the room. The maids had been there. Everything was precisely in its place and it smelled of lemon. She ran to her room. Everything was still there. Then she ran across the living area and into Wyatt’s room. Nothing in sight. She ran to the closet. Nothing. Then she opened his drawers. And gasped in relief. Clothes. She remember he hadn’t brought any luggage. And she sagged in great waves of happiness. “He’s still here.”

“Where else would I be?”

She whirled around. Wyatt stood in the doorway to his room and smirked.

“Oh Wyatt.” She ran for him and threw her arms around him. “I thought you’d left. The front desk sort of pretended you had. My key didn’t work but then I realized I had the wrong one so the right key worked, but then I didn’t see you anywhere.” She caught her breath and felt her face heat. She stepped away and moved to the window. “I’m such a head case. I’m sorry. Can we start over this whole conversation?”

“No way. I like the direction this is going. Let me see if I got this right. You realized you can’t live without me as soon as you thought I was gone?”

His eyebrows rose innocently enough but she sensed he was teasing. “Oh stop. I’m embarrassed enough already.”

“I’m sorry. I am. Let’s go sit on the balcony. It’s a gorgeous night.”

They opened the sliding glass door and the sounds of waves washed over Carisa, a great calm filling her. The stars were out, the moon shone of the water. “You’re right. This is almost magical.”

“We should go down there. Want to walk on the beach?”

“Yes. Let me grab my sweatshirt.”

She changed into flip flops and her sweatshirt and they walked down together. The night air cushioned them in a cool blanket. The sand still felt warm on their feet. Wyatt reached for her hand and with the feel of his hand, cradling hers, suddenly Carisa’s life clicked into place. She wanted things to work out with Wyatt. More than anything. “Where do you even live?”

“What?”

“I don’t know where you live.”

“Oh.” He laughed. “Well, most of the time I live in an apartment in Manhattan. It’s just easier to live there than try to commute from anywhere.”

Their hands swung together gently with the rhythm of their walking. He stared out in front of them. “And you live in the upper east side, right?”

She nodded. “I work downtown.”

“That’s pretty great.”

Her smile almost hurt her cheeks. “Yeah. I think that’s pretty great too.” She laughed and then he joined her and soon they were laughing harder and hugging their stomachs and all the tension seeped out. He pulled her up against him. “Of all the places in the world you could have lived, you live near me.” He eyes sparkled down at her. “I want this to work out.”

His arms encircled her, and she felt warm, cared for. His eyes saw only her. His mouth grinned in expectation. She couldn’t believe how lucky she could be for such a man to want to be with her.

“I want us to work out too.” She frowned. “But Wyatt.” A sigh escaped her before she could stop it.

“Uh oh. What’s this?”

“You sure you want my mess in your life?”

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