Page 37 of It Had to be You

Together they walked out of the room, arm in arm, and as they crossed the deck of the ship

together, Alexander gave her a curious look. "Have you ever been on a helicopter?"

"What?"

Awaiter brought their drinks and set them on the table beside his beach chair. It was a strange

thing for him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to a pool, let alone a beach. And up until two hours ago, the only times that he’d been on a helicopter had been for business. Quiet, almost silent, he’d sit there from point A to point B reviewing his notes, but the ride with Tatum had been anything but quiet.

Her laughter still rang in his ears. Soft gasps and murmured words about the beauty surrounding them.

And when they arrived at the helipad everything had moved along like the plans had been in place for weeks instead of a few hours. A luxury car had spirited them down to Esperanza and continued along to this secluded black sand beach. And whoever Martina had tasked with shopping for Tatum deserved a raise. And a big tip.

One that he was personally going to see to, because the moment Tatum emerged from the changing tent someone had so thoughtfully set up amongst the trees, he lost the ability

to breathe.

Tatum spent a lot of time indoors with her dancing, but she still had a bit of a tan. And the

dark red bikini that graced her body made his heart pound in his chest. With the backdrop of the black sand beach, she was a vision.

And that vision was walking toward him.

"Alex! Did you arrange all this?" She laughed out loud before he could answer. "Stupid

question, of course you did!"

Setting her hands on the arms of her beach chair, she sat down and reached out to cover his hand with hers on the table. "This is incredible! Who would know there was a black sand beach right here?"

Tipping her head back she stared up into the sky and he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her.

The beauty of her face, the elegant length of her neck and the rest of her amazing body soaked up the sun beside him.

How had he been so lucky?

Picking up the glass on her side of the table, Tatum took a sip of the drink and licked her lips. "This is amazing." Tucking her legs under her, she turned on the beach chair and looked at their waiter. "Did you make this?"

The man nodded.

"You," she gestured to him and then to the glass in her hand, "are wonderful."

The waiter looked away and Alex swore he saw the older gentleman blush.

Alex leaned on the arm of his beach chair and caught her gaze with his own. "Should I be

jealous?"

"Jealous?" She filled his world with laughter. "Hardly! He may know how to make the best pina colada that I’ve ever had in my life, but when we get back to the ship, the only one I want holding me on the dance floor… is you."

The smile on her face was like sunshine and gave him a tantalizing look into the future.

This was the first time and the first woman he had ever known that could do that for him.

He had always looked back on his parents’ marriage as the epitome of marriage and family.

Seen how they loved and supported each other through the years. Raised a family together.

His heart was pounding, but rather then make him nervous, he felt invigorated.

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