Page 110 of Chasing Paradise

But by the time I neared the bean, I was grumbling, sweaty, and ready to give Wick a piece of my mind.

I softened the second I saw the rose petals scattered on the bed.

Until I saw the note in the center.

Catch me if you can, duchess.

“You can’t be serious,” I grumbled, dropping my ass on the bed, thinking how nice it would be to just curl up and sleep after such a long day.

I was tempted, even, to do just that. Lock the door and go to sleep. Alone. On my wedding night.

That would teach Wick to mess around on such a special occasion.

But, well, the more I thought about it, the more full-circle it felt.

“Ugh,” I grumbled, getting back to my feet and walking to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out at the darkened rainforest, trying to imagine where he would plan for our little reunion.

There were so many places in the rainforest that were meaningful to us.

The waterfall, in particular, came to mind. But the thing was, the rainforest was an ever-changing place. No spot would look the same from one season to the next. We’d actually tried to find the bridge I’d dangled from once, but we couldn’t find our way back.

Besides, the waterfall was incredibly far from the bean. There was no way he would have made it there.

And while the waterfall was where our potential death had really forced us to confront our feelings for each other, it wasn’t anywhere near the beginning of our story.

He wasn’t crazy enough to have gone all the way back to Miami.

And the alley where he’d first grabbed and confronted me had recently been overtaken by one of the buildings, being used as a storage space.

Which left… the airport to the Galapagos.

Or Santa Cruz.

Or, of course, Isla Perdita.

“You’re a pain in my ass, Wick,” I grumbled to myself as I looked back out at the rainforest, trying to decide if I should chase him then, or waited until morning.

I mean, after all, the planes wouldn’t fly to the islands at night.

Maybe it would serve him right to sit alone at the airport his whole wedding night, worrying about me.

“Dammit,” I sighed, rolling my neck.

I couldn’t wait until morning.

He would get the first plane off and I’d have no chance of catching him.

And as much as I’d like to claim I was evolved enough about not wanting to snag him, I wasn’t.

Spraying on some more bug repellent for good measure, I refilled my water, grabbed the hunting knife stored in the bean, then headed back out, trailing rose petals as I went.

By the time I emerged from the rainforest, it was nearing morning, everything was aching, and I was ready to prove to my husband that he couldn’t beat me.

The road from the rainforest to the airport was long enough for me to doze off and catch some much-needed sleep.

Even though I hadn’t wasted time, I didn’t see Wick at the airport.

Though I did find someone waiting holding a sign with my name on it, a large coffee, and something in a brown bag.

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