Page 93 of Unless It's You
“Wait. Not done quite yet. And I’m sorry for letting Ben kiss me last weekend. I didn’t know he was going to, and then it just proved—as if I needed it—that my lips belong on yours, not his or anyone else’s.” She reaches up and touches my cheek, then rests her hand on my chest. “But it’s you. It’s always been you. I didn’t know it when we first met, and I let myself get distracted.Youare my person.Youare the man I’m in love with.”
Her face is so open and vulnerable. She’s waiting for my response. She’s laid herself bare for me.
“There’s one more item I want to add to my bucket list, butit’s kind of cheating,” I say, closing the remaining space between us and sliding my hands to the sides of her face, tilting it up to mine.
She blinks at me, her eyes wide and dark.
“I want to fall in love. To find my soulmate.”
“You read your mom’s journal,” she whispers.
I nod. “And it’s cheating because I’ve already done it. I found my soulmate. I love you, Stella Hart. Fuck, I’ve loved you since we first kissed a year and a half ago. I loved you while you were with Ben, when it was torture to be around you two. I’ve never stopped loving you.”
Stella grabs my waist and pulls me against her, breaking my hold on her face and crashing us together. Our mouths kiss in desperation, tongues wrapping together, and I move my hands to her waist and let her wrap her arms around my neck until our bodies are pressed together.
After a minute, we pull away.
“I love you, too,” she whispers, and tugs my jumper until I lower my head back to hers. Centimeters from our lips touching, she keeps talking. “I realized it after last weekend. And today, on this ridiculously beautiful mountain, I’m actually completing two bucket list items.”
“Two?” Our hot breath mingles, our lips a beat away.
“The one from Aunt Evelyn that had me messaging Ben. She said toFind the One that Got Away. That’s you.”
The hardy thistle of hope growing in my belly blooms, and I’m filled with a happiness I didn’t know possible.
Time freezes on top of the Scottish mountain as our lips meet again, slower this time, softly, gently pressing. The scent of the mossy ground cover creeps into my nose. This is exactly right. Being here, with Stella, there’s no doubt in my mind that kissing this woman on top of this mountain on a Scottish island is perfect.
I part her lips with my tongue, and she leans farther into our kiss. There’s a stirring in my groin and I can’t wait to get her back to a room with a bed and... wait, what room?
“Hey.” She pulls back, her arms still wrapped around my neck, her brow slightly furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“What happens next?”
She grins. “Well, I think we live happily ever after. That’s what happens when you find your soulmate.”
There are still things I need to deal with. Like telling Ben what’s going on.
But living happily ever after with Stella? That’s exactly what I want to do. I slide my hands down from her waist to her arse and lift her up against me.
“Perfect. Now let’s go find a bed. We just need the one.”
She laughs and nestles into my neck.
37
STELLA
Saturday, August 3
BUCKET LIST DAY 27
“We should be at Eilean Donan Castle in a few minutes.” I track our movement on the map app and sigh contentedly. “I love castles.”
Our destination is only about an hour’s drive from where we were on Skye. Instead of heading off the island yesterday after our hike to the top of the Old Man, we snagged a room back at the same B&B. After spending a bit of time inside the room, we drove to the main town on Skye, Portree, for dinner and a wander around the gorgeous, rainbow-house-lined main drag, set on a scenic harbor where any good romance novel could take place.
Now we’re driving to Edinburgh, where we’ll drop off the rental car and fly back down to London, arriving late afternoon.
With a stop at an ancient castle along the way.
