Page 35 of Just for the Holidays
“That way, and don’t worry about the bags. One of the crew will get them and bring them aboard.”
Perla took a moment to take in the ocean breeze and the beauty of the place. She’d always had a loose and complicated connection to her father’s homeland. But now it felt like she was turning a new page here, too. As she made her way up the dock, she spotted the yacht. It wasn’t exactly easy to miss. It was sleek and imposing, the biggest vessel on the dock. Perla noticed a man on the bridge headed toward the walkway. He looked...no. Perla stopped in her tracks, sure that her eyes were playing tricks on her. It couldn’t be. She was still about fifty yards away and the sun was setting. It was probably the crew member coming to get their bags.
But the moment she saw him step on the walkway, she knew it was him.
“What?” she exclaimed as she turned around. Her sister, that traitor, was standing by the door of her Cayenne, grinning from ear to ear. “Did you do this?” Perla yelled, too spooked to turn back around and face him. Her heart had given up on pounding and was now doing triple somersaults in her chest. She felt like she wanted to run, then scream, then pass out.
Esme just shook her head and pointed at something over Perla’s shoulder. “He did it! I just helped. Go get your man, Perlita!”
She felt him before he said a word. His presence big and undeniable at her back. It has always been like that with him. She could sense Gael in a room before she ever laid eyes on him. Like her entire being was attuned to his presence.
“Can you turn around, baby?” She could feel the warmth of him all the way down her body, and after taking one long and deep breath she moved to face him.
“You’re here,” she breathed out, taking him in, larger than life, almost too beautiful to be real. Her fallen angel. The man who had never stopped owning her heart.
She could see the emotions displayed all over his face. The way his eyes scanned over her. As if reassuring himself that she was really there. The way he gnawed on his bottom lip made her want to reach for him.
“I’m so sorry, mi amor,” he told her as their eyes locked. “I wish I could go back and erase everything that I’ve ever done or allowed someone else to do to hurt you.”
“You don’t need—”
“No, please,” he pleaded, taking her in his arms. “Please let me say this. Ineedto say this. There hasn’t been a moment in the last six years that I didn’t feel that something essential was gone from me. I didn’t have the tools to deserve you back then, and I probably don’t have all that I need now, but I swear to you. Perla, if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life striving to be the man you need.”
Without a word she jumped so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. She pressed her forehead to his and breathed in the scent of him. That thing that was uniquely him and that shealwayscraved. “I never wanted perfection, Gael. All I ever wanted was you.” His breath hitched at her words and in the background she was pretty sure she heard her older sister whooping in delight.
“We’re making a scene,” she muttered as she hid her face in his neck.
“What good is being a movie star if I can’t give the woman I love a fairy-tale ending?” Gael asked in a teasing voice.
“I don’t need a fairy tale, Gael,” she told him as she looked into his eyes.
“What if I want to give it to you anyway?” he asked as he turned to walk them up to the awaiting yacht, and Perla thought she might actually have a chance to get everything she ever wanted, and she was finally ready to let herself believe she deserved all of it.
Epilogue
“Are you ready for this, mi vida?” Gael asked as he looked out the window of their Escalade while they waited their turn in the long line of cars dropping off a good portion of Hollywood’s A-list at the evening’s red-carpet event.
“I am absolutely ready,” she assured him, brushing a kiss on his cheek before leaning in to look at the crowd outside. Right beyond the car she could see the throng of paparazzi and journalists waiting as couples dressed in their awards-season finery stepped out of limousines and SUVs, posing for the cameras. Tonight Gael was up for a best actor nomination for his performance of Francisco Rios, and the seriesThe Liberator and His Lovehad garnered over ten nominations. Their small project about the life and love of the Puerto Rican liberator had turned out to be an enormous financial and critical success. And now she got to walk out into the spotlight hand in hand with the man of her dreams—with her future husband.
Perla smiled as she lifted her left hand where a beautiful vintage Van Cleef & Arpels engagement ring sat on her finger. Gael had proposed over Thanksgiving at his Hamptons home surrounded by his family and her sister. Perla grinned, remembering how she’d gasped when he’d shown her the ring. A platinum band with a perfect black pearl at the center surrounded by a halo of ten old-cut diamonds. It was delicate and elegant, and perfect for her. Just like he was. Just like their life together was.
“We’re here, Mr. Montez, Miss Sambrano.” The low voice of their driver brought her attention back to the moment. Gael tugged on her right hand and winked as he looked down at her other hand, which was still suspended in the air.
“It’s showtime, baby.”
Perla took a deep breath and grabbed the clutch bag that matched her gown. Late January in LA meant sunny weather with a bite, but she would have to brave the few minutes on the red carpet with her shoulders completely bare. Anything for fashion. She’d gone with a vintage Charles James clover gown in gold, and on her ears and neck she had a few hundred thousand dollars’ worth of sapphires, courtesy of Bulgari. To Perla’s absolute delight, her jewelry matched Gael’s custom Tom Ford tux. He looked devastatingly handsome, as always.
He’d gotten a haircut to play his part as Rios and decided he would keep the style. His brown hair was cut close to the scalp on the side and back and longer on the top. It suited him, although who was she kidding? The man looked good in everything, and she was not going to pinch herself again. This really was her life, and she deserved all of it. Including the absolutely perfect man with whom she was about to walk the red carpet.
“Let’s do this,” she declared, already moving. As Gael helped her down from the car, she smiled at the cameras frantically flashing in her face.
What a difference two years made.
Well, two years and a month if you wanted to get specific. After Gael had come to the DR and they’d decided to give each other another chance, time had gone by in a flash. They both had their demanding jobs, and blending all that took time. But they’d managed to prioritize the life they were building together and Perla had never been happier. They were both bicoastal now and making it work, and they’d even been seeing a couple’s therapist for the past year, which had helped them understand each other better. Perla could talk about how her family dynamics had impacted her, and Gael was able to open up regarding the wounds his father’s abandonment had left in him. It was wild to think that by now they’d been together as long as they had their first time around. And no, it wasn’t always easy, but this time they were building a solid foundation, and she knew that they could weather any storm.
“Can we see the ring, Miss Sambrano?” called the throng of photographers as Gael guided her up the long red carpet. She’d been to awards shows before, but never one of this caliber, andneverlike this. Not with one of the biggest stars in Hollywood by her side and her heart full to the brim with happiness. And definitely not when a show she was a producer on was predicted to sweep the awards season.
Perla lifted her hand in front of her chest and immediately a flurry of camera flashes started bursting in her direction. Gael wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her ear. “You’re a trouper, baby.”
