Chapter 29
Charlotte
Tip #29: If your dramatic confession doesn’t make their knees weak, either try harder or practice your delivery.
I glanced from my phone to the bustling Zurich airport, my eyes darting between hurried travelers and colorful shop signs. The jet lag was messing with my head. I blinked hard, trying to focus on finding my tour guide.
There—the Coop supermarket. It was the landmark my guide had sent to me in the email. She’d said she’d wait for me there. But instead of the petite woman I was expecting, a tall man in chinos held a sign with my name. Weird. Maybe something came up and the company sent a different guide?
I cautiously approached, dragging my suitcase behind me. As I got closer, my heart skipped. That build looked familiar.
No. It couldn’t be.
My suitcase handle slipped from my grasp and my backpack thudded to the floor.
“Isaac?” I gasped.
He looked up, gray eyes meeting mine. My knees went weak.
“Charlotte,” he breathed, dropping the sign.
In two long strides, Isaac closed the distance between us. Strong arms enveloped me as he pulled me into a crushing hug. I pressed my face against his chest, inhaling his familiar scent. Had the jet lag finally done me in? Was I hallucinating?
Isaac’s fingers slid up to the nape of my neck, sending tingles down my spine. He tangled his hand in my hair, cradling my head. My awareness of the airport faded away until there was nothing but us.
I wrapped my arms around his waist, clinging to him like a lifeline. The ache in my chest—the one I’d been carrying since he’d left my house for that work call—finally eased. Everything felt right.
Isaac held me like he’d never let go, his touch gentle but unbreakable.
I blinked back tears. “What are you doing here?” I managed to ask, my voice muffled against his shirt.
“Surprising you, obviously.” His breath was warm against my ear. “How am I doing so far?”
I pulled back just enough to look up at him, drinking in the sight of his face. “Pretty good. Though I’m still not convinced this is real.”
His lips quirked up. “Do you want me to prove it to you?”
I shook my head as I rested my palms on his pecs, grounding myself. “No, if this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.” I peered up at him, the height difference between us bigger than usual since I wasn’t wearing heels. “What are you really doing here?”
“I realized I’d made a mistake the first day I went into the office without you. I couldn’t catch up to you fast enough to make it on your flight since I had some work projects and information to hand off, so I took the company jet to beat you here as I knew you were spending a night in London.”
“W-What?” I stammered, my mind reeling. “But what about Warner Print? What are they going to do with you gone?”
He shrugged, as if the company we’d both sacrificed so much for was a minor concern. “They’ll manage.”
My heart raced, hope and fear warring inside me. I wanted to believe this meant something, but I couldn’t let myself get carried away. “So, you’re taking a vacation?” I asked, my voice small and unsure.
Isaac’s smile widened, and I felt my knees go weak, but I had to stay focused. This was important.
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. “Isaac, I…I don’t want to presume anything. My boundaries are still the same, and your being here?—”
Isaac didn’t let me finish.
His hands cupped my face as he kissed me—not rushed or desperate but like he had all the time in the world to show me exactly what I meant to him. His lips were warm and insistent, moving against mine with a tenderness that sent a slow, intoxicating heat curling through my veins. I felt the weight of every unspoken word between us, every moment of longing we hadn’t dared to name until now.
I melted into him, my hands grasping the front of his shirt like I needed something to hold on to, something solid amid the storm of emotions crashing over me. His thumbs brushed gently over my cheeks, a reverent touch, like he was memorizing me. The way he kissed me—so completely, so deliberately—made my heart ache in the best way.
The tension, the hurt—it all dissolved. I didn’t even realize I was standing on my toes until his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me even closer, holding me like he was afraid to let go.
When we finally parted, both of us slightly breathless, Isaac’s smile was radiant, his forehead resting lightly against mine. “No,” he said softly, “I didn’t take a vacation.”
“What?” The word came out as a squeak, confusion and a stab of hurt piercing through my kiss-induced haze.
Isaac gently tilted my chin up so my gaze met his. “I quit, Charlotte.”
All my warm, fuzzy feelings died, brutally run over by pure shock as I gaped at Isaac. Maybe he was experiencing a hallucination-health crisis. “You what?”
“I quit Warner Print,” he repeated. “I realized I love you far more than work, more than my family’s reputation, more than anything. I never want you to doubt that you’re my top priority.”
My mind whirled, unable to process this bombshell. “You mean you quit for now? You’ll go back in a few months?”
Isaac’s expression softened, a mix of amusement and affection. “No, sweetheart. I quit for good. I told Samuel to start searching for a new CFO. That’s why I had to pass things off before I left, so I didn’t leave the company financially crippled with my abrupt exit.”
Instinctively, I reached up to feel his forehead. “You don’t feel feverish,” I muttered, more to myself than to him.
Isaac chuckled, the sound a deep, rich vibration that rumbled through his chest. Then, before I could argue or question him further, he kissed me again.
This kiss was different.
Deeper. Fiercer. It wasn’t just warm and insistent—it was consuming. A claiming, a promise, a long-overdue surrender. His hands skimmed down my back, gathering me close, as if making up for all the time we’d lost. My fingers curled into the soft fabric of his shirt, anchoring me.
The familiar scent of his cologne wrapped around me, intoxicating and safe all at once, and I let myself fall—into the kiss, into him. He kissed me like he needed me, like he’d been starving for this, and I answered with equal emotion, pouring every hope I’d ever had for us into the press of my lips against his.
We parted briefly only to come crashing back together, as if the distance of a single breath was too much to bear. My heart pounded, my entire body humming with warmth, and once again everything felt right.
When we finally broke apart, I gazed up into his eyes, my own vision blurry with unshed tears. “I missed you so much,” I confessed. “It hurt, even when we were still in the same office.”
Isaac rested his forehead against mine. “If it’s any consolation, I was absolutely wretched without you.”
A hiccup-chuckle escaped from me, and Isaac kissed my forehead.
“I’m sorry for hurting you,” Isaac said. “I know it’s presumptuous of me to show up like this when I caused you so much pain with my choices and my selfishness when I insisted on pursuing you despite knowing how you felt about work and the changes you were trying to make.”
I laughed, though it came out more like a sob. “But you are here now—and that means everything. Besides, I’ve been battling feelings for you for a long time, so your pursuit wasn’t exactly unwanted. You’re easy to love.”
“Am I?” Isaac said, his tone wry. “You’re probably the only one who thinks so.”
“No.” I shook my head. “You just don’t see it.”
He kissed me again, slowly, as if we had all the time in the world. And maybe we did now.
During the kiss, it hit me: This was real. He loved me. Me, not the job, not the company.
Overwhelmed by my happiness, by Isaac’s presence, a few tears finally trickled free from my eyes, splashing on my cheeks.
When Isaac broke the kiss, he brushed a tear from my eye. “Are you OK?”
“It’s just… I’m so happy.” I smiled up at him, floating in the warm cloud of happiness. “I appreciate all of this, Isaac. I know what leaving Warner Print means to you, but you don’t have to give it up for good.”
He started to speak, but I held up a hand. “I know how important your family’s business is.”
Isaac leaned in so close his lips grazed my cheek. “You mean more.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I couldn’t say anything, actually, because my throat had decided to stage a mutiny.
Isaac took my hands in his, intertwining our fingers. “I mean it,” he said. “I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“I love you too,” I said, my voice finally cooperating. “Thank you for coming after me.”
He smiled, and it was the kind of smile that made my knees consider a quick vacation to the floor. “Are you really sure about all of this, though?” I asked. “Being jobless is a big life change for you.”
Isaac kissed my cheek, then my ear. “If you’re worried about my finances, don’t be. I still have plenty of money without the CFO salary.”
He moved to kiss my neck, and I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself so I didn’t collapse. “I’m well aware you could be a trust fund baby if you wanted.”
“Exactly.” He angled his head so he could kiss my neck again, his lips scorching on my skin. “You can be a trust fund baby with me. Though I should probably find some part-time work or I’ll drive you crazy by making you my full-time job.”
I started to protest, but Isaac finally pulled away from me so he could put a finger to my lips. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. You’re my everything, Charlotte.”
A warmth spread through my chest, melting the last of my doubts. He loved me. Truly, irrevocably, loved me.
I swallowed the joy that made my throat tighten. “Are you staying for the whole trip?”
“Yes. I’ve already talked to the tour guide. She’s made the necessary adjustments and is waiting at our train platform to escort us to the first city we’re staying in.”
“Thank you,” I said, meaning it with every fiber of my jet-lagged but definitely lovesick heart.
Isaac picked up my backpack and slung it over his shoulder, then grabbed the handle of my suitcase. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”
I hesitated. “Are you really sure about this?”
He stopped, turning to face me. “This is the surest I’ve ever been about anything in my life.” He paused, then asked, “Are you sure, Charlotte?”
“What do you mean?”
“This is your last chance to back out,” he said, his tone light but his eyes serious. “If you let me get on that train with you, I’m never letting go.”
My heart felt like it was expanding, growing so big it might burst right out of my chest. It was as if every cell in my body was vibrating with joy, like a million tiny fireworks going off all at once.
“I’m sure,” I said, my voice steady and clear.
Isaac’s face broke into a dazzling smile. “Good.” He offered me his free hand.
I took it, noticing how perfectly our fingers fit together. Together, we strolled to the train platform and our new life.