Chapter 36
Caroline
“Oh my God,” I said. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
The night air felt cool against my cheeks as Harrison and I left the glow of the reception tent behind, the laughter and music still carrying faintly through the trees.
My heels clicked softly on the stone path, but I hardly noticed because I was still wrapped up in the magic of the evening.
Taylor had looked radiant—because of course she did—and the whole ceremony brimmed with that impossible kind of joy I almost didn’t believe existed.
I kept replaying the night through my head, even as I was living it.
“You haven’t stopped smiling since we walked inside,” Harrison said.
He walked beside me, hands tucked into the pockets of his tuxedo in that casual way that made him seem completely at ease, as though this was just another business dinner.
But I knew him pretty well by now. There was a softness in his voice as we whispered throughout the event, pointing out details and sharing opinions like we were co-conspirators.
“You’ve been grinning, too!” I said. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were star-struck.”
“Would that be so crazy?” he mused. “Me, star-struck?”
“You’re a billionaire!”
“And she’s Taylor Swift,” he said simply. “She’s on a totally different level.”
The cabins came into view, tucked away among tall trees strung with fairy lights. I slowed my steps without meaning to, not ready to allow the evening to end. My body buzzed with champagne and joy, my heart still fluttering from watching two people so wildly in love making promises under the stars.
I glanced at Harrison, the curve of his jaw illuminated by the lanterns along the path, and thought about how strange it was to feel so close to someone like him.
Despite all the late-night popcorn we’d shared at his penthouse, tonight had felt different.
Looser, warmer, like I’d stepped into a story I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave.
“I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight,” I said. “My entire body is buzzing.”
“Night cap?” Harrison suggested.
“Well okay, if you insist,” I giggled.
Inside, Harrison’s cabin was warm and softly lit, the scent of cedar lingering in the walls. I kicked off my heels with a sigh of relief, laughing as Harrison went to the bar.
“Any requests?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Dealer’s choice.”
There was a pop of a cork, and then he began filling two glasses with champagne. “You passed. Champagne was exactly what I wanted.”
His back was still turned, but I could hear the smile in his voice. “Didn’t realize I was being tested.”
“Everyone is being tested, all the time, always,” I replied. “You were a hero out there, by the way. Catching the tray the waiter dropped.”
“Hero is a strong word.”
“The people at our table clapped!”
He handed me one of the champagne flutes. “They clapped out of politeness. And out of pity for the poor waiter. She looked mortified.”
“Downplay it all you want, I was impressed. You’ve got pretty good reflexes for a billionaire.”
“As opposed to all the other billionaires whose reflexes you notice?”
“Lucien dropped a glass on his yacht,” I pointed out. “Someone bumped into him, but still. Based on my sample size of two, your reflexes are admirable.”
He frowned at the mention of his business partner, but covered it quickly. “Mrs. Kelce had some good reflexes tonight. When Travis tried shoving cake at her face, she dodged it like Neo from The Matrix.”
“Don’t you dare call her Mrs. Kelce,” I teased. “She’s keeping her last name. If anything, he should take her name and become Travis Swift!”
We clinked glasses, sinking into the couch, our laughter filling the quiet cabin. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through Spotify playlists until I found what I was looking for.
“Of course you’d play her,” Harrison said when he recognized Lavender Haze, the first song on the Midnights album.
“It’s her wedding night. It would be a crime not to!”
“Wasn’t complaining.” He nodded along to the music. “Want to hear a secret?”
I leaned in closer. “Always.”
“I’ve never been a Taylor Swift fan.”
I gasped. “How dare you.”
“Until.” He held up a single finger. “Until I heard Midnights. This album converted me.”
“Good save,” I said. “I was very close to taking my champagne back to my own cabin and having a private after-party.”
“You’re out of champagne,” he pointed out. “Want a refill?”
I shook my head. “I’m good. No, I’m great. I’m buzzing from the night, not the alcohol, and I want to keep it that way.” An idea struck me, and I jumped to my feet. “Dance with me.”
He arched an eyebrow without moving. “You wouldn’t dance with me at the wedding, but now you’re game?”
“Because you were busy networking while I danced!” I whined. “By the time you did ask me to dance, my feet were killing me.”
“And they’re better now?”
“Without my heels on? Yes. They’re so much better. Now stand up.”
I grabbed his arm with both hands and pulled him to his feet. Laughing, he finished his champagne and put down the glass. “Be warned, I’m a horrible dancer.”
“Good. It’s about time I found something you’re bad at.”
Our fingers touched, tentative at first, then his palm slid confidently to my waist. The look in his eyes, sudden and unguarded, made my breath hitch. He immediately began leading, swaying slowly, the melody wrapping around us.
“Horrible dancer?” I asked softly. “You’re leading like you’ve been dancing since birth.”
“I can get by,” he said modestly.
I felt his thumb trace along my hip. Not purposeful, just instinctive. My hand lingered at his shoulder, then crept to the back of his neck. For a moment, we simply looked at each other, close enough to count each other’s breaths. The music hummed, the night stretching long and private.
“I’m sorry for being mad at you,” I said softly.
“You were mad at me?”
“When we landed, before I knew why we were here. I was angry that you expected me to follow you anywhere without asking any questions.”
“I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“It was a good surprise. I should have trusted you.”
“You’re not the kind of woman who trusts people by default,” he observed. “It’s what makes you such a good journalist.”
“But I should trust you,” I insisted. I needed to admit this to him. “Los Angeles, Paris, St. Kitts. Now this. Everywhere you’ve led me has been incredible. I do trust you, Harrison. Sorry if I don’t always show it.”
“Stop it,” he said.
“Stop what?”
“Stop acting like you need to change.” His voice was quiet, but firm. “Don’t you dare change anything about yourself, especially not because of me. You’re flawless, Caroline.”
The words touched me in a confusing way. I rested my head against his shoulder, and we danced like that for a while.
“This feels like prom,” I eventually said.
“I never went to my prom.”
I raised my head to look at him. “Really?”
“I wasn’t very popular,” he admitted. “I had power. I was making money selling snacks. People respected me. But they didn’t like me. I was never one of them. They saw me as an outsider.”
His laugh was lined with bitterness.
“I have more money and power than I could ever want, but very few friends.”
“You have lots of friends! We spent a week on St. Kitts with, like, twenty of them. Not to mention the other events you’ve had at the office.”
Harrison was shaking his head at me. “Those aren’t real friends. They don’t know me, truly know me the way anyone can know another person.” His voice softened. “Rafa knows me. That’s the end of the list.”
He glanced down at me, then shrugged it off. “You don’t have to say it. Poor me, poor billionaire, so wealthy that nobody can ever get close to him. I’ll shut up about it.”
I let my fingertips caress the back of his neck. It felt like the right gesture. “I wasn’t going to say that. And I definitely wasn’t thinking it.”
“Then you’re being too kind to me.”
“Fortunately, I’ve been told that I’m flawless. So however kind I’m being is the exact right amount.”
This time, his laugh was more carefree. The song shifted to another track, slower and softer.
I found myself leaning into the rhythm of his body without realizing it.
His hand rested firmly at my waist, steadying me as though he’d been holding me for years rather than a few short months.
I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of champagne and cedar that clung to him.
The world outside the cabin fell away. The reception tent, the chatter of celebrity guests, the golf carts that were ferrying people back to their cabins.
All of it faded away until there was only the warmth of Harrison’s chest beneath my palm and the quiet thrum of the music drifting from my phone.
When I lifted my gaze, his eyes were already on me.
It startled me, that raw openness in his expression.
Like he wasn’t the untouchable billionaire everyone else saw, but simply a man caught in the same spell I was.
My pulse fluttered in response, the realization striking me with more force than I expected.
I smiled, a nervous, unsteady thing, and his lips curved in answer.
We stopped moving altogether, our bodies close enough that my breath mingled with his.
For a heartbeat, neither of us spoke, the silence carrying a weight far greater than words.
My hand curved over his shoulder again, returning to the back of his neck, and I felt a faint shiver run through Harrison at my touch.
That small reaction is what undid me.
I didn’t think, didn’t plan. I just leaned in.
And thankfully, so did he. Our lips met gently at first, testing, a question and an answer all in one.
But when I felt the warmth of his mouth deepen against mine, when his hand pulled me closer with unspoken certainty, it was clear there was no turning back.