4. Momentary State of Bliss
MOMENTARY STATE OF BLISS
CHELSEA CALHOUN
I set aside my plate of croissants and butter, and, took up a cup of coffee in my hands. As I leaned back against the chaise lounge on the hut’s rooftop deck, taking in the magnificent view of nothing but the ocean on our last morning on Buchanan Island, one thing was clear. We were a long way from Holly Creek.
I still couldn’t reconcile my current life with the old. Was I really about to become a billionaire’s wife?
Rex relaxed on the chaise beside me with his fingers laced behind his head. With his dark Cartier sunglasses on, he was probably napping, and I took full advantage. My eyes trailed to his tanned chest and abs exposed from an unbuttoned linen shirt, and down to his golden, thick thighs beneath Bermuda shorts.
I bit my bottom lip hard.
How I ended up with such a dreamy man was beyond me. The likelihood of meeting and falling for a hot, grumpy billionaire like Rex when I first moved to New York City from my small town was probably slim to none. But here we were, in love and engaged—what a whirlwind.
As cliché as it sounded, from the moment I met him, something told me he was supposed to be in my life. After running into him time after time, I finally gave in, letting the attraction between us takeover one steamy night on his yacht I’d never forget.
I knew there had to be more between us. Of course, he almost ruined us with his proposal for a marriage of convenience just so the little spoiled billionaire inside of him could get what he wanted.
My mother raised me better. I deserved more than that, so I turned him down flat. He learned quickly money couldn’t buy his happiness with me. Christmas Eve, when he landed on my doorstep back in Holly Creek in the middle of a storm, very unexpectedly, he groveled real good and I took him back.
We’d been together every day since.
I should have said we needed to wait a year or two to get married after he proposed Valentine’s Day, just so we could linger in this state of bliss a little longer as boyfriend and girlfriend. But Rex wanted me as his wife immediately, and well, when he wanted something…he was a hard man to dissuade.
As long as we could survive this wedding planning, even if it’s far from the ideal wedding I’d always pictured, we’d be fine. Like Rex kept whispering in my ear as he made love to me this morning after our little spat over his mother and ostrich feathers: “I don’t care what it takes for us to plan this wedding, as long as you say I do and become mine for life. My wife.”
A thrill worked down by spine and straight between my thighs thinking about his words and belonging to him. A movement in his shorts caught my eye, coming from his growing bulge of manhood, and I realized my teeth were nearly drawing blood from my bottom lip.
“Come here, you,” his growly voice jolted me out of my thoughts as he pulled me over on top of him. I laughed and didn’t resist, melting into his body, settling myself in between his legs. My skin warmed against his under the sunshine—and I yelped at his hand taking mine and pushing it between us to cover his thickness. I quirked a brow.
“What? You lay your eyes on me, biting your lip like that, and don’t expect me to respond?” His sheepish grin did me in, sometimes like a boy-man, he could be so damn cute.
“I thought you were napping.” A smile on my lips met with his and we lingered there in sweet kisses with the ocean waves crawling up the sand sounding out our love ballad. With my entire heart and soul, I knew Rex was my person. The wedding planning or his mom had better not ruin this.
“And here I was sure you had sexy thoughts playing around in that beautiful head of yours.” His hands skimmed down my body, squeezing my ass, and his lips brushed down my neck. Very effective—he caused every nerve ending in my body to tingle.
“I do now.” I moaned. It didn’t matter we’d been pleasing each other’s bodies twice a day since arriving on the island. I wanted more.
“Forget meeting up with Maisy and Brooks. Let’s go back to our room one more time for a quickie,” he spoke against my skin then groaned as footsteps approached, climbing the steps to the rooftop, halting our movements.
“Too late.” I hated to part from his warmth, from his musk, from his arms, but this dreamy getaway had to come to an end sometime. “Just promise me we’ll come back here sometime soon, Rex.”
“You like the hut, huh?”
“Yes. I love it here.”
“After our wedding day, what’s mine will be yours. Say the word and we can come back anytime.”
Yours… I never thought of it that way. I was marrying a billionaire. He was giving me the world, and all I had to give back was my heart. “Thank you for bringing us on this trip.”
“You’re welcome.” He adjusted himself as I left his arms and took up my plate of croissants at my chaise again, just in time to see Maisy reaching the top stair step and pausing to take in the view.
Brooks came up behind her, almost ramming his head right into her bottom as though he didn’t realize she’d stopped.
Maisy huffed over and occupied the chaise next to me while Brooks sauntered to the one next to Rex with his head hanging low and his hands in his pockets. Never had I seen two people so miserable on the last day of a vacation in my life.
“Everything okay?” I turned and whispered to Maisy, offering her my plate, but I didn’t have to. One of the staff arrived on the scene with a plate and mimosas for each of them.
“I don’t want to talk here about it,” she mumbled, ignoring the food and reaching for the glass. She downed it in two gulps.
Rex was oblivious, as men often were, and yammered on and on about the yacht and our trip home later today, while Brooks remained quiet with crossed arms, not eating or drinking at all.
Definitely trouble in paradise for them, I sensed. But then, I had warned Maisy, hadn’t I? With her graduating from Columbia in May, and leaving immediately for one year to work as a researcher with a science team on the Scientific Fleet of Oceanic Enterprises—a plum assignment cruising in the Southern Hemisphere as the research assistant to one of her professors—she didn’t have time for a relationship.
Long distance worked for some couples, but that would be a little much.
Or was Maisy upset about something else? She and Brooks couldn't thaw the coldness between them even amidst this sunshine and salty sea air. I almost hated showing off my happiness with Rex when she appeared so miserable.