Closer (32 page)

“You should never have paid off Enzo to disappear from our lives,” Inez suddenly said, lifting Luna from Sven’s lap, rising to her feet, and attempting to move to the far corner of the gymnasium. 

“Yes, that’s true,” he agreed, snagging her hand, halting her in place.  “It was a selfish and egotistical billionaire move, which is why I contacted him last week and called off the arrangement.”

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“Maybe not,” he said, gazing deeply into her eyes.  “Unless it’s true what your grandmother said.”

“My grandmother is senile.”

“Really?  She seems wonderfully lucid to me.”  He embraced her hand, testing her response. 

Inez closed her eyes, evading his gaze, trying desperately to ignore how the heat from his hand transferred through her palm. 
The one with the ridiculously cute Hello Kitty ring
. 

“She lives in a fantasy world and so do you, Sven.  You’re a hot shot billionaire architect and I’m…just a single mom who can never be who you need me to be.  I hate wearing heels.  I’ve never had a job that pays more than minimum wage in all my life.  And I can’t travel with you anywhere—not ever—but especially not to Shanghai.”

“Well, that’s something we have in common because it didn’t work out for me very well in Shanghai.”

Inez blinked twice as she tried to understand the significance of his words and the defeated expression on his face.  “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t cooperate with Watercross and my brother in their plans to construct the Li Long Towers.  Instead, I sold my designs to Harvey Zale for a trifle of what they’re worth.  And now, I’m likely ruined because Harvey Zale will be the one who builds the Li Long Towers, not Watercross and Van der Meer & Associates.  And there will be consequences for that.  But I don’t care.  I don’t care at all because while I was in Shanghai, the only thing that consumed me was the realization that I was missing something essential in my life.”

“Deodorant?”  She stared at him, tempering her smile.
 
He did smell like sweat and aftershave and unbridled masculinity. 
And it would almost be irritating
, she thought,
if it wasn’t so unbelievably intoxicating
.

Unflinching, he held her gaze.  “No,” he whispered, cupping her cheek and leading her lips to meet his own.  “You.”

He pulled her into his arms, with Luna between them, and kissed her with heartbreaking sadness, tenderness, and relief, conveying to her the transformation within his soul—whatever decisions he had made, whatever pain he had caused her, it had all been a terrible mistake for which he would gladly seek her forgiveness. 
If she would allow him
. 

Breathless, Inez pushed against his chest and tore away from his kiss.

“You do realize that if I accept this ring, it only means I’m giving you a chance to grovel your way back into our lives?”

He folded his forehead against her own and stroked her hair.  “It would be my pleasure to grovel for as many days as it takes.”

“Weeks,” she corrected him.  “Probably months.”

“Well, then…in the meantime, let’s consider it your prize for being right…all my friends were assholes, including me.  And I regretted every day I was there because I wasn’t here…with you and Luna.”

She tugged on his tight spandex shirt.  “Is that why you look so relaxed now in your jogging suit?”

“Maybe.  Or maybe I just enjoy singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’.”

He drew her in for another kiss, long and sweet, promising her something that she had never felt before from him—unconditional love.

She glanced upwards.  A sea of bubbles drifted down upon them—transparent globes, swirling with iridescence.  Sven caught one in the palm of his hand and guided it towards Luna’s nose. 
Pop
!  With a grin as wide as her face, she swatted her hands and bounced in her mother’s arms while her joyful eyes tracked the curious floating spheres. 

Unexpectedly, the buzz of Sven’s cell phone in his pocket threatened their moment of serenity.  He ignored it.  Instead, he sat down on the blue gymnasium mats and watched the bubbles wobble through the air towards him.

“Don’t you want to answer that?” Inez pressed him as his phone continued to ring.

“Nope,” he answered, crossing his feet at his ankles and waggling his new sneakers like a kid.

“Nope?” Inez echoed, eyeing him.  “That doesn’t sound like the Sven I know.”

“It’s the new unemployed Sven.”

“Ahh, right.  Ruined and aimless.  Except you do have an authentic Monet painting hanging in your living room, so you aren’t exactly penniless.”

“No, but that painting belongs to my mother.  It wouldn’t be right to expect to live off my mother’s wealth.”

“True,” Inez agreed.  “At least, not unless you give her more kittens.”

He flashed her a smile and reached out to draw her and Luna into his lap. 

“Are you offering to help me with that?”

But before she could answer, his phone buzzed again.  Shifting her weight off his legs, she encouraged him to check his phone.  “C’mon, maybe it’s important.”

“Nothing could possibly be more important than this,” he replied, nestling her and Luna deeper into his lap.

She felt his phone vibrate beneath her as a text message arrived.  “Sounds like someone really wants you to think otherwise.” She slipped her hand into his pocket, withdrew his phone, and tapped the screen, investigating his messages. “One voice mail.  One text,” she said. “Both from a…Phillip Spears.”

Sven shifted his chin over her shoulder and peered at the screen.  Clearly, she had piqued his interest.

“Who’s Phillip Spears?” she asked.

“Watercross’ main competition.  You met him at the Modern Architecture Society banquet.”

“Ahh, right,” she sighed, suddenly remembering.  “See…?  Ruined or not, you’re still a very important architect.  And I doubt a life of baby gym—day in and day out—is going to suit you very well.”

“It suits me just fine,” he insisted, his eyes scanning the text.  “Although he is offering me a curious proposition.  He’s heard about my resignation from the Li Long Towers.”

“Wow, news travels fast.”

“And he wants me to be the principal architect on his project—the redevelopment of the Old Main Post Office.”

“Does that mean you’re officially employed again?”

“I don’t know.  He wants to have a meeting with me tomorrow.  He’s offering ten percent equity ownership of the project.”

“Hmm…well, how much is the project worth?”

“Three hundred and fifty million dollars.”

Inez let out an incredulous laugh.  “Lose your entire billionaire soul in one deal.  Gain it back in another deal.  Sounds like the old Sven van der Meer.”

“As long as it’s the one you’re still in love with.”  He took Luna from her hands and snuggled her in his arms.

Inez ran her fingernails through his hair and considered all her options.  “Well, that depends on if I still have to pretend to be your fake fiancée or not.”

“I’d rather you just pretend to be my real one.”  He nudged her for a kiss.  Daring to trust him, she closed her eyes, responding to the urgency and passion of his tongue entwining with her own.  He pulled her carefully into his embrace, keeping her from popping or drifting away like all the twinkling floating bubbles, fragile in their journey through the unpredictable future.

“And you do realize,” she added, tearing herself away to catch her breath, “that you’ve also committed yourself to baby gym every day to prevent you from turning back into a selfish and egotistical billionaire.”

“Good.” He nodded.  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

THE END

DEAR READER:

Thank you so much for reading my novel.  If you enjoyed this book, I hope you will consider leaving a review on its Amazon sales page as well as its
Goodreads.com book page
. 

If you would like to read another one of my stand-alone romance novels, set within the same world and sharing some of the secondary characters in
CLOSER
, I recommend reading
DEVOTION
, which is also available free through Kindle Unlimited.

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sign up to my mailing list to receive the updates
!

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I am also willing to discuss this novel in depth with your book club via Google Hangouts or Skype.  If you are interested in arranging a “discussion with the author” for your book club, please free to email me:
[email protected]

Great word-of-mouth is the best advertising an author can hope for from her fans.  I hope you will help spread the word.  Very best, Aria Hawthorne

Playlist

These are a few of the songs that I listened to while writing
CLOSER
.  You can directly access these songs and videos on YouTube.com via
my playlist
:

“Latika’s Theme” from the
Slumdog Millionaire
motion picture soundtrack by A.R. Rahman

“Toxic” by Britney Spears/ performed by Rumor Willis

“Falling for You” by The 1975

“Take You Higher” by Goodwill & Hook N Sling

“I’m a Fool to Want You” composed by Frank Sinatra, Jack Wolf, and Joel Herron and performed by Frank Sinatra

“Turning Tables” by Adele

“Transatlanticism” by Death Cab for Cutie

“Now We Are Free” from the
Gladiator
motion picture soundtrack scored by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard

“Weekend in New England” by Barry Manilow