Waterfall Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (Saltwater Kisses Book 8) (7 page)

“Let me, I love telling this story,” Gabe offered. Bastian and Leo both rolled their eyes. Gabe loved attention, especially from pretty ladies. Even if they were married.

“Go ahead,” Bastian said, leaning back in his chair. I looked over at Gabe, interested to hear yet another one of his infamous versions of how integral he was to starting the business. The last one had him basically creating everything from scratch all by himself.

“It was all my idea,” Gabe began. Leo made a soft snort and I giggled. He glared at both of us before continuing. “Bastian here had just gotten his heart stomped on. I felt for the guy and wanted to set him up with a girl who wouldn't break his heart.”

“That's the story you're going with this time?” Leo teased. “Not the finding an easy way to get laid side of the story?”

Gabe ignored him. “So, being
such
a good friend, I started looking around and realized that we had an opportunity. There was no good way to sort potential dates on the market, so we made one.”

It was then that our dinners arrived. I had ordered the chicken and was pleased to see that it was perfect. All the other tables were going quiet as everyone started to dig into the delicious food. I took a bite, savoring the succulent breast combining with Caribbean flavors and heat. Jerk spices, mixed with some sort of sweetness that made the heat tolerable rolled across my tongue. It was hard not to snarf the entire thing in one bite.

“Anyway,” Gabe continued once the servers moved on to the next table. “We built the core business together, and then focused on our strengths. Bastian figured out how to make it all work, I did the marketing, and Leo was our money guy.” He took a bite of his steak, making a pleased face before swallowing. He put his hand on Leo's shoulder. “Actually, Leo deserves a lot of praise. I don't know how he did it, but he got us a sweetheart deal on a loan. Enough for us to really get going. I don't know if we would be where we are without those start-up funds.”

Leo turned bright red and nearly choked on his chicken dinner. “It really wasn't that important-” he stuttered.

“It saved our asses, Leo,” Gabe insisted. “Don't be modest.” Gabe looked around the table with smile. “And that was the beginning. Everything just kind of snowballed from there and the next thing you know, we're sitting at the billionaire's table.”

“Don't forget Charlotte in your story, Gabe,” Leo reminded him. I blushed as Leo grinned at me. Leo always had to make me feel special.

Gabe swallowed his bite of food. “Of course! Charlotte here was our first employee. She's the one who made sure we all stayed sane by doing all the paperwork and making sure we made it to meetings on time.” He paused for dramatic effect and then in a loud stage whisper added, “Don't tell her, but she was kind of important. I don't want her to know her nerd skills were actually kind of useful.”

I laughed. “I really just wanted to show these guys they were wrong.” I turned to Emma. “They used to tease me about taking accounting classes in high school. Called me a numbers nerd.”

“You still are a numbers nerd,” Leo teased gently. His blue eyes sparkled at me from across the table, knowing that this was something that always got me riled. It took everything not to retort back that he had just kissed a numbers nerd and liked it.

Not appropriate dinner conversation
, I reminded myself. Not to mention that Bastian would probably get up and punch him on principle. I was still his little sister, even if Leo was his friend.

“How
did
you get that loan?” I asked, trying to deflect the conversation away from me. “I remember writing the checks for the interest payments and wondering how you got such a good interest rate for us. I couldn't find anything close at any of the banks I tried.”

Leo turned on his business smile. I had learned that every businessman had one and that when they wore it, they couldn't be trusted. Even Leo.

“That's my business secret and I can't give them all away,” he replied, the smile never faltering. He turned to Jack and Emma. “But, now Jack, how is it being back on the island? I know that you met your lovely wife Emma here. Are you two staying at that resort again or somewhere else on the island?”

I frowned slightly at the sudden change in topic, but let it slide. The loan was five years ago. It wasn't something I needed to press, especially if it made Leo uncomfortable. I had always secretly suspected that he had asked a wealthy relative or done something similarly embarrassing to help us all succeed.

“We're staying at the resort for nostalgia's sake,” Jack said, taking Emma's hand in his. His eyes lit up with a love that made me weak in the knees as he looked at her. “I think it's even better the second time.”

It was all I could do not to let out a huge,
“Awww!”
I glanced back and forth between Jack and Emma to Bastian and Ava. Love was sweet, and looking across the table at the man with the blue eyes, I couldn't wait to find out just how sweet it could be.

Leo grinned and pushed back his seat, apparently thinking along the same lines. He sidestepped the waitress picking up dishes who Gabe was busy flirting with to come over to me. He held out his hand. “While we wait for dessert, would you like to dance?”

“I'd love to,” I replied honestly. He wrapped my smaller hand in his. I hoped he couldn't feel my heart pounding through my skin. I wanted so much more than a dance, but if a dance was all I could get right now, I would take it.

Leo led me to the open dance floor, spinning me expertly into the music as a fresh song began. I fit into his arms like I was made there. Leo was an excellent dancer and following his lead into a waltz was easier than breathing. Cameras flashed and zinged as we danced, and as I looked up at my prince charming, I felt like a princess.

“So?” I looked up at him, half expecting him to tell me it was all a mistake, or even worse, that I would wake up and find this all a dream.

“So.” He grinned at me and spun me around, making my skirt flow out in a shimmer of blue fabric before pulling me back into the safety of his arms. “I wish we could get out of here. I'd like to kiss you some more, but-”

A camera flash interrupted his words and accenting how public our setting was.

“-But the auction should be front page news. Not us,” he finished, spinning me away from the camera. “I'll just have to be content with holding you until later. Then I want to kiss you again. And again.”

Happy bubbles filled my chest and if it was possible for a person to die of happiness, I was certainly close. Leo wanted to kiss me again. He wanted me. My willpower was going to be severely depleted by the end of the night. All I wanted to do was pull him off the dance floor into a dark corner and have my way with him.

I sighed. The gala would go on for hours. There was time for that later. I'd waited ten years for this. I could wait a couple more hours.

“Is there anything you're bidding on at the auction tomorrow?” I asked, trying to distract myself from how close his lips were and how good he smelled.

“Small talk, huh?” He tipped his head just enough that I could see the beginning of a kiss and I held my breath. “Good plan. Yes, there are several things I plan on purchasing.”

The song ended and a round of applause surrounded us for dancing.

“Another, please?” I asked, not wanting to go back to the table just yet. If I couldn't kiss him, at least I could be in his arms.

“How much work do you have to do tomorrow? I'd like to see you,” Leo said, twirling me to the music. Several more couples joined us on the dance floor.

“I have to help during the day. Once the auction is complete, the auction house will take care of everything and I'll be done.” I sighed. “I can't wait. I believe in this auction so much, but it has been a lot of work.”

“You've done a fantastic job,” Leo murmured, taking us to the corner of the dance floor and out of limelight. The other dancers would keep the photographers' attention as long as we didn't do anything too out of the ordinary.

“Thank you,” I said, flushing with pride. It was one thing for my brother to tell me I had done well, but Leo saying it made it feel real. “Are you doing anything other than the auction tomorrow?”

“I was planning on taking my boat out and enjoying the island for a bit. The items I want aren't on sale until the end of the auction anyway,” Leo explained.

I paused. “Which boat?” There was a boat of his that I did not like. A dangerous boat. I sincerely hoped he meant his yacht or a sailboat. Or even a paddle-boat. Anything but his racing boat.

“The one you hate,” he teased, confirming what I was dreading.

“I hate it because it's dangerous, Leo.” My happy feelings were quickly disappearing. I felt a little cold, even despite the warm Caribbean air. That boat was bad news.

“You're just a worry-wart,” Leo started. This was a familiar argument. One we'd had at least a hundred times before. He usually just stepped around me and did whatever he pleased, but I wasn't going to let it slide. Not this time. Not when he said he wanted to kiss me.

“I worry because I care!” I stopped dancing and stepped away from him. “Your boat was designed to break the water speed record. A record with an eighty-five percent fatality rate, Leo. No sane person takes those odds.”

I hated even thinking about it. The water speed record was the fastest a boat had ever gone. There was a good reason why no one had beaten the record of 317mph set in 1978- everyone who tried usually ended up dead on the water. Going speeds that fast, the water turned into cement and the smallest wave, a stray piece of kelp, or a moment's distraction could send the boat hydroplaning into the water. With a fatality rate of eighty-five percent since 1940, trying to break the water speed record was a death wish. Yet, Leo insisted on playing with the boats capable of doing it.

He picked my hands back up and spun me back into the dance. “I'm still here, aren't I?”

“That's not the point,” I said, a scowl filling my face. My steps back into the dance were slow and unwilling. “It's dangerous.”

Leo sighed. “Charlotte, I'm not racing. I go out, I get some speed, and I come back in. I'm not trying to break the water speed record. I'm just enjoying the boat.”

“A boat that is designed to break records. It's not exactly a normal speed boat.” I paused, hating the sinking feeling thinking of his boat always gave me. “I've seen you crash on the water, Leo. The last one put you in the hospital.”

“For a day, Charlotte,” Leo snapped, getting frustrated. He spun me around, but the motion was angry rather than graceful. “And the doctor said that was overkill. I'm fine. You can tell Bastian not to go out on the water, but not me.”

I thought of how Bastian went out paddle-boarding every morning and how I would get so angry at finding his broken boards or other evidence of him being dangerous out on the water. Bastian, Leo and Gabe were my only family. If anything happened to them...

“Do you know why I ask him not to go out?” I asked quietly. My feet shuffled to the music, not really dancing. I couldn't meet his eyes and instead stared at his suit jacket. He had a dark gray handkerchief in his pocket folded into an elaborate design. “I don't care that he's paddle boarding. I don't even care about the sharks or the rogue waves or what could happen. I ask him because I'm selfish.”

“Selfish?” Leo asked, surprise filling his voice. His step faltered. “You are one of the least selfish people I know. You put your life on hold for this auction, even though it's Bastian's.” He stopped dancing and put his hand under my chin, gently forcing me to look up at him. “Why, Charlotte? Why do you ask him not to push the limits when it's what the three of us were born to do?”

The memory, the nightmare, flashed to my memory.

I wake up from my nap to see the neighbor lady slowly getting up from the raggedy chair by the TV. Someone is knocking on the door.

It's a police officer, his uniform wet with rain. He says something to the old woman. She smells like cats, but she's the only one who can watch me when Mommy and Daddy have to leave. I hate when they're gone. They always come back smelling strange.

The old woman covers her mouth with her hand and looks over at me.

There's terror and heartbreak in her eyes that I don't yet understand.

But I will.

“It's because I can't lose him,” I whisper, avoiding Leo's eyes. “Bastian is my foster brother because I lost everyone when I was six years old. They left one night, and never came back.” There was more to it than that. It was complicated and something I wasn't proud of, but the truth was still there. I slowly raised my eyes to meet his. “I don't want to lose you, too. Not to some stupid boat.”

Leo's blue eyes softened and his expression shifted from exasperation to concern. “You've never told me that part,” he said softly. His hands went to my shoulders and he kissed my forehead. “Okay.”

“Okay, what?” Tears were trying to form in my eyes at the memory of being alone. I never wanted to be alone like that again. I was glad there were several other couples on the dance floor so we weren't just standing there with me about to burst into tears.

“Okay, I won't go out on the boat. For you.” He pulled me in close, his arms wrapping around me and keeping me safe. “Because I care about you, too.”

“Really?” My voice was muffled by his suit jacket as I pressed my face into his chest, not caring if I smudged my mascara on it.

“I kissed you today, didn't I?” he said softly. He looked down, a soft smile filling his handsome face. “And all I want to do is kiss you again.”

I smiled back, blinking the tears out of my eyes. “Me too.”

I nestled into his shoulder, letting him hug me more than dance. With his arms around me, I was safe. The nightmare memory faded until it was just static in the back of my mind. Leo wouldn't leave me. He never had, and he never would.

The song ended and another round of applause scattered through the tent as the new dancers took their bows.

“More,” I demanded, knowing I sounded like a petulant child. I wasn't ready to leave his arms yet.