Waterfall Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (Saltwater Kisses Book 8) (16 page)

“Good evening, Charlotte,” Elijah said, stepping out of the shadows. He was a big man with dark features. He often reminded me of a hunting lion in the way that he moved, not to mention that he was just as deadly.

“I'm going to walk home through town,” I told him. “Will you walk with me so I don't feel like I'm being stalked like a deer?”

Elijah chuckled and nodded. “Of course. Why through town though? It's a longer walk.”

“Because if you're here, then that means Bastian and Ava are safely tucked away at the mansion,” I said, starting to walk toward the main road through town. “And they should have a little privacy.”

“Yes, it is hard to find a private space with only 14 bedrooms,” Elijah said, rolling his eyes.

I let out a long frustrated sigh and considered telling him to just go back to stalking me.

We walked in silence. I found that I enjoyed his company a lot more when we weren't talking. Night was falling and the street lamps and store lights lit the road through town. We passed Adele's restaurant and the bar and shops beside it, continuing to walk past a small grocery store. At the end of the block, before my turn to head home was the community center and church.

The open door of the church was a bright light against the surrounding darkness. It made a pretty picture to look at before turning. The door to the community center was open as well with people exiting and hurrying to their cars. I was about to keep walking, but one of the people leaving caught my eye. It was a form that I had spent much of my life looking for. Leo.

I stopped on the path, still too far from the community center to be seen. Elijah took an extra step before turning to look at me like I was crazy for stopping. I stared over at the community center, trying to figure out what Leo was doing there. I knew that it couldn't be for business, not with that many people and no mention of it on Bastian's schedule.

Then, Toby came out of the building and joined Leo. They waved to a man heading into the church before heading to the parking lot themselves.

“Do you know what's going on at the community center?” I asked Elijah, thinking maybe there was some sort of town hall meeting or something. Something that would be important enough for Leo to not call me.

“What am I? A social calendar?” Elijah's sarcasm was not what I needed.

I recognized Murdoch, Leo's incredibly scary bodyguard, driving the car that Leo and Toby were getting in to. Murdoch revved the engine and the three of them drove off into the night. I stared after them for a moment.

What in the world were they doing here? What were they doing that was so important? Did it have anything to do with Leo's departure this afternoon?

I set my shoulders and hurried across the street. I trusted Leo, but I needed to know what was going on. I was sure he had a good reason for everything that had happened today, but I still felt a little left out.

“Where are you going?” Elijah asked, jogging to catch up with my sudden departure. “What are you doing?”

“There's a sign on the door,” I said, waving him off. “I'll be right back.”

Elijah made a frustrated noise but fell back slightly as I approached the door to the community center. I took a deep breath and stepped close enough to read the paper.

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“G
amblers Anon Meeting- Room 103

All are welcome.”

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I
had to laugh at myself. I was worried over nothing. He wasn't being strange or leaving me out of his life. He was making sure that he didn't gamble. That he stayed true to himself. If anything, I should be proud of him.

That Toby was there at the meeting as well told me that Toby was probably a gambler. I felt a little guilty, discovering a secret that wasn't mine to know. I didn't know Toby all that well. I had helped train him when Leo first hired him, and I helped him out from time to time, but I wouldn't call us friends. I would barely call us co-workers, to be honest. Knowing something this personal about him without his consent was slightly uncomfortable.

I supposed that it was possible for Toby to just be there as support for Leo, but I doubted it. If Leo wanted someone for support, he could have just brought me. I knew his secret now. No, it made more sense that they were both members.

I let out a long breath. There was no way for me to unlearn that information, so the best thing I could do is just keep it a secret. I was the assistant to a billionaire, it wasn't like keeping secrets was hard for me. Besides, Leo obviously knew Toby's past and that would be my only concern anyway.

If anything, it made me love Leo a little bit more.

I took out my phone and texted him.

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Y
ou still busy? Up for a drink? I promise not to throw up on you this time :D

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I
turned from the door and headed back to the sidewalk where Elijah was waiting for me with his arms crossed.

“Figure it all out?” Elijah asked.

I nodded as my phone buzzed with a reply from Leo.

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C
ome to my place.

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“C
hange of plans, Eli- I'm going to Leo's,” I said with a grin, putting my phone in my pocket.

***

T
he walk to Leo's from the community center wasn't far. He was staying at a big place on the water that actually belonged to a friend of his. Owen Parker was a good friend to both Leo and Jack Saunders, and let any of his billionaire friends use the beautiful seaside mansion whenever they were on the island.

I loved the big, white, marble columns and old British colony look of the place. A security guard called out a greeting to us, recognizing Elijah as we approached.

“So, are you two a thing now?” Elijah asked as we walked toward the house. “I mean, officially?”

I nearly tripped on the smooth walkway. “Maybe...”

“So you
are,
” he said with a grin. I gave him a dirty look and he just smiled bigger. “Murdoch owes me twenty bucks.”

“Why would Murdoch owe you twenty bucks?” I asked, taking the first step to the main doors. “What did you bet on?”

“That the two of you would get together,” Elijah answered with a shrug, pulling on the big door and holding it open for me. “Murdoch's a cynic and didn't think it would happen. He bet that you two would never be a couple.”

“Seriously?” I asked. I had always thought that Murdoch liked me, but that fact that he was betting that Leo and I would never be together made my heart sink. Why didn't he think we would make it? I paused. “But, you bet that we would be a couple?”

“Yeah.” Elijah said with a grin. “I always bet on love.”

O
nce inside the mansion, I turned to go up the curving staircase to the master bedroom while Elijah veered off to the kitchen to find Murdoch and get his money.

The stairs echoed with the clicks of my steps as I ran up them and threw open the doors to the big bedroom. The balcony doors leading to the ocean were open, letting in the warm night air filled with the scent of the ocean. Leo was at his desk, pouring over something and frowning. The room was dark except for the light on his desk and the blue glow from his computer screen.

“You okay?” I asked, coming over to him. He had his hand on his head like he was in pain and there were shadows in his eyes that hadn't been there this morning. “Leo is something wrong with the phone app? Do I need to get Bastian?”

“No, no need for Bastian. Everything's fine.” He closed the lid to his laptop and gave me a weak smile.

“Are you sure? It's not a problem, Leo.” My concern grew a little. His voice was just too hollow and it felt like a lie.

“It's just something I need Murdoch to look into for me. That's all.” He sighed, standing up from the desk. The thought of Murdoch looking into something gave me shivers. I wouldn't want to be on the other end of anything but a smile from Murdoch, and even that still was dangerous. Murdoch was a great bodyguard, but he was scary.

“You look great by the way,” Leo said, changing the subject.

“What? I haven't done anything special...” I ran a hand over my hair, noting that it was still windblown and tangled from sailing.

Leo came around the desk, pulling me into him with an arm around my hips. He looked down at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

“You're all windswept and your cheeks are flushed from sailing,” he whispered, tipping his head closer to mine. The corners of his mouth curved upward in the beginnings of a real smile. “Gorgeous.”

I grinned, basking in his compliments. It was something I had always wanted him to say, so to hear it made my heart flutter.

“Go on,” I murmured as he kissed my neck, just under my ear. His grip on my waist tightened and I tried not to moan at how good he felt. “Don't stop.”

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, his words dancing along my skin. “And smart. And funny. Did I mention, wonderful and amazing?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh. Well then, you are wonderful and amazing.” The smile was apparent in Leo's voice. “I've always thought so.”

“Is that so?” I asked, looking up at him.

Leo's blue eyes were serious. The truth shone within them as I dove into his gaze. These weren't just words to get him laid or meant to appease me. These were true. They were what he really felt and thought.

“Yes,” he said slowly. “And so much more, Charlotte. There aren't words for how perfect you are to me.” He swallowed hard, his blue eyes close to swallowing me whole. “Or how much I love you.”

I couldn't breathe. My heart stopped in my chest for an unending moment in time. Leo Westbrook, the man I had loved since the day I first saw him, loved me. Finally.

“I love you, Leo,” I whispered back, my voice tight and loose all at the same time.

He kissed me then, slow and sweet, but with so much passion it set my soul aflame.

“Oh, Charlotte...” My name was music when he said it and it made me thrill to the tips of my toes. My whole life, no one ever said my name the way he did. “Stay with me.” It wasn't a question or a request, but it wasn't a command either. “Be mine tonight.”

I grinned at him. “Why do you think I'm here?”

He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms tighter and breathing in the scent of my hair. His whole body was still, as if he were desperately trying to remember every detail of how I felt in his arms.

“Are you okay?” I asked, hugging him back. “You seem... I don't know... sad. Or disappointed. You sure there isn't something wrong?”

He slowly released his grip on me, letting me go just enough so that I could look up into his beautiful face. The lamp light from his desk cast shadows across his blue eyes and the stubble on his cheeks was longer than it had been this morning, but he still looked perfect to me.

“It's nothing important,” he promised. His eyes met mine and for a moment I could see storm clouds behind the beautiful blue of his irises. His fingers tightened across my back. “I need you tonight.”

“Then I'm yours.” I kissed his lips and whispered, “I've always been yours.”

His hands slid into my hair, tangling it between his strong fingers as he kissed me. Without having to think, my hands went around the back of his neck, my pelvis rocking against his as I whimpered into his mouth.

He took his time, kissing me thoroughly. A long, slow swipe of his tongue over my bottom lip, his teeth nibbling the edges of my mouth, his lips pressing against mine. My hand stroked his jaw, feeling the slight prickle of two-day stubble. It wasn't unpleasant, if anything it added to the myriad of wonderful sensations flowing through his kiss. My tongue found his, colliding and tasting. He tasted so good, I knew I could never get enough.

I could have kissed him for hours. Leo knew how to kiss me, knew exactly which way to move and how to open me up to him. But I didn't want to just kiss him. I wanted to make love to him, and if the growing hardness pressed against my lower stomach was any indication, he wanted it too.

I broke away, grinning as I put my hand to his chest. “Mr. Westbrook, I do believe you need to relax. And I happen to know just how to do it.”

“Is that so?” One eyebrow cocked upward as the corners of his mouth crept up in an self-assured grin.

I seductively bit my lip, looking him up and down. He had changed from earlier and was now wearing dark slacks with a crisp, light-blue dress shirt. I loved his broad shoulders and slim waist, the way that he managed to look incredibly masculine but without overdoing it.

My fingers went to the top button of his shirt and paused before undoing the first one. I undid each following, tracing down the line to the button of his pants. He didn't have an undershirt on beneath the dress shirt due to the heat of the Caribbean and I was glad. It meant that his shirt now spilled open and I could see every muscle. All I wanted to do was run my tongue down his abs and taste his skin.

Looking up at him through my eyelashes, I slowly undid his belt buckle and then the zipper to his pants. He stood still, letting me undress his bottom half, even though his breaths were starting to become ragged with want.

With his pants pooled around his ankles, I could see his excitement tenting in his briefs. Somehow, he managed to look even bigger than I recalled from this morning. Even though he wasn't touching me, I felt my skin come alive beneath his gaze.

I tugged his briefs down, releasing his very impressive erection. I took a deep, desired filled breath and let it out slowly before pushing his shoulder. “Have a seat, Mr. Westbrook.”

He glanced back behind him, his eyes going to the small leather couch next to the desk. With calm, easy movements, he kicked off his pants and briefs and went to sit. His knees splayed out, revealing his perfect manhood to me.

As seductively as I could, I stepped toward him, swaying my hips and licking my lips. His eyes dilated as I went to my knees before him, tucking myself between his legs. I looked up at him, already wet myself with what I knew I was going to do. I was going to give Leo the most pleasurable night he'd ever had.