If I Loved You (Hollywood Hearts 1) (29 page)

She leaned back into his shoulder and closed her eyes. Heat from his massage filled her body. The touch of his hands and lips on her flesh excited her. He shoved the bikini top down to her waist. She moaned and cracked open an eye. A boat, once far away, seemed to be getting closer. Meg eased his hands away, pulled up her top, and pushed to a standing position.

“Come on,” she said, extending her hand to him. “Let’s take this inside.”

* * * *

Megan was towel drying her hair when there was a knock on the door. She tightened her robe, combed her damp hair with her fingers, and padded barefoot to the door.

“Package Miss,” said a short young man in a uniform.

Meg smiled and took the pa
rcel wrapped in brown paper. He left quickly before she could tip him. The sound of the shower running stopped. A minute later, Chaz entered the living room with a towel wrapped around his waist. When he looked up, Meg was opening the rectangular box.

“What’s that?” He asked, rubbing a second towel through his wet hair.

“Don’t know. It just arrived.”

She pulled a white, eyelet sundress with spaghetti straps out of the box. “This is beautiful!” While unfo
lding the dress, a small box fell to the floor.

There was a note attached so she opened that first.

Thought you might like to have a new dress to wear tonight. Also enclosed my
Grandmother’s sapphire necklace. Have fun!

Love,

Penny & “The Lug”

“How sweet to send me this…and her grandmother’s necklace too. But how odd…”

One more item lay in the box, a pair of silver sandals. Meg checked the clothes and everything was in her size.

“Wear it tonight, little chick.”

She nodded. After disposing of the box and wrapping, she slipped on lacy white bikini panties followed by the dress. Sliding it up her body made her tingle, causing her to turn her gaze on Chaz. He stood in his boxers, picking out a shirt to wear.

“Hmm. Staring for a reason?” His eyes glittered with lust.

“I like looking at you…is that reason enough?” She reached out to stroke his back.

He sighed as her fingers pushed gently into his muscles.

“Like touching you.” She stepped closer to him and brushed his back with her lips.

“Feeling is mutual.” The shirt fell from his hand as he closed his eyes.

Meg wrapped her arms around him and moved her hands to his bare chest. He groaned as her fingers splayed over his pecs, stroking his muscles.

Meg’s stomach rumbled.

“Dinner.” She slid her hands slowly down and off his body.

“Oh yes, dinner.” Chaz opened his eyes. “You hypnotized me with your hands.”

She planted one more kiss on his shoulder before pulling the straps of her dress up and smoothing it over her waist. After slipping her feet into the sandals, she ran a brush through her mahogany hair. “Will you fasten the necklace for me?”

Chaz finished buttoning his shirt before taking the delicate chain with the sapphire pendant from her hand. She turned her back to him, and he looped the chain around her neck, then fumbled a moment with the tiny clasp. A shiver ran down her spine at the light touch of his fingers on her skin. She picked up a small tremor in him and wondered why he was nervous. When he finally managed to connect the two ends of the necklace, she turned to face him.

As he picked up his pants and stepped in, she looked up into his eyes and saw a flash of anxiety. “No reason to be nervous. No one can find us. No one knows we’re here…except Penny and Mark, and they wouldn’t talk. Relax, Dunc.” He smiled at her as he zipped up his pants.

“That’s right. Tonight is just about us.”

He kissed her lightly on the nose and opened the front door. They walked hand in hand to the open-air restaurant. A table for two had been set up in a dark corner outside. Two candles burning brightly, plus a small bouquet of white flowers in a vase, gave the table a romantic glow.

Chaz pulled out her chair and Meg sat down, spreading the full skirt of the dress out over the seat. As soon as they were seated, the waiter appeared with a bottle of champagne and two flutes.

“I hope you don’t mind, I already set up the dinner.”

“You’ve thought of everything.”

“You’ve been working so hard and under so much stress…I thought you might like me to take over for a bit.”

“So right. My brain is exhausted.”

After the waiter popped the cork and filled the flutes, he was replaced by another waiter bearing two shrimp cocktails. Chaz proposed a toast. “To us…forever.”

Meg clinked her glass with his as a slight heat crept into her cheeks.
Forever…would so love to marry him…

Digging into her shrimp cocktail to satisfy her rumbling stomach, she found it to be so delicious that they ate in silence for a while. Meg noticed Chaz avoiding eye contact. First, he fiddled nervously with his fork, then folded and refolded his napkin. She frowned.
What’s wrong?

After the waiter removed the empty plates, Chaz put up his hand to signal the waiter inside. He raised his gaze to hers. His brows knitted in a look of worry as he picked up his napkin and placed it on the table. As if in slow motion, Meg noticed his hand go into his pants pocket, and him sink to one knee on the ground next to her.
It can’t be…not possible…can it?

He took her hand in his and then opened the box to reveal a four-carat, round cut diamond ring.
Oh my God…it’s happening…it’s really happening…I don’t believe it.

“Meg, I love you with all my heart…will you marry me…please?”

She gazed down into his handsome face and saw a fleeting glimpse of a lonely little boy with anxious eyes. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. “I will…yes…I will…I love you too.”

With fingers shaking, Chaz took the ring and slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. W
ith one swift movement, he leaped into the air and shouted, raising a fist. Startled dinner guests looked up at him.

“She said ‘yes!’” He hollered.

A round of applause brought the heat of embarrassment to Megan’s cheeks. Her smile seemed to stretch from shore to shore, matched only by his. She gazed at the ring with unbelieving eyes.
Fairy tales don’t come true, do they?

Chaz leaned over and kissed her as the waiter brought plates loaded with
steamed lobster and lightly grilled fresh vegetables. His nervousness passed, Chaz dug into dinner with relish while Meg was too excited to eat. She picked at her food until Chaz encouraged her to eat it.

“If you’re going to marry me, you’ll need all the strength you can get.”

His warm smile encouraged her, and she found she was hungrier than she thought. They finished their plates and sat back, satisfied. Chaz reached for her hand. “I was counting on you saying
yes
, so I did something…I hope you won’t be mad.”

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “You have that guilty look. What did you do?”

“Well, our situation being…what it is…different, I thought, rather than plan some big shindig and try to hide it from the press…” He paused to take a sip of his champagne.

“Go on.” Meg’s gaze rested on his face.

“Well…if you agreed…I uh…took the liberty…thought I’d save us a whole lotta grief…”

“What did you do?”

“I arranged for us to be married here, tonight, now, before dessert.” He spit out his plans in one long, rapid-fire sentence.

“Now?”

“Here. Now. No press, no photographers, no hiding and running. We elope…get married right now. There’s a judge waiting, see, right over there.” Chaz pointed to a man standing near the kitchen with a book in his hand.

“Oh my God, you mean it!”

“Of course. You don’t joke about something like that. Come on, Meg. I know I’m robbing you of a long engagement, but think of the horror show trying to get married without the press. Let’s do it now. The press will leave us alone because we’ll be an old married couple, definitely yesterday’s news.”

“You’re not marrying me to get the press off your neck, are you?”

“Silly girl! Of course not! I’m marrying you because I adore you, can’t live without you. And if we do it now, then it can be a private, meaningful ceremony instead of a three-ring circus. Please, my darling little chick?”

His eyes pleaded with her and his logic was faultless.
This will definitely be a more meaningful ceremony here and now without the press. He’s right. And it’s so romantic here.

“Yes,” she said, quietly.

Chaz jumped up and signaled the man to come forward. He plucked the small bouquet out of the vase, dried it off, and then handed it to her. She took the flowers but then her mouth hung open.

“Wait a minute!” She put up her hand and Chaz stopped dead.

“What’s wrong?”

“This dress…the sapphire necklace…something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue…”

“Yup. Penny insisted on that tradition or she was going to blow the whole thing.”

“Penny and Mark knew?” Meg sank down into her chair.

“Of course. I couldn’t do this without telling them. Mark would kill me!”

“Right about that!” Meg smiled at him. “You put this all together behind my back.”

“I wouldn’t put it like that…it’s a surprise. Come,” he said, extending his hand.

“It’s like a military maneuver.”

“Organization, that’s all.”

Meg placed her small hand in his, and they walked to where the judge was standing. Chaz laced his fingers with hers and smiled down at her.

Fifteen minutes later, they were husband and wife.

* * * *

It wasn’t long before the media got wind of their marriage, and the island was swarming with reporters and photographers who followed them everywhere. One morning, Chaz rented a boat and they packed food, sneaking out at daybreak for a day of privacy. He located a tiny island and pulled the boat up on the little beach. They’d managed to give the press the slip.

"We don't need bathing suits here," Chaz said as he ripped his t-shirt over his head. Meg blushed when a wicked grin spread across his face.

"How did you find this place?" Suddenly shy, she crouched behind a bush to undress.

"I slipped Martin, the concierge, twenty bucks and he drew me a map. The paparazzi will never find us here."

Stripped down to his boxers, Chaz offered one hand to Meg while shielding his dark eyes from the sun with the other. She emerged from behind the bush wearing only panties and a smile, her free-flowing brown hair brushing her shoulders.

"Alone. Finally."
 Chaz' gaze settled on her chest momentarily, and then his hand closed over hers.

"Come on." They stopped at the narrow shoreline to drop the rest of their clothing.

With her small hand clasped in his, they ran into the warm, clear water, making the only splashing sounds for miles and miles. The hot sun bounced off the water and heated their skin. Chaz fell backward into the calm surf, and Meg flopped on top of him. His arms twisted around her, pulling her flush against him, and his mouth claimed hers possessively while one hand gripped the back of her head.

They broke apart only when they sank below the surface and had to come up for air. Gasping, they burst out laughing. Meg wound her legs around Chaz’s waist and he took them deeper, wading out until the water lapped against his shoulders. They kissed again and he palmed her bare bottom, securing her.

“Will we always have to find a place to hide…never be alone?” She sighed, winding her arms around his neck.

"You’ll get used to it, little chick," he murmured between kisses.

* * * *

They made love on the island before eating their lunch and talked about their plans, which started with getting their own place to live. Meg was sure they were out of reach of cell reception but was surprised to hear a text message being delivered to Chaz.

The couple shaded their eyes from the glare of the sun and read the message together. It was from Quinn Roberts.

When are you coming back? Annemarie is leaving her baby with me. Help!

“He doesn’t mean Annemarie Fremont, the actress, does he?”

“That’s exactly who he means.”

*
THE END*

About the Author

Jean Joachim is an author, married, a mother of two boys and owner of a rescued pug named Homer. She writes contemporary romance and has more than a dozen contemporary romance books published with more scheduled to be release within the coming months.  Jean has been writing non-fiction for over twenty years and fiction for three. Her review column, "Movie Choices for Kids" has been syndicated on parenting newspapers websites for the past 12 years. A native New Yorker, she still lives in New York City. Her website address is:
http://www.jeanjoachimbooks.com
.