Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 68

CHAPTER 68

KENNEDY

I t was New Year’s Eve, and I was seriously burnt out . Never before had so much changed in a year as it had in the past twelve months.

It felt like I’d been going nonstop for years , working impossibly hard trying to get investors for my dream hotel, participating in that parade that had gone so terribly wrong, and putting on that dinner.

There had also been everything with my family, and Danny, and not being sure if Austin was my person, and then the holidays, and my nephew being born so very unexpectedly. Just the drive back to the city that night had taken at least half a decade off my life, not knowing what was happening at the hospital or whether Winrey and Nicholas would be okay.

I needed a break, and that was exactly what Austin had promised for New Year’s—a vacation. At first, I’d thought we could just have a staycation for a few days. Winrey had raved about her and Benji’s weekend at Austin’s, and I’d been itching to have the same thing.

Austin, however, had other plans. Big plans. Huge plans.

As I glanced out the window thirty-five thousand feet above the ground, I still couldn’t quite get my head wrapped around his surprise. We were flying first class to the Maldives for some sunshine, quality time together, and relaxation.

I couldn’t wait to unwind and just be with him, but even as I gripped his hand while he slept in his massively comfortable seat beside me, I was struggling to believe we were really here. One of his eyes cracked open, a soft smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he caught me staring.

“You’re thinking really loudly right now,” he joked quietly, careful not to disturb the few other passengers in the cabin with us. “What’s going on, baby?”

“Nothing. I just really wasn’t expecting a trip like this,” I admitted. “When you said you had a surprise for me and that we were going away for a few days, I kind of thought we were going to Firefly Grove.”

He reached for the button to raise his seat out of the reclining position, lifting it up until he was sitting comfortably at the same level I was. “Don’t get me wrong, being there for Christmas was amazing, but if we went back there, we still wouldn’t have any time alone. Also, winter.”

I laughed. “What’s wrong with winter?”

“Nothing, it’s just not as good as summer.” He pumped his eyebrows at me. “I mean, you saw the pictures of our resort, right? It’s all blue skies, white sand, and pristine ocean. Don’t tell me you would have preferred snow in Firefly Grove.”

“That’s a really good point.” I thought back to the idyllic pictures he’d shown me on his phone this morning after he’d told me to pack my bags. “It does look amazing.”

“Exactly.” He grinned at me. “Should we splurge and have some champagne before we land?”

I nodded eagerly. “Let’s get our vacation started.”

He chuckled and pressed the button to call the flight attendant. When she brought our drinks, I toasted with him. For the rest of the flight, we talked about the activities available at the hotel where we would be staying, drinking our bubbly and trying to decide what we wanted to do while we were there.

When we landed, we weren’t drunk, but we both had a definite buzz as we disembarked. Laughing about every little thing, we went to collect our luggage. Once we had it, we exited the terminal and found a driver waiting for us.

He held a little sign that said “Austin and Kenny,” and I grinned, nudging Austin in the ribs as I looked at the suited man. “He’s even wearing a hat. How cool is that?”

Austin chuckled. “This poor guy is going to have his hands full with us on the drive, isn’t he?”

“For sure.” To my utter surprise, I realized that even the airport was surrounded by azure blue waters, the runway itself a little island that extended from the capital city.

I gasped, smacking Austin’s shoulder. “Wow. Would you get a load of that?”

He tossed his arm around my shoulders, planting a big kiss on my temple. “And that, my dear, is why we didn’t go to Firefly Grove.”

As I gaped at the astonishingly clear, blue water and the gorgeous sky, I had to pinch myself to believe this wasn’t a dream. Austin laughed when he realized what I was doing. We piled into the backseat of the luxurious town car and goofed off the entire drive to our hotel.

When the car finally slowed, I glanced out the window and gaped as I saw where we would be staying. The pictures had been gorgeous, but they seriously hadn’t done the hotel justice.

Beyond the main building where I assumed the lobby was, a walkway connected dozens of little houses that stood right in the ocean. Being held up by stilts, each little house appeared to have a private pool with partitions between the villas to ensure that no one had a view of anyone else.

My eyes went wider than they ever had before. “It’s stunning. I never even could’ve imagined this. Was all of it in the pictures?”

Austin smirked. “It was, but not in the pictures I showed you. A wise woman once told me that all the best relationships had some mystery to them.”

The door beside me opened and a local man wearing a coral-colored shirt emblazoned with the hotel logo appeared in it. “Welcome to the White Pearl. My name is Eric and I’m going to be your personal guide this afternoon. If you’ll follow me, our staff will take care of your luggage and I’ll show you to reception.”

“Thanks, I’m Austin. This is Kenny. We’re very excited to be here.”

Eric gave us a polite grin, helping me out of the car and waiting for Austin to follow. Once we were in the humid heat of the day, he led us into the lobby to help us get checked in. Then he showed us around before he took us to our private villa.

It turned out to be one of those on stilts over the water, and I couldn’t believe the views—or our room. “This is the most luxurious place I’ve ever seen. Are you sure we’re staying here?”

“We’re staying here,” Austin said with a cocky smile, waggling his eyebrows at me when I tore my gaze away from the endless blue outside to look at him. “Are you sure you wouldn’t have preferred Firefly Grove?”

I scoffed. “I might never leave here.”

He laughed, turning to say goodbye to Eric before we took a look around our accommodations. Hand in hand, we strolled through the villa, moving from the foyer into a living room with an open-concept kitchenette, a sitting area overlooking the deck with our pool outside, and then finally, a spacious bedroom with an adjoining bathroom.

The place was massive, much bigger than my apartment back home, and it was light and airy with as many windows as they could fit while still ensuring the guests’ privacy. Our luggage sat on stands in the bedroom and immediately I made a beeline for my suitcase.

“I’m going in the pool,” I said, rummaging around my things for my bikini. As I pulled it out, I grinned at Austin. “Can you even imagine the kind of planning and organization that goes into a hotel like this? I can’t. I mean, think about how hard we’ve been working, and our hotel is a fraction of the size.”

He chuckled. “True, but isn’t it still exciting that soon, you’re going to have your own hotel? It might not be this, but to be fair, we don’t exactly have these kinds of views in Manhattan.”

“I guess it’s just hard to believe I’m even going to be in the same industry as these guys.” I took off my shirt and tossed it at Austin’s face. “Last one in the pool is a rotten egg.”

He roared with laughter as I grabbed my bikini and quickly put it on, racing out of the room and running directly to the deck outside. The sliding doors leading out there were already open and I didn’t even hesitate to dive into the crystal-clear waters of our private pool. As I dove in, I felt a disruption of the water around me, and when I surfaced, I realized it had been Austin, doing a cannonball as he hit the pool at almost the exact same time as I did.

“Should we call it a tie?” he teased.

I smiled as I swam up and wrapped my legs around his hips. “Sure, but we both know that I won.”

He tipped his head back, his wet skin and his hair glistening under the mid-afternoon sun as he smirked up at me. “Believe whatever you’d like to.”

“I will,” I murmured, breaking my gaze away from him to take in the views.

It felt like there was no one else around us, the villas placed perfectly so as not to give even a hint of neighbors. We’d seen a few people milling about when we’d been on our quick tour, but it was definitely an exclusive kind of place.

There was only the sky above and the peaceful ocean stretching out as far as the eye could see. The water was pleasantly warm but still cool enough to break the humidity of the day, and I couldn’t think of a single thing they could’ve done to make the villa better.

Every need a guest could possibly have had been taken care of, with us even having our own grill and a little dining area outside. As I drank it in, I glanced at Austin. “That’s an interesting idea, isn’t it? I wouldn’t be able to put a grill in every room, but what if we created private nooks in the garden with grills or firepits in them? Guests could book them for dinner or even for events.”

Austin groaned. “The grand opening is scheduled for June and our plates are pretty full as it is, but your wish is my command. I’ll tell the contractors.”

I chuckled. “No, don’t. I’m worried that we won’t have enough time. This could be a possibility for the future. We can get that butcher who brought the meat to the dinner to provide options for our guests to order every week, and they could choose to cook it themselves or we can have someone cook it for them.”

“We’ll stay on schedule,” he said confidently. “Let’s see if there’s time left to build at least one or two of these little nooks. It’s a good idea and it’ll be summer when we open, so guests might like the idea of cooking and relaxing outside around a fire.”

“Maybe,” I said, thinking it over and feeling my heart pick up its pace. “Jess and Slate’s baby will have been born by then. Maybe we could even throw them a ‘welcome to parenthood’ barbecue if we do manage to pull it off on time.”

“They’d love that,” he said, sliding his arms around my waist and moving us to one of the corners in the pool nearest the edge of the deck.

I slid my fingers into his wet hair, bringing my gaze back to his. He penned me in between himself and the side of the pool, his eyes suddenly smoldering on mine.

I smiled, trying to ignore the bulge of him pressed up against my core. “Isn’t it crazy that everyone is having babies? First Mira, then Winrey, and now Jess is up next?”

“When are we going to have ours?” he asked casually, dark eyes glittering with lust and humor, but I knew he’d always wanted to be a father.

He might be trying to sound casual about it, but Nicholas had pushed his “dad-drive” into overload, and while he wasn’t trying to pressure me, he definitely really did want to know when we could start trying.

I giggled. “Aren’t I supposed to be the baby crazy one in the relationship?”

Bringing his mouth to mine, he laid a hard and steamy kiss on me, grinding his hips against my own as he slid his tongue into my mouth. When I moaned, he spoke against my lips, his voice rough but earnest.

“I’ll wait as long as you want to. I want you to be ready, obviously, but I also want you to know that I’m already there.”

“I’m getting there too,” I admitted into the continuous kisses he was pressing against my mouth. “I just don’t want to rush such a good thing. We still have so much to do together. Kids will come, but until they do, I want to enjoy taking every step with you.”

My heart slammed against my ribs and the heat of his body against mine threatened to overtake my senses, but we promised we would always be honest with each other. “I’d also like to be married before we have kids. I know it might be a little traditional, but I can’t help it. I’ve just always imagined myself being a wife before I become a mother.”

He grinned before he pulled away to look into my eyes. “That can be arranged, baby. That can definitely be arranged.”