The next thing she knew, she'd been sucked into a bone-crushing embrace and lifted high into the air, her feet dangling behind her. Brad spun her around, then slid her slowly back down, capturing her mouth in a deal-sealing kiss. "I love you, Hope."
His words had her heart pounding, and sheer joy effervescing from deep inside. "It may not be as hard to make me love you as you think." Her lips met his for a chaste peck. “But," she continued, "there's one thing I still don't get."
"What's that?"
"You said it took you two days to accept the truth. What truth?"
His gaze softened, and her heart melted a little more. "When it's right, it just is."
Chapter Thirteen
"That's it. Easy on the grip," John called to his nephew from his post at the grille.
Brad and the other adults on the back patio chuckled at the sight of Jason and Bradley teaching Izzy and Catherine how to play T-ball.
The first few weeks after the hotel showdown had been an unexpected challenge for Brad. From the beginning he knew he needed more than money to win Hope over. Not very surprising, his best weapon and ally had turned out to be Ava Maplewood followed by just about every member of the down to earth Everrett clan. But Ava made the most difference. She brought the concept of balance and normal to being married to a man raised with a silver spoon in his mouth and had put Hope instantly at ease. From there the two had quickly become fast friends.
Standing beside John, at the grill, Billy Everrett continued to watch the children in the yard. "I think you've got a natural-born athlete."
"Thank you," both Nick and Brad answered in perfect chorus.
It still surprised Brad to realize Nick Harper was practically part of the Everrett clan. Having only met Billy and Angela on his quick visits to the island, he’d only heard of Nick and Doug, and all the others, but had failed to make the connection at the pizza parlor or the field. After all it wasn’t really that small an island.
Having Nick and his wife and the other Everrett sibling Emily and her husband drop by hadn't been planned. This Saturday afternoon gathering had started out as just Brad and Hope and Jason over at John and Ava's, but somehow when word got out that John was actually manning the grill himself, the small backyard event had turned into an event worthy of the matriarch, Maile Everrett.
“Oh,” Doug lifted his chin in the direction of the rear parking lot. “Didn’t know Lexi and Jim were in town.”
The tall willowy blonde holding hands with a man cut from the same cloth as the other sailors in the family approached. Sporting broad grins and enthusiastic waves, they clearly belonged. For a split moment Brad wondered if there was anyone on the island who didn’t belong. Whichever the case, they’d clearly been drinking the same water as everyone else at the impromptu barbecue because he could feel the sizzle in their gazes clear across the yard.
Nick turned and gave a short wave to the couple stopped mid stride by none other than the family matriarch. From the hugs ensued Brad wasn’t sure if they hadn’t seen each other in quite some time or if it was in the matriarch’s job description to ensure everyone’s spines were properly aligned.
"Whatever you three are grinning about, the answer is no." Ava set a clean plate in front of her husband, patted his backside, and then spun about to return to the huddle of women across the yard.
John’s grin split wide open. “Just doing as my beautiful wife instructed.”
Shaking her head and laughing, she shouted over her shoulder. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
The men chuckled and it was obvious to any fool observing all these men were extremely happy.
"Glad to see you're joining the rank and file, Brad." Billy tipped his beer in Hope's direction. "Looks like it was worth the wait."
Brad didn't stop the grin that took over his face. "Definitely." He couldn't imagine going back to a life without Hope. This morning he'd picked out a ring. After all, what made sense three months ago, still made sense today. When it's right, it just is. Tonight, after this afternoon's not so little gathering, he was taking her and Jason to the beach for a sunset stroll. And a proposal.
"Okay, guys." Hope sidled up beside Brad and looped her arm around his waist. "Ravenous mothers over here. How much longer?"
"Just another minute or two." John stabbed at another piece of meat.
Doug raised his arm and Ava’s sister Emily slid underneath, curling into his side. He’d heard the story of how Doug had accidentally fallen for his best friend’s little sister, but judging by the fire in their eyes, he decided Ava was right. It wouldn’t be long before they added to Maile Everrett’s requests for more grandchildren.
“Ava tells me,” Emily looked to Brad, “that your bringing a satellite home office to Kona?”
Nodding, Brad tightened his hold on Hope's hip. "We'll be all moved in next week."
"So glad the old dog can learn new tricks from real people." Ava settled in beside her husband.
"Is she ever going to let me forget that?" Brad directed his question at John.
"Nope," Ava and Hope responded in unison, then burst into chuckles.
"Admit it," Ava continued. "You learned so much more than you expected to when you took John's challenge."
"I heard it was very eventful," Billy casually dropped an arm around his wife who had joined the group. "Your own version of Undercover CEO. Quite an eye-opener."
"I recommend every business owner should try it. Including you two."
“Hey,” Nick tipped his beer bottle at Brad, “we’re already in the thick of things. No stuffy desk jobs for us. Now John here…”
"So not happening." John waved him off, shaking his head, poked at a steak, and nodding satisfaction, dropped it onto an empty plate.
Nick laughed and turned to face Brad. “Have you made any changes yet based on all these eye-opening discoveries?”
"Quite a few." More than Brad could remember at the moment. "After my lead teams got over the shock of being sent into the trenches for a week to learn the nuts and bolts of what's really going on, the list of change recommendations tripled from my initial suggestions."
"And were implemented rather quickly," Hope added.
"I like how you've given your employees access to free legal advice and aid if necessary." John slid the last steak onto the platter. "I like to think I pay all my people well, but heaven knows how many people there are at FJM Global who can't afford good legal advice. I'd hate to think anyone of them would find themselves in a situation like your employee who couldn't keep her dangerous deadbeat ex out of her life."
"True." Billy turned with his wife to follow John and the food.
"It was good of you and your lawyers to take care of Lani's problems and make them available for anyone else at EastCo." Ava paused to call the children to the table, then turned back to Brad. "Trust me when I say, not enough people get involved in domestic abuse cases."
Brad nodded. Truth was, he wished he could do more to help all the Lanis in the world. For now, it was enough to know he'd done all he could for her and her children.
Jason came running up to the table with the other kids in tow and frowned at the large platter of steaks. Before he could say a word, Hope uncovered the plate of cheeseburgers, and the boy’s face lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree.
Oh, how Brad loved seeing this kid smile. It had never occurred to him that he could come to love and want to protect one little boy so easily. And, if there was a God in heaven, tonight he, Hope, and her son would be officially on the way to becoming a family.
***
Hope loved hanging out with Ava and John Maplewood. Who knew that such wealthy and powerful couple were pretty much just people. Ava had quickly helped Hope see that she had no valid reason not to let Brad into her life. The fact that she had struggled all her life and that Brad had had all the advantages didn't mean a thing.
"Here we are." Brad pulled into the parking lot nearest the sea wall. "Time to walk off all those
calories."
"And get ice cream," Jason chimed in.
Brad laughed. "And get ice cream."
For a few seconds, while Brad made his way around the car to open her door and then Jason's, Hope lingered in this perfect moment. She didn't want to think about how empty her world would feel if Brad weren't a part of it.
"Come on." Holding out his hand to her, Brad grabbed on tight and didn't let go.
They walked to the shoreline, Jason rambling on at Brad's side about teaching the girls to play ball and how soon soccer season was coming up and Bradley’s Uncle Doug had promised to coach both Jason and Bradley. Hope chose to simply enjoy the moment. A short crop of rocks jutted out toward the sea, and Jason pulled away from Brad and ran ahead.
Brad tugged at her hand to trot after him. "Be careful, buddy. No climbing on the big rocks."
"Yeah, well, that just took all the fun out of it." Hope elbowed Brad, knowing full well she was about to say the exact same thing, only he beat her to it.
Brad squeezed her hand and sent all the blood pumping to her heart. How had she grown to love this man so darn much in such a short time? At the foot of the rocks, Brad let go and climbed up to where Jason had stopped. "Remember what you and I talked about?"
Jason nodded.
"Good." Brad grabbed Jason's hand and walked him back to the base of the rocks, where Hope stood watching. Reaching out to her, he directed her to sit on one of the larger rocks, then encouraged Jason to sit beside her.
"What's this all about?" she asked.
"It's a surprise." Jason flashed a toothy grin.
"That's right." Brad stepped right in front of her.
She had no idea what this production was about, but, holding on tightly to her hand, Brad remained standing.
"I know we haven't been together very long, and we still have a lot to learn about each other, but there's one thing I know for sure. You are the only woman for me. You make me a better man, and I never want to face another day of my life without you at my side. I love you more than words can say and promise to prove that to you every day of your life, if you will do me the honor and joy of becoming my wife."
All the air in her lungs had stopped flowing. Could she possibly have heard him right?
Brad dropped to one knee. "Hope Anne Gibbons and Jason David Gibbons, will you marry me?"
Jason pulled away from his mother's side and flung his arms around Brad's neck. "Yes!"
Brad wrapped his arms around the little boy but remained on bended knee. "Hope?"
She batted back the tears of joy. Maybe sometimes fairy tales really did come true. "When it's right, it just is."
***
Have you read all of the Aloha Romance Series? Start with Aloha Texas here.
Have you read the Farraday Country Series from Chris? Start with Adam here.
Read all of Chris Keniston’s books? We have good news for you. HART LAND, a new series, is coming soon!
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***
So glad you could join me on another frolic with folks from the Big Island Dive shop. If you've read my books before this little part can sound like a broken record (yeah I'm that old lol) but Ratings and reviews are so very important to an author's livelihood. So, I'll say it all again, by now many of you have read my explanation of how authors (yes me too!) love to see Star Ratings. The only catch is that we have no idea what you think of a book if it's not reviewed. And yes, every book in a series needs reviews—LOTS of reviews. It’s not my intention to lecture – but many readers are unaware of the importance of reviews to an author’s career or how easy they are to write. So if you enjoyed reading FLIRTING WITH PARADISE please take a second to let others know what fun it is spending time in the Aloha world. Reading reviews –even if they're only two words—can make an author’s day. It certainly helps mine!
For those of you who have not read a recent release and have no idea why we authors keep asking you as a reader to take a few minutes to leave even a two word review, here's more explanation of reviews in this crazy business.
Reviews (not just ratings) help authors qualify for advertising opportunities and help other readers make purchasing decisions. Without triple digit reviews, an author may miss out on valuable advertising opportunities. And with only "star ratings" the author has little chance of participating in certain promotions. Which means fewer sales offered to my favorite readers!
Another reason to take a minute and leave a review is that often a few kind words left in a review can make a huge difference to an author and their muse. Recently new to reviewing fans have left a few words after reading a similar letter and they were tonic to tired muse! LOL Seriously. Star ratings simply do not have the same impact to thank or encourage an author when the writing gets tough.
So please consider taking a moment to write even a handful of words. Writing a review only takes a few minutes of your time. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy book report, just a few words expressing what you enjoyed most about the story.
Please continue to rate the books as you read, but take an extra moment and pop over to the review section and leave a few words too!
Most of all - Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed FLIRTING WITH PARADISE and stay on the lookout for HEATHER first in the new Hart Land Series.
Y'all come back now! (Yeah, I’ve lived in the South a LONG time…)
Chris Keniston
***
MEET CHRIS
Author of dozens of contemporary novels, including the award winning Aloha Series, Chris Keniston lives in suburban Dallas with her husband, two human children, and two canine children. Though she loves her puppies equally, she admits being especially attached to her German Shepherd rescue. After all, even dogs deserve a happily ever after.
More on Chris and her books can be found at www.chriskeniston.com
Follow Chris on Facebook at ChrisKenistonAuthor or on Twitter @ckenistonauthor
***
Closed Door Books
by Chris Keniston
Available on Kobo
Farraday Country
Adam
Brooks
Connor
Declan
Ethan
Finn
Grace
Hannah
Ian
Jamison
Keeping Eileen
Aloha Series Sweet Edition
Aloha Texas
Almost Paradise
Mai Tai Marriage
Dive Into You
Look of Love
Love by Design
Love Walks In
Flirting with Paradise
Surf's Up Flirts
(Aloha Series Companions)
Shall We Dance
Love on Tap
Head Over Heels
Perfect Match
Just One Kiss
It Had to Be You
Other Books
by Chris Keniston
Honeymoon Series
Honeymoon for One
Honeymoon for Three
Family Secrets Novels
Champagne Sisterhood
The Homecoming
Hope's Corner
Original Aloha Series
Waikiki Wedding
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Newsletter Sign-up
Booklist
p; Chris Keniston, Flirting with Paradise
Flirting with Paradise Page 9