by Hart, Hanna
He shut the front door behind him and Willow stared in surprise.
The déjà vu was so powerful it knocked the wind out of her. Willow crouched down on the floor and brought her knees up to her chest.
Chapter Sixteen
Ryder
Willow Watkins—eternal heartbreaker.
Ryder took the elevator down to the lobby of his exquisite apartment building and into the underground parking. He drove out into the city streets with the windows rolled down.
The night air was cool on his skin, but it felt refreshing. It kept him awake. He drove out to the north beaches and sat in his car for a long time before stepping out.
Ryder took his shoes off and set them on the hood of his car. He walked down to the beach. When he reached the surf, he pressed his feet deep into the wet sand beneath him and waited for the water to rush in.
He was a fool.
Again.
Willow was wild and energetic, and he was laid back and far too afraid to break the rules. In a way, that was what he liked about her. But it scared him, for this exact reason. He couldn't trust her.
Maybe she was right, he thought. She was a lost girl.
He thought she had come to the island to help him, when in reality her motives had been even more underhanded than Miranda's about outing his family. At least Miranda was ruthlessly upfront about it.
Willow had reeled him in for information, and he hadn't even realized.
He had trusted Willow once, only to have his heart broken. He had worried about this very thing happening ever since she had come to Nani Makai. Maybe not as specific as her writing an article about his family but trusting her with his heart.
And she did have his heart, even now.
There was something therapeutic about being out in the ocean and letting the water overtake your body. He stood up and waded far in until he was at chest level in drenched clothes. He stared into the abyss. The sky was so dark; he couldn't tell where the stars ended and the ocean began.
The water was warm, but as it left his skin, the breeze sent prickles of stabbing cold along his arms and neck.
His stomach twisted as he thought of all the stories Willow had told him about getting close to people to try and get a useable quote for an article. At the time, he thought they were fun, plucky work stories. Now they just made him feel cheap. Like a number.
But wait, he tried to clear his mind and think. She had also told him that it made her feel bad to do such things. Made her feel juvenile.
“She didn't send the article,” he said aloud. “She didn't do it. She doesn't want to be that person.”
He tried to slow the pounding of his heart and remember who Willow was. She was a lost girl. She said so herself, but maybe she was finding herself now. Maybe he had been able to do that for her. Maybe she was changing her ways.
She had told him she was different. That she was trying. So, why was he choosing not to believe her?
Ryder swallowed, finally feeling some sort of stability in his thoughts.
And if Willow was going to change, then he had to grow up as well. He couldn't keep running away from his problems or shutting her out. He had to be more than the man he was when they were first together. Otherwise, this would never work.
And he wanted it to work so badly.
There was a loud splash in the distance, and it surprised Ryder so much that he made an audible grunt and took a slow step backward in the water.
And then something clicked.
Willow didn't kiss Charlie because she didn't love Ryder. He didn't know that back then. Back then he thought she was just that type of girl who could get over someone in an instant and head onto the next adventure.
But he knew it now.
Willow wasn't an exuberant free-spirit he had made her out to be in his mind. She was insecure. She wouldn't have been swayed or enticed by Charlie calling her special—something he had been furious about at the time—if Ryder had made her feel that way all along.
He felt a sudden rush of blood course through his body, and he rushed against the water back to land. He thought back to when they were kids in New York. How she slammed the door and walked out. He imagined what her face must have looked like when she showed up at his apartment only to find him gone.
Love was never easy for Ryder Prescott. Especially, when it came to Willow.
He wished so badly he could go back in time to that moment and chase after her, tell her how important she was to him. Back then, Ryder left when things got hard, and he wasn't about to do it again. He wouldn’t lose her a second time.
Chapter Seventeen
Willow
Willow stared out over the piers. The waters were dark but sounded like a heavenly white noise that she desperately needed. She couldn’t bear being in Ryder’s place without him there. This situation felt wildly familiar in all the wrong ways.
She’d ruined everything.
Now she’d lost Ryder, and likely her job, as well.
The article spoke the truth. She didn't slant it as the Prescotts being monsters. If anything, she tried to paint them as human. She tried to show how even the kindest of people can sometimes make a mess of things.
Even so, she still couldn’t bring herself to be that person anymore. She didn’t want to be someone who blackmailed people to get a story or betrayed someone’s trust. These things mattered. Willow knew that now.
She wanted to cry or scream, but a void of emptiness filled her chest that prevented her from doing either.
She’d taken a taxi down to a collection of docks. It was a fifteen-minute drive from Ryder’s apartment, and it was the only place with an open coffee shop at four in the morning.
What would happen to them now? She wanted Ryder to believe her. She wanted to sit down with him and beg for them to talk it out. She didn’t want to repeat what they had done so many years ago. She wanted to keep rekindling the love that was growing in her heart.
“This was real,” she told herself. “It has to work.”
Willow watched the hypnotizing water and held her jacket close to her body.
The cold air and quiet morning reminded her of being in France, how she would stand by the window or go out onto the balcony and watch in the distance as the workers would shape and firm the snow against for the next morning's skiers.
She drank half of her large coffee and used the remaining hot liquid to warm her hands against.
After an hour on the dock, sitting on a bench and watching the water, the sun finally started to rise. It was nearly five in the morning, and she was ready to bite the bullet and head back to Ryder’s.
But then she heard his voice appear like an apparition.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked, staring down at the spot on the bench next to her.
Willow smiled up at him in surprise and moved over to allow him to sit.
“How did you find me?” she asked nervously.
Ryder looked exhausted. He sat down wearily and set his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and then pointed to the coffee shop by the docks. “I went home, and you weren’t there. So, I figured I should follow the coffee,” he said. “This is the only place open at this time of the morning.” He swallowed nervously. “They open for the fishers, you know.”
Willow nodded, relishing the feel of his warm arm around her.
“Ryder, I’m so sorry for everything. We were—”
Ryder shook his head and squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay,” he interrupted.
“No, please, let me finish,” she said in an uncharacteristically small voice. “We were so caught up in the heat of who was right and who was wrong that I don't think I properly told you how sorry I am.”
Ryder looked at her but said nothing.
“I’m sorry about what happened with Charlie,” she admitted. “I can't believe you saw that and even if you hadn't... Ryder, it was a huge mistake. I let it happen. I initiated it, even. But I only did it because I was spiraling ou
t of control. I thought you didn't want me, and that's not an excuse. It's just the truth. But, I'm so, so sorry that it happened—”
“Willow,” he said with a small laugh, “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine,” she began to cry, her chin quivering and her throat tightening as she tried to force her words out. “Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Everyone always says time heals all wounds but sometimes," she shrugged and let out a sob. "Sometimes it just doesn't. I was so lost without you, and I kept thinking that as time went on, I would start to find myself. And then years and years kept going by, and nothing got better. Not until I saw you again."
“I feel the same way,” he said firmly and kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before.”
Ryder tilted her shaking chin up and kissed her on the mouth. When he pulled away, he said, “And I’m sorry for leaving New York. It was the worst mistake I ever made in my whole life. I lost you once, Willow. I won’t… and I can’t lose you again.”
Willow blinked off her tears and felt her face go warm.
“You can’t?” she repeated.
“I can’t,” Ryder shook his head. “I want to be with you.”
“I want to be with you, too,” she said, pulling him closer.
“But things can’t be the way the way they were before,” he said, and Willow nodded.
“No, I know,” she said.
“I want this to work more than I have ever wanted anything in my whole life. You are what I have been waiting for. But, we have to be honest with each other from now on. Deal?”
Willow nodded, completely overwhelmed by his wonderful words. “Deal,” she said.
“I love you,” he said, and his eyes flicked back and forth from hers nervously until Willow smiled and said, “I love you too.”
A look of relief and then astonishment crossed Ryder’s face and
“So, are you willing to start over with me?” he asked with sincerity.
“Always,” she gushed.
“Then, Willow Watkins, my wife,” he smirked, “will you go out with me?”
Willow beamed with delight and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the warmth of him against her. It was the most wonderful sensation she had ever felt in her whole life.
“Of course,” she said.
Epilogue
Ryder
Mornings on the beach were Ryder’s favorite way to start the day.
The beach was white from side to side, and Ryder had spent the morning watching his beautiful wife sprawled out on the beach in a neon pink one-piece bathing suit with a giant bow on the front.
Nani Makai beaches were stunning and clean. The crystal blue water waded to show in slow and lazy waves, perfect for a Sunday morning.
A lot had happened in the last couple of years. It had been five years since the election. His father had a heart-to-heart with Isaac, and unexpectedly, he stepped down gracefully. He now sat on Isaac's council and helped him out anywhere he could. With Isaac's win came the protection of the family secrets. His father's indiscretions were kept private and were not to be repeated.
Ryder didn't want to wait another moment to start his life with Willow. Following the night on the docks, he had asked her if she wanted to have another wedding—a real one.
“I think our wedding was plenty real,” she said. “It led to us getting together in the first place. In fact, I'm pretty sure we owe your parents a big giant thank you for that.”
“Ugh, don't say that,” he teased. “You'll give me nightmares.”
“Admit it!” she laughed. “They were right to pick me as your pretend-wifey!”
“Alright,” he said and leaned in to grab her lips with his own. Then he whispered, “They were right. But that stays between you and me, deal?”
“Deal,” she giggled.
A new wedding wasn't necessary, she had assured him. They were, for all intents and purposes, a real married couple.
Ryder wasn't surprised by the relief he felt when his father left office. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he had his family back. His parents, free from the constraints of living the public life, had more time and attention to devote to Ryder and his two little girls.
Yes, two.
They were spending this summer on Nani Makai, away from their Manhattan brownstone.
The sun was shining and hot. It took some patience, but eventually, he had built up a pretty impressive sand castle. It was just a little shorter than he was at full height. He and Willow had hollowed out an archway in the middle of the castle so their daughters, Allie, four, and Jessica, two, could pass through it.
Willow smiled at him but shook her head.
Nani Makai was their summer retreat. After all, if they were going to spend their time at the beach, it may as well be the most prominent beach in the whole world.
Ryder’s penthouse apartment wasn’t the family-friendly atmosphere he and Willow craved. Now when they came to Nani Makai, they would stay at their four-bedroom beach house down the coast away from the resort.
They would spend their mornings on the beach, their afternoons sailing, and the evenings doing what Ryder loved best—staying at home with his family.
Ryder sat cross-legged in front of his sandy masterpiece. He stared at the immense castle and watched as his dark-haired little girls scrambled through the bottom together, giggling and squealing like little girls do.
He used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun and watched as his stunning wife offered him a toothy grin and scooped their toddler up in her arms.
“Daddy's, look! Intruders!” Allie called out as she spotted a seabird perch on one of the castle spires. She grabbed a green stone from out of the sand and threw it up to chase the bird off.
“It's going to fall!” came Willows exuberant squeal.
Ryder turned to his wife and smirked. “This castle is built sturdy,” he said. “I protect my princesses!”
“Oh, right,” she laughed. “I forgot you were an expert craftsman with sand.”
“Do not underestimate my skills,” he winked.
Starting a family was the most amazing thing Ryder could ever have imagined. He had never seen Willow so fulfilled and calm and stable in all his life.
He had never imagined he could love anything more than he loved Willow, until his girls came along. And the best part was, he wasn’t afraid anymore. The prospect of commitment
“I love this place!” Allie called out as she ran circles around her parents. “Can we stay here forever, daddy?”
“I don't know, baby,” he said as he hoisted Allie up onto his shoulders. “Don't you like New York?”
“Yeah,” his daughter said, stretching out the word. “But this place is too pretty to leave”
“You hear that, Willow?” he said, smirking at his wife. “It's too pretty here.”
“I hear it,” Willow said, eyeing Ryder. “But mama loves our home too much to leave.”
He walked over to her and nodded. “So do I.”
New York was where they belonged. It was where they were meant to start their lives together. Once they decided to make their marriage the real thing, it only seemed natural that they would move back to the city and start living the life they were always meant to.
“Do you know that you're my absolute favorite person in the whole wide world?” he whispered to his wife.
“Hm,” Willow said in a flirtatious tease. “
“It's okay!” Allie piped up, swinging her legs against Ryder's shoulders. “We don't have to live here. But, I think that seabird is my new friend. He’s here to protect the castle. I want to know where he lives and what other castles he protects, too.”
Willow laughed at their daughter and Ryder whispered, “She's exactly like you. You do know this, right?”
His wife nodded and, through a smirk she teased, “Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh is right,” he grinned. “We're in for a wild ride.”
&
nbsp; Willow leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips. When she pulled away, she said, “And that's just the way you like it.”
“You got that right,” he said.
Ryder could see their past playing out like a movie projecting right in front of him. He always thought he wasn't Willow's type, but as it turned out—he was exactly what she needed. They both were.
Love is unexpected. Sometimes you meet your soulmate and life goes smoothly after that. Other times you meet, but you aren’t quite ready for each other yet.
Ryder had loved Willow Watkins his entire life, but it wasn't until he got a second chance that he saw things clearly.
They belonged together.
And now, they would finally get to have their happily ever after.
The End
Other Books In This Series
**All books in this series can be read as a standalone**
The Billionaire’s Fake Marriage
Book 1 of the Crystal Beach Resort Series
The Billionaire’s Fake Bride
Book 2 of the Crystal Beach Resort Series
The Billionaire’s Fake Wedding
Book 3 of the Crystal Beach Resort Series
About the Author
Hanna Hart is a passionate sweet clean contemporary romance author who has found the love for writing since the age of 6.
Hanna lives in the beautiful Santa Cruz California with her loving husband, two children and dog Milo. Other then dreaming up of extremely sweet & romantic stories, Hanna enjoys spending time with her family, going to the beach, cooking great food, travelling the world, and getting a lot of exercise.
Hanna’s purpose is to delivery very sweet romantic stories to her readers that will touch their hearts in a very meaningful taking them to another place that will positively impact their life.