CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

Val gripped the handles to the motorbike, her foot riding the accelerator with a strange sense of urgency. Thoughts flying through her mind like the breeze that whipped her hair as it streamed from beneath the helmet. The purr of the bike’s engine a rhythm to her beating heart as she scanned the stretch of highway for a familiar figure.

What if someone gave him a ride? Or he changed his mind and called a cab, or simply took a different route?

All questions pounding in her brain as she drove along, the force of her goal enough to block her fears of totaling the bike with her amateur skills.

Please, please it’s not too late. A hopeful prayer as she rounded the curve, her foot pushing the brake pad as the bend in the road deepened.

The scenery changed slightly with the turn, billboards and business signs appearing along the horizon. And a figure on foot, a duffel bag and faded knapsack slung across their shoulder.

Val zoomed ahead of them, flicking her turn signal as she pulled to the shoulder of the road. Disembarking from the motorbike with care, her high heel clad feet wobbled with the transition. One hand pulled the helmet from her hair as she turned to face the approaching figure.

With mere yards between them, he stopped. Disbelief flashed in the brown eyes that studied Val as if she were a mirage in a desert landscape.

His gaze shifted from her to the bike and back again. “You probably have something to say to me,” he guessed. A cautious edge in the flippant observation.

“You left me a note,” she said. Her voice broke on the last word, a pause required before she could finish, “I had to give you an answer.”

"You did?" he sounded surprised. "But I thought–I mean, you didn't say anything yesterday."

"Do you want it or not?" she asked, blinking back tears as she stepped closer. "I mean, I borrowed a bike, I tore out of that hotel to find you."

He automatically held out a hand, as if expecting to receive a note in return for his own.

She took hold of his fingers. Holding them tightly, using them to draw him closer as the distance between them shrank into nothing. Her lips pressed against his own, not with hesitation but with force.

The motion deepened, her hands cradling his face tenderly.

Riley’s bags slid to the ground. His arms twining round her shoulders, holding her tightly in response. When he pulled away, his dark brown eyes searched hers as if seeking proof that what just happened was real.

“I thought you loved him," he said. "I thought you loved Jason–I mean, that night by the pond–”

“I did,” she answered. “Thirteen years ago, when I kept that note. And a part of me still did, until I knew that his heart really belonged to someone else. And that–" her voice trembled, "–and that mine was falling for someone else, too."

Her fingers interlaced with his own again, one arm still around his neck. "You were right. Destiny should take its own course.” Her gaze explored his own, hoping he would read the same feelings as the ones in his note. “Some things are bound to happen no matter what you do.”

A faint smile began to form on his lips, a look of wonder and surprise like the one she had seen moments after Hammond closed the deal.

"So you actually chased me down?" he asked. "You did that–for me?" His eyes returned to the bike as Val dangled the keys in a question.

“Need a ride?” she asked. Lips curving upward in a warm smile. “It comes with two helmets.”

“Sounds like destiny to me,” he answered.

Leaning down, he let his lips brush her own, her skin tingling with anticipation of the kiss. Behind them, a breeze rattled the motorbike’s tin cans, the poster board placard that said “Just Married" fluttering like a celebratory banner.