Page 83 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“I should have said it the other morning on the beach. I should never have gotten on the plane or gone to Atlanta without telling you how I felt. I don’t have many regrets in life, but that is easily one of my biggest. Not telling you the moment I knew that you were special. More than just special. That you were the only thing I could ever want or need. I love you, Leona.”
“Say it again,” she whispered.
He pulled her in close and lifted a hand to wipe away her tears. She shivered lightly at his touch, and he loved feeling her react that way in his arms. He kissed her softly.
“I love you, Leona.”
“I love you, too, Cullen.”
“So what do you say, Lee? A quiet, simple life with me here on the island sound good to you?” he asked.
She laughed. “I don’t know how quiet it’s going to be with a mini sports complex on our property, or next to a resort’s adventure park.”
“We don’t have to do either of those things if you don’t want. Nothing is set in stone,” he told her.
“No, I love the idea. I loved watching you with all those kids that day. And watching you with Jo-bro, well, a girl could get used to that,” she said, a wide smile taking over her face. “Just as long as at the end of every day, it’s your arms I get to fall asleep in.”
“I promise, Lee, I will never let you fall in any way, if I’m not there to catch you.”
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Leona stood just outside Cherish Spa, lightly bouncing up and down in place wondering where on earth Cullen was. The ribbon cutting ceremony was about to start any minute and if he didn’t hurry up, he was going to miss it. And since he was the ribbon cutter, he was going to be in some deep shit if that was the case. Whatever this phone call was, it better have been really important to risk missing this. He knew how important this was to Drea, and by extension to Leona. Not to mention, she had been secretly hoping they would sneak back into treatment room three and have a repeat session.
Not that they needed to sneak around anymore. It was now very public knowledge that she and Cullen were together. As part of the deal for selling them a portion of the lot to expand the resort, Cullen had worked out an agreement with the Quinlans to stay in La Isla Bonita while the old Riggs house was renovated. This now made him a “resident” of the resort, rather than a guest, so Leona had not been breaking any rules when she moved all her stuff out of her suite in the staff dorm and into the bungalow.
According to the contractor that Cullen had spent the last two weeks working on plans with, they’d be done renovating the old house in three to four months. That timeline seemed awfully fast to Leona, considering all the things they had discussed changing, plus all the general repairs that were needed to get a house that had sat empty for so long up to code. But what did she know—her area of expertise was housekeeping, not house building. In the end, she didn’t really care how long it took, since every night she got to fall asleep in Cullen’s arms and then wake up each morning with those same arms still holding her tight.
The one portion of being a superstar’s girlfriend she hadn’t been fully prepared for was the notoriety that came with it. It wasn't just public knowledge on the resort or around St. Thomas that she and Cullen were a pair, but word had gotten out to the rest of the world as well. When the story broke that Cullen had turned down the offer of coaching a brand-new team in Atlanta in favor of opening his own training facility in the Virgin
Islands, the media about lost their minds. Within a day and a half, news outlets from all over the US and Europe had landed at the Indigo Royal, trying to get an interview with him. Of course, they quickly picked up on the other breaking news story that Cullen Cruz had given up his “playboy ways” and was settling down with an island native. Leona hadn’t been prepared to be the focus of their stories, or for a photo of her and Cullen together to be the coveted prize, but Cullen didn’t blink an eye in telling them to leave her alone or he would press charges for harassment.
For a brief moment Vaughn threatened to press charges against Felicity and the young maintenance guy she paid off to gain access to the resort. It was thanks to Carlos that they even figured out who it was that Felicity had manipulated to get her way, having overheard the kid in the employee parking lot talking about the hot blonde who approached him. Leona had been so relieved it wasn’t Carlos that had been the culprit, she convinced the uncles to not press any charges and to just fire the kid. She and Cullen didn’t need any more attention drawn to them.
Cullen rushed back over to where Leona was standing, weaving through a bunch of other staff members as he did so. When he had suggested to Drea that she use all the media attention he was bringing to the resort to her advantage and that she should do an opening ceremony for the spa, Leona had thought he was crazy. But seeing the way Drea lit up at the idea, she decided to keep her opinion to herself. Truth be told, it would be nice to have the group of reporters and photographers that were still hanging about focused on something other than her and Cullen for a moment. She also loved that Cullen hadn’t thought twice about doing something for Drea. He'd taken to life at Indigo Royal pretty quickly and had slipped into her group of friends and family like he’d always been there.
“Sorry, that was Gunnar,” he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek.
“What did he have to say?” she asked, curious what his old teammate could want. When Cullen had turned down the offer in Atlanta, Gunnar Gracin had been the person he’d told them to call. Apparently, Britt “Cowboy” Callahan, while not thrilled Cullen had turned down the job, had been more than satisfied that the person Cullen had suggested was another former Reds teammate.
“Tell you all about it when I’m done with the ribbon,” he said, kissing her softly. “Be right back, Menina.”
The little speech Drea gave couldn’t have lasted but two to three minutes, but to Cullen it felt like forever. He knew the reporters were enamored with the cute little brunette, though, and he didn’t want to take away from the special day just because he had a surprise for his own girlfriend. Didn’t matter how great the surprise was, if he ruined the day for her best friend, Leona would string him up by his testicles.
Once they’d finished taking all the customary ceremonial pictures, and Cullen had finally cut the ribbon, he made his way back over to his favorite blonde. He could tell she was incredibly excited for her best friend but was also just as anxious for him to spit out whatever he was withholding.
He pulled her in close, wrapping both his arms around her and kissing her deeply. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to deepen the kiss, and it sent a thrill straight through him. There was nothing quite like kissing her, and he still didn’t know how he’d gone so long without her fully in his life.
When they finally let go of each other, she looked into his eyes and smiled a great big grin. Everything about her seemed to radiate joy, and he couldn’t help but return her smile.
“There are cameras here, you know,” Dalton scolded jokingly as he sauntered up to them. Leona had complained a fair amount when they first arrived that it seemed like they were everywhere, and Dalton had taken it upon himself to annoyingly point them out constantly.
“They’re focused on Drea, not us,” she snapped back.
“They won’t be for long if you two keep up like that,” he teased her. Turning to Cullen, his face became serious. “We haven’t had much of a chance to chat since you got back, but I heard you really stuck it to the old man up in Atlanta.”
Cullen laughed slightly. “I hope your father understands. Please tell him it was nothing personal when you talk to him next.”
