Love at First flight Read online

  The kiss went on for what felt like forever until she pulled back to gaze up at him. With her palm resting on his face, she kissed him again. “Thank you, Michael, for all of this and for all the faith you’ve always had in us. I wasn’t worthy of it before, but I think I might be now.”

  “You were always worthy of it, silly. You could’ve saved me a lot of sleepless nights if you’d skipped over your whole Zen phase and come home to me sooner.” He took her hand again. “Let’s go upstairs. There’s more I want to show you.”

  He gave her a tour of all the improvements he had made to the second floor since she was last there, including a new kitchen, remodeled bathrooms, and a fresh coat of paint in every room.

  She recognized most of the furniture from his house in Maryland, including his big bed. On the bedside table was another copy of the photo from the Bahamas.

  He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “You ever think about the last night we spent in that bed?”

  Her cheeks burned. “I’ve never forgotten it.”

  “I’ve relived it a few thousand times myself. Maybe we can have a reenactment tonight?”

  She snuggled into his embrace and kissed him. “Do we have to wait that long?”

  “No.” He laughed against her lips. “We definitely do not have to wait that long. Come see the third floor. I’ve done the most work up there.”

  She followed him up the stairs. “Oh, it looks wonderful!” He had torn out the kitchen and knocked down walls to make four more big bedrooms.

  “They’d make for good kid rooms, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe when they’re older.” Juliana ran her hand along the smooth wall and then turned to him. “When they’re babies, I’ll want them downstairs with us.”

  He blinked back tears and shook his head as if to convince himself this was really happening. “Yeah?”

  “Uh huh.”

  He took her hand and put it over his heart. “Feel that? My heart hasn’t pounded like that in more than a year.” With his arm around her, he led her over to the window seat and brought her down on his lap the way he had on a long-ago autumn night. “Remember the last time we were right here?”

  She rested her head on his shoulder and nodded.

  “I wanted to be the first guy to propose, but I’ve since learned that sometimes being last is much better than being first.”

  Juliana chuckled.

  “So what do you say? Will you marry me, Juliana?”

  Raising her head to meet his blue eyes, she said, “Yes, I’ll marry you, Michael Maguire.” She pressed her lips to his. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  With his fingers buried in her hair, he kissed her senseless and then tugged the chain out from under his shirt and tie.

  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the ring was exactly where she had left it. “All this time you’ve kept it right there,” she whispered, amazed.

  Unhooking the chain, he freed the ring. “Right where I said it would be until you were ready for it.” He slid it onto her finger and left a lingering kiss on her hand. “Now it’s right where it belongs.”

  “And so am I.”

  Epilogue

  Later that night…

  “I thought they’d never leave,” Michael said of his family, who’d invaded after they heard Juliana had come home. The gathering had turned into a party when Mary Frances ordered pizza and wings from Nikolas Pizza, and Michael’s brothers-in-law arrived armed with twelve-packs of beer.

  “It was so good to see them,” Juliana said. “I only met them that one time, but I thought of them often while we were apart.”

  “Are you sure you’re ready to take on the mob known as the Maguire family?”

  She slid her arms around his waist. “Do you come with them?”

  “You know it.”

  “Then I’m in.”

  He kissed her the way he’d been dying to for hours now while he shared her with his family. Knowing how desperately he loved her, his family had been almost as overjoyed to see Juliana as he was. When he’d walked into the office earlier and Mary Francis told him she was there, his heart had nearly burst from his chest with excitement and joy and more love than he’d ever felt for anyone.

  Of course, he’d known that Juliana’s year of exile had ended as of New Year’s Eve, but he hadn’t known for sure when or if he’d see her. Now he knew he had forever to spend with her, and nothing had ever made him happier.

  She was his dream come true, and he’d never let her go again.

  “I need to get my stuff out of the car,” she said, her lips damp from his kiss.

  He wanted to drag her to his bed and keep her there for days. In fact, he’d told his mother and sisters not to call him for the next three days. His sisters could handle the office while he handled Juliana. After all the time they’d spent apart, they deserved some uninterrupted time alone together. “I’ll get it for you.”

  She left his embrace to retrieve something from the pocket of the coat she’d hung over a chair earlier. Returning to him, she handed him her car keys.

  “Did you get a new car?” he asked, examining the keys.

  “I did. My first-ever brand-new car. It’s a silver Honda Accord with Maryland plates, and it’s parked on the next block down.”

  “I’ll find it.”

  “If you grab my purse from under the seat and the black suitcase from the backseat, I’ll have what I need for the night.”

  “Coming right up.” He started to walk away but then spun around to kiss her again. “Are you really here, or did I dream this day?”

  “I’m really here.”

  “And you’re staying?”

  “For the rest of my life, if you’ll have me.”

  “Oh, I’ll have you—again and again and again.”

  Her smile lit up her face. “Hurry.”

  While she waited for him to return, Juliana went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She loved what he’d done with the upper floors of the building he’d bought with his grandfather years ago. As she put her hair up in a bun to keep it dry, she took note of the marble countertop, the white cabinets and the double sink. Everything he’d done had been with her in mind. While she’d been off remaking herself, he’d been making a home for them both, as well as the family they would have together.

  He’d never had a minute’s doubt about her, and knowing that made all the difficulties they’d gone through to get to this day worth it.

  The shower felt heavenly after the long drive. She stood under the hot water, letting it work the kinks out of her muscles. Her departure from Baltimore seemed like days ago rather than only that morning. So much had happened during that momentous day that it would take some time to process it all. The work he’d done to the house, the salon he’d built for her, the plans he’d made…

  Her eyes filled with tears as she thought about everything he’d done while he waited for her to take the time she needed. His faith in her—and in them—had never wavered.

  The bathroom door opened. “Just me with your bag.”

  She ducked her head outside the glass door. “Michael…”

  “Yes?”

  “Why don’t you join me?”

  “Um, gee, let me think about that…” His shirt flew over his head as he removed his shoes.

  Juliana laughed at the way he kicked off his pants and left his clothes in a pile on the floor as he came toward her, the body she’d spent so much time thinking about over the last year even more honed and muscular than she recalled.

  He stepped into the shower and reached for her, taking a long perusing look at her. “Mmm. Even better than I remembered, and my memories were pretty damned good.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing.” She ran her hands over his chest. “You’ve been working out.”

  “I had a lot of time to kill and frustration to work off. The gym seemed like a better choice than a bar.”

  “I agree.” Her fingertips outlined each of the
muscles that made up an impressive six-pack.

  “Do you approve of the results?”

  “Most definitely.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and drew her in tight against him. “Every single thing I’ve done since the last time I saw you was done with you in mind. Every breath I took, every waking minute was devoted to you.”

  “You amaze me. You never doubted us.”

  “I had lots of worries, but I never doubted my love for you—or yours for me.”

  Juliana glanced at the ring that was now where it belonged, on the third finger of her left hand, where it would stay for the rest of her life. “How soon do you want to get married?”

  “What’re you doing tomorrow?”

  She smiled up at him. “We might need a week or two to make some plans.”

  “I can live with that, but not much longer. I have a friend from high school who owns a stake in one of the big wedding venues here in town. It’s quiet in the winter, so we might be able to do it there, if that works for you.”

  “Whatever you want is fine with me.”

  He tipped her chin up so he could kiss her. One kiss became two and then a third. His kisses were hungry and almost desperate, as if trying to make up for all the time they’d spent apart. “Not here,” he whispered against her lips. “I want you back in my bed where you belong.”

  They made quick work of getting out of the shower and laughed as they rushed through drying each other. His arms slid around her from behind, his lips nuzzling her neck and making her crazy.

  “Michael…”

  “What, honey?”

  “I can’t wait anymore. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I thought I would die sometimes from missing you.”

  “I’m so glad you didn’t.”

  He turned her to face him. “So am I.” Nuzzling her neck again, he said, “In case you were wondering, today was the second-best day of my entire life.”

  “What was the best day?”

  “It was a Friday night at BWI when I looked over to find the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen sitting next to me. I knew in the first ten minutes that you were going to change my life.” He walked her backwards to the bed and came down on top of her. “I want you to know that I was giving you until tomorrow and then I was coming after you.”

  “You were? Really?”

  Nodding, Michael said, “I was prepared to do whatever it took to convince you to give us another chance.”

  “How would you have found me?”

  He brushed the hair back from her face. “I knew where you were the whole time.”

  “How?”

  “I might’ve called Mrs. R and asked her to take mercy on a man in love. I heard you got an A in the class you took. I was so proud of you. That was the closest I came to saying fuck it and calling you.”

  Astounded to hear he’d kept tabs on her, she said, “I wanted to tell you so badly. You were the only one I wanted to tell.”

  “You should take more classes, if you want to.”

  “We’ll see. It was fun to take that one and to prove something to myself.”

  “I never had any doubt that you’d be an amazing college student.”

  “I had enough doubt for both of us.”

  “You can do anything. I have no doubt about that either.”

  She reached up to rest her hand on his face. “You make me believe that.”

  “It’s true.” He punctuated his sweet words with sweet kisses that had her arching into him, wanting him so badly after living so long without his touch.

  “God, Juliana. I want to kiss you and touch you everywhere, but more than anything, I need to be inside you. I need you so badly.”

  “You have me. I’m all yours.”

  Michael took himself in hand and nudged at her center, going slowly and giving her time to accommodate him. They were always a tight fit, but more so now after it’d been so long. “Every night we were apart, I thought about you and this and how incredible it feels to make love to you.”

  “Me, too,” she said, her fingers digging into his back as she raised her hips to take more of him. His chest hair rubbed against her sensitive nipples as his tongue twisted with hers. This was what she’d missed so much and what she never wanted to live without again. “I thought about you and this every single night.”

  “I love you,” he said, breaking the kiss to breathe. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Give me your hands, baby.” He linked their fingers and raised her arms over her head. “Hold on to me.”

  Juliana tightened her grasp on his hands and held on as he began to move, thrusting into her until she began to feel the telltale signs of impending climax. “Michael…”

  “Let it happen, love. You feel so good. Nothing has ever felt better than this.”

  Knowing they had forever to spend together, Juliana let go and gave in to the orgasm that whipped through her. She cried out from the power of it.

  “Yes,” he said as he came with her. “Juliana…” He collapsed on top of her, breathing hard and trembling. “Sorry that was so quick. I’ll make it up to you.”

  “That was perfect, but I’ll still let you make it up to me.” She tugged her hands free and wrapped her arms around him.

  “Just think,” he said after a long silence. “We get to do that every day for the rest of our lives.”

  “Sign me up.”

  They were married four weeks later at the oceanfront venue Michael’s friend co-owned. Juliana’s siblings flew in for the occasion, Vincent accompanying Mrs. Romanello, who gave Juliana away. Her sisters and Michael’s nieces served as her attendants, while Michael’s brothers-in-law stood up for him.

  In all, they had thirty guests, most of them family.

  The day was everything they wanted and filled with the kind of joy Juliana had rarely experienced until recently, when all the pieces of her life came together to make the most perfect picture she ever could’ve imagined.

  Life with Michael was even more blissful than the first time they’d lived together, because now they knew they had a lifetime to look forward to.

  They danced to “When You Say Nothing at All,” the same song they’d danced to on that long-ago night when Michael showed her the house they now called home.

  “Happy?” he asked as he guided her around the dance floor while their guests looked on. Outside, a blizzard howled and icy snow pinged against the windows, but they couldn’t have cared less about the lousy weather.

  “Happy is not a big enough word to describe it.”

  He smiled down at her. “You’re so beautiful every day, but today… You took my breath away when you came down the stairs with Mrs. R.”

  “Did I?” She’d chosen an ivory gown that left her shoulders bare. Intricate beading at the neckline, waist and hemline were the only embellishments. A friend of Michael’s sister Shannon had done her hair in an elaborate updo that was topped off by a small tiara. She’d carried a bouquet of white lilies and roses.

  “Totally.”

  “You look rather beautiful yourself. I’ve never seen you in a tux before.”

  He held her closer, his forehead propped against hers. “This might take the cake for the best day yet.”

  “And it’s not over yet.”

  Since the hotel was mostly shut down for the winter, all their guests spent the night, and it was a good thing as the snow continued to fall. Michael and Juliana danced with their friends and family until two in the morning, when the party began to break up.

  Juliana hugged her sister Dona and accepted a kiss on the cheek from Vincent.

  “You did good, sis,” he said. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you—and thanks for being here.”

  “Wouldn’t have missed it,” Vincent said.

  They accepted hugs and kisses from Michael’s parents, his sisters and brothers-in-law. The kids had long since been sent up to bed with the teenagers watch
ing over their younger siblings and cousins.

  “Welcome to our family, Juliana,” Maureen Maguire said. “I hope we don’t drive you completely bonkers.”

  Used to them by now, Juliana laughed. “I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent with the Maguires.”

  “It’s too late to warn her off, Mom,” Michael said, hugging his mother.

  Juliana grasped her mother-in-law’s hand. “You’ll never know what it’s meant to me to be made to feel so welcome with all of you.”

  “You’ll never know what it’s meant to us that Michael is so happy. Thank you for that.”

  The two women hugged, and when they released each other, they were both teary-eyed.

  “Come on, Mrs. Maguire,” Michael said, taking Juliana’s hand to lead her from the room. “God, I’ve waited a long time to be able to call you that.”

  “Juliana Maguire. I like the way that sounds.”

  “So do I, sweetheart.” He swept her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs to the third floor. “Grab the keycard from my shirt pocket, will you?”

  She retrieved the card and held it up to the door, which clicked open.

  Michael carried her across the threshold and into the honeymoon suite, where candles in hurricane lamps cast a warm glow over the spacious room. Someone had sprinkled rose petals on the bed and left a bottle of champagne to chill.

  “This is so pretty!” Juliana said.

  “But wait,” he said, putting her down next to the bed, “there’s more.” He went to the fireplace and pushed a button to start the gas fire.

  “Very cozy. Who said never get married in the winter?”

  “Not me, that’s for sure. I love being snowed in with you.”

  “And our families.”

  He shook his head. “Only you. I hope your siblings won’t mind if I keep you all to myself for a couple of days.” They’d decided to spend a few nights at the hotel and planned to head south for a Caribbean honeymoon in a month or so.