All Chapters of Billionaires And Beaches: The Kisses Series: Chapter 211 - Chapter 220

It's dark outside. The stars twinkle and the gray promise of dawn has started. The sun will rise in exactly 9 minutes. I know this because I have had the hour and minute circled on my calendar for the past six months.“Your mother would be so proud of you,” Dad whispers. He's said it at least fifty times already today, and a thousand more yesterday, but I still smile. I wish she could have been here for this. There is an ache in my heart for her, but I know that she's here in spirit. She wouldn't have missed today for the world.“Five minute warning,” Charlotte announces, stepping into the small room where I've been getting ready. “Sunrise in seven, but we have to get you down there.”Butterflies alight in my stomach. I press my palms against the smooth satin of my dress, trying to tell the butterflies to settle once again.Dad clears his throat. He stands in front of me and takes my hands in his. Tears make his eyes glisten and I can tell that he's holding his emotion back. I hug him

“YOU CAME BACK!” I yelled, running down the steps toward Ava. My hair spread out behind me in the tropical heat. I jumped the last step, being careful of my heels before taking off at a run. Bastian never understood how I could do it, but I'd been wearing heels for work long enough to know how to run in them.I wrapped her up in a giant hug. The last time I had seen her was a little over a week ago. We had become friends just before I had left to go work on the phone app for our company. That was right around the time she and Bastian realized they were perfect for each other and were giving the most obvious love-filled glances in the kitchen. I had been glad to get out of the house and give them some alone time.To be honest, I was surprised when I came back to work on the auction and found out that she had gone back home, leaving my brother broken-hearted. Bastian claimed she said she just didn't fit his world, but that made no sense to me. They were so perfect together that I was ha

I stood in front of the mirror, holding my dress up to see how the ensemble would come together. My dark hair was curled and pulled back in a half-up style that was soft and feminine. I loved my makeup- not too much, but enough that my brown eyes looked big and my lashes could start a small windstorm. I felt pretty, and with my hair and makeup done, I just needed to get dressed, but I wanted a sneak peek of the final product.“Not too shabby, Char,” I said quietly. “Not too shabby.”Even on the hanger, the dress was beautiful. It was an off-the shoulder gown of royal blue and cut to hug the top half of my body before ending in a subtle mermaid tail at the bottom. The color was my favorite part, as well as the secret pocket where I could keep my phone without having to carry a purse all evening.Ava's dress was perfect for her and this one was perfect for me.I stared at the woman looking back at me for a moment. Sure, she had the same dark hair and dark eyes, short stature and same cu

I realized I was still holding Leo's hand as we came to the glass door leading out to the porch, and I quickly dropped my hand from his as we positioned ourselves to peek out on the couple. I was trying hard to keep my distance and not touch him. Touching Leo only let my heart hope for things it couldn't have.The night was dark and the porch unlit, but there was still enough light for us to be able to watch. I pulled on the curtain, hiding us further from their sight.We huddled together in the dark, peeking through the small space available to see, and I couldn't help but notice how he was pressed into me. Or was I pressed into him? Either way, we were touching and it was making it hard to think. I took a deep breath to try and center myself, but succeeded only in taking in his scent instead. Pure, clean and male. My heart skipped several beats before I could force it to start again.“What's going on?” Leo asked again, a chuckle in his voice. His muscled arm was strong under his sui

The kitchen was on fire.Or at least, it had been.The acrid scent of smoke lingered in the kitchen despite the open windows and the industrial fan sucking up as much of it as possible. Luckily, the scent had remained contained and wasn't frightening the guests.The chicken however, was very frightening.“I'm so sorry Ms. Page- the chicken flambé, it wasn't supposed to do that!” The poor caterer looked to be about two seconds away from bursting into tears. This was probably one of the biggest events on the island, and definitely not how she had planned on making an impression on our guests. “I've done this a thousand times and-”“Are you okay?” I cut her off, putting my hands on her shoulders. “Are you or any of your staff hurt?”“I'm okay, the staff is okay,” she sniffled, not meeting my eyes. I could smell the scent of burnt hair lingering around her, and upon closer inspection noticed her eyebrows were singed. A single tear rolled down her flushed cheeks. “But the dinner isn't.”I