Waterfall Kisses (The Kisses 9)

I ran to him, throwing my arms around him and holding onto him for dear life. He pulled me into him, kissing my hair. I breathed in the scent of him, mixed with ocean and sweat, but taking every inch of him in with my senses to know he was really here and this wasn't a dream.

“Charlotte,” he whispered, pressing his lips against mine and making sure I was real, too. He was firm and real, and clinging to me as strongly as I clung to him.

That's when I started to cry.

“I thought I lost you,” I sobbed, tears running down my cheeks. Tears of relief mingled with tears of stress and concern. He was alive. He hadn't left me. We still had our whole future in front of us. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I'll live. I thought I lost you,” he replied. His eyes went to my tears and he frowned, wincing at the motion. There was a large cut over his eye that was no longer bleeding, but looked painful. He put his hand to my cheek and wiped them away with the rough pad of his thumb. “I've never seen you cry before.”

I sniffled, and wiped the tears with the back of my hand, embarrassed. I wished I could be a little stronger. People were starting to stare at the rescued man and his bawling girlfriend. Leo was fine. He was the one who had just survived a boat crash, and if the myriad of cuts and bruises were any indication, he had far more reason to be upset than I did. He was alive and safe. There was no need for tears, yet I couldn't stop them.

Leo leaned forward and kissed me again. I could taste my tears in his kiss, salty and full of emotion. He pulled back after a moment, his blue eyes going to mine. “You are so beautiful.”

“Even when I'm crying?” I laughed, knowing that I was anything but beautiful right now. I'd been up for over twenty-four hours straight with just a quick nap. I hadn't eaten since dinner and I sorely needed a cup of coffee. There was no way I was beautiful with that on my plate and then adding tears, red eyes, splotchy cheeks, and a runny nose.

He touched my cheek, his fingers gentle and kind. There were tears in his eyes. “Always. You are always beautiful to me.”

When he looked at me like that, with the sun in his hair and his eyes so blue the sky paled behind him, I had to believe him. Even with my tangled hair and wrinkled t-shirt, I knew he was telling the truth. I was beautiful to him.

“Excuse me, ma'am,” a male voice said with a light touch on my shoulder. I turned to see a paramedic behind me. He looked at Leo. “Sir, we need to get you to the hospital.”

“Of course!” I said, leaping to the side and practically pushing Leo in the paramedic's direction. I had been so wrapped up in just seeing him that I had forgotten that he had just crashed his boat.

I followed Leo and the paramedic to the waiting ambulance, noting how he limped slightly on his left foot, how he cradled his left arm, the bruises already forming on the back of his legs and the myriad of cuts and scratches I was just now noticing.

He was banged up to hell and back. A lump rose in the back of my throat again, the panic of loosing him welling up within me. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought of how close he must have come to dying.

The paramedic got him into the truck and strapped him into the ambulance.

“I want her to come with me,” Leo said, as I stood outside the ambulance door. “If she'll come.”

The request melted my sore heart.

The paramedic nodded. “Hop on in.”

“You couldn't get me off this ambulance if you tried,” I told the paramedic.

“I was afraid you wouldn't want anything to do with me,” Leo said quietly as I crawled inside and sat down next to him.

“What happened, Leo?” I asked, changing the topic. I wasn't ready to talk about that yet. I just wanted to be happy that he was alive for a little longer before having to be angry again.

“Well, I certainly didn't mean to crash,” Leo teased with a a wink. He sighed when he saw me frowning. “I'm not one hundred percent sure how it happened. The engine was acting up, and then something just slipped.”

“I'm just glad you're okay,” I said firmly, clicking my seat belt into place. There was so much that I wanted to talk to him about, but, I knew that most of it wasn't something we should discuss in front of the paramedic.

“Me too,” Leo agreed. He took my hand in his and squeezed. I knew he was thinking the same things I was. “I'll tell you more, later.”

The paramedic checked to make sure we were all set. “The Coast Guard said they checked your immediate injuries, but that you probably had some broken bones. We'll get you to the hospital and have you checked out. I have to say that you look to be in great shape for being out on the open ocean all night.”

“Luckily, that boat has some pretty insane safety measures,” Leo replied as the paramedic sat down with us. His partner started the engine and the ambulance stated to rumble forward.

“Yeah, except for a crappy radio and an easily broken-off GPS,” I grumbled. “You know, I really, really, really hate that boat now.”

Leo chuckled. “I promise not to get another one.”

“Good,” I said. “I don't know why you liked it so much in the first place.”

“I do.” Leo paused, swallowing hard. He took a deep breath, and looked at me with shame and defeat in his eyes. “The boat, the speed- it was gambling.”