Escape With Me (Love With Me 1)

They got to the island later than Wyatt had planned, but he didn't mind. The morning had been worth it. Every time with Cassie was worth it. Especially because now she sat humming on the deck, glowing and looking pleased.

“Look at that,” Cassie said, shading her eyes and coming to her feet. “It's beautiful.”

White sand beaches gave way to palm trees and grass before a huge white colonial looking mansion.

“That's where we're going today,” Wyatt explained, loving the grin she gave him. “The dock is just over here.”

The large white house sat near the beach. It was more mansion than house, but that suited Wyatt's plans. The house originally belonged to a media mogul. There were more rooms than Wyatt knew what to do with, three pools, a mini-golf course, miles of beach, and a professional grade kitchen.

Wyatt docked the boat and secured it. As he was finishing, a man with a broad smile walked down the dock to greet them.

“Mr. Landers, I presume?” the man called.

“Please, call me Wyatt.” Wyatt hopped off the boat to shake the man's hand. Cassie was right behind him. “This is Cassie.”

“A pleasure to meet you, miss,” the man replied. “I'm Franco. I'm the caretaker here. Let me show you to the house.”

Franco led them up a carefully tended path away from the beach. Cassie's eyes were wide with delight with every step. Wyatt's excitement grew. This place was perfect for what he had planned. It was better than the brochures promised.

The house beckoned them to enter. Cassie hurried to the doorstep.

“Wait,” Wyatt said, catching her. He bent over and swooped her into his arms

. “Let me.”

Cassie giggled but didn't fight him as he carried her over the threshold. “You're so romantic,” she told him, kissing his cheek.

The house was everything Wyatt had hoped it would be. The rooms were more spacious, the kitchen better than expected, the view to die for, and the town and airport closer than he thought.

All in all, it was perfect.

“Wyatt, this place is beautiful,” Cassie told him after Franco left them to get settled. They stood out on the master bedroom's balcony overlooking the ocean. “I feel like I should wear a corset and say I'm the governor's daughter.”

“The governor's daughter?” Wyatt asked, not following her train of thought.

“Like in a pirate movie,” she explained. “This place feels like it belongs as a set in 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' This place is a palace.”

“Do you like it?” he asked, feeling his heart start to speed up.

“I love it,” she told him. She smiled. “I could see this place being an amazing hotel. It would be small, but intimate. The town is close, and it wouldn't take too many renovations.”

“Already dreaming,” he said, watching her light up as she planned her ideal hotel.

“I can't help it. Hotels are what I know. They're what I'm good at.” She blushed a little and then pointed to the beach. “Right there would make a perfect spot for a coffee cart with comfy chairs. And there's a spot we walked past that is made for guests to relax.”

“Then this place is yours,” he said. “Turn it into a hotel.”

She turned back to him, her smile unsure. “What?”

“Turn this place into a hotel,” he told her. “That's why I bought it for you.”

Wyatt was rewarded with seeing Cassie's jaw hit the floor. “You bought it?”

“Amanda saw it and had me look at it,” he explained. “It's just like you said- a perfect hotel.”

Cassie's hand went to a wall, touching it gently and with awe. “So you bought it? For me?”

He nodded. “I bought it for our future.”