A Cosmic Kind of Love(108)

“Did your package arrive?” she asked without preamble.

I smiled giddily at Chris as he snuggled me close. “He’s here.”

“And it’s all good? He groveled? I specifically instructed him to grovel.”

Laughing, I nodded. “There was sufficient groveling. And we’re good. We’re fantastic actually.”

“Ah, thank God!” Althea cried dramatically. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you, my friend.” I murmured, reaching out to stroke Chris’s face because I just couldn’t not touch him right now. He turned his mouth to press a kiss to my fingers.

“Lia is on her way to the airport, so you and Chris can leave. She’s giving you the rest of the day off.”

“But what about the trip?” I frowned.

“She decided it was best she dealt with it, considering how distracted you’d probably be with thoughts of your astronaut lover.”

“Althea!”

“I’m not kidding. You can leave. Enjoy your weekend. Have lots of sex! Love ya.” She hung up.

I stared at my phone for a second and then stared up at Chris.

Chris, who was mine.

Who didn’t give up on us. Who would have given up his life in New York to follow me around the world. Who could admit when he was wrong and do everything he could to make it right.

My whole life I’d done the chasing, the people-pleasing. No one had ever chased me. No one had ever prioritized me the way I was willing to prioritize them.

Until now.

“Trip is off.” I slipped my phone back into my purse and took a hold of his hand. “What do you say we take this back to my place?”

His hand tightened around mine. “I know that look in your eye. Shouldn’t we talk first before you rip my clothes off?”

“No. We have lots to discuss about our future together. And I’d quite like to do that naked after several apology orgasms. Mine. Not yours.”

Chris chuckled, pulling me into his side with one arm while he took my luggage with his free hand. “I thought you already accepted my apology?”

“The verbal one, yes. But we haven’t had sex since our argument, so you owe me for all the sex we missed.”

“Admit it,” he teased as we walked outside. “You just love me for my body.”

“Well, it contains all of my favorite things about you.” I answered seriously.

Chris shot me a look, like he wasn’t sure how to take that.

I pulled on his shirt to draw him to a halt. “Your mind, your heart, and your soul.”

He relaxed, grinning. “You like my ass too though, right?”

“Oh, I love your ass. It’s definitely up there on the list. There are lots of things to love about you, Captain. You’re a complicated, fascinating man who is more than just one thing. And going forward, you can be anything you want to be. We both can. And we’ll be those things and be together.” I smiled, thinking about something his colleague Kate had said to me. “Something tells me that no matter where we end up, it will always be together. What we have is kind of cosmic like that.”



* * *





Approximately ten minutes later we were in a cab heading back to Brooklyn. We sat close together, my hand clasped in Chris’s as the driver sang along with his radio. Once he realized we were New Yorkers, he seemed to lose all interest in us. Which was fine by me.

I couldn’t stop staring at Chris. Like he might disappear at any second.

Feeling my gaze, he looked down at me and squeezed my hand.

My heart lurched in my chest as I remembered he’d said he wanted to discuss taking the job with NASA. However, I didn’t panic. Instead I pressed as close to him as I could get. Holding his gaze, I let everything I felt for him shine out. No outside forces would tear us apart this time. “About NASA.”

He looked a little wary. “Yeah?”

“If it’s what you want, we will figure it out. Together,” I promised, and meant it.

Better yet, I believed it.

Chris’s face relaxed into a smile, and he raised our hands to press a kiss to the top of mine. “Okay, mi cielo. We’ll figure it out together.”





EPILOGUE





Hallie


A FEW MONTHS LATER

CANCúN, MEXICO

The resort was out of this world. I’d never been anywhere like it or imagined I ever would. Adults only, first-class service, swim-up bars, cabana beds galore, and white sand beaches kissed by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.

It was the perfect end to our three-week adventure in Mexico.

Chris and I strolled back to our room, my hand clasped in his. We could hear the waves lapping at the shore in the distance, the cooling breeze ruffling through my hair, and our light footsteps on the sand-peppered walkway.

The bars and restaurants were on the other side of the resort, so we couldn’t hear music or the sounds of other people. Just surf and ocean breeze.

After sixteen days of intensive travel from Mexico City to Puebla to Oaxaca to Tabasco, these last five days at a spa resort were a total surprise. Chris was an active guy. He liked to have something to do every day, so I’d expected our entire vacation to be jam-packed with activities. We hadn’t exactly relaxed upon arriving in Cancún, but today had been our laziest day yet, and I’d loved it. I’d known we were coming to Cancún to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum and go swimming and snorkeling in Cenotes Dos Ojos, a diving site not far from the ruins.