“Interesting,” he said, slowly digesting my words. “What if I don't like my fate? Do I get to choose a different one?”
“No,” I replied shaking my head. “We don't get to chose our fates, just how we accept them. Fate is that the sun is going to set and we will be in the dark. There is nothing we can do to stop it. It is what is destined to happen. But we have free will, so even though the sun sets and there is darkness, we can chose to gather and light candles.”
Aiden munched quietly on his cheese for a moment as he contemplated my words. “So is it fate that I found you?”
“I'd like to think so.” Happy excitement at revealing my feelings flutters in my chest. “I kind of like the idea that the universe is smiling on the two of us being together. What about you? Do you believe it was fate?”
Aiden sipped his wine thoughtfully, his hazel eyes dark with thought. Slowly, he set his glass down and leaned forward as if he were telling me a secret. “Up until a little under three weeks ago, I used to believe that fate was a word that the hopeless used to describe random chance. That fate was just a coward's way of hoping for the future or explaining the past. It didn't have any substance or meaning.”
“What happened three weeks ago that changed your mind?”
Aiden's face brightened into a soft smile, one that was meant only for me. It was the kind of smile that made my heart race and my stomach do cartwheels. It was a smile that made it impossible for me to think of anything but Aiden and how much I cared for him.
“You. You happened,” he answered. My heart fluttered harder. “The odds are astronomical that I would meet you. I've been in that office dozens of times, and I've never gotten lost...” He held up fingers as he began to count the obstacles.
“You've never come down to the Dungeons of the firm, have you?” I interjected.
“You mean the fifteenth floor? No, I guess not. I've never had reason to before this meeting. Add that to the list.” He raised a second finger. “Throw in that it happened to be the day you were working late, that yours was the first office I found, and that you had such opportunity to show your strength.”
“My strength?” I shot him a dubious look. “That was one of the worst days I've ever had. It was a terrible, terrible day that you actually made better. I didn't feel strong at all.”
“You could have fooled me,” he said, dropping his counting hand back to the table. He smiled, lighting up his face. “I've never connected with anyone the way I do with you. You make me laugh without trying and I can talk to you for hours. Not to mention you're pretty damn good in the sack.”
I laughed. Leave it to a guy to bring sex into a romantic conversation.
“I always thought finding someone like you was just a product of random chance.” He shook his head, and his honey hair caught the wind. “But that day was so perfectly orchestrated to avoid all the random chance, that it had to be fate. I had a better chance of winning the lottery than I did for all the necessary steps to meet you to happen.“
“And then now we're having a romantic dinner in the Caribbean,” I added. “That's pretty damn lucky.”
“Not lucky,” Aiden replied. “Fate.”
I raised my wine glass. “To fate. To finding the person who completes us.”
Aiden tipped his glass to mine and the air rang with a the chime of our glasses. “To fate.”
As if on cue, thunder followed the chime. The wind picked at the tablecloth and started to make the gauzy gazebo quiver. A raindrop splattered on the sand behind me. The splooshing sound was loud enough to make me turn and see the storm that had silently crept up on our dinner.
Big drops of rain started to spot the ground like a work of modern art. Aiden and I looked at one another. He shrugged and reached for the bottle of wine as I blew out the candles. Taking my hand in his, we hurried from the gazebo toward the shelter of the resort.
Thunder boomed across the ocean, rumbling and shaking the entire island with is strength. The rain fell in sheets and we were both soaked long before we even cleared the sand. Lightning flickered and danced across the inky sky as we stumbled through the buildings to Aiden's room.
Aiden handed me the bottle of wine while he searched his pockets for his room key. I leaned against the wall, protected by the roof overhand from the rain. The storm was pouring buckets of water, but it was warm. I was soaked to the bone with it. Just the thirty second run from the beach had completely drenched the two of us.
Aiden's shirt was plastered to him like a second skin, showing every muscle and contour of his back and arms. His light cotton pants were doing the same thing, hugging is perfect ass. Just looking at him, his hair dripping into his eyes as he opened the door made my mouth water.
“What?” he asked, catching me staring. “Do I have something in my teeth?”
I shook my head slowly. “Nope.”
“Then, what?” He ran his hand through his hair, spraying raindrops across the porch. The rain had washed out his hair and now the natural curl was breaking free. It was just the kind of hair that was meant for tangling fingers in and my stomach clenched with want just thinking about what we would be doing to get there.
I pushed my body from the wall and directly into his arms. His mouth was a magnet for mine. I could taste the rain on his lips as I pressed my wet body against his. Even though the rain was warm, his body heat felt amazing next to mine. I ran my fingers through the damp curls on the back of his neck, loving the way it made him kiss me even harder.
“Wow,” he whispered. My fingers were still playing with his hair. “I think I'll be having dessert first.”
I grinned and he pushed a tendril of waterlogged hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. I wanted to drown in his eyes when he looked at me like that. It was a look of pure want and desire with just enough heart to know he was mine.
He kissed me again, pushing the door open and guiding me through it. The room was dark, but the windows were open and the lightning was enough light to make it to the bedroom. He peeled his shirt off as we stumbled across the slippery wooden floors.
I drank in his kisses, enjoying every taste. Even though we were moving through his room, I still closed my eyes and focused on the taste of his lips. I assumed that he was pushing me to his bed, and I would have been eager to go there, but after a moment I realized we had been walking too long.
When a light switch flicked on, my eyes opened. We were standing in his bathroom. When I shot him a quizzical look, he shrugged. “We're all wet. I don't want us to get all cold and uncomfortable.”