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I hug everyone and give my niece a million kisses now that she’s awake from her nap. I make Ivy promise to send me pictures every day. I haven’t missed a single day of Jovie’s life and I get teary again at the idea of missing her doing anything new.
Finally, my dad rushes me out the door. “Clara, you're gonna miss your flight if we don’t get on the road.”
Everyone stands in the driveway and waves as we drive away. A swarm of butterflies take flight in my stomach as I set off on an adventure of a lifetime.
Chapter 2
Ethan
It’s been six months, and I don’t have a plan. Everyone said that I would know by now what I wanted to do next. What I want to do is enjoy this new life…maybe meet someone I can share it with. Is that wrong? Do I need a big plan with a capital P? What if there’s never anything big I want to do again? Maybe enjoying life, and finding someone to enjoy it with, can be the Plan.
Selling my company was the biggest decision I ever made and sometimes I think it was also my biggest mistake. I come from a middle-class background and now I’m worth billions. It sounds great, but there is so much pressure attached, and I wasn’t prepared. All I did was make a game that most people under the age of forty have played and everyone younger than thirty is addicted to. Now I’m expected to come up with another game or some earth-shattering new idea and I have nothing. I didn’t think my last one was that spectacular if I’m being honest.
After the sale of my company, I had to go into hiding. I was being watched by the tech bros waiting for me to do something special. The public was waiting and watching to see how I spent my new money. It isn’t anyone’s damn business how I spend it, but you would think it was personally given to me by everyone I talked to. If I donated to a cause, I would be asked why I didn’t donate to something they deemed more worthy. If I spent money on something ridiculous, I wasn’t being financially responsible. Hell no, I wasn’t. I am a thirty-eight-year-old single man and I’ll never be able to spend all the money I off that game. The interest alone is enough to take care of my children’s children.
So, I disappeared. I bought a boat. Okay, it’s a fancy yacht and has a small crew, but it’s not too much. I’ve traveled through the Caribbean and now I’m cruising along the Amalfi coast. My parents joined me for part of the trip, then my brother, but now I’m alone. I just feel so unsettled. My head hurts when I think about this being the rest of my life. I want more, I just wish I knew what that more should be.
My cell vibrates, and my mood lightens when I see my brother’s name on the screen, “Hey, brother.”
“Where are you?” Devlin is never one for small talk.
“I just docked in Positano. I think I’ll be here for a week or so. Want to come join me?”
“Wish I could. Some of us have to work.” Devlin was an investment banker before my game took off and he manages my portfolio now. I’m his only client. He technically works for me, although I would never say it like that.
“Asshole. You know you can work from the boat.”
“I know, I just like giving you shit. You are also the only person on the planet who would refer to that hotel on the water as a boat.”
“I’m not saying yacht.” He laughs at me like always, but it’s just personal preference. I don’t want to say I am traveling by yacht. My parents drove a station wagon for fifteen years and a minivan after that. I tried to buy my mom a new car and she wouldn’t let me. We are not yacht people. I might be a billionaire on paper, but I’m the same man I’ve always been. The money makes everything easier, but it doesn’t change the fact I’m just a guy from the Midwest who wants to fall in love, have babies, and make my parents proud.
Docking in Positano feels kind of magical. The coastline is unlike any other I’ve seen. It’s so full of color bursting from everywhere and the buildings are built into the mountainside like stairsteps. It feels like stepping back to a time when things were simpler, like technology hasn’t permeated every facet of living here.
Looking at my notes app, I draft a game plan for my day. I want to try a couple of places I researched online and pick up some new wine.
That’s another thing that’s changed in my life. I make sure I know where I’m headed and have everything mapped out. Nothing is spontaneous anymore. I’m not so conceited to think the paparazzi are following me or anything like that, but if someone recognizes me, they might call it in. Unfortunately, I get noticed way more than I would like. You would think that a gaming nerd wouldn’t get much attention, but the money and all the press that surrounded the game’s success and the company’s sale cemented my celebrity status in the public eye. Even if a person doesn’t know exactly who I am, they know that I’ve been in the gossip magazines and on TMZ.
It’s only mid-morning, but the streets are bustling. I’m not here during the peak tourist season, but it’s still a popular destination. I try to only visit places during the off-season. Fuck, I hate what my life has become sometimes.
I’m walking down a pathway between two buildings, looking down at my phone, trying to figure out how to get to a bakery I’ve read amazing things about, when I run right into someone. I look up to apologize and stare into perfect hazel eyes that belong in my future. There’s no other explanation for the way I feel looking at her. This is what I’ve been searching for. I’ve found it in her eyes.
My chest swells with hope. I take a deep breath and will my heart to stop pounding. This, whatever it is, is something I can’t mess up.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” The most angelic voice hits my ears. “I wasn’t looking where I was walking. Are you okay?”
Okay? This gorgeous angel has no idea just how okay I am.
Chapter 3
Clara
His hands are still on my hips and my heart is beating out of my chest. My brain is telling me to step back from the stranger and get out of the alley where we are basically alone, but my heart is telling me to stay right where I am. I hope that my heart doesn’t get me in trouble, because I’m going to listen to her.
“You have nothing to be sorry about, angel. I was looking down at my phone and not paying attention,” he says. His voice sounds like a melody I’ve heard before.
“Let’s just agree that maybe we both should pay more attention to where we are going.” Smiling at him, I take a step back and his hands fall from my body. I hate the way it feels to lose that contact. How can it be that I’ve just met this man and his touch already feels familiar and necessary?
I look him up and down as he does the same to me. I feel his eyes as they look me over. My new friend is tall, probably half a foot taller than my five and a half feet, and built. I wonder what he does for work. I’m around a lot of muscley guys who work on the job sites with my brother, Miles, but this guy isn’t built that way. This is more sculpted muscle, at least based on what I can tell from his form-fitting T-shirt and the shorts that grip his thighs. When I look up, he’s watching me watch him and my face heats at being caught ogling him. His eyes sparkle behind his black-rimmed glasses. Maybe he doesn’t mind me checking him out. “I’m Clara St. James.” I introduce myself, at the very least we should know each other’s names.
