"Sweetheart, I wouldn't have it any other way."
And when he took Dart from her, set the kitten on the ground, drew Kaia into his arms, and kissed her again, all she could hear was the happy humming of their soul mate hearts.
Epilogue
Like a blast from her past, Kaia dove into the water, lithe as a fish. No, she was not in Balmorhea.
She was swimming in the beautiful water feature Ridge had made for her at his house in the middle of the desert. A sweet oasis for his water nymph as he loved to call her. The pool was eight feet at its deepest spot, and shaded by a long wooden pergola. There was a curved slide and a diving board and a cascading waterfall.
Ridge had created a water-land paradise.
Tonight, they were having a blowout party to celebrate the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another. For the past year, as Kaia had finished her DVM, Ridge had been shuttling back and forth from Beijing to Calgary to Cupid and back again, winding up his business dealings as he turned the keys of Lockhart Enterprises over to Lui Yan.
The guests were due to arrive at six, but it was only four.
Ridge would be home soon. He'd called that morning to tell her he was on his way back from Calgary for the final time. The offices were now officially closed. The ink was dry on his deal with Duke. Ridge was now a rancher and proud owner of the Silver Feather Ranch.
At the moment, she was home alone, well except for Dart and Buddy and Bess, who were all napping in the air conditioning, and the place was quiet.
She got out of the water, wrapped Ridge's white terry cloth bathrobe around her. It was the same bathrobe she'd worn the first night they'd made love. The night he'd stirred her to untold heights. The night she knew she'd mated with the other half of her soul.
Dropping into the lawn chair, she sighed happily and pulled off her swim cap, shook out her hair. She stretched her legs out in front of her, admired her freshly painted toes. She'd gotten a pedicure in honor of Ridge's homecoming. His favorite color. Candy apple red.
She got up and went into the house, double-checking the provisions, making sure she had everything she needed for the party. Food. Drink. Music. She was ready. Since it was a pool party, she didn't even have to change. Just put on a cover-up over her swimsuit.
The sound of a plane buzzed overhead. Ridge was home!
She raced out the front door, put her palm to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun as she watched his plane touch down. Fifteen minutes later, his ATV came into view, her handsome husband astride.
He pulled up to the house in a cloud of dust, a stunning smile on his face. "Do you have any idea just how gorgeous you look?"
She ran to him, giggling.
He held his arms open, and when she was close enough, he scooped her up and spun her in a circle, pressed his face to her hair. "God, how I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." She nuzzled his neck.
"How 'bout a kiss." He puckered up.
"Any time, any place." She kissed his lips that tasted of peppermint. The instant their mouths touched the humming in her head bloomed, swelled.
Ah. Song of the Soul Mate. Telling her the thrill of kissing her husband was meant to be. It would not fade.
They'd gotten married at the cowboy chapel just as Archer and Casey had. Where the girlhood dreams she'd doodled in her notebook all those years ago had come true and she became Kaia Lockhart.
Ember had been her maid of honor. Aria, Casey, and Tara her bridesmaids.
They used Atticus as ring bearer. He had experience. Luckily, the boy had learned not to walk behind horses, and no one got kicked this time. Archer served as Ridge's best man, of course. His brothers were groomsmen. Her mother cried. Granny Blue whispered, "The song is never wrong." Duke was on his best behavior. Kaia doubted it would always be smooth sailing with her father-in-law, but the man loved animals as much as she did.
"When are the guests supposed to be here?" Ridge murmured, his lips pressed against her throat. "Do we have time to get you out of that swimming suit and into my bed?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for another kiss, dreaming of the delights awaiting in their bedroom.
But the sound of the glass patio door sliding open interrupted them.
"Lookee here, they're at it again," Aria said, as her three sisters traipsed into the kitchen, carrying food and drink. "Sappy time."
"Don't be jealous," Ember said. "Your turn will come."
"Frequent kissing makes for the best marriages." Tara nodded.
"How would you know?" Aria asked. "You've never been married."
"Mom and Dad still kiss like that." Tara put a platter of her famous deviled eggs in the fridge.
"Bodes well for us." Ember settled a tray of crudités onto the kitchen counter.