Day One

If this doesn’t get his heart racing, then I don’t know what will.

I grin as I look myself up and down in the mirror. Perfect. I’m wearing a short silver Alexander McQueen dress that will bring him to his knees. I hope so, it cost me a month’s salary.

Maybe three months after I count the credit card interest added up on it.

But still, it will all be worth it if it drives He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named crazy. I want him to fall madly in love with me so he can go to his grave regretting how he treated me for all those years.

I’m wearing my hair up tonight, and my tanned shoulders look sexy with the spaghetti straps of the designer dress. I take one last look and then head out of my room to the resort’s seafood restaurant where the wedding group are all having dinner together.

I step into the hallway and drop my head in frustration when I see who my neighbor is. Tucker is walking out of his door as well. The door right next to mine.

“You’re my neighbor?” I ask, shaking my head in disbelief. “I knew this room was too good to be true.”

“It is good,” he says with a grin that makes my pulse race. “Now I don’t have to run too far for any late-night booty calls. You can just knock on the wall, and I’ll be right over.”

My heart is pounding as I try to convince myself that I won’t be lying awake at night thinking of any booty calls. He laughs as I glare at him.

When he turns to make sure his door is locked, I quickly look him up and down, checking out every inch of his huge frame. He’s wearing gray shorts and a tight black t-shirt that hugs his round muscles. His tattoos look sexier than ever creeping down his thick arms, and I have to hold my hands firmly at my sides so they don’t reach out and touch them.

He looks even hotter in the soft lighting of the hallway than he did on the beach, if that’s possible. His skin has some color from the sun, which makes his honey-colored eyes look even more intense. They’re locked on me as he slowly looks me up and down.

“Wow,” he says in a breathless tone. “That dress was made for you.”

“Thank you,” I mutter as I close the door. I pretend like his compliment means nothing to me, but I’m holding back a smile.

“I thought you couldn’t beat that black bikini, but fuck,” he says, shaking his head as his sexy eyes roam over me.

“Now I know why this room was empty in the first place,” I say, rolling my eyes as I start walking down the hall. He jogs to catch up to me. “Nobody could handle the obnoxious fumes coming out of your mouth.”

“I think it was fate,” Tucker says with a smile.

“I don’t think fate is that cruel,” I say, quickening my pace.

“Why are you walking so fast?” he asks as he keeps pace with me. “Excited to get this night over with so we can get that booty call started?”

I stop and spin on my Sophia Webster heels, sticking my finger in Tucker’s face as I glare at him. “There will be no booty calls. Got that? There will be no calls of any kind. If I haven’t made myself perfectly clear already, then let me explain. I. Don’t. Like. You.”

He just stands there grinning, which makes me hate him even more.

“You were horrible to me when we were kids, and just because you grew up to be hot doesn’t change all of that.”

“You think I’m hot?”

“Ugh!” I throw my hands in the air and storm away from him. He’s the most frustrating man on the planet. I shouldn’t have said that word, but it just kind of slipped out. I’m not as sharp as I usually am when I’m around Tucker. His heart-racing smile and intoxicating smell seem to dull my common sense.

“How hot?” he asks as he follows me. “A ten? A ten point five?”

“How about we talk about your personality? Because that gets a zero.”

“What about my cock?”

My breath catches in my throat, and I almost forget to keep walking when I think about his long beautiful cock hanging down between his legs. It definitely gets a ten.

Ten inches.

“I didn’t look,” I say, keeping my eyes and my flushing cheeks forward. “Not interested.”

“Well, I’m right next door if you change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

He chuckles. “We’ll see about that.”

I whip my head around, about to lay into him when his mother comes walking up to us. “Hey, guys!” she says, holding up her iPad. “You two look beautiful. Let’s get a quick picture.”

I cringe just thinking about it. “I think we’re running late, Mrs. Connor. We should just go ins—”

Tucker wraps his warm muscular arm around my bare shoulder and pulls me into his side. His soft hand on my shoulder mixed with his musky cologne is making my nipples hard. And I hate him for it.

“Flash that beautiful smile of yours,” he whispers as his mother raises the iPad over her face. “You don’t need your flash, Mom. Julia’s smile lights up the whole resort.”

“Say cheese,” Mrs. Connor says.

“I’ll say cheese to that,” I whisper as I try to lean away from him. “Because that was the cheesiest line I’ve ever heard.”

Cynthia’s mother takes the picture, and I dart away from Tucker while his mother waves him over to see the photo.

“Where are you going?” he calls out to me.

I turn and glare at him over my shoulder. “I want to get a good seat. The one furthest from you.”

He chuckles as he walks over to his mother to see the picture that she’s proudly holding up. “Can you send that to me?” I hear him ask his mother as I charge away.

Megan and Lucas pop out of nowhere, scaring the dirty thoughts out of me.

“I hope you brought your running shoes,” Megan says, grabbing my arm. “Because we’re ripping up the dance floor tonight with our synchronized dance.”

“No, we’re not,” I say, shaking my head.

“Did you get the email I sent with the updated moves?” she asks, ignoring me. “Have you been practicing?”

I turn to see if she’s joking but unfortunately, she’s serious.

“You brought running shoes?” I ask. I shouldn’t be shocked. Megan brings running shoes whenever she goes dancing. I think she tries to look as ridiculous as possible on purpose.

“Lucas has them.”

I turn and look back at her tall husband who is following us. He’s got her running shoes tucked under his arm. He just shrugs when I look at them.

“Why do you encourage her?” I ask.

He smiles at his wife. “I love watching her dance.”

“Well, that makes one in eight billion,” I say, laughing at her.

“Two, in eight billion,” Megan says, raising two fingers. “I love watching myself dance as well.”

I laugh as I squeeze her hand with my arm. “Why am I not surprised?”

We get to the restaurant, and the bride and groom are already there. Cynthia and Chase reserved a long table for the group, so we all sit together. Tanya and Ethan arrive as we sit down, and so does Tucker and his mom. I sit beside Cynthia with Tanya and Ethan in front of me. Tucker and his mother sit in front of me to the side. It takes some effort, but I keep my eyes off of him no matter how many times I see him glancing at me through my peripheries.

“So, Tanya,” I say, turning away from him. “How is the new place?”

She and Ethan moved from Chicago back to Buffalo a few months ago, and they just bought a house. Ethan is a tattoo artist, and he’s in the middle of setting up a new shop.

“There are boxes everywhere,” she says, looking flustered.

“It’s just temporary,” Ethan says, placing a comforting hand on hers. “We’ll get it all done. We’re just focusing on setting up the tattoo shop first.”

He goes on about the tattoo shop, discussing it with his brother as I nod my head, pretending to listen. I’m more interested in what Cynthia and Tucker are talking about, so I eavesdrop on them.

“What happened with the girlfriend?” Cynthia asks him. “I thought you and Stacy were getting along?”

“We were,” he says with a laugh, “until I found out she was crazy.”

Cynthia scoffs. “Guys love to call women crazy, but it’s usually the guy’s fault that they’re acting that way in the first place.”

“Not this one,” Tucker says with a laugh. “This girl was legitimately, certifiably crazy. She was too good to be true at first, but eventually I realized she was just that—too good to be true.”

“Are you sure you’re not being too hard on her?” their mother Amy asks.

“Nope. She was sweet at first, but then the charade started to slip away. A homeless man touched her leg when we were walking home from dinner, and she kicked him in the ribs.”

“Sounds like a winner,” Mrs. Connor says.

“Sounds like someone we know,” Cynthia says with a laugh. I know just who she’s talking about—Lucas’ sister Stephanie. She is a train wreck of a person who tried to ruin both Megan’s and Tanya’s weddings, but we got her back. Last I heard about her, she was stuck in a prison cell in Belize for smacking a few cops.

“Do you think that’s a good idea, Julia?” Ethan asks.

I’m staring right at him, but I haven’t been listening to a word he has said for the past five minutes. I start to panic as Tanya, Chase, Ethan, Megan, and Lucas all stare at me, waiting for me to answer.

“Great idea,” I say with a gulp. I have a fifty-fifty shot to answer correctly.

And by the frown on Tanya’s face, I apparently chose wrong.

“See?” Ethan says to Tanya. “Julia thinks it’s a good idea.”

Tanya looks at me with pure betrayal written across her face. “I can’t believe you think that Rocko is a good name for our son.”

Is it rude to crawl under the table?

I picture myself doing it and then cringe when my mind goes to a dirty place. Because the first place I picture myself going while on my knees is straight to Tucker to take that big delicious cock out of his pants.

I raise my hand to the waitress. “Can I get a drink, please? A strong one.”

Something tells me I’m going to be uttering those words a lot this week.

* * *

This is the part I’ve been dreading the most.

But now that we’re finally doing it, I’m having a lot of fun. Everybody by the Backstreet Boys is blaring through the speakers as Megan, Cynthia, me, and a very pregnant Tanya are doing our synchronized dance that we made up for a high school talent show. We weren’t very good back then, and we’re totally laughable right now.

I know this because everyone is laughing at us. But that’s okay because we’re laughing even harder than them.

Cynthia crashes into me, nearly sending me flying to the ground as we start the grand finale. Megan’s face looks so intense as she flies around the dance floor in her running shoes. Tanya looks exhausted as she stands in one spot, waving her arms.

I try to keep my eyes off of Tucker, but it’s hard. I steal one quick glance and then blush when I see him smiling at me. He seems to be enjoying the show, but then again, who doesn’t like to watch a car crash?

We awkwardly shake our hips and throw our hands in the air for the grand finale, and when the music cuts, the place goes crazy. And by crazy, I mean people in our wedding group clap and cheer, but everyone else in the bar just looks happy we’re done.

“Please don’t make me do that again,” I say to a sweaty Megan as she high fives us.

“You have a ten-minute break, and then we’re doing Spice Girls,” she says, rolling her shoulders as she gets ready for round two.

I’m about to protest, but she runs to the bar before I can say a word. Probably to rehydrate with a couple of bottles of water after her intense dancing.

“I’m so proud of you guys,” Mrs. Connor says. “And I got the whole thing on video!”

Cynthia turns to her with heated eyes. “Mom, if you put that on Facebook, I’ll murder you.”

“Too late!” she says, hurrying away.

Cynthia runs after her mother to try and wrestle the iPad out of her hands while Tanya takes a deep breath. “I’m going to go sit down,” she says. “My feet are killing me.”

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is watching me from the bar, so I turn and walk the other way, heading outside for some air.

The resort looks beautiful at night with the soft lighting of the pool and the bright stars overhead. There’s a cool breeze that feels nice on my hot skin. I take a deep breath as I walk to the beach. I’m in so much debt that I don’t know when I’ll ever get to be on a beach again. I have to enjoy it while I can.

I slip out of my Sophia Webster heels and let my toes sink into the cool powdery sand as the waves hit the shore in a soft rhythm. I’m in so much debt that it might take decades for me to pay it off. That thought makes me want to bury my head in the sand forever.

“That was some interesting dancing in there,” Tucker says from behind me.

I turn with a start. “Megan has a temper tantrum whenever we deny her. It’s just easier this way.”

“Well, you looked amazing back there,” he says, swallowing hard as he looks me up and down. “And you look even more incredible now.”

I could say the same about him. He looks stunning with the soft light of the moon lighting up his gorgeous face and broad shoulders. He’d be perfect to cuddle up next to on one of these beach chairs and gaze up at the stars with. Ya know, if he wasn’t such a fucking asshole.

He stops next to me and looks out at the ocean. “Are you going cliff jumping tomorrow?” he asks.

Cynthia planned a few group activities throughout the week. Our first one tomorrow is cliff jumping. We’re going on a forty-minute hike to an area of the island with high cliffs, and then for some reason, we have to jump off them. I don’t get it either.

“I’m going,” I say. Not by choice. Cynthia paid for my ticket before asking me about it. “Are you?”

“I am,” he says, flashing me those sexy white teeth. My heart starts thumping as I look up at them. “You’ve been telling me to jump off a cliff for years, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

I laugh. “You should practice tonight and jump off your balcony.”

“I’d never make it to the pool.”

I grin. “I know.”

He smiles and then his face goes still. “I want to get serious for a second,” he says.

“I’m already being serious,” I say with a straight face. “You should totally dive off your balcony.”

He ignores my comment. “What’s up with Chase?”

I look up at him and exhale. “He loves your sister. She loves him. They’re great for each other, and you shouldn’t make things difficult for them during their wedding week. That’s what’s up.”

“The last thing I want to do is make things difficult for my sister during her wedding week, but I don’t know about him. I know his type.”

“What’s his type?”

“Cocky. Arrogant. Thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”

I laugh as I stare him in the eyes. “I wonder how you would know his type so well.”

He shakes his head. “This is serious. She’s my little sister.”

“She’s not little anymore,” I say. “Cynthia is a smart, sophisticated woman. She can make her own decisions.”

He sighs as he looks away from me and stares at the ocean. “I don’t know.”

I step in front of him and glare at him. “Well, I do know. He’s a great guy. Give him a chance.”

“We’ll see.”

I stick my finger in his face and grit my teeth. Cynthia is my best friend, and she’s found an amazing guy who makes her happy. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let anyone, even her brother, ruin that for her.

“Don’t fuck this up for her,” I hiss. “If you think we’re enemies now, you haven’t seen nothing if you do anything to ruin her week.”

He shows me his palms as he steps back. “I’m not going to do anything. I’m just worried about my little sister.”

I take a deep breath and then exhale slowly, trying to calm my raging nerves. He’s just doing what any good big brother is supposed to do: look after his sister.

“Just give him a chance, okay,” I say, much calmer now. “He’s different than what you think you know. I think you’ll like him if you give him a real chance.”

He nods as he looks down at me. “I’ll give him a chance if you give me a chance.”

I jerk my head back in surprise.

“I’m different than what you think you know,” he says with a softness on his face and in his voice. “I think you’ll like me if you give me a real chance.”

He gives me a shy smile before turning and walking back to the bar.

I take a deep breath of the cool Caribbean air as I turn back toward the ocean with his words swirling around in my head.

Give He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named another chance?

I gulp as my chest tightens. But what if I like what I see?