Cole nodded and Rhett had the distinct impression he’d somehow hurt Cole’s feelings, but the notion was absurd. Everything about this relationship was pretense and Rhett had no right to be dreaming of vacations in France that belonged to Cole and a real boyfriend.

He smiled at Cole and reached for his e-reader. Desperate to do anything but sit there and feel awkward. By the time Rhett thought of something to say, Cole had fallen asleep next to him. His head tilted toward Rhett, as if he’d been watching him read.

Turnabout was fair play, Rhett supposed, and he switched his e-reader off in favor of watching Cole. Even in his sleep, he was unfairly handsome and blessed with thick, long lashes that lay in dark fans against his cheeks. Rhett’s gaze drifted down to Cole’s five o’clock shadow and his fingers twitched as he restrained himself from touching. He needed to know things about Cole. Things he could keep with him when all of this was over. Things like the way his stubble felt under Rhett’s touch, or the way his eyes fluttered slightly as he woke.

Cole’s eyes opened and Rhett swallowed thickly as Cole’s expression warmed. He opened his mouth to protest, somehow, that he hadn’t been watching Cole sleep like some creeper.

The flight attendant chose that moment to inform the passengers that they’d be making their descent into Tahiti in ten minutes and that it was time to make sure their seatbelts were fastened and they were ready for landing.

Cole let Rhett get off the plane first, but was quick to link their hands together as they joined up with his family and headed toward the luggage carousel.

Rhett sidled up closer so he could whisper to Cole, “They keep looking at me.”

Cole laughed. “I think they’re shocked. That’s all. By the time we get to the hotel, they’ll be either too drunk or too tired to pay much attention to us. Plus, they have bridezilla over there to wrangle.”

Rhett exhaled. Being drunk sounded both very good and very dangerous. He recalled the tasting room and the nearness of Cole, the way their bodies had lined up perfectly. He let go of Cole’s hand, allowing him again to be a gentleman and get Rhett’s bag. It was unfortunate that he wasn’t Rhett’s actual boyfriend. Even though they were faking it, Cole had been nice to him so far and they’d had a lot of fun talking and hanging out in the week before the trip.

Rhett veered out of dangerous territory and followed Cole out of the airport and onto a bus that took them to the ferry. By the time they boarded, Rhett was bone tired. “I never knew travelling was so exhausting. I could sleep for a week and all I’ve done is stand, sit, and wait.”

Cole put his hands on Rhett’s shoulders and kneaded the muscles with his fingers. “When we check into the hotel, we can hide in our room and order room service.”

Rhett wanted to groan out loud at how good Cole’s hands felt on his shoulders. “Aren’t we here for a wedding? Isn’t your family expecting us to hang out with them?”

“We’re free the rest of today and tomorrow. The day after is the rehearsal, then the day after that is the wedding. And the day after that is hangover day to recover before we fly home the day after that. We’ll need to be there for the rehearsal stuff and the wedding. That’s it.”

Cole’s arms wrapped around his waist and he rested his chin on Rhett’s shoulder. The sunlight glinting off the ocean was almost as blinding as the sudden swell of fondness he had for Cole in that moment.

“There you two are,” Cole’s mother said as she approached, her heels clicking on the deck of the ferry. She looked at Rhett and offered a smile, more decorum than affection Rhett thought, before looking to Cole. “Will you two be joining us for dinner tonight?”

“Afraid not, Mom. Rhett and I are pretty tired. We’re going to take it easy in the room tonight, but we’ll join you for breakfast.”

His mom waved a manicured hand at Cole, dismissing his suggestion. “No, thank you, dear. You’re up far too early for me. Lunch, perhaps, if you’re around?” She looked at Rhett and this time Rhett thought her to be genuine when she smiled. “It’s nice to see you, Rhett. I do hope we get a chance to catch up.”

Rhett feared they’d be trapped on the boat forever, making small talk with Cole’s mom, but her phone chimed and she pulled it out of her purse. “This wedding is going to kill me,” she moaned as she tapped out a text.

“Not if you kill Kristen first.”

“Cole, there will be no talk of murdering your sister before the wedding. It’s bad luck.”

“Since when?” Cole shot back. He moved away from Rhett and was no longer blanketing his back, but he kept his arm around him the whole time, marking territory that wasn’t really his.

“Your sister is a menace,” his mom complained. “She needs me for something. I swear to God, three months is not a long enough honeymoon. I’ll see you boys later.”

“Nice seeing you again, Mrs. Mallory.”

She turned. “Please, Rhett, call me Constance.” Her phone chimed again and she rolled her eyes. “Duty calls.”

Alone again, Rhett was free to take in his tropical surroundings. “It looks just like it does in the pictures,” he breathed, admittedly feeling somewhat awestruck.

“You sound surprised.”

“You know how it is. You see a picture of a hamburger on a menu, and you order it, and it’s not how it was pictured? Or you order a shirt online and it looks great on the site, but doesn’t look good on you? This is the exact opposite of that.” Rhett knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he couldn’t help himself. “Thank you for this, by the way.”

It felt like an eternity before they arrived at the hotel and Rhett was thankful for Cole, as he leaned against him in the hotel lobby, taking advantage of the fact that everyone thought they were together.

Cole smoothed his hand down Rhett’s back. “You okay, babe?”

“I’m fine. I don’t know whether I want to lie down and sleep or go for a swim. Traveling is hard.” Rhett added a bit of extra whine to his last phrase, which made Cole smile.

“We can do both. We’ll check into our room, change into our swim trunks, then get a cabana at the beach. You can swim, then nap, or nap, then swim.”

“You are the best travel partner ever.” Rhett winced internally as he thought of France, and Bordeaux, champagne, and the vacation that would never really be his.

Their room, once they finally were in it, was beautiful. Crisp white linens framed the windows and Rhett walked over to them, drawn to the view of the ocean just outside. He opened a set of doors that led straight out onto the small deck and then the sand. He snapped a few quick photos with his phone and sent the images to Penny and Ryan. Penny was quick to respond with an immediate I hate you, and a half a dozen heart emojis.

Rhett heard Cole handle the luggage and the tip. He’d have offered, but Cole had a thing about being chivalrous, and Rhett rather liked feeling taken care of, so he decided to let him.

He turned around, grinning, feeling far more refreshed than he’d felt all day. “This place is beautiful. And that bed is huge. Is it a California king or eastern king size do you figure?”

“It’s an eastern king.” Cole said simply, unzipping his luggage. “So, swim, nap, eat, or eat, nap, then swim?” Cole pulled out a pair of turquoise trunks.

“Um. I think we can just wing it, can’t we?” Rhett abandoned the view in favor of finding the trunks he’d brought. Rhett unzipped his suitcase, slowly, suddenly aware of the fact that there was only one bed in their hotel room. Which made sense, of course, they were boyfriends after all, sort of.

Rhett grabbed his trunks out of his suitcase and spared Cole a quick glance as he hurried toward the bathroom. “I’ll go change in here,” he said, trying hard not to let on how spooked he suddenly felt.

He shouldn’t be so freaked out, Rhett admonished himself once he was alone. He’d had hookups before he had gotten naked in front of. He’d woken up to a one night stand using his chest for a drool bib. Certainly he could be a grown up and change in front of his fake boyfriend. Or share a bed with him. He didn’t know what he was so terrified of when all of this was pretend.

Rhett changed, splashed some water on his face, and forced himself to ignore the giant bed-shaped elephant in the room and focus instead on getting into the water as fast as possible.

He opened the bathroom door and nearly choked on his tongue. Cole in clothing was gorgeous, but Cole in nothing but a pair of trunks was hot as hell. Unfairly hot. His body was lean and tight and had a maturity that it certainly didn’t have the last time he’d seen Cole Mallory in a pair of swim trunks so many years ago.

“You ready?” Cole asked, reaching for Rhett.

Rhett took Cole’s hand. “For anything,” he answered.