Once again, the difference between his and Cole’s realities reared its ugly head and Rhett came to an abrupt halt as the table came into view with the two empty chairs waiting for them. The rest were filled and Rhett recognized only a handful of the people. Cole’s parents, his sister, and his grandparents were all familiar to him. It blew him away that everyone else here could afford to fly to Tahiti for a wedding.

Cole squeezed his hand and whispered his name, “Rhett. It’s okay.”

Rhett looked at him, feeling more than a little out of place. “I feel like I’m about to go in front of the firing squad.”

Cole laughed. “They’re not that bad, come on.” Cole tugged him toward the table. He smiled at everyone, offering them a cheery greeting and pulling Rhett’s chair out for him. “Sorry we’re late, everyone. I could have sworn that Mother said rehearsal lunch, not brunch.”

Rhett took a seat and tried to act as natural as possible, but he suddenly felt as if everyone at the table were staring at him. Desperate for a distraction, he looked at Kristen. If anyone loved taking center stage, it was her.

“You look lovely this morning, Kristen. Tahiti agrees with you.” Rhett felt like an idiot for saying it, but Kristen beamed and she flashed him a terawatt smile.

“Aren’t you the sweetest?” She turned to her fiancé, her blonde curls bouncing. “See? I was right. A tropical wedding was the best option. We’re going to have gorgeous photos.”

Rhett was thankful that the conversation at the table started up again. Cole poured Rhett a glass of orange juice and he drank half in one gulp.

“Cole, you never told us you were serious about someone,” Cole’s father, Malcom, said suddenly, his authoritative voice stilling the surrounding conversation.

Cole reached for the tongs and grabbed a couple of sausages, plopping them onto Rhett’s plate before he served himself. “I don’t tell you a lot of things, Dad. Rhett is my business. Our relationship was on a need to know basis. I wanted him to come to Tahiti with me for Kristen’s wedding, therefore, you needed to know.”

Rhett wished he had something to contribute to the conversation, but Cole’s dad made a sound in the back of his throat that Rhett translated as disbelief or maybe irritation. Possibly both.

The weight of Cole’s hand on his leg was an anchor. Cole squeezed Rhett’s knee and leaned over, brushing his lips against his ear. “Relax. Eat something,” he whispered, then kissed his cheek.

His skin felt as if it were on fire and were it not for the stares of the people at the table, Rhett would have reached up and touched his cheek to see if he could feel the remnants of the kiss on his fingertips.

He managed to glance at Cole, feeling somewhat sheepish because of the kiss, and was met with a radiant look on Cole’s face. But Cole was always radiant, wasn’t he? Rhett turned his attention to his food.

They ate in peace for a few minutes, but then the conversation circled around back to the two newest lovebirds at the table. “How is it that the two of you ended up together? Cole has been a confirmed bachelor for as long as I’ve known him.” The question came from Kristen’s fiancé, Edward.

Before he could stutter a response, Cole draped his arm over Rhett’s shoulders. “Edward, it’s your rehearsal meal; why don’t you let Kristen tell us all how the two of you met?”

Rhett appreciated the way Cole kept the spotlight off of them as much as possible and the way he handled his family with such a practiced ease.

His remark to Edward seemed to have steered the conversation firmly away from them and back to Kristen, who more than willingly absorbed the attention that made Rhett uncomfortable.

It might not have been so bad if everything wasn’t a performance, Rhett thought as he poked at his eggs. If he could relax and not worry about slipping up and blowing the whole charade, he’d probably be having a great time right now. He’d always liked Cole’s family, and he’d honestly been having the best time with Cole the past week. But there was too much at stake, he realized, frowning at his plate. If he blew it, Cole would lose the vineyard and he’d never forgive Rhett.

Rhett would never forgive himself.

“Are you all right, dear?” Cole’s mother asked him, her brows pinched with concern.

“I’m fine.”

Cole squeezed his shoulder. “I’ve kept him pretty busy. He’s never been to Tahiti before so I’ve been trying to show him all the sights in the time we have to spare.” Cole glanced at Rhett and must have sensed his discomfort. “There’s actually more I want to show him. You don’t really need us at rehearsal, do you, Kristen?

“God, no,” Kristen scoffed, taking a sip of her drink. “We don’t need you or your towel boy, Cole, honestly.”

“Towel boy?” Rhett questioned, head tilted.

Kristen waved her hair in the air, giant engagement ring catching the light. “That’s what your family does, right? Like, the washing?”

Rhett’s face heated and he opened his mouth to reply, but Cole cut him off. “His parents own a party rental company, you idiot. Don’t be rude.”

Kristen’s eyes flared. “Weren’t you going? Besides.”—she rolled her eyes—“Sandy will be too distracted if you’re here.”

Sandy gasped and tried to swat Kristen’s arm, but she shrieked and dodged, nearly climbing into Edward’s lap to get away.

“I hate you.” Sandy’s voice was shrill, but not unaffectionate.

Kristen stuck her tongue out at Sandy, then looked at Cole and made a shooing motion with her hand.

“I wouldn’t mind if you and your boyfriend stuck around,” Cole’s grandmother said icily. Rhett had only met her a couple times, and she’d never been a particularly warm woman. He guessed that Kristen took after her quite a bit. “I wanted to get to know this young man.”

Rhett felt himself shrink under her gaze.

Cole set his napkin on the table and laced his fingers together with Rhett’s. “Sorry, Grandma. We’ll have breakfast with you and Grandpa, once we’re home.” Cole pulled Rhett to his feet.

“Cole, really, do sit down,” his mother implored, but Cole shook his head.

“Sorry, Mother, this is Kristen’s week. What she says goes. And she said, so we go.”

Kristen agreed with Cole again, the disdain dripping from her words indicating she was angry that Rhett had received even the slightest bit of notice at an event that should be all about her. Rhett never had liked Kristen very much, but he had to admit to a small shred of gratitude for her large personality and her ability to redirect everyone’s focus.

Cole led him away from the table and Rhett grinned, happy to escape.

They walked fast, nearly jogging until they were out of sight, then Cole slowed and looked at Rhett. “She’s a pain in the ass, and I’m going to get her for that shitty towel boy comment, but I can’t complain that I have you all to myself again.”

Rhett’s cheeks flamed as he thought of the kiss on the cheek Cole had given him at breakfast. “It was nice of her to give us an out.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “She wanted me out of the way because we were stealing the attention. And with me out of the way, she can behave however she wants.”

“You keep her in line or something?”

Cole glanced at Rhett. “I have dirt on her. Lots. It’s what brothers do.”

Rhett thought of his relationship with Ryan, which was far different from Cole’s relationship with Kristen. “Not all brothers.”

“Oh, come on. Surely there’s something about Ryan you could use against him if you had to?”

Rhett thought, but only long enough to decide that even if such a thing existed, he wouldn’t use it. “I wouldn’t do it,” he said out loud. “No matter what I thought it would gain me. It wouldn’t be right.” He looked at Cole. “What do you have on her?”

Cole grinned. “Nothing, actually. But I tell her that when I inherit the vineyard, I won’t let her have her big fancy anniversary parties there.”

“You’re devious.”

“I am.”

“Okay, so now you’ve got me all to yourself, what are we going to do with our sudden freedom?”

Cole grinned a wicked grin and tightened his grip on Rhett’s hand. “We’re going to a bachelor party.”

“Edward’s?” Rhett frowned, confused.

“God, no. Ours.”

“Ours?”

“Yes, ours.”

“We’re having a bachelor party before you propose. Isn’t that a little backward?”

Cole’s laughter caught Rhett off guard. “Yes, it is. But nothing about this situation is normal, Rhett. You don’t want rules, and that’s fine, but that means that I get to make things up as I go along.”

Rhett nodded, dumbstruck by the heat in Cole’s gaze. “Okay, Cole. Bachelor party it is.”

“Perfect. You won’t regret this.”

The evening sand held as much heat as the afternoon sand, Rhett thought to himself as he stared out at the horizon, his head pleasantly fuzzy. He wasn’t drunk, but he’d been riding the same buzz for hours, coaxing it back to life without crossing the line into nearly wasted like he’d done at the vineyard.

Cole had been right. He hadn’t regretted a single moment that he’d spent with him that day. They wandered the island, hand in hand like real boyfriends. They’d done a little shopping. Rhett picked out a set of turquoise bracelets for Penny, a set of matching Bora Bora t-shirts for her husband and their son. For his brother, Rhett grabbed the ugliest coffee mug he could find, a garish red with Tahiti scrawled across it in a fancy font with plenty of curly tails. Ryan would hate it.

Cole purchased a couple things while Rhett was busy picking out Penny’s gift. They made it back to their room and put their purchases away. Cole, taking pity on Rhett and his tired legs, suggested they stick to their own little section of the beach and order room service.

That’s how Rhett found himself lying in a lounge chair, full of crab, seafood, and beer, his body boneless and warm in the last vestiges of the sun. He let his head roll to the side and he stared at Cole, who looked out at the ocean.

Rhett was getting close to developing real feelings for his fake boyfriend, he realized. Dangerously close. Rhett tore his gaze away from Cole, as Cole glanced at him, catching him.

“Your idea of a bachelor party was pretty tame, I have to admit.”

Cole took a sip of his beer. “My partying days are behind me for the most part. Besides, the day was nearly perfect. Don’t you think?”

Rhett hummed his agreement and stared at the horizon.

“Tired?” Cole asked a few minutes later, his voice sounding thick and delicious. His mouth probably tasted like beer and his skin probably smelled like sunshine. Rhett had no business thinking about those kinds of things.

“Yeah. A little. But I want to stay out here a while longer.” Rhett watched the waves lap the shore, tinted red from the Tahitian sky.

“Whatever you want, Rhett.”

He nodded, unable to make himself answer Cole’s words. He thought they sounded like a promise and he allowed himself to think of them that way until the sun sank down under the ocean and took its colors away.