She wasn’t sure how she survived it, but somehow Marissa got through the rest of the day and the games. Even without her scavenger hunt points, Team Bride came in first place with enough completed lists. The tug-of-war was a closer match, but Team Bride took it as well. She tried to meet Nick’s eyes to gloat, but he kept his gaze averted.

In fact, for the rest of the day, he wouldn’t look at her.

And he definitely didn’t talk to her.

Even when they competed against each other in the three-legged race, he wouldn’t make eye contact. After the bean bag toss, she stopped trying. And when Team Bride took the entire competition, squeaking out a slight victory after an intense arm wrestling match between her dad and Nick, she didn’t even bother looking to him to gloat.

It was probably better that he didn’t look at her anyway.

It was bad enough that every time she caught a glimpse of him, her entire body burned with the memory of how his mouth had felt on hers.

Damn.

It had taken eight years to get the memory of their first kiss out of her mind, and now she was going to have to start all over again.

Why had he done that? Why had he kissed her?

For the game. At least that’s what he’d said.

That’s all it was. She’d been telling herself that all day. And she’d keep telling herself that, too. At least until her brain believed it to be true.

There was nothing behind that kiss.

You’re such a liar.

She was, too. Because there was definitely something behind that kiss. At least, there had been for her. The moment his lips touched hers, it was just like eight years ago. And as much as she tried to deny it, all those feelings she’d worked so hard to push down for eight years flooded back to the surface.

“Marissa.” Jenny came up beside her. “Are you coming to dinner with us? I think we should toast our win, don’t you?”

Marissa scanned the little group that had gathered. It was a mixture of family and friends, cousins and other wedding guests. There was no sign of Nick, but that didn’t mean anything. No doubt he’d be close to Jake, or maybe Jenny’s cousins.

The flicker of jealousy surprised her and she quickly shook it away.

“I don’t know,” she told Jenny. “It’s been a big day and there’s still more to come. I should probably get some rest.”

Jenny pulled her into a quick, but tight hug. “I totally get it,” she said. “I know that these weekend weddings can be intense, and I really do appreciate all your work on it. It means so much to have you here with me. After all, we’re going to be sisters.”

Marissa smiled and gave Jenny another hug. She really did like her sister-in-law to-be. She almost changed her mind to join them for dinner, Nick be dammed, but then she remembered she still had to work on an amazing Jenny-worthy speech for the wedding reception and that sealed the deal.

“I’m happy to do it,” she said to Jenny. “But I think I’m just going to order some room service tonight and work on my speech. I want to make sure it’s perfect.”

“I’m sure it will be.” Tears sprang to Jenny’s eyes, but she was quick to wipe them away. “Everything about this wedding is going to be perfect.”

Marissa couldn’t help but think that was a lot of pressure to put on one day, but it definitely wasn’t the time to say anything.

“It will be fantastic,” she said instead. “Especially if I can go get to work.” She grinned, and with one more quick hug, Jenny sent her on her way.

After a quick stop at the bar to order a chicken salad to be sent up to her room, Marissa was in the clear.

At least she hoped she was. There was a slight chance that Nick hadn’t gone to the dinner either, but it was only a slight one. Nick never passed up a free dinner. Especially if there were beautiful women involved.

Again, the flare of jealousy lit in her gut, but she pushed it down again. She had no time for such petty thoughts. She’d promised Jenny an amazing speech, and that’s just what she was going to get.

Marissa didn’t even realize she’d been holding her breath as she opened the door to the suite, but as soon as she walked in, she exhaled.

Empty.

She didn’t waste any time grabbing her laptop, pouring herself a glass of wine from the bottle in the fridge and setting up on the little balcony with her feet up. The view was breathtaking and definitely enough to inspire her. Besides, the Lodge was teeming with love and romantic vibes. It wouldn’t be hard to write a heartfelt speech.

Soon enough, Marissa was completely immersed in her work. She didn’t even notice the knock on her door, or the click as the door opened, or the footsteps that followed.

It wasn’t until Nick stood directly in front of her, holding the room service tray in his hands, that Marissa noticed.

---

“What are you doing here?” Missy jumped up so fast her laptop almost went flying. Fortunately one hand caught it while the other flew to her chest.

“It’s my room.” He shrugged. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” And that was the truth. The last thing he’d meant to do was scare her. In fact, he’d been trying to avoid her. Nick’s plan had been to sneak away from the group and back up to the room so he wouldn’t have to torture himself by being so close to Missy. At least for one night.

He definitely hadn’t planned to run into the room service guy, who stood dumbly in the hallway outside their room, holding a tray. Nick had no choice but to accept it and deliver it to Missy.

“I was bringing you your dinner.” He raised the tray a little bit to make his point. “Which begs the question, why aren’t you eating with the others?”

She put her laptop on the table next to her and reached for the tray, but Nick pulled it back, just out of reach while he waited for the answer.

“I could ask you the same question, you know?”

“You could,” he conceded. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m looking for an answer.”

She sighed and pulled her hair back from her face before letting it fall around her shoulders again. “I’m working on my speech for the wedding,” she finally said. “Jenny has some pretty high expectations. I wanted to make sure I met them.”

Nick handed her the tray, which she placed next to her laptop on the table. “I can understand that,” he said. “That’s actually the same reason I’m not at dinner.”

It wasn’t entirely true, but it also wasn’t really a lie, either. Not that she needed to know that.

“Of course,” she said, as if it was a perfectly reasonable explanation. “You’d have a speech as well.” She moved closer to the tray on the table and lifted the lid for her meal. “Do you mind if I eat? I mean, you’re welcome to stay...that’s stupid. I’m sorry—it’s your room, too. I just...”

“I know it’s strange.”

Missy put the tray down again and turned to face him. “No,” she said. “Do you know what’s strange?”

He shook his head, although he could definitely think of a few things.

“That kiss,” she said. “That kiss was strange. Why would you do that? And don’t tell me it was for the scavenger hunt.”

“But...” He drifted away because he didn’t know what else to tell her. Of course it was for the scavenger hunt, but it was mostly for him. Because ever since he’d set eyes on her again, the taste of her lips on his was the only thing he could think about. But he couldn’t tell her that.

Or could he?

“It was for the scavenger hunt,” he started to explain. But when he saw the disappointment that flashed in her eyes, just for a second before it disappeared, he grew bold. After all, there was nothing else to lose. “But it was mostly because from the moment I saw you yesterday, I’ve been wondering what it would be like to kiss you.”

Her mouth fell open. She had definitely not been expecting him to say that, which made sense because he hadn’t been expecting to say it.

She shook her head, but there was no way he was going to let her walk away from this conversation. He took a step toward her, so he stood directly in front of her.

“Nick, I don’t know...I can’t...there really isn’t—”

He silenced her with a kiss. This one deeper and more meaningful than the one earlier in the day. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her close to him. She melted into the kiss easily, and this time she didn’t push him away. When finally, he stepped back and pulled his lips softly off hers, he kept hold of her hand.

Alarm bells rang in his head. He shouldn’t have done that. There was no way it was going to turn out okay. Missy was still Missy. She was still Jake’s little sister. She was still off-limits.

But none of that mattered at that moment. Not with the way she was looking at him. A little smile lifted the corner of her lips and finally she spoke.

“Did that just happen?”

He nodded and returned the smile, pushing all of the worries and reasons they shouldn’t be doing it out of his head. None of it mattered. “It certainly did. I hope it wasn’t as strange as the one this afternoon, because this kiss was just for us.”

She shook her head briefly. “No,” she said. “There was definitely nothing strange about that.”

Missy had to be thinking about the first time they’d kissed and the fallout from that moment. But if she was, she didn’t say anything, which was fine by him. As far as Nick was concerned, none of that mattered anymore.

With her hand still in his, he pulled a chair close to hers and they sat. “How about we work on those speeches together? And maybe later we could—”

“Practice our dance again?”

He laughed. Yes, that was definitely a safer idea.