The weather is absolutely beautiful and I feel like I’m going to my funeral.

I’ve been jumpy for the past few days, constantly expecting something to happen that would throw my world for another loop. Like I haven’t had enough of those already.

Ever since Austin, Callum and Troy showed up at Meeke & Associates and the full extent of my predicament became clear to me, I’ve been headless, stuck between what I want and what I know I can’t have.

I want them. All of them, or at least one of them.

And I can’t have them. Any of them.

I shake my head, clutching the beach bag I have with me. We’re on a private resort on a private island in Hawaii, with the only guests in this tropical paradise being the people who work for Sandy Jewels – the resort – and the guests attending the soon-to-be nuptials of Robert Stephenson and Andrea Blake, a woman who looks like a supermodel and can’t be older than I am.

I wonder if any of them know that this wedding might not even happen, I wonder to myself as I pick a beach chair under a palm tree and drop my bag next to it.

A waiter is there immediately to take my order – a Mai Tai – and I let my cover drop as I lay down on the chair. I’m wearing a coral bikini and I’ve made it my mission to avoid everyone I can today and take the day for myself.

The main body of guests are supposed to start arriving tomorrow and I have a meeting set with Robert this evening, but Milan insisted on flying me in early and I couldn’t say no to that. In part because I really couldn’t, and in part because she was offering me a chance to relax on perfect beaches under the guise of ‘work’.

I’d be insane to say no!

As my drink arrives and I take the first sip, I fish out my phone and FaceTime Christine. I make sure that she can see the Mai Tai and the palm tree the moment the call starts.

“Hey, you,” I greet with a grin and the expression she’s wearing tells me she’s having none of it.

“Yeah, fuck you too,” she says with a scoff and a grin. “You know I hate you, right?”

“I do,” I agree lightheartedly.

“So how’s the resort?”

“It’s perfect! Five star all the way and right now, it’s basically deserted. I don’t have anything I need to be doing before tonight so I figured I’d take the morning for myself.”

“Lucky. Can you show me what it looks like?” Christine asks and I purse my lips. “What is it?”

She can always tell when I’m hiding something.

“Well, I’m not exactly close to it…”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m practically at the other end of the island on a private beach,” I tell her.

I had to take two separate boats to get here.

“Uh-huh,” Christine says with a roll of her eyes. “If you think you’re going to be able to hide from them your whole trip…”

“I’m not hiding from anyone!” I protest.

Thank god I’m wearing my sunglasses because I’m sure I’m looking guilty as sin right now.

“Riiiight,” Christine says. “You’re totally not running and hiding from the three macho beefcakes who all probably want to fuck you silly and make you cum for days.”

If I wasn’t blushing before, I definitely am now.

“Aren’t you at the office?” I ask, flabbergasted.

“Yeah, whatever, they’re used to it,” she says, and then pans the camera around to show me she’s alone. “Relax, it’s lunch. No one’s here but me and my sad plastic container salad. Now admit it, you’re running from every woman’s wet dream and you should be ashamed of yourself. You’re setting the feminist movement back like a hundred years!”

That gets a laugh out of me.

“What you’re saying is that me wanting to avoid three men whose family I work for, who are probably just making fun of me, is setting the feminist movement back? I think you need to check your facts, Chrissie.”

Christine groans.

“Okay, first of all, they’re not making fun of you. I saw the way that tall rich one, what’s his face…”

“Austin,” I fill in for her.

Just saying his name makes my heart throb a little painfully.

“Right, Austin. I saw the way he was looking at you when you were in your office. And the twins? Oh, my fucking god, I told you they were at one another the whole game after you left, blaming each other for scaring you off. These were not men looking to get their rocks off. They were smitten!”

“Who uses the word ‘smitten’ anymore?” I say lightly.

“Me, when describing the dumbass, backwards shit that you’re doing! Now would you get it through your thick skull that you’ve been given an opportunity of a lifetime here? Three guys want you, want you, and every one of them is the hottest man alive.

“Women and men alike would kill for just one of them to be interested in them and you’ve roped all three by letting them spill beer on you and catch you when you fall? You need to fuck them all, repeatedly, until the name Jacob’s completely out of your mind, and then fuck them again until you have your priorities set straight!”

Christine cuts her rant and stares at something behind me mutely.

“Who’s Jacob?” a familiar voice asks and I whip around quickly, finding Callum and Troy hovering over my chair.

They’re both shirtless and I suck in a breath through my teeth because I haven’t seen so many individual abs in one place since the last Olympics swimming relays. Holy hell, these guys are built.

“I’ll call you back,” I mumble, shutting off the call with Christine.

For once, she doesn’t protest.

“Should we be worried? Is there competition outside the Stephenson family that we need to eliminate?” Callum asks cheerfully as he picks the chair right next to mine, dragging it even a little closer, while Troy gets the server to go fetch them some drinks.

He takes the chair to the other side of me and suddenly, my private ocean-side paradise feels a whole lot more cramped. Like it’s running out of breathable air because all I can inhale are Troy and Callum and their stupid perfect bodies and charming grins.

I think the only one who should be worried here is me.