Chapter One
Bree Wilson’s chest tightened as an unusual bout of jealousy took hold. Her best friend was planning his wedding, and although she was ecstatic to see Dawson madly in love, unfortunately, her fate didn’t include such a thing. She’d always been okay with that, though, so why this odd feeling?
She watched Dawson pop open a bottle of wine, hand a glass to his fiancée, and fill it along with two others. A moment later, he and Amy were at her side, and the three of them were toasting to their futures. She knew what theirs held, a picture-perfect life in this gorgeous twenty-room mansion they’d just built along the South Carolina coast. Her gaze shifted out the open French doors to the waves sluicing against the shore. What did her future hold? Concrete, glass, and steel. That was a given. But a man? Probably not. At least not long term. She’d resigned herself to that years ago, so the odd feeling that had moved from her chest to her gut must be due to her changing relationship with Dawson. Things would never be the same between them again. There’d be no more three a.m. phone calls when he was wound up and couldn’t sleep because something had gone wrong at work. He had Amy to help him now. And that was okay. The beautiful brunette was precisely the type of woman Bree had hoped he’d fall for. Still, she was a little bit nostalgic for those good old days.
Not wanting her spell of melancholy noticed, she took another sip of wine, longer this time, and then glanced at the invitations on the coffee table. “I always envisioned you'd have a huge, elaborate wedding,” she said, guessing there couldn’t be more than ten invites on the pile.
He followed her gaze and chuckled as he took a satin covered box out of a cabinet. “You know me too well, Bree. That’s what we’re having.” Dawson handed her an elegant lace wedding invitation held shut with a teal blue ribbon.
She fought hard to keep her fingers from trembling as she opened it and read:
Please Join Us For
The Wedding Celebration Of
Amy Sheridan
and
Dawson Yates
The Crystal Ballroom, Shoreline Country Club
750 Franklin Street, Ocean Ridge, South Carolina
Saturday, June 9th, 2018
At 5 o’clock in the evening
Dinner & merriment
to follow ceremony
An army of emotions flooded her, and she chided herself for the tears that stung her lids. “Two months,” she said more to herself than to them.
Dawson draped his arm across Amy’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him. “I’d get married tomorrow, but even I can’t get a wedding planner that quickly. Besides, we needed to give you time to clear your calendar, Bree. I can’t have my best woman not able to attend.”
She raised a brow at him. “Are you asking me to be in your wedding?”
Dawson flashed her a crooked grin. “Of course. Who else would I want to stand up for me?”
“Do I get to wear a tux?”
“I wouldn’t expect you to wear anything else.”
“Then I can’t possibly say no.” She hugged Amy, and then Dawson, inhaling the sexy muskiness of his cologne. Swallowing hard, she said, “I’m so happy for you guys, and honored to be in your wedding.”
“Be sure to take off a few days. I don’t want you having to leave because you’ve got some resort opening in Costa Rica.”
“I promise.” Although she laughed, what Dawson said was entirely true. She worked incredibly long hours, seven days a week most of the time. But that’s what it took if she was going to take over her father’s empire someday. Wilson International owned a slew of high-end properties across the globe, and they kept acquiring more each year.
“Oh, and be sure to bring a date,” he added.
She frowned. “Okay, now you’re pushing things.”
“I thought you’d say that.” Dawson picked up one of the invites from the coffee table and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she asked, looking down at it. As she read the first paragraph, her heart began to thunder, and her frown deepened. “A free vacation to the island of my choice? You know I don’t need this. I’ve been around the world more times than I can count.”
“But you always travel alone. This is a one-week romantic getaway with a guy chosen by Perfect Match.”
She chugged down the rest of her wine, then sank onto the couch. “You want to play matchmaker for me? I don’t have time for a dinner date, let alone a week with a stranger.”
Amy shot Dawson a look Bree couldn’t decipher, then headed into the kitchen to check on dinner.
“Make the time, Bree.” He sat down beside her and placed his hand on her knee. “We’re worried about you and are afraid you’re going to wind up old and alone.”
“Is that so bad?”
He ignored her question and went on to ask, “What if you were matched with your dream guy? What if he were to make you feel like I do with Amy? How could you refuse that?”
Bree rolled her eyes. “I’d have more of a chance winning the lottery.”
“Just once, try not to be so negative. The Perfect Match algorithms are the best I’ve ever seen, and to prove it, I’m offering six vacations to launch the business and kick-off a massive marketing campaign. But I want to use people who’ve truly been unlucky in love, so Amy and four other women from the Romantic Hearts Book Club have agreed to select a friend they know could use our help. I’m sure you’ll be the toughest case though.”
She studied his handsome face and chewed her bottom lip. There was no denying he wanted her to do this. “You know how very picky I am. I’d drive the guy crazy in one afternoon, never mind an entire week. Isn’t there someone else you can choose?”
The left side of his jaw twitched as it did whenever he was annoyed. “This is important to me. And what if you did wind up finding love, wouldn’t that be worth a week away from work?”
There was nearly zero chance of that happening, but she’d never been able to say no to him about anything, so how could she do so now? Especially when it meant so much to him. “Okay. I’ll do it, but just because I love you. The invite says I can choose any island I want.”
“Yep. It’s your choice.”
She tapped her finger against her chin as she thought. “I’ll go to Bali.”
A broad smile spread across Dawson’s face, but then it quickly faded. “Isn’t your father building a hotel there?”
She hesitated a moment before answering. That was the very reason she wanted that destination. Dawson would have to remember their conversation last month about the Bali resort. “Yes, but it’s only in the planning stages.”
“Good, because this is a vacation, Bree. There’s to be no work the entire week. Got it.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Deal. But I may have to take a ride to the location.”
He laughed. “You’re impossible. If I said no, you’d still do it anyway. Just have a good time, and try to give your match a shot.”
“I’ll try.”
“Good. Now fill out your dating profile.” He handed her the laptop that was next to the invites. It had the Perfect Match website already open and ready for her to input her info.
A few minutes later, Bree was finished and handed it back. “What now?” she asked.
“We run it through the system and get a minimum of five matches back. From those, I pick the one who gets to spend a week with you in Bali.”
Bree’s eyes widened in surprise. “Uh, oh! Should I be worried?”
Dawson smirked. “Very funny. You know I’ll pick the best possible guy for you, and my payback is to be in your wedding.”
She raised a brow at him. “I can’t picture you in a dress.”
He threw his head back and let out a loud laugh. “Neither can I. That means you’ll have to convince your fiancé to have me as a groomsman.”
She winked at him. “When do I leave?”
“When will you be ready? We’re giving a six-month window.”
“Oh, I won’t need that much time. The golf club here in South Carolina will be ready to open at the end of the month. I can go after that.”
“Perfect! May’s one of the best times to visit the island. It’s the start of the dry season. But you already knew that.”
Before she could answer, Amy called them into the dining room. It was full of light and dark tones, and the best words to describe it were sleek sophistication. Bree took a seat in one of the navy blue upholstered chairs. Her gaze was immediately drawn to the Italian chandelier that cast a romantic golden glow over the table.
“I love this room,” Amy said, taking a seat across from her.
“I can see why. It’s gorgeous,” Bree replied.
Dawson sat between the two of them at the head of the table. “Amy decorated it, as well as the rest of the house.”
Bree’s jaw dropped open. “Really? You’re very talented.”
“That she is.” Dawson reached over and squeezed his fiancée’s hand.
The way they gazed into each other’s eyes made Bree feel like an intruder, and she was relieved when a few seconds later, a young woman entered the room and served them a delicious looking meal of crab-stuffed lobster tails, accompanied by sides of asparagus and oven roasted baby potatoes.
While they ate, Bree and Dawson filled Amy in on what it was like growing up in New York City and how their two families had vacationed together for many years. The stories they told had them all laughing, and Bree was impressed that Amy genuinely seemed to enjoy hearing it all. A lot of women would’ve considered Bree a threat, given the history she had with Dawson, but not Amy. She was apparently very secure in her relationship. And although Bree hated to admit it, deep down in a place she rarely let herself go, she wished she could have that same thing with a man.
After dinner, Dawson walked her to the door. “I’m glad I got to spend the evening with you and Amy,” Bree said. “New York’s not the same without you.”
He kissed her cheek. “Don’t make it sound like this is goodbye. You’ll be here for another two weeks, and then again for the wedding in June.”
“All right. It’s not goodbye. Just goodnight.” Bree shivered and buttoned up her jacket as she headed to her rental car. As soon as the sun went down, the temperature dropped fast. Tonight though, her chills were caused by more than the weather. She was already regretting having agreed to the Perfect Match invite. Some people weren’t cut out for love, and she was one of them. But her dad’s often advised words to look at the glass half full instead of half empty came to mind, helping to change her perspective. How bad could it be to spend a week in Bali with some hot guy? It’s not like she was going to fall madly in love with him. Besides, it would most likely only be for a few lunches and dinners anyway. The rest of the time would be hers to do as she pleased, and that meant overseeing the building of the Wilson Cliffside Resort. Yes, she would make the most of her time in Bali.