The next morning, Nick waited for Missy as long as he could before leaving the suite to go in search of breakfast. He had to stop himself from knocking on her door to see whether she’d like to join him. Somehow it didn’t feel right to disturb her.

The night before, holding her in his arms and dancing to what he knew was one of her favorite songs from one of her favorite movies of all time, it had felt so...well, it had felt right. But it wasn’t.

Nothing had changed. Missy was still Jake’s little sister. That would never change.

Besides, the odds that she still felt the same way about him after so many years were slim. She was a beautiful, successful woman. There was no way she was still hung up on him. Heck, it was entirely likely she had a boyfriend.

But if she did, where was he?

Stop it.

Nick forced himself to stop thinking about Missy in any other term besides little sister and maid of honor, and he focused his attentions on the task at hand.

Which, as far as he was concerned, was getting some breakfast.

He found Jake and his parents in the dining room. “Good morning.” He slid into a seat next to Patrice. “Is everyone ready for today’s activities?”

“The real question is, are you?” Jake pointed a piece of toast at him before he took a bite. “I know Jenny has you and Marissa in charge of leading the teams. Are you up for it?”

“Brother...” Nick poured himself a cup of coffee. “Anything you need from me, I’ve got it. I am your best man, after all. I have this well under control.”

“Well, I think it’s so nice that Jenny and Jake have organized so much fun this weekend. It really turns the wedding into a bit more of an event, don’t you think?”

Nick nodded, although he wasn’t so sure how doing a scavenger hunt and competing in a couple of games was much of an event, but there was no way he was going to say anything.

“And, it looks like I’m on Team Groom,” Patrice said. “Alan is on Team Bride, so we better make sure we win.”

She winked at her husband, who blew her a kiss in return.

Nick had always been envious of the Duncans’ easy marriage. They just seemed to really love each other, and they always had. Unlike his own parents, who seemed to moderately tolerate each other—when they weren’t bickering, that was.

The Slaters had definitely not been the model of marriage, or family. Or really much of anything except for how to run a successful business, which reminded Nick—no doubt his voicemail was full of angry messages from his father about the cancelled meeting.

He didn’t care.

Not really.

He’d listen to them later and assess the damage then. There wasn’t much he could do about it at the moment anyway. Especially when his best friend was counting on him to help make his wedding an event.

“Not to worry,” Nick said. “Team Groom is definitely going to beat Missy.”

Patrice gave him a strange look but didn’t say anything because at that moment, Jenny joined them and said, “I don’t think so, Nick. Team Bride has this locked up. I have full confidence in Marissa on this.”

“Where is Marissa anyway?” It was Jake who asked him, but all Nick could do was shrug. He didn’t want to tell them that he’d waited most of the morning for her to come out of her room, or that they’d left things awkwardly the night before after dancing together in the living room. So he just shrugged again and grabbed a piece of toast from the plate in the center of the table.

Patrice exchanged a look with her husband, but nobody said anything else about the matter until it was time to head out to the games.

“Hey.” Jake grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side away from the group as they walked down the corridor and out to the courtyard. “I just wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being my best man, of course.”

Nick waved him away. “As if anyone else could possibly do the job.”

“You’re right about that.” Jake laughed. “But I know it’s probably not easy to do this with Marissa.”

Nick froze. “What do you mean?” There was no way Jake could know about his feelings for Missy. He’d done his best to hide them for years. It was the one thing he’d never told his best friend. The one thing he’d kept from him to protect their relationship. “Why would it be hard?”

“Because she’s my sister.” Jake laughed. “And Marissa can be a little...well...she’s my sister, man.” Jake laughed and Nick joined in.

“You know I love Missy,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to spend some time with her again. It’ll be fun.”

“It will be fun.” Jake slapped him on the back. “We better go before Jenny docks Team Groom for being late.”

---

Marissa was ready and waiting in the courtyard long before anyone showed up for the games. In fact, she’d been ready for hours, having woken up extra early to get out of the suite before Nick woke up. After the dance the night before, Marissa decided it would be best to limit any time that she had to spend alone with Nick. It might help with the feelings that, much to her dismay, had definitely not faded in the last eight years.

It might help.

So far, it had just given her extra time awake, when all she could do was think about Nick. The games would be good. They would distract her. That’s what she needed: a distraction.

Except the moment the glass doors opened and Nick, along with the rest of her family and a handful of other wedding guests, spilled out into the courtyard, Marissa’s stomach did that annoying flip thing it had been doing since the night before whenever Nick was around.

“There you are,” Nick said when he approached. “Where were you this morning? I waited for a long time but hunger got the best of me and I had to come downstairs.”

“Oh.” She tried to sound casual. “I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d just get a jump on the day.”

“You mean you weren’t even there?”

She shook her head and handed him a list. “Here’s the agenda for the morning. We’ll start with the scavenger hunt and then finish with tug-of-war.”

“And the teams?”

She handed him another list. “They’ve been assigned.” Marissa did her best to keep her voice neutral. She hadn’t failed to notice how a handful of Jenny’s single and eligible cousins had been put on Nick’s team. She also hadn’t failed to notice how they’d been sitting in the corner, giggling and pointing at Nick since he’d arrived.

It shouldn’t bother her, but it did. She made a point of turning away from the cousins as she consulted her own list. “I’m going to gather my team,” she told Nick. “I have Jenny’s brother and his wife. She looks strong, so we’ll definitely win.” She tried to sound casual. “Will you be ready to get started in a few minutes?”

“Sure.” He looked up from his list and nodded. Marissa turned away to leave, but Nick grabbed her arm. “Hey,” he said. “Maybe we could...I don’t know...work on our speeches later?”

“Speeches?”

“You know, for the reception. We both have to give speeches. I thought maybe it would be kind of fun to bounce some ideas off each other.”

She watched him for a minute, trying to find something in his eyes that would give her an indication of why he might be trying so hard to spend time with her. If she didn’t know better, she might think that maybe he was interested in her. But that was ridiculous.

Was it?

Even if it wasn’t...

“Okay.” She said yes before she realized what she’d said. “That would be fun.”

It would? She really needed to get away from him before she declared her undying love for him next.

“I should...” She gestured to the group of family members. “Get my...” She shrugged, aware that she probably sounded like an idiot.

“Go,” he said, excusing her. “Get your team ready and let’s get this started.”

She nodded and moved away, silently cursing herself. What was it about the man that made her so tongue-tied? It was ridiculous.

“Ready for this?” Marissa’s dad patted her on the back and slipped the list from her hand. “I think I have most of our team assembled and they’re excited.”

She laughed, successfully distracted from the effect of Nick. “You’re really getting into this, Dad.”

“Damn straight. Your mother seems to think that Nick is going to lead them to victory, but I believe in you, Marissa.”

She shook her head and laughed again. “Whatever you say, Dad. But it will be a team effort. Go gather the troops. I’ll get the lists ready.”

A few minutes later, her father had rounded up the team and Marissa gave the instructions. “Okay,” she said to her small assembled group. “It’s a photo scavenger hunt. Dad is passing out the lists.” She gestured to her dad, who was happily handing the papers out. “Use your cell phones to take pictures of everything on the list and for every team member we have who completes the list, we get a point. Make sense?”

Everyone nodded their heads, excited to get going.

“Great,” Marissa said. “Let’s meet back here in twenty minutes to add up the points. Have fun and go Team Bride!”

There were a few hoots and hollers as everyone dispersed with their cell phones and lists.

She couldn’t help but notice that Nick’s team had already disappeared. Normally, she wasn’t a very competitive person. Maybe it was the situation—maybe it was Nick? Whatever it was, she wanted desperately for Team Bride to wipe the floor with Nick and his group.

She waited until everyone had happily scattered in various directions and consulted her own list to see what she could take care of quickly.

A picture of the wedding site.

She could do that. It was right around the corner by the little pond and waterfall.

A wedding guest meeting someone new.

That was easy enough.

Cousins together.

Super easy.

Members of the bridal party kissing.

Marissa rolled her eyes. No doubt she was going to see more than she ever wanted of her brother kissing his new bride. Not that it wasn’t great that he was in love—that was great. But she could definitely do without watching her big brother swap spit.

With a sigh, she tucked the list in her back pocket and headed off to get some of the easier pictures first.

It didn’t take Marissa long to knock off the first few items off her list. She was just headed over to the ceremony site to take care of that one, when she heard voices. It looked as if half the guests were gathered there to get the photo, and maybe with a little luck the bride and groom—who had mysteriously disappeared right before the scavenger hunt had started, no doubt to make it hard to score the last shot—would be there.

But Jake and Jenny weren’t there.

Instead, Nick was there, sitting on the rocks by the water with a few of Jenny’s cousins, who were fawning all over him.

“Give up already?” she asked with a roll of her eyes. Marissa lifted her phone and took a picture of the ceremony site.

“On the contrary.” Nick had jumped up and was standing next to her when she lowered her phone. “I was just waiting for the winning picture.”

“The what—”

Before she could finish her question, Nick wrapped his arms around her, and his mouth was on hers in a deep and completely unexpected kiss.

It took her a moment to realize what was happening, and by the time she did, every nerve ending in her body was on fire with the electricity coming from Nick’s lips and the hottest kiss she’d ever had. Instinctually, Marissa slipped her hands around his back and kissed him right back.

---

It only took Nick about five seconds to forget what the purpose of the kiss was supposed to be. Only five seconds because as soon as he put his lips on her soft, sweet mouth, he was completely lost in her.

His body remembered eight years ago, a very similar kiss that had completely lit him up. Only this time, when Missy slid her arms around his back and deepened the kiss, Nick had no intention of pushing her away. And the very last thing he would do was laugh.

Because all he wanted to do was keep kissing her.

As long as possible.

A hoot sounded from somewhere nearby, but Nick didn’t care. He slipped his tongue between her lips, in an effort to deepen the connection even further. Instantly, he wished he hadn’t, because the spell was broken.

Missy’s hands came up to his chest and she gave him a shove.

As he stumbled back a few steps, Nick was intensely aware of the absence of Missy in his arms. A few seconds later, he was also acutely aware of the way she was staring at him.

“What the hell, Nick?”

He had to think quickly. If he told her, right there, in front of everyone, how he’d wanted to do that from the moment he’d seen her in the dining room the night before, she’d get upset.

Hell, if he told her the truth—how he’d wanted to do that every day for the last eight years since their first and last kiss—she might kill him.

Nick shrugged and tucked his hands into his pockets. “We needed a kiss from members of the bridal party.” He nodded his head toward Jenny’s cousins, who stood nearby, holding their cell phones rather dumbly.

“A photo?”

He nodded and hated that he was lying to her. Because even though it was actually the truth, that had been the plan. Not to kiss Missy exactly, just anyone he saw first. He still hated the fact that he was diminishing what had just happened between them.

Because the truth was, it was more than just a photo for a contest. Way more. And he was a jerk for pretending that’s all there was to it.

“And did you get what you needed?”

Audrey, Jenny’s oldest cousin, nodded. “We did. Thank you. Now we have the whole list.”

“Speaking of which.” Nick made a show of looking at his watch. Anything to keep from looking at Missy. “We should get back. It’s time to tally up the points.”

She didn’t look happy, but maybe she was still a little dazed from being kissed. Lord knew, Nick was more than dazed. He was completely shattered after that. It took all the focus he had just to put one foot in front of the other.

He waited a moment as Jenny’s cousins left, headed back to the courtyard, before he turned to Marissa. “Hey, about that...”

“What?”

He shook his head. She was not going to do that thing where she pretended nothing happened, was she? Because something had happened. It most definitely had.

“You know, the...well, the...”

“The kiss?” She laughed and tossed her head back. “You got your point,” she said. “And I guess you got one up on me. But Team Bride will still kick your ass in the tug-of-war.” She flipped her hair back and started to walk away.

“That’s not really what I meant,” he called after her. It was lame and he knew it, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

Missy stopped and turned around slowly. “What did you mean then?”

“Well...” He crossed the distance toward her and took her cell phone from her hand. “It’s not really fair that we got the picture and you didn’t. Let’s get you one.”

A look of horror crossed her face. She snatched her phone back before she stuffed it in her pocket. “I’m good, thanks. Like I said, we’ll get you in the tug-of-war.” And then she was gone, walking much faster than she had before, in the direction of the courtyard, away from him.

And his offer for another kiss.

He shouldn’t feel rejected. After all, it was ridiculous and he’d covered up his intense desire with such a stupid guise. Not that it could be anything different.

Amazing kiss or not, Missy was still Jake’s little sister.

And that was never going to change.

He took one more moment to pull himself together and followed in the direction the others had gone. He couldn’t allow himself to get caught up in these feelings. After all, he still had best man wedding duties to perform.

That’s what he was going to focus on. Because Jake deserved the greatest best man ever. Not one who was lusting after his little sister.