She rolled her eyes. “How old are you anyway? Aren’t we both a few years past being dominated by our sexual urges?”
“Thirty-eight. I’m not dominated by my sexual urges. I simply dominate my sexual urges.” I wagged my brows at her and grinned. “How old are you? Aren’t you a few years past being so repressed and judgmental about sex?”
“I’m not repressed or judgmental.” She dropped her gaze to the sand and sighed, dipping her head between her shoulders. “Okay, maybe I am a little bit of both of those things, but that’s not any of your business.”
I was burning to delve into that little nugget, but when she kept her eyes down, I realized it was time to let it go. “Tell me about your ex. Who leaves a woman like you at the altar?”
“Why would I talk to you about that? I hardly know you and that’s highly personal.”
“Who better to talk to than a stranger?” I asked. “At least you know you’d get an unbiased opinion.”
She didn’t say anything for a few beats. Then she sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. Forming a bridge with her arms between them, she laid her chin down in the crook of one elbow and stared out at the azure blue swells rising and falling in the distance.
“Will and I were good friends for a long time. I should’ve seen it coming, but I really didn’t. When I called him and he said he couldn’t do it and that we both knew it was for the best, I was honestly shocked.”
“Shocked but not heartbroken?” Her voice hadn’t wobbled at all as she spoke. She sounded strangely detached, like she was talking about someone else’s wedding falling apart.
“Why would you say that?” she asked.
“Just from the way you said that. It doesn’t sound like you were all too interested in this guy. Unless you’re still in shock?”
She scowled at the horizon before climbing to her feet and dusting the sand off her ass. “You know what? I tried to talk to you, but it’s pointless. I think it’s best for me to just go.”
Storming off without another word, she left me wondering what the fuck had just happened. On the other hand, she’d been stood up mere days ago from what I could tell. It made sense that she’d be a bit volatile.
Her emotions were probably all over the place. She really didn’t seem all that torn up about the breakup, though. But maybe pointing it out was somewhat tactless.
I headed back into the ocean and swam until my muscles felt it before I decided to hit the shower. As I made my way back up to the room, I caught a glimpse of Lindsay sitting alone in the dining room at the end of the row of bungalows.
It was an outdoor dining area with a kitchen under the sky and a simple thatched roof over a concrete floor. Strings of light wrapped around the beams were just starting to blink on, but she didn’t seem to notice any of it as she stared out into the distance again.
I didn’t stop to watch her or to wonder what she was thinking. As far as everyone at this resort was concerned, that was my wife sitting there all by herself. That was not a good way to spend the first night of a honeymoon, and I wouldn’t let it stand.
Chapter 9
LINDSAY
A man who had to weigh at least four hundred pounds grinned as he came up to my table. He wore an apron with the words “If a cook ain’t fat, don’t eat the food” emblazoned on it, and he carried two menus in his hands.
“You’re my new arrivals, right?” he asked, his big brown eyes latching on mine. “I’m Big Mac. The chef down here.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I smiled back at him. “I’m Lindsay.”
He set the menus down on the table. “Your waitress will be coming around soon, but can I order you a drink?”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks.” I pulled one of the menus closer and studied my options. “What’s good here?”
All I wanted to do was eat and go to bed. I’d had a quick shower after getting back from the beach, but I hadn’t had a chance yet to wash my clothes. Everything that had happened was weighing heavily on me, and I was more than ready for sleep.
Big Mac’s grin widened. “Anything I make is good, but I’ll whip you up something special. Take care of whatever pain you’re in.”
My head jerked back and I frowned up at him. “Why do you think I’m in pain?”
He shrugged. “I’ve met a lot of people. I know pain when I see it.” His pitch-black curls bounced as he nodded. “I think I’ve got just the right thing in mind for you and your new husband.”
I was confused for all of about three seconds before I remembered about Jaxon. “I’m not sure if he’ll be joining me this evening.”
We were also going to have to figure out what to tell people if everyone at the resort knew their guests as well as Big Mac seemed to. His dark eyes lifted toward the entrance. “Oh, he is. Look over there. He’s already here.”
He introduced himself to my supposed husband, and the two of them hit it off immediately. While they talked about the seafood platter Big Mac suggested he would bring us, I took a minute to study Jaxon.
His hair was damp and he was wearing different clothes, so presumably he’d had a shower as well. It looked like he’d run his fingers through his hair because it was slicked back, but it was still too messy to have been brushed.
The light blue T-shirt he had on clung to his tattooed body like a second skin, stretching over his abdomen and biceps. Now that I knew what was underneath the fabric, it was a little more difficult to ignore the way he filled it out.
The guy might be a possible serial killer and thought he knew much more than he actually did, but I couldn’t deny how attractive he was physically. Everything about him just worked. There wasn’t a single feature out of place or anything about him that could’ve been better.
He smirked when he caught me staring at him again, and I narrowed my eyes, seriously considering flipping him off. The ass had overheard my conversation with Ember. He knew I thought he was good looking, but he really was. It was an objective fact. He didn’t have to look so damn pleased about it every time he caught me in the act.
An act I shouldn’t have been committing, sure, but I couldn’t help it. He really was just that gorgeous. So what if I needed a minute to get used to being around someone who looked like him?
By the end of the week, I probably wouldn’t even notice him anymore. This was just an adjustment period.
“No allergies. That sounds great, man. Thanks.” He grinned at Big Mac before lowering himself into the seat across from me. The smugness from a minute before had evaporated from his eyes, leaving an unexpected warmth in them when they met mine. “You don’t have any allergies, right?”
“Isn’t that a question you should’ve asked before you ordered whatever you just did?”
“Nope. If I’d asked you in front of him, it would’ve been pretty fucking obvious that I don’t know very much about you. Who marries someone if they don’t even know about their allergies?”
“I could’ve been a mail-order bride,” I suggested.
He smirked. “That’s not really my style. Call me old fashioned, but I’d at least like to know if shellfish is going to kill a person before promising to spend the rest of my life with them.”
“Would that be a deal breaker for you?” I asked. “Being allergic to shellfish?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned again and there was a hint of a dimple in his left cheek.
Damn it. Because that makes it better. Fucking dimples.
“I don’t have any allergies.” I focused on the sun setting over the ocean instead of the stupidly sexy man sitting with me. “Do we have to eat together? I was just going to grab a bite before going to bed.”
“You can still do that,” he said, folding his arms on the table and leaning forward. “I’m not going to keep you here against your will. I’m not a kidnapper either.”
“Good to know.” I kept my eyes on the water and the gorgeous streaks of crimson and amber in the sky.
Jaxon reached over and touched my hand
to get my attention. It was nothing more than a brush before he withdrew again, but it still felt like I’d been zapped with awareness of how good his skin felt against mine.
“Okay, look, I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have pried.” He sounded so genuine that I actually believed his apology. “I won’t ask you any other questions about your relationship or your wedding. Deal?”
“Why did you?” He didn’t exactly seem the type of guy who offered women a shoulder to cry on and a tub of ice cream. Then again, I didn’t know whether he was that kind of guy. I didn’t know much about him at all.
He cocked his head, lifting one of his shoulders as he kept those beautiful eyes on mine. “I was curious. I’m sorry if my comment offended you. I have a habit of calling things like I see them and I often forget that my observations aren’t always welcome.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the apology.” I couldn’t blame him for being curious, but I hoped to the highest of heavens that he kept his promise. “But we already have to live together. Do we really have to eat together too?”
Sitting back, he wagged his eyebrows at me. “Married people usually do, don’t they?”
“Yes, but you’re forgetting the fact that we’re not actually married.”
He lifted his hand slightly and pointed a finger before circling it. “You’re forgetting the fact that everyone here thinks we are.”
“The staff sure do seem to know everyone.” A waitress who greeted us as Mr. and Mrs. Flinn proved my point when she came to get our drinks order. As she left, I caught Jaxon’s gaze and smiled. “So, Mr. Flinn, what are we going to do about our little conundrum?”
“I’d really have preferred it if you were Mrs. Scott.” He pursed his lips into a mocking pout. At least I thought it was a mocking one. If it was real, the dude had issues.
“Next time, you can make the reservations then,” I said. “Since I made this booking, we’re the Flinns.”
“Fine.” He sighed but I didn’t miss the humor shining in his eyes. “I guess I could be the new-age guy who took his wife’s last name.”
“Look at you, being all progressive.”
He winked. “As long as I get to call the shots in our marital bedroom, you can call me whatever you want.”
“You just have to have the last word, don’t you?”
“Yep.”
The waitress delivered our drinks, and I laughed when I realized Jaxon’s was a cocktail served in a massive pineapple, complete with pink umbrellas and a purple bendy straw.
“That drink kind of stole your thunder there,” I said.
“When in Fiji.” He shrugged and stirred the bright red liquid inside the carved-out fruit. After sticking the straw between his teeth and taking a sip, he let out a low groan. “I’ll definitely be having a lot more of those. Want to try it?”
I eyed the drink and tried to ignore the effect hearing that sound from him had on me. My body had never turned on me this way before, and I didn’t like it very much. “Sure. Why not?”
As soon as I wrapped my lips around the same straw his had just been around, I realized I should’ve insisted on getting my own. Who knew what germs this guy had, and here I was sharing a straw with him?
Why don’t I care more?
I parked the thought for later consideration when the tart liquid filled my mouth. After swallowing, I licked my lips and pushed the drink back to him. “You’re right. I’ll definitely be having a lot more of those too.”
His gaze was resting on my mouth when I looked up at him. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move it either. When he finally lifted it to mine, I knew I wasn’t imagining the smoldering heat in it.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I was just thinking about kissing you.” He didn’t look away, complete confidence in his gaze. “I won’t, so you don’t have to worry about it. But I told you I hadn’t lied to you and I didn’t want to start now.”
“How can you just say stuff like that?” I didn’t think I’d ever met anyone quite like him.
“Why shouldn’t I? Would you have preferred if I lied to you?”
“No, I just…” I trailed off. “I’m not used to people just saying whatever is on their minds, is all.”
“You’d better get used to it if we’re going to be spending this week together.”
“Are we, though? Spending the week together? We could just pretend like we had a fight and that’s why we’re not doing everything together.”
“I don’t know anyone else here and I’m sure you don’t either. No one is going to buy a couple on their honeymoon spending all their time apart. So why don’t we just go with it? It’ll be a nice break from the real world, and neither of us will have to keep trying to keep track of a bunch of made-up bullshit about why we’re fighting.”
I studied him for a long minute, taking in everything from the serious set of his jaw to the caramel-colored warmth in his eyes. “You’re right. I suppose it will be easier if we just do some stuff together as opposed to having to make up excuses all the time. That sounds exhausting.”
His full lips spread into a smile. “I knew you’d make the right decision. I hope you’re hungry, wifey dear. That platter is huge.”
Twisting around in my chair, I spotted Big Mac carrying a tray laden with all kinds of seafood and fries so big they looked like they were half a potato each. The smells wafting from it were divine when he set it down between us with a lopsided grin.
“Dig in, my friends. Please enjoy your meal.”
We thanked him, and he winked at us before walking away. I smiled at the wide expanse of his back before turning back to Jaxon. “I like him. He’s interesting.”
“Yeah, I like him too. He reminds me of a guy I used to serve with. Alex was a Pacific Islander as well, and it just so happens he also cooked like a machine.”
“You were in the service?” I probably should’ve guessed he had been, but I honestly hadn’t gotten quite that far yet. “Is that how you became a pilot?”
“Yep. Air Force. I never would have left if I hadn’t been medically discharged.”
“What happened?” I asked before realizing I was now the one delving into deeply personal territory. “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I fucked up my knee.” He moved his right leg to the side and extended it. “Tendon damage. It doesn’t bother me so much anymore, but it still disqualified me from active duty.”
“I’m sorry you got hurt,” I said, surprised by how much I meant it. “It must’ve been a really difficult time for you.”
“It was, but it was also years ago.” He looked into my eyes. “I don’t mind talking about it now. You’ll get there too, you know? One day.”
“What happened to me was just humiliating. I don’t really think you can compare the two at all. You were a real-life superhero who wanted to keep fighting for his country, and I got dumped.”
“Maybe, but it’ll still get easier to talk about it.”
“My brother is in the military too. I haven’t seen him or heard from him in years.” I didn’t really know why I’d just told him that.
“Really?” Jaxon sat up straighter. “What’s his name? Maybe I know him. Where is he based?”
Fuck. I’d opened the door to his questions, so I knew he wasn’t just trying to pry again. I really didn’t want to talk about my brother, though.
Grabbing a bite of calamari, I popped it into my mouth and widened my eyes at my fake husband. “You really have to try that. It’s great. Tell me about your time in the service instead. I’d much rather hear about that.”
I could practically see the gears turning in his head. He knew I’d changed the subject intentionally, but he plucked up a piece of the calamari anyway and didn’t push me for answers.
We spent the rest of our dinner stuffing our faces with Big Mac’s incredible food, and Jaxon told me several hilarious stories of things he’d gotten up to in the Air For
ce.
By the time my stomach was so full that I doubted I’d even have space to fit ice cream, I realized I may have judged him too harshly earlier. Under the circumstances, I could’ve spent the evening in far worse company than his.
So he’d made an insensitive comment about my previous relationship? He hadn’t been wrong. I wasn’t ready to talk about that particular topic with him yet, but I had a feeling that when I was, that unbiased opinion he’d offered me earlier might actually just be helpful.
Chapter 10
JAXON
I woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of cabinets opening and closing. Cracking open an eye, I lifted my arm to check the watch on my wrist.
Five o’clock in the morning? What the fuck is going on?
“What are you doing?” I asked, sitting up with a groan. “It’s five a.m. We’re on vacation. Why are we awake?”
She turned where she was standing in the small kitchenette that was really more of a counter with a basket of fruit and a coffeemaker on it. There was a tiny sink that was probably only there so one could rinse the fruit and a few cabinets underneath with the basic cutlery and crockery.
I’d heard Lindsay washing her clothes in the bathroom after we’d gotten back from dinner, and then I’d spent an hour trying not to think about the fact that she was sleeping naked only feet away from me before I’d eventually drifted off. That felt like it’d only happened five minutes ago.
Her clothes had obviously dried overnight because she was wearing them again, clutching a mug as she stared at me with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean to wake you. Sorry. Go back to sleep.”
I rubbed my eyes, shaking my head before stretching and letting out a yawn worthy of a lion. “I’m up now. Again, though, why exactly is that?”
“I have a whole list of things I want to do today. I want to get the most out of this trip, see everything I’d planned on seeing, and that won’t happen if I spend all day in bed.”
“It’s five a.m.,” I repeated. “Sleeping for another hour or two would hardly count as spending all day in bed.”
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