by Nina Singh
Look at what had happened to her sister. A disgruntled and overly demanding influencer had almost destroyed Eloise’s career as well as her reputation. Luckily, Josh and her sister had devised a rather unconventional plan to thwart the woman’s cruel intentions. They’d had to go through the ruse of a relationship, but given it had led to a real wedding, everything had all worked out in the end.
The memory brought a smile to Tori’s face.
But, fake relationship aside, the threat to Eloise’s bridal dress design business had been much too real.
All it would take for something similar to happen to Tori would be one too many bad online reviews. She spent a fair amount of time monitoring such reviews. Luckily, most of what was written about her bakery was positive. But there were always the select few who found ways to criticize. The cupcakes were too sweet. The lines on weekends were too long. One customer had had the nerve to write that her red velvet cupcakes tasted like store-bought mix. It was her top-selling item, for heaven’s sake!
Forgetting her sketch pad for the moment, Tori sighed softly to herself as she looked out the window. The rest of the wedding party had flown to Nassau earlier in the week and everyone was now waiting for Tori and Clay to arrive. Once they did, the group would all sail to the small island where the ceremony was to take place.
Clay, having had to stay behind for an important meeting, had suggested Tori travel with him since she hadn’t been able to make the earlier flight.
Despite the size of the impressive plane, there was something quite intimate about being alone with Clay hundreds of feet up in the air. She glanced at him now.
As if sensing her gaze, he looked up and caught her eye. Tori resisted the urge to look away. It was much too late to pretend she hadn’t been studying him.
He slowly shut his laptop and pushed back the tray table. Standing, he made his way toward her.
Taking the seat across from hers, he pointed to the graphic tee she was wearing. Imprinted with an image of a bowl of spaghetti, the italic lettering underneath read Vilardo’s.
“That place isn’t too far from your bakery. I’ve eaten there. Excellent restaurant.”
She could only agree. “I like it a lot, too.”
“It can be impossible to get a table some days.”
“I’ve seen the line snake around the corner at times.”
He nodded. “Worth the wait, though. The food is incomparable.”
“It’s often written up as one of the top five trattorias in Boston’s North End.”
He shook his head. “I’d say top three. The stuffed pasta shells are a work of art.”
“I’ll be sure to tell my mama you think so,” she told him with a smile of pride.
“Your mama?”
“It’s my parents’ restaurant. My mother’s maiden name is Vilardo.”
Clay’s eyes narrowed on her face. “Huh. Guess the food business runs in the blood.”
This was the awkward part. Tori never knew how to respond to such comments. She usually brushed off the words with a polite smile or a deft change of subject. But this time felt different. For reasons she couldn’t really articulate, she wanted Clay to know about this large part of her story. She even wanted to tell him about the utterly unbelievable way she’d found her sister. She had no idea why, but she found him easy to confide in. That was almost silly. She barely knew the man.
“Blood wouldn’t really apply in my case,” she told him.
He lifted an eyebrow in puzzlement. “Oh?”
“I was adopted as a toddler.”
“Family doesn’t always mean blood.” He sounded like he was speaking from experience.
“Nurture versus nature, I suppose.”
“Either way, your parents must be very proud of you.”
Tori turned to look out the small window again. Outside, myriad thick, bouncy clouds littered the light blue sky. If only she could emphatically nod her head and agree with Clay’s last statement. But she’d be lying. While it was true her parents were indeed very proud of her in many ways, they were also severely disappointed.
And there was no way she would be able to make them understand. Not without revealing a truth that would crush their spirits.
* * *
From where he stood, Tori wasn’t looking all that great. Clay dropped the design specs he’d been reviewing and made his way over to where she sat portside. He couldn’t seem to stay away from the woman; she pulled him like no one else he’d ever met.
“You’re not getting seasick, are you?” he asked, sitting in the booth across from hers.
They’d landed at Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport about two hours ago. After clearing customs and meeting up with the rest of the wedding party, they’d immediately boarded a passenger catamaran to sail to their final destination.
Studying Tori now, he had no doubt her pallor was off.
“Maybe a little,” she answered in a small voice. “Which makes no sense. I’ve been on plenty of boats on choppy Cape Cod waters.”
“Though not after a long plane ride, I’m guessing.”
She scoffed with a smile, looking out over the water. “A plane ride on a private jet is hardly something to complain about.”
He shrugged. “It still makes for a long day of travel. And there was quite a bit of turbulence.”
“Thanks for trying to make me feel like less of a wimp.”
Wimp. Not a word he would ever use to describe her. Anyone who had opened their own business in a severely competitive field and was running it successfully almost entirely on her own was the antithesis of a wimp. “There’re a couple of doctors and NPs among the guests on board. Would you like me to ask around to see if anyone might have something to help?”
Tori shook her head, the motion making her skin shade even greener. Even so, she still looked mind-scramblingly attractive. Funny. And why would his thoughts be going in that direction at such an inopportune time?
“I’ll be fine,” she said, turning her eyes toward the water once more. “I just need to sit here and focus on the horizon. That’s supposed to help with mild motion sickness, isn’t it?”
“I’ll go get you a soda.” He stood before she could protest and retrieved a ginger ale from the stocked bar set up for them.
He popped open the can and set it on the table in front of her.
“Thanks. Sorry to be a bother.”
“You’re hardly a bother, Tori. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you coming along to do this for Gemma.” He motioned to where his sister stood leaning against her groom. His other sister, Adria, was huddled with her young daughter over a tablet, watching a fairy-tale movie they’d downloaded before the trip.
“You and your siblings seem very close,” Tori said, taking a small sip from the can.
“We’re pretty much all we have.”
She looked at him in question but he had no desire to get into the wreck that was his family history. “What about you?” he asked, changing the subject. “You have two older brothers, correct? Are you close with them?”
The truth was she adored them both. “They do their fair share of brotherly teasing. But yes, I would say we are close.” Her gaze shifted back to the horizon. “I’m close with my sister, as well. We are twins, after all.”
“That’s right. She’s the woman I saw on your phone screen that day.” Tori’d spoken often of her brothers during their past interactions, but finding out she’d had a twin had come as a bit of a surprise to him. It was all very peculiar.
“Did you two play any twin pranks growing up? Switch spots in class to try to confuse people?”
Her smile faltered. “We didn’t actually grow up together.”
Peculiar indeed. She solved the mystery with her next words. “I mentioned that I was adopted as a toddler. As was she, but to
a different family. I’ve been told it was a private adoption necessitated when my biological mother became ill. The agency decided it was best if we completely cut all ties and contact. Eloise and I had no say in the matter.”
“Interesting,” was all he could come up with to say. It appeared he wasn’t the only one with an unconventional family dynamic.
“I found her completely by accident. Well, my friend Josh did, to be more accurate.” An affectionate smile bloomed on her lips. “I’ve known him for as long as I can remember.”
Clay’s chest constricted at the way her face brightened when she’d mentioned the man’s name. “Your friend Josh found your long-lost sister?”
She nodded, her smile widening. “He’s something else. A true one in a million.”
Quite the accolade, Clay thought. Who exactly was this guy? Every indication, from her expression to her tone of voice, hinted that he was much more than a friend.
Clay had no reason to want to question her about him, to find out exactly who this man was to her. Still, the tightening in his chest had yet to ease. Until he heard her next words.
“Eloise and Josh are married now. I was a bridesmaid.”
A surge of relief Clay couldn’t really explain flushed through him at the revelation. Tori and Josh were clearly no more than lifelong friends who now found themselves in-laws. Not that it was any of his business. The woman was simply here to bake, for goodness’ sake. He shouldn’t be interested in her life relationships.
Still, he couldn’t help but feel moved by what she’d just told him. The discovery of a long-lost sibling as an adult wasn’t a tale one heard every day.
“I’ve shocked you,” Tori said with a smile after several moments of silence. She appeared to be feeling better. Some of the color had begun to appear on her cheeks and her lips weren’t drawn quite so rigidly any longer.
“It’s quite a story. I’m glad you and your sister found each other.”
“Our connection was immediate. Now, it’s like we were never apart. She’s in the process of moving to Boston and opening another store.”
There was no mistaking the pride in Tori’s voice.
“What does she do?”
“She designs bridal dresses. For a very high-end clientele.”
“Seems that’s yet another connection. You do wedding cakes, she designs wedding dresses.”
Tori ducked her head. “Not quite the same. I’m simply a baker. And you happen to be my only high-end client.”
Clay was struck by the defeatism of her words. For such an accomplished woman, she seemed to have a warped sense of personal achievement at such a young age. “I get the feeling I’ll be one of many. And I doubt it will take long.”
Her eyes grew wide at the compliment. He’d clearly surprised her.
“Thank you for saying that.” She lifted the now empty soda can. “And thank you for this. Seems to have done the trick.”
“You’re welcome. Glad to hear it.”
He was also glad to have learned a bit more about the woman he was finding more and more fascinating with each passing moment.
* * *
“Do you play tennis?”
Shading her eyes from the sun, Tori looked up from her lounge chair where she’d been relaxing on the beach and sketching for the better part of an hour. It was their second day on the island and so far she’d baked a cupcake tower to follow this evening’s dinner and was now stealing some time to work on the design of the wedding cake. So focused on the task, she hadn’t noticed the shadow that fell over the paper until she heard the all too familiar voice.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Clay said, pointing to her sketch. “But it’s something of an emergency.”
The slight tilt at the corners of his mouth told her the emergency couldn’t be all that pressing.
“Beg your pardon?”
“I asked if you played. Tennis.”
She thought she’d heard the rather random question correctly. “I went to a summer camp every year until I turned thirteen. Tennis was part of the curriculum.”
“Excellent.” He reached for her hand. “I’ll come with you as you get your sneakers.”
Tori let him take her hand in his and slowly rose out of the chair. “I’m not quite sure I understand still.”
“My sister and her groom have challenged me to a doubles match with a partner of my choice,” he told her.
That didn’t exactly explain why she was the choice in question. “And you’re asking me?”
“Yes. And you’re agreeing. Unless you really don’t want to.”
Tori was still processing what was happening. He took advantage of her hesitation. “Come on. It’ll do you good to get some air and exercise. And you can help me beat those two. They’ve been talking smack all morning.”
Everyone else must have turned him down. Why else would he be dragging the pastry chef along to play as his partner?
“But I didn’t bring a racket or anything.”
He shrugged. “The resort provides those.”
“Was there no one else?”
He stopped walking and turned to her. “I’m starting to get the feeling you’re not very enthusiastic to play with me.”
The utter ridiculousness of the situation and the deadpan seriousness in his voice had Tori struggling to suppress a laugh. “It’s not that. I’m just curious as to why you’re asking the pastry chef when you have guests you can ask.”
“I suppose I can go around the resort looking for someone. But it’s going to get too hot to play in a bit. And here you are, right on the beach, sketching. Plus, you said you know how to play. It has to be fate, I’d say. Kismet even.”
Well, when he put it that way. “I suppose that makes sense.” Though she didn’t quite know about the whole “fate” bit.
“Also, I’d like to play with you,” he added with a devilish wink that had her knees growing weak.
“I guess it’d be nice to handle a racket again.”
He didn’t waste time waiting for a direct confirmation. “Let’s go then.”
* * *
In less than fifteen minutes, Tori, having changed into a shorts set and tennis shoes, found herself covering the deuce side.
Surprisingly, she and Clay appeared to make a good team. He seemed in tune with her play strategy and they did a good job with silent communication—understanding each other’s hand gestures and unspoken plays. In no time, they had taken the lead and were able to maintain it for the match. Tori even managed to ace the groom, leading to the stroke that essentially won the set.
Before she knew what he was up to, Clay rushed over and lifted her up in the air, his arms tight around her middle. He swung her around with a resounding cheer.
Tori’s pulse was pounding by the time he put her back on the ground. It was nothing more than a victory hug. But she couldn’t deny the physical longing that had rushed through her when she’d found herself in Clay’s arms.
Gemma and Tom approached from the other side of the net and Clay turned in their direction. If he was affected at all by their embrace, he certainly didn’t show it. That only confirmed what she already knew. She had to fight her attraction to this man, for self-preservation.
“All right, big bro,” Gemma said as the four of them shook hands. “You two won fair and square. A deal is a deal. Drinks are on us. See you in the tavern in twenty?”
“Ha, ha. That’s really funny considering it’s an all-inclusive resort.”
Gemma stuck her tongue out at him. “Yes, but I’ll still pay dearly by having to listen to you brag about your win. Probably incessantly, until the end of time.”
Clay chuckled. “There is that.”
Bride and groom clasped hands as they walked away. “See you later, Tori,” Gemma called over her shoulder. “Nice game.”
To
ri couldn’t help but stare after them. They seemed so happy, so in love. She thought she’d had that once, but her relationship with Drew had only seemed ideal from the outside. That’s why it had been so hard to explain to her family why she’d ultimately walked away. As much as she could explain, that is. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell them the full extent of what had happened between her and her ex-boyfriend.
Her pride wouldn’t allow it.
As a result, her friends and family all thought she was foolish for leaving a man that so many women would feel beyond fortunate to be with. Especially someone like her.
“Did you want to freshen up before heading over to the tavern?” Clay asked as they exited the court gates, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She knew should say no; turn him down flat. She was essentially his employee and fraternizing with the boss probably wasn’t a good idea. “I should get back to sketching out the cake.”
“Come on,” he urged. “I can hardly take a victory lap without my play partner.”
Tori faltered. One drink wouldn’t hurt, would it? She really was rather thirsty after close to ninety minutes of hard play in the strong sun. And the bride and groom would be there. She might get some more ideas about exactly what they wanted. Details could make all the difference between a spectacular cake and a truly stunning one. Technically, it would even count as a business meeting with her main client.
“It won’t take long,” Clay assured her. “You can just help me gloat shamelessly about our victory and then we’ll be on our way.”
His persistence eroded her will to say no.
“Sure. Why not.”
“I have to say—” he dramatically clasped a hand to his chest “—your lack of enthusiasm when it comes to spending time with me is a bit ego-crushing.”