Telling himself to stop being such a lecher, Bryce settled his eyes on Lucy’s face and determined to keep them there. She was the kind of person who made even a sunny day seem dull in comparison, so it was hardly a hardship.
And that was where he’d kept them ever since, on her face and not her breasts, or that beautiful bottom, ridiculously curvaceous in her wet suit.
***
“Hey, Bryce. Bryce!”
A voice calling his name brought him back to his present reality, waist-deep in a swimming pool with four beginner divers who would be going on their first reef dive in the morning. Sternly castigating himself for losing focus, he smiled at the young woman who’d been trying to get his attention.
“Sorry, I was miles away. What’s your question?”
She fluttered her eyelashes at him and edged closer. “Nothing about the diving - you covered everything very thoroughly. I just wondered if you were doing anything for dinner tonight? I have a table reserved at La Sirène.”
Bryce didn’t even know her name. She was pretty, and close to his own age, probably twenty-two or three, but her obvious advance left him completely cold. Even if resort policy hadn’t forbidden fraternisation between guests and staff, he wouldn’t have been tempted.
“Thanks for the invite, but I’ll be having dinner with my fiancée,” he said, suddenly inspired.
“Oh.” The girl’s face dropped visibly. “Well. Alright then. Does she work here?”
“She’s with the marine biology research centre,” Bryce said proudly, and that was the end of the conversation, as one of the other guests called to him with a question.
He made his escape quickly at the end of the lesson, hurrying back to his cabin and drying off before sitting down at the desk and looking at the form Luke had given him to fill in. As usual, the words swam and danced in front of his eyes, making him rub at his eyelids and pinch the bridge of his nose before he used his forearm to block out all but the first line and read the words slowly aloud.
A tap on the edge of the screen door made him scowl. “I’m busy!” he called out, hoping whoever it was would take the hint and go away.
“Looking at that form?” Lucy’s English-accented voice said, and his head snapped around.
“Lucy!”
Bryce stood up so fast he knocked his chair over, though he managed to catch it before it hit the floor. “I thought you’d still be working - it’s not five yet, is it?” Surely not, he’d only just sat down!
“No, I got the boss to let me go early. God knows I work plenty of unpaid overtime.” She smiled up at him as he opened the screen door to admit her to his cabin. “I remembered what you said about being dyslexic and thought you might be having some issues with the form, so I figured I’d stop by and we could fill them in together before we take them back to Luke.”
“That’s a good idea,” Bryce said, touched by her consideration.
“Also, I don’t know your last name. I was about to write down Hemsworth when I realised it probably isn’t.”
Bryce blinked, bemused. “What? No, it’s Seabrook. Hemsworth?”
“In joke.” She plopped down to sit cross-legged on the end of his bed. “You and Cory both look like extra Hemsworth brothers. You know. Thor?”
He got it then, and grinned, shaking his head. “That’s ridiculous.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly the most sensible person you’ll ever meet.”
“You’re plenty sensible. You’re here to help me fill in this damn form so we get it in on time, right?” Bryce sat down in his chair again and scowled at the offending piece of paper.
Lucy watched Bryce’s face as he scowled at the form, obviously struggling to puzzle out the words, and melted inside. He looked utterly gorgeous sitting there in just a pair of board shorts, muscular bronzed torso on full display. Is he even aware of how damn sexy he is? she wondered. Particularly when he chewed on his full lower lip like that and stroked those long fingers over his chiselled jaw. She followed their path, mesmerised and suddenly aroused, thinking how his hands would feel on her body.
“Lucy?”
“Yes! Sorry, what?” Mentally kicking herself for being so distracted she hadn’t paid attention to what he was saying, she focused determinedly as he asked the question again. “Yes, of course. Helping you with the form. That’s why I’m here.” Not that she would be of much use sitting on the end of the bed. Pushing herself up, she crossed to his desk and leaned over his shoulder. “All right, where are you up to?”
With her telling him what to write in each space, they were soon done, and Bryce rose to his feet, giving her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Luce. We’d better run these up to Luke’s office.” He picked up a T-shirt and pulled it on over his head; although the white fabric clung lovingly to his muscles and looked great against his tan, Lucy still spared a moment to silently mourn the loss of her spectacular view.
As she walked beside Bryce on their trip back to the main building, his hand brushed against her wrist lightly and almost automatically, Lucy took his hand.
Bryce’s confident stride stuttered slightly, and he looked down at her hand before looking across at her face.
“This is okay, right?” she thought to check. “I mean… if we practice holding hands, it should seem natural by the time Mum arrives…”
“It’s fine.” His fingers curled more firmly around hers. “It was my idea, remember?”
And it was a good one. Also a bad one, because she could get to like holding Bryce’s hand. A lot.
Chapter Five
Luke didn’t appear to have moved since their earlier visit, though the piles of paper had migrated around his desk somewhat. He looked tired as he lifted his head and nodded to them to come in.
“Still set on this, then?”
“Yep.” Lucy spoke for both of them, setting the completed forms down on Luke’s desk. He looked at her thoughtfully, swinging back and forth a little on his office chair, before nodding and picking them up to feed into his scanner.
“I’ll get them sent off straight away.” He smirked a little. “And you should stop by and see Terry and Jerome. They’re excited.”
“Oh God, Olivia got to them already!” Lucy looked at Bryce with open dread. He chuckled at her.
“Come on, let’s go see them now. Best start reining them in or you’ll find they’ve planned the most elaborate wedding the island’s ever seen and you’ll have no choices in the matter at all.”
The thought was so horrifying that she grabbed Bryce’s hand again and half-dragged him out of the office without even saying goodbye to Luke. Hurrying along the hallway to the large office Terry and Jerome shared, her mind was full of enormous meringue-like wedding dresses and bridesmaids in a hideous shade of tangerine.
By the time they reached the wedding planners’ office, she’d calmed down a little and remembered she didn’t even have any bridesmaids. Which was something she’d need to arrange before her mother arrived. Maybe Olivia would agree to be a maid of honour.
Terry and Jerome were bent over the big planning table they used, arguing over something as they usually did. Lucy wasn’t sure she’d ever seen the pair of them when they weren’t bickering, though they were actually married. They’d been the very first same-sex couple married on the island when Australia legalised gay marriage, and their wedding photos were up on the website already.
“Lucy!” Jerome spied her first and straightened up, throwing his arms wide. “Darling girl! Come here, we have such plans for you!”
“Uh,” Lucy said, “not too big, I hope. I’ve never had visions of an extravagant wedding.”
“Told you not to get carried away,” Terry said snarkily, folding his arms. “Classy and simple has to be the way to go.”
Lucy shot him a grateful look and nodded. “That’s what my mum will expect, anyway. Well. Simple, if not classy.”
“Impossible mothers are a nightmare,” Jerome said sympathetically. “We’ll k
nock her socks off, Lucy. Don’t you worry. You and Bryce make an absolutely beautiful couple - look at them holding hands, Terry!” He nudged his husband and Terry chuckled.
“Actually that’s a point, we should make an effort to get some photos of you two together each day, so you’re wearing different outfits and look like you’re always in each other’s company. Put them up on the resort’s social media accounts so there’s evidence for your mother to find if she goes looking…”
“You’d have been a terrifying criminal mastermind, darling,” Jerome said. “But he’s absolutely right. Tell everyone to take snaps of you regularly.”
“There’s just the slight problem that I hate having my photo taken and I always look like I have a weird fake smile,” Lucy despaired.
“I’ll tell everyone just to take candid shots. They’re better anyway,” Bryce said, surprising her. “It’ll be good practice, looking at each other adoringly.”
“That’s the spirit,” Terry said cheerfully. “Now, Lucy, Olivia said she originally suggested lending you one of her designer dresses but we can do better than that - there’s a bridal shop in Airlie Beach we sometimes send customers to, and I’ve already spoken to their manager who would be delighted to dress you for free. Dress, shoes, accessories, it’s all yours.” He beamed at her. “And the jewellery shop right here in the resort will loan you an engagement ring until after the wedding, and two wedding bands to use at the ceremony.”
They really did have everything under control, Lucy realised as Terry barrelled on, talking about hair and makeup, flowers and catering, photography and videography. After a couple of minutes she tuned out, looking up at Bryce and seeing him apparently listening intently.
God, he’s so good-looking. Mum’s never gonna believe he’s in love with me.
As though sensing her scrutiny, he suddenly looked down at her and smiled. Holding her eyes, he lifted the hand still linked with hers and, to her intense surprise, pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand before lowering it again.
Lucy couldn’t help but wonder what Bryce meant by the affectionate gesture. Was it just more ‘practice’ as far as he was concerned? She tried to tell herself not to read too much into it, but the soft warmth of his lips against her skin left a tingling feeling long after they’d left the wedding planners’ office.
“Want to go get some dinner?” Bryce suggested as they headed back down the main staircase to Reception.
“Sounds good,” Lucy agreed. “I was too distracted to eat much lunch.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“Did you really?” came out before Lucy could stop herself, and Bryce looked down at her with a slight smile.
“I notice everything about you, Lucy.”
She hadn’t the slightest idea what to say in response to that bombshell, but fortunately was saved from having to come up with a response when Cory came out of a side pathway to join them.
“Hey, you two! Having fun?” His smile was just slightly malicious.
“Your girlfriend’s been the one having fun, I think,” Bryce parried quickly.
Cory shrugged. “It’s the low season. She’s bored, and you basically dangled a fun project in front of her and gave her free rein to run with it.”
“Honestly, I don’t mind,” Lucy said. “Quite the opposite - I’m grateful! There’s no way I could pull off anything as convincing as what Terry and Jerome have been outlining to us, and Olivia’s obviously the one who got them enthused.”
“She does have a tendency to drag everyone along in her wake,” Cory’s grin was proud. “One minute you’re carrying on as normal and the next Cyclone Olivia’s blown through and everything looks wildly different.”
It was more than obvious that Cory absolutely adored Olivia. His face lit up when he spoke about her, and Lucy found herself envious of the obviously tight and passionate relationship the two of them shared. She wanted that, wanted to feel that way about someone, a lover who’d talk about her with that joy and adoration clear on his face for all to see.
Would her mother believe she was marrying Bryce if Lucy didn’t have that light in her eyes when she talked about him? Lucy had always been a romantic at heart, and her mother knew it.
Well, she’d just have to do her best, and spend the next couple of weeks getting to know every personal detail Bryce would share with her. She liked him, after all - perhaps a little too much - so spending time with him wasn’t exactly going to be a hardship.
Chapter Six
“Breathe,” Bryce nudged Lucy in the ribs lightly. “You’ve gone white as a sheet.”
He was holding her hand, as usual these days, but this time she was clinging to it like a lifeline, because at any moment her mother was going to walk through the sliding doors from the airport’s secure area and see them together, and the charade would begin in earnest.
The last two weeks had flown by; Lucy had a much greater sympathy for women who turned into bridezillas when things didn’t go exactly to their plan now. On such short notice, Olivia, Terry and Jerome had pulled together an absolutely breathtaking plan for a wedding, but multiple things still had to be changed due to unavailability or expense. Lucy had just shrugged and rolled with the changes, but she could imagine how a girl who had her heart set on something could easily get upset and overwhelmed by it all in the run-up to the biggest day of her life. Especially if she had family who were bringing pressure to bear as well.
“Your mum’s flight is starting to clear now,” Rosie noted. Standing just in front of them, she was helping to greet the guests incoming to the resort along with Jill, the guest relations manager. Lucy didn’t know Jill well, but the other girl had stepped up to do her part in the charade as well, upgrading Lucy’s mother to a premium guest suite rather than a standard resort room and sending a request to Housekeeping to have a welcoming basket placed in the room. Mother of the Bride, the card tucked into the beautiful arrangement of fruit said, and there was champagne in the bar fridge too.
“Oh, God.” Lucy’s hands were cold and clammy, but Bryce didn’t try to let go. He squeezed comfortingly on her numb fingers instead, trying to warm her.
“Easy. It’s all gonna go fine. She won’t see anything past that sparkler on your finger.”
Which was yet another thing Lucy had to worry about. She’d tried to pick out a plain, simple ring at the resort jeweller. They’d had other ideas, and since their jewellery would feature prominently in the marketing photographs, she didn’t really feel able to say no. Especially once they’d assured her their insurance would cover her in the case of loss or damage.
Consequently, she was wearing a spectacular princess-cut, two-carat diamond solitaire that would have cost Bryce about a quarter of his annual salary, if he’d been paying for it. She’d pointed that out, but Bryce had decided for reasons of his own to accompany her to the jeweller and he’d cut off her objections with a few simple words.
“I’d spend a lot more than that if I was lucky enough to find a woman as amazing as you who was willing to marry me.”
The words had made her feel warm all over, especially combined with the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke them. Every time she saw the glint of the diamond, she remembered the way Bryce had called her amazing.
Taking a deep, calming breath, she looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back, and that warm glance between the two of them was the first thing Justine Manning saw as she walked through the sliding doors.
“Lucy!”
Her mother’s welcoming call made Lucy startle and look away from Bryce, her cheeks flushing. “Mum,” she said with a smile.
“Holy shit,” Bryce said as she stepped forward, “that’s your mother?”
Lucy knew exactly what he meant. Justine Manning would be fifty-three in a few months, but she looked to be in her mid-thirties at most, a stunning, model-tall, raven-haired beauty who turned every male head in a three-block radius. She looked like Lucy’s taller, more glamorous older sister, perfectly made up
with not a hair out of place even after flying halfway around the world.
“Darling, you look marvellous,” Justine said in the plummy, upper-class accent Lucy had made a conscious decision never to sound like. “Love the tan! And who’s this gorgeous young stud? Brought him along to carry the bags, have you?” She skimmed her eyes up and down Bryce’s tall, muscled form in a blatantly sexual appraisal that made Lucy grit her teeth.
“Surprise,” Lucy said with a grin. “This is Bryce. We’re engaged.” She waved her hand, making the diamond flash glints of multicoloured light.
For the first time in her entire life, Lucy saw her mother rendered absolutely speechless.
Bryce took that as his cue and stepped forward, extending a hand. “It’s lovely to finally meet you, Mrs Manning. Lucy’s told me so much about you.”
“I wish I could say the same,” Justine finally recovered enough to say, taking his hand. “Engaged? But why?”
Bryce blinked. “What?”
“Why are you engaged to Lucy? You gorgeous young thing, you could have anyone!”
Behind her, Lucy heard Jill and Rosie gasp in outraged unison. She had indeed told Bryce a lot about her mother, though, including a pretty accurate prediction of exactly what Justine might say when they dropped the bombshell. Bryce just raised his eyebrows and looked amused.
“That’s a good one! I’m lucky Lucy bothered to look at me twice, Ms. Manning.”
“You must call me Justine,” she said after a brief pause. “Well. This is a surprise, but a pleasant one. When are you two planning to get married?” She gave the handle of her suitcase to Bryce as he gestured towards it.
“Well, that’s the second surprise,” Lucy said, taking a certain malicious delight in the way Justine’s eyes narrowed, anticipating another bombshell. “It’s a week on Friday.”
Her Fake Island Wedding Page 3