Tropical Tryst: 25 All New and Exclusive Sexy Reads

by Nicole Morgan

  Beck broke eye contact and smiled graciously at Anna. “What would you like to drink?”

  “That’s a lovely idea.” Anna turned to the bartender and discussed the merits of a chardonnay versus a mango rum slushy. Beck looked over Jami’s head with a bland expression. Jami smiled serenely although she was steaming on the inside.

  “Where’s your handsome groom?” Jami accepted the fruity adult smoothie and clicked Anna’s identical glass with a grin.

  “Rob’s checking on his mother.” Anna glanced at Beck. “She seemed to have some kind of problem with her luggage at the airport.”

  Beck’s eyebrows drew together in a crease, and Jami filed away his pained expression for future reference.

  “There’s Rob now.” Anna waved and made a beeline to her beloved.

  As if the Red Sea had parted, a steady file of chattering adults and kids strolled through the leafy-framed opening to the private pool patio. Jami sighed with relief. At least she would have reinforcements in her battle. All of her family, and now the delight of meeting Anna’s future in-laws, and unfortunately, one Beckham Kavanagh.

  With laughter and teasing, the introductions proceeded. Jami exchanged greetings with Anna’s fiancé, Rob and then met Rob’s preteen sons, Carl and Ryan. Her oldest brother, Austin, gave her a big hug, and she exchanged squeezes with Jo and Sam, her two sisters. As Anna continued the introductions, Jami noted that Rob and Beck looked little alike, and only seemed to share a similar hairline and square jaw. She shrugged. They were only half-brothers according to Beck.

  A few minutes later, Teddy Barrett and his wife, Caitlynne, appeared at the top of the stairs with Daphne and Mae, their twin six-year-old daughters, in tow. Jami was relieved to see her father was in good spirits and didn’t seem too fatigued by the long flight from Oregon.

  Her stepmother, Caitlynne, looked as if she’d stepped out of a fashion magazine with her blue and white striped maxi dress, delicately bejeweled sandals, and artfully tousled hair. Her eyes were perfectly lined in black, and her fake eyelashes surely must be extensions. She was high-maintenance and looked like a candidate from The Bachelor. Although she and Jami were the same age, Jami had little in common with her stepmother.

  Within a short time, the twins were splashing in the pool with Rob’s boys, and then Jami’s youngest brother, Kyle, strolled in with a beer in hand and an easy greeting for all.

  Jami stood out of Caitlynne’s line of sight and waited for the onslaught to start. She wondered idly who would be victim number one? Because, of course, no gathering was complete without Caitlynne proving to her husband that his daughters were deficient and clearly not as perfect as their own two progeny.

  “Of course, we thought this would be your wedding, didn’t we?” Jami’s stepmother looked all innocent. Oh goody. She was first on Caitlynne’s hotlist tonight. “What is your old fiancé doing now? Didn’t Eric get that promotion?”

  “I didn’t hear anything about a new job,” Teddy Barrett said, “but Evelyn Greenwood told me his new wife is having a baby in the fall.” Jami’s dad looked supremely unaware of the spear he’d casually harpooned into Jami’s heart.

  Lovely. Caitlynne was a fluffy Labradoodle on the outside, but a bitchy barracuda on the inside. There was nothing she liked better than to lob bunker-buster bombs at her stepchildren. How charming of her to bring up her ass-hat of an ex who’d jilted her during his bachelor party the month before their wedding. The wound was six months old, but Caitlynne just had to pour some pickle juice on this papercut.

  Jami swizzled the straw around the pale golden party drink and wished her glass wasn’t half-empty. Ha! Her glass was always full. No self-pity allowed. She peeked up at Beck, and his expression was speculative but sympathetic. Dammit. The last thing she wanted was sympathy from the black-hearted Beck. It was best to appear above the fray and supremely indifferent.

  “I heard that his wife is expecting twins. Boys, I believe.” Jami schooled her features into impassivity as if she was merely sharing details of the of a half-inch of rainfall in the middle of winter instead of the hurricane of destruction that had leveled her personal life last fall.

  “Eric’s wife looks like she’s having quadruplets,” Sam chimed in as she took Jami’s old drink and exchanged it for a fresh one. “And she’s only four months along.” She winked at Jami and took her place in their circle.

  “She has cankles already.” Jo smiled serenely at Caitlynne and the rest of the goggle-eyed Edwards-Kavanagh clan. Jami loved her loyal sisters.

  Caitlynne sniffed and tucked her arm through her husband’s. “It was a front page article that Eric is the newest partner at his firm.”

  “How did you let him get away?” Teddy clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Poor Jami, such a disappointment.” Jami’s stomach muscles clenched as if she’d been sucker punched in the gut. Did he mean that it was sad that Eric had run off from her, or was he implying she was a disappointment of a daughter?

  Jami hoped her cheeks weren’t flaming pink because it sure felt like her face was on fire. Beck sent her a fleeting, piteous glance before he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Her fingers itched to squeeze into a fist, but she held still, as Austin slipped into the growing circle.

  “Jami’s lucky she escaped.” Austin threw a nod her direction. “Eric was a total tool. Who runs off with a lap dancer at his own bachelor party?”

  Anna pressed her lips together and exchanged a look with Sam, while Jo choked on her drink. Jami decided she might need to murder her entire family. She loved her siblings, but seriously, enough with the airing of her dirty laundry in front of a stranger. A stupidly gorgeous stranger who happened to be her arch nemesis.

  Jami stared at her red polished toes and wondered if her dignity was lying in shreds around her feet. Jami checked Beck’s reaction. Yup, she definitely detected a decided smirk on Beck’s lips and merriment lurking in his gray eyes. Jerk.

  Rob circled his arm around Anna but shot Jami a sympathetic look. Jami immediately warmed to Anna’s groom. At least one of Anna’s new family might be kind and decent.

  “Beck, aren’t you in the process of moving your company to Oregon?” Rob smiled easily at his brother. “Is it anywhere near Barrett Ridge?” Jami blessed his heart for mercifully changing the subject, but seriously, this topic was no better.

  Austin and Teddy turned toward Beck.

  Beck nodded. “Not just close, but in Barrett Ridge.”

  “No kidding.” Austin cocked his head as if searching his memory banks. “What kind of business do you operate?”

  “I’ve founded an electric motorcycle business.” Beck smiled. “We’ve been growing lately and need a new place to call home. We’re bidding on a piece of property and hope to hear soon.” Beck’s voice was bland, and Jami’s nostrils flared.

  “The little thing that Beck is glossing over is that he is BK Industries.” Jami met Beck’s gaze. There was a flash of irritation, and then his neutral expression fell back into place. “He was the surprise, last-minute bid for the Anderton property.” Jami couldn’t help but let irritation filter into her voice. She and the family attorney had only found out about BK Industries rival bid a few minutes before the commissioners’ hearing.

  Jami turned her head and waited for her father’s reaction. With the old man, she could never guess if he’d fly off the handle, go stone cold silent, or just blame her for the misfortune. Jami inhaled and planted the hint of a tiny smile at the corner of her mouth. Never let anyone see her sweat. Not her father. Not Beck Kavanagh.

  Jami side-eyed Beck. And certainly she wouldn’t give Beck even the remotest hint that she needed this deal. Her father’s health was on the line and his trust in her.

  “That’s interesting.” Teddy sucked air through his teeth. “Such a coincidence.” Teddy’s tone was jovial, but there was no laughter in his expression.

  “Well, doesn’t this make our little soiree a tad more interesting.” Kyle gave a carefree
laugh that even a repressive stare from Austin couldn’t silence. Caitlynne put her hand on Teddy’s arm and squeezed.

  A vein on his temple pulsed. Jami held her breath and prayed that a fit of temper didn’t hit her father. The doctor had told him he needed to reduce stress or he’d risk another heart attack.

  “Weddings are dull.” Teddy pulled away from his wife but inclined his head toward Beck. “I like having a sparring match. You up for it, Beck?”

  “I’m game, sir.”

  “Don’t drag business into this.” Caitlynne scowled at Jami as if this was all her fault.

  “Relax, Caitlynne.” Austin’s tone was soothing. “Business is almost four thousand miles away. This is family first.” Austin tilted back his icy blue cocktail and drained the last ounce. Jami wished she could handle their stepmother as smoothly as Austin did.

  Beck smiled at Caitlynne with a roguish smile that made Jami want to roll her eyes.

  “Rob and Anna are the main event.” Beck nodded to Caitlynne, whose ruffled feathers seemed to smooth down. With his glass raised in the air, Beck saluted Anna. “To the lovely bride. Welcome to the family.”

  Anna beamed back at him. “The merger of two big families. This should be lively.”

  Jami toasted the bridal couple but kept her eyes on Beck. She didn’t trust him. Not with those silky, long eyelashes just waiting to charm the ladies. Not with those flashing gray eyes that promised he was a master competitor.

  Oh yes, the game was on.

  CHAPTER 2

  A s everyone clinked glasses in Rob and Anna’s honor, two more groups arrived from opposite staircases from the main pool area. Jami spotted Anna’s two teenage daughters, Emma and Clara, hovering close to their favorite uncle, Jami’s other brother, Dillon.

  Jami did a quick count in her head. Yup. All seven of the adult Barrett children were accounted for as well as the adorable twins, Daphne and Mae. And with Anna’s daughters added in, they were quite the pack.

  Jami noted the new faces and guessed the others were Rob’s family, which seemed to consist of an older, but well-preserved woman who was clearly Rob’s mother based on the similar eye colors and skin tones, and two women in their mid-thirties who looked like female versions of Rob.

  Jami stole a glance at Beck and decided there was only a slight resemblance between Beck and his siblings. She wondered if he looked more like his father because he only seemed to share a strong, straight nose with the older woman Jami supposed was his mother.

  As introductions proceeded, Jami remembered Anna had mentioned that Rob’s mother, Fiona, was recently divorced from husband number six, but definitely on the prowl for number seven. Or was it eight?

  Fiona LaPierre was stylishly dressed, her hair dyed and highlighted to perfection. She was likely north of sixty, but she had the vibrant appearance of someone in her mid-forties. Jami wanted to like her, but the woman’s eyes were aloof and frosty.

  Kyle nudged Jami’s elbow and sloshed her drink from side to side. Jami moved the glass away from her dress and rebalanced it with a sly eyebrow quirk to her youngest brother. Kyle was twenty-five and towered over her at six feet five inches, but still delighted in harassing her like a twelve-year-old. It was her job to outmaneuver him. It was a mission, a calling. Jami waggled a finger at him.

  “Not this time.”

  “Jimmy-Jaymz, are you behaving yourself?”

  “Of course. I’m a model citizen, you know that.”

  “Is there anything lively to do here?”

  “Anna has plans for us. You won’t have time for much extracurricular activity.”

  “Wow. That sounds underwhelming.”

  “Shush.” Jami laughed quietly.

  Fiona’s dominant voice pierced even Kyle’s bored veneer as she launched into a round of stories of the accomplishments of her children. Beck edged away and entered into a deep conversation with one of his nephews who’d brought a set of small model race cars and was showing them off at the side of the pool.

  Beck’s rich laugh carried to the far side of the patio, and Jami’s pulse fluttered. She turned, but all she could see was the dark whorl of that blasted cowlick and his shirt straining across his muscled biceps.

  Caitlynne let out a tiny huff, and her eyes narrowed as attention had veered away from her, and she was poised to launch a new attack. Jami took a steadying breath. This was going to be some kind of wedding.

  “Hey, the waiters have arrived,” Teddy Barrett interrupted. “Looks like the buffet is open. It smells fabulous. What can I serve you, my dear?” He waved jauntily to his adult children and tugged his missus toward the food.

  By some misfortune, Beck sauntered behind her and slipped next to her in the dinner line. An instant buzz fluttered up her spine, and curiously, her cheeks burned hot.

  “Enjoying yourself?” Beck’s tone was bland and conversational. “The food looks delicious.”

  Jami glared at him and his pathetic small talk, but with an army of witnesses, she silenced her snarky retort.

  “It does, doesn’t it,” she replied, mimicking his overly charming tone of voice. “I’m so ready for the succulent tropical fruits.” Were they seriously discussing produce? “We just can’t seem to get them fresh enough in our little rural hometown. You must be used to them in Los Angeles.” Jami had done her research after the nerve-racking hearing. BK Industries was based in L. A., and she wished he’d stay down there.

  “Nothing like a fresh mango or pineapple. They’re a luxury anywhere on the mainland.” Beck’s hand brushed hers, and she dropped the tongs as if she’d received a shock from a fork stuck in a toaster.

  Jami ignored him and focused on plucking up choice chunks of golden and peachy fruit. So much for trying to convince him Barrett Ridge was too rural for his cosmopolitan tastes.

  She fought back irritation. He was standing too close, and every inch of her skin tingled with awareness. She shot him a sideways glance, and her fingers itched to comb back the curl that threatened to fall to his forehead as he leaned down to snag what looked like a small mango cheesecake.

  He was definitely the better looking of the two brothers. She pressed her lips together. Not that she cared, of course. She tromped to the opposite side of the pool deck and settled at the kids’ table, and lost herself in joking and teasing with the flock of children, and with Kyle, who joined in the merriment.

  After dinner, all the kids begged their parents to let them splash in the pool. Kyle doffed his loose, tropical flowered shirt, and hopped into the water and started chasing the kids around with many squeals and screams.

  With a frosty piña colada in her hand, Jami decided the alcoholic content must be rather light since she wasn’t even feeling a buzz and this was her third cocktail of the night. Buzz or no buzz, it was no doubt loaded with calories. She’d better work it off tomorrow. She wondered if there was some kind of spin class.

  As she bounced her foot in rhythm with the island music streaming from the strategically placed speakers, Jami’s gaze wandered around the various tables scattered in intervals around the stamped concrete patio. Jo and Sam were deep in conversation with two of the Edwards sisters, Elaine and Mandy. Austin, Dillon, and Beck were tipping back beers and seemed comfortable while Anna gazed adoringly at Rob as he told a story to the rest of the family, new and old.

  Dillon’s laughter roared out as Austin and Beck clinked their bottles in some kind of congratulations.

  Jami fumed. How could Beck Kavanagh possibly be her future brother-in-law, or at least the sibling of an in-law, and be the lowlife scumbutt who was trying to take over her town? Oh sure, Beck’s company looked all environmentally friendly with their electric motorcycles and wave of the future, but she knew the company was bad news. She’d seen the filings. They’d filed for bankruptcy two years ago and had only been saved by some white knight investment group with a Wall Street connection.

  Perhaps, she shouldn’t be so judgy. Lots of companies had troubles. Even Barrett Logi
stics had been on the rocks any number of times, but Dad had always pulled through. Jami watched as her eldest brother, Austin, cracked a joke with their father.

  Austin had been the lifesaver this last time. She shuddered and tried not to remember the scary days after her father’s massive heart attack and then multiple bypass surgery. The recovery had been fraught with setbacks, and Austin had taken an extended leave from his career in Denver to run the family’s trucking company while Teddy had been slowly recuperating in the hospital and at home.

  Jami scowled and polished off the rest of her slushy. She was not going to let Beck off the hook. His company was horning in on their business deal to buy the property next door so Barrett Logistics could finally expand their yard and truck repair facilities. Besides, she did not like to lose.

  She’d missed an opportunity to scoop up an alternative property for the family business. Her father had been furious that she hadn’t been able to close that deal. He hadn’t spoken to her for two months after that. A knot formed in her throat. She was not going to let this chance slip through her fingers.

  No. She shouldn’t worry. They’d presented a generous offer to the current landowners, and the business plan presented to the county commissioners was perfect. Every t was crossed and every i was dotted. It didn’t matter that electric motorcycles were exotic and interesting. That wouldn’t matter, would it?

  With a clink, she set the glass on the stone mosaic tabletop and eyeballed a narrow opening in the lush growth surrounding the patio. That looked like an escape route. She needed to get away and calm down.

  She cast a quick glance over her shoulder. No one was watching, so she pushed past a thick fern, and tramped along the pea gravel pathway. A puff of ocean breeze whiffed past her nose and lured her onward.

  The gravel pathway turned to flat paver stones that finally ended in a fine, light sand. The ocean beckoned, and she tugged off her sandals and plunged her toes into the cooling sand. She groaned and wiggled her toes as she sank deeper into the sandy beach.