Zac came over and put his arms around her, hugging her close and then stepping back. “Relax. Whatever happens, we will roll with it. We’re still new to the relationship... By the way, my family is going to be grilling you and probably trying to figure out what you see in me.”
“Why would they do that?” she asked.
“I’m pretty much always focused on yacht designs, team dynamics and how to win the America’s Cup. I’m told I can be boring AF when I get on a roll about it,” he said. “So there is that. I know that we have a contract for me to be here, but I genuinely like you, Iris. I think if we just are honest about our reactions to each other, throw in a few kisses and longing glances, no one will be suspicious.”
She stared up into his bright blue eyes and nodded. He made it sound so simple, but she knew that it was way more complex than that. She took his hand in hers. He had some callouses, probably owing to a lifetime spent working on boats, but she liked the way he immediately squeezed her hand.
“I like you too,” she admitted.
“I already knew that,” he said with a cheeky grin as he led them out of the suite.
He started down the hall, but she stayed to watch the door close and then double-checked the handle. He stopped, arching one eyebrow at her in question.
“Sorry, habit,” she said.
“That’s a good one,” he said.
Graham had hated that she did it and said it made her look like a paranoid weirdo. But then she was coming to realize that a lot of the things Graham had said about her weren’t a reflection of her but rather of him. As much as she’d been trying to find the perfect mate, he’d been trying to find a woman who fit what he wanted. A woman Iris realized she hadn’t ever been nor truly wanted to be. And that was okay.
Zac came back and double-checked the door as well before taking her hand and walking toward the elevators. He had his faults; she knew he did. No one was perfect—man or woman—but there were a lot of qualities to Zac that she’d never realized mattered to her before. And she knew that it wasn’t the qualities per se but Zac himself.
There was an elderly couple on the elevator holding hands when they got on and they smiled at the two of them. For a moment—just the briefest second—Iris saw herself and Zac in them, but she knew that was an illusion and warned herself not to buy into it.
He had said they were friends and could make this work for the weekend. He hadn’t said anything about beyond that. He was here for the time being and she had to remember that he was going to leave once his funding came in and this destination-wedding weekend ended they would start to “drift” apart and their relationship would end in three months’ time. So these four days were really all they’d have together.
The lobby was crowded with people as they exited the elevator and walked toward the hotel entrance. There was a pianist playing Gershwin and the buzz of muted conversations filled the room. Iris heard a woman’s laugh and turned to see Adler and Nick talking to Nick’s mother, Cora. The threesome looked happy as they were talking. Adler glanced up and noticed Iris and waved, then did a double take at Zac.
She shook her head as she started walking over to them.
“Girl, why didn’t you tell me your new man was my cousin?” Adler said, hugging her and then reaching over to hug Zac.
“I told her I wanted to surprise you. I wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow,” Zac said effortlessly.
Taking all the pressure off Iris for not saying anything. Adler hugged her close and Iris actually relaxed for a moment.
“He’s way better than Graham,” Adler whispered in her ear before turning back to Zac. “This is a very good surprise! Come meet Nick and his mom.”
“I can’t wait,” Zac said.
Adler led the way toward them, and Zac kept his hand firmly in hers, bringing her along with him and making it clear they were together.
* * *
Adler hadn’t seen Zac in person for five years. He had signed a three-year contract with an America’s Cup team and had spent the time racing and training. She didn’t know the details but her tall blond cousin had fallen out with the captain and hadn’t renewed his contract. For as long as she’d known Zac, yachting was his life, so it was interesting to see him holding Iris’s hand and laughing at her story of how she’d botched her family’s famous lobster roll recipe on the morning show two weeks earlier.
Something seemed...too perfect, too right between Iris and Zac. Adler knew she should just smile and go along with it, but she didn’t want to see her friend get hurt.
The thing was, Iris looked vulnerable sitting next to Zac. She smiled when he looked over at her but when he wasn’t looking, her friend was staring at him like she was...well, like she really cared for him. Something Adler had never seen Iris do when she’d been with Graham.
Nick pinched her leg under the table and she glared at him. He leaned in to kiss her neck and whispered in her ear, “Stop staring at them. It’s clear you’re not buying them as a couple.”
“What are you two talking about?” Iris asked. “When they kiss like that, they’re giving each other the low-down.”
Exactly, Adler thought. Iris would know she’d pick up on whatever was going on.
The downside to having been best friends for all of their adult lives was that Adler and Iris knew each other’s little social tells.
“Nothing important. I need to powder my nose. Want to join me?” Adler said, jumping up.
“You’re not wearing—” Nick said, but stopped when Adler turned to face him, raising both eyebrows. He’d probably been about to point out she wasn’t wearing makeup, which her wedding skincare consultant had advised for a few days before the ceremony so she’d be picture-perfect on the big day.
“I’d love to,” Iris said with a giggle. “Be right back.”
Iris squeezed Zac’s shoulder, started to walk away and then turned back to kiss him. It seemed like she was aiming for his cheek, but he turned into the kiss and their lips met. The kiss was the first convincing moment for Adler when she totally bought them as a couple.
Was it just new couple awkwardness?
She glanced at Nick, who smiled and shrugged at her. He seemed to be thinking the same thing. But she’d get to the bottom of it in the bathroom.
Iris’s skin was flushed as she brushed past Adler and led the way to the bathroom at the back of the restaurant. Adler followed her friend, knowing that she should have insisted they talk today before the men had arrived. But with her wedding planner, Jaqs Veerland, flying in midday to go over last-minute details, she hadn’t had time.
“Okay, spill,” Adler said once they were in the ladies’ room.
“Spill what?”
“The tea, girl. And don’t pretend there isn’t any. You and Zac...you almost make sense but something isn’t feeling right.”
Iris fumbled in her purse for her lip gloss and turned to the mirror. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’m sure you do,” Adler said, swiping the gloss from Iris and putting on some herself. “That kiss looked real but the rest of it...you were watching him like you weren’t sure about him. What’s going on?”
Iris shrugged and took the lip gloss back. “I wish I had your skin. You’re glowing.”
“Thanks. But I’m not going to let you distract me.”
“There’s nothing to tell. He’s hot and we had this zing... I mean, I almost fell and he caught me and kissed me and the paparazzi went crazy snapping photos and it’s just sort of gone on from there. We are still in the very beginning of this relationship. Remember when you wouldn’t eat in front of Nick?”
Adler did remember. She’d liked him so much she hadn’t wanted to do anything to put him off. A previous dude she’d dated had said her chewing was too loud, so she hadn’t been able to eat in front of Nick.
“Fair
point. I just worry about you, Iris,” Adler said.
“I know,” Iris responded, wrapping her arms around Adler’s shoulders as the two of them stared at their reflection in the mirror. “I love you for that.”
Adler reached up and patted Iris’s hands. “Nick is never going to let me live this down. He said I was staring at you both like I wanted to do an interrogation.”
“You were,” Iris admitted. “Which wasn’t helping my nerves. Do you like him?”
“Zac?”
“Yes.”
“I do. When we were kids, he was always outside on the water. And he could always be counted on to help me disappear when I needed some breathing room by taking me sailing. He’s not much of a talker, but that was when we were kids. He pretty much is always away sailing now. How is this going to work?”
“We haven’t figured that part out,” Iris said. “Right now, we are both here and enjoying each other’s company.”
“And you’d appreciate it if I let you do that, right?”
“Yes,” Iris said. “Also, this is your big week. We should all be thinking about you.”
“You should,” Adler said with a wink. “I have my final fitting tomorrow after the family luncheon. Will you go with me?”
“Yes. I’m all yours. I’m filming a segment early in the morning. I heard your dad wrote a new song for you.”
“Yeah, he did,” Adler said. “He’s been more...sentimental since the heart attack. He won’t let me hear it before my wedding day.”
They rejoined the men and Adler was satisfied her friend was going to be okay, which meant she was back to worrying about how her Uncle Auggie was going to be tomorrow when he was in the same room with his most hated rival, Tad Williams—Nick’s dad.
* * *
“So, you’re the America’s Cup guy?” Nick asked as the ladies left the table.
Zac reached for his water glass and nodded. “You’re the...titan of industry, right?”
Nick gave a shout of laughter. “I’m guessing that’s what Adler said. I know for damn sure your father and brother don’t call me that.”
“No, they usually throw in some derogatory curse words,” Zac allowed. Nick was a really nice guy and it was clear to Zac that Nick truly loved Adler. Zac saw real affection between them. Having grown up with parents who had been in and out of love with each other several times, Zac knew how rare that kind of bond was.
“I do the same when referring to them. I’m trying to make peace for Adler’s sake,” Nick said. “I was surprised by the invitation to your grandmother’s for lunch tomorrow.”
“Me too,” Zac admitted. “I don’t think my dad is mellowing, he just knows there will be hell to pay if he upsets Adler. She’s my mom’s only connection to her sister and she is pulling out all the stops to make the wedding is everything that Adler wants.”
“I know. It’s so crazy. I like your mom, by the way. She’s sweet and funny,” he said. “Makes me wonder how she raised a shark like Logan.”
“Fair enough, but I think Logan was always Dad’s shadow, not Mom’s, so that might be one explanation. He’s a great guy away from the office,” Zac said. He and his siblings were very close, but he was realistic enough to know that they had both good and bad qualities. “We’re all very driven.”
“I’ve seen that. What’s going on with your America’s Cup team? I heard a rumor that you’re looking for financing,” Nick said.
“I’m not,” Zac said. Using the Collins connection to finance his bid was one thing, accepting financing from his families’ business rivals would put Zac in direct confrontation with his father and Logan. Something that Zac wasn’t interested in doing. He wanted to do this on his own; he had never been looking to piss off his family.
“Okay, but if that changes, I’m interested,” Nick said.
“Dude, you know that I can’t even contemplate doing business with you,” Zac said. “I might spend most of my time on a yacht but if I accepted an investment from you, I’d never be able to come home again. As sweet as my mom has been to you, she’d be royally ticked at the both of us, and let me tell you, that isn’t a good thing to be on the receiving end of.”
Nick put his hands up. “Gotcha. I’m just always looking for new investments.”
“And if it happens to piss off the Bissets, all the better?” Zac asked.
“Sometimes, but honestly that’s more my dad’s thing than mine. I go after sound investments, not just things I think August Bisset wants,” Nick said.
“So you didn’t start dating Adler because she’s related to my mom?” Zac asked.
“Not at all. She’s not a Bisset, which of course is a plus in my opinion, but also I don’t spend all of my time trying to undermine your family,” he said, leaning back in his chair, glass in hand. “Whatever happened between our fathers happened way before I was born and to be honest it doesn’t bother me.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m sure Logan wouldn’t agree.”
“Logan’s a douche,” Nick said. “He’s gone straight after some of my business, but I don’t mind a good honest fight.”
“Who’s fighting?” Adler asked, sitting back down.
“No one tonight,” Nick said. “And I promised to be nice tomorrow so we should be good.”
Zac hoped they would be. Iris seemed different when she sat back down, not so smiley as she’d been before. Had Adler figured out what they were up to?
But when he glanced at his cousin, she just winked at him so he didn’t think she’d found out about their arrangement. He reached for Iris’s hand as the check arrived, but she moved away from him, taking the check from the waiter. “This one is on me. Thanks for making time for a quiet meal during your special week.”
“Any time, Iris,” Adler said.
Zac took the check from her. “Sorry, angel face, but I’ll get this.”
She glared at him. He guessed that she expected her fake boyfriend to stay quiet and let her pay, but he hadn’t been raised that way. And though he knew she made damn good money, there was no way he could tamp down this impulse.
“Angel face?”
“Shut it, Addie. I’m sure Nick has a special name for you,” Zac said.
“Does he?” Iris asked as Zac took his American Express from his wallet and handed it to the waiter.
“I do,” Nick said. “But I’ve been warned to keep it behind closed doors.”
“Oooh, what is it?” Iris asked. “Now I’m dying to know.”
“Stop it,” Adler said. “If you were really my friend, you wouldn’t want to know.”
“Is it embarrassing?” Iris asked. “It can’t be. You’re too adorable to have a nickname that’s not cool.”
“It’s private,” Adler said.
“Fair enough.”
Zac smiled at his cousin, who had spent so much of her life in the spotlight. It was nice to know she had someone in her life who would keep her secrets and share things just with her.
Until that moment Zac hadn’t realized that there was such a thing. His parents presented a united front for show, but he’d never seen them as a couple in love. And, honestly, that hadn’t been something he’d thought he’d wanted in his life until Iris slipped her hand in his and squeezed it.
Ten
A walk on the beach. It was simple. It was romantic. It was expected. Iris told herself that as she slipped her hand into Zac’s and followed him down the wooden boardwalk to the shore. In the distance she heard the sound of waves and she stopped for a moment, tipping her head back to look up at the black sky and breathe in the salty air.
Zac just stood next to her, letting her have her moment. She forgot how to breathe sometimes. Not like the normal inhale/exhale thing, but how to take these moments and press them into her mind so she wouldn’t forget them.
And she wanted to remember this
night with Zac. He’d been funny and charming at dinner—the perfect companion. How had she never noticed that Graham only talked about himself? Zac was the total opposite, asking questions and genuinely listening when everyone spoke.
If she’d had to invent an ideal man for herself, so far he was ticking all of the boxes. The cynical part of her mind warned that he was ticking them because she’d paid him to be by her side. It was a little too convenient.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, wrapping one arm around her own waist as she dropped his hand. “Why?”
“You looked so relaxed and chill. And then I don’t know what happened in that pretty head of yours but you started to look stressed.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what happened either. Thea says I overthink everything. She might be right.”
Zac reached for her hand and she let him take it. “When I first started sailing, I had a mentor who told me that there were a million things that needed to happen and could go wrong while I was on the water. He said just take each moment as it comes, the strong wind that fills your sails, the spray of water on your face, the storm that blows up out of nowhere. Each moment. That’s all you can handle and all you can control.”
She knew that. She did. But it was harder to do than Zac made it sound. “I try. Somehow the future always tugs at me, making me anxious to plan for it.”
He laughed. “I can see that. I struggle with it as well but then I like finding a solution or a work-around. Want me to help you figure this out?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know how to work around you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. You’re not at all what I thought you’d be,” she said. “You’ve been surprising me every step of the way and that keeps making me think things that—”
“Stop,” he said, tugging her gently into his arms. “Don’t do that. I told you we’d be honest with each other. The way we started out doesn’t have to define every moment.”
She looked up at him. The lights from the boardwalk were dim where they stood and his blue eyes were dark. He’d shaved before he’d come to Nantucket. He looked casual, but his jaw was strong, and she couldn’t help letting her eyes fall to his lips.
Her One Night Proposal (One Night Book 4) Page 9