by Ellie Hall
“No, how many?” Camdyn asked, breaking off a large piece of a chocolate chip cookie and popping it into her mouth.
Paisley’s lip curled. “I’d keep your coverup on if I were you,” she said, eyeing the rest of the cookie on Camdyn’s plate like it was Beckett without a shirt on. The girl so wanted her cookie.
“Nah, it’s way too hot for a coverup,” Camdyn said, standing up to take off the white sundress.
Paisley took her time, looking over Camdyn’s body. It was kind of creepy until she met Camdyn’s gaze and shot her with little green lasers of envy. Was she jealous of Camdyn’s figure or the food on her plate? Probably the food.
“Good luck keeping a man with those hips,” Paisley said, glancing down at the plate of food.
“Thanks for the girl power,” Camdyn said, lifting the cookie to her mouth and taking another big bite. “You’re super sweet for caring so much,” she said, savoring the look on Paisley’s face more than the soft, warm chocolate melting on her tongue.
Paisley immediately made a beeline for her friends. After a few seconds of animated conversation, the trio turned their attention to Camdyn instead of watching the hot guys playing basketball.
Camdyn relished every bite of food on her plate, enjoying the envious looks on all three of their skinny faces. Getting up from the table, she deposited her empty plate in the trash bin, tempted to grab another cookie just for spite. Instead, she stopped at the small bar under a cabana and ordered a virgin strawberry daiquiri. The female bartender didn’t make fun of her. She just smiled and handed her the drink.
Since Ellery was now sitting with a woman who Camdyn presumed was her mother, she decided to catch a few rays until Beckett finished his basketball game. It was rather disappointing that Beckett hadn’t acknowledged her yet. But then the game seemed pretty intense. That’s when she noticed David was playing too. And it appeared that his whole mission in life was to guard Beckett but no one else.
Taking a seat on one of the white lounge chairs, she sipped on her drink and observed the game for a few more minutes, confirming that David didn’t bother with any of the other players. Just Beckett.
A shadow blocked the sun, and Camdyn turned to see Krissy standing there, wearing a coverup that looked more like a racy negligee.
“Hey,” Krissy said, sipping on a fruity looking drink. “Girl, for somebody who eats so many carbs, you look great.”
“Thank you?” Camdyn said more like a question since she wasn’t sure if Krissy really was impressed with her carb consumption or if it was just your basic backhanded compliment. “You look…” Her words trailed off when Krissy set her drink down and then stripped off the lacy coverup.
Camdyn was speechless and unable to look anywhere but at the swimsuit top. She used the term swimsuit loosely since the bikini top Krissy had on looked like someone had sewn together two small triangles. The material was hardly adequate to cover what looked more like two overfilled water balloons stretched so tightly they might burst at any moment.
Thinking fast, Camdyn scrambled for a compliment when what she really wanted to do was ask Krissy if her breast implants were an accident and if she got a full refund. “Um…I like the color of your suit.” Wait, was white really a color?
“Ah, thanks,” Krissy said, taking another sip of her drink as she plopped down in the neighboring lounge chair. “I like yours too.”
“Thanks.” Camdyn’s teal-colored bikini looked more like a nun’s habit compared to Krissy’s swim apparel. Camdyn seriously hoped the girl didn’t actually go swimming. One didn’t need much of an imagination to know what would happen if Krissy decided to get into the pool.
“So,” Krissy said, leaning in close enough for Camdyn to smell the alcohol on her breath. Honestly, this girl couldn’t afford to drink and kill off what little brain cells she had, let alone day drink. “I want to know who your plastic surgeon is.”
“My whom a what?” Camdyn asked, nearly choking on her drink.
Krissy’s eyes dropped to Camdyn’s bikini top and then back up. “I must know,” she said, sounding a little like the guy seeking to avenge his father’s death from The Princess Bride. “Who did your boob job? They look so real.”
“Um, maybe because they are real.”
“Rigghhtt,” Krissy said, giving her an exaggerated wink. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”
“What secret?”
“That you had a boob job.”
“I didn’t have a boob job.”
Krissy narrowed her eyes. “You know what? I’m trying to be nice here.”
This was her trying to be nice? “So am I,” Camdyn said, wishing Beckett would come rescue her.
“Then why won’t you give me the name of your plastic surgeon?”
“I can’t,” Camdyn said, feeling mildly peeved. “Because I don’t have one.”
“Fine, be that way and don’t tell me who your doctor is,” Krissy snapped as she struggled to get out of the lounge chair while keeping her drink in her hand. Miraculously, the swimsuit top stayed in place, keeping the ginormous water balloons covered. “By the way, they’re too big,” Krissy sneered. “You should’ve gone with a smaller cup.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Camdyn said, holding up her drink to give Krissy an air toast. “I’ll be sure and let my DNA know how you feel.”
Krissy whipped her head around. “Ha, you just gave me the name of your doctor,” she said smugly. “I’m going to google Dr. Ney right now.”
“Good luck with that,” Camdyn said, watching the girl walk away.
“Hey,” Beckett asked from the edge of the pool. “What was that all about?”
“Nothing,” Camdyn said, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on his brown eyes. Don’t look down. Don’t look down.
She looked down and stared at his naked, wet, muscled chest. Camdyn was too young for a hot flash, but she instantly commiserated with all women over the age of fifty-five. No wonder her mother carried around a mini spray bottle with a fan.
“It wasn’t nothing,” Beckett said as he climbed out of the pool, looking like a Greek god coming out of the water. Rivulets of water dripped down his sculpted chest and abs. All she could do was stare and pray she wasn’t salivating.
“Camdyn, what did Krissy say to you?” Beckett asked, using his palms to slick back his wet hair.
Camdyn nearly dropped the strawberry daiquiri she was holding. Seriously, did he know how incredibly sexy he was? She should leave if she had any hope of keeping rule number five or was it six? Since she hadn’t written it down, she couldn’t remember. But, honestly, if Beckett came any closer, she couldn’t be held responsible for what happened next. She was pretty sure she was about to commit a felony of rule-breaking.
“Don’t come any closer.”
A wicked grin curved his lips. “Why?” he asked, taking another step toward her.
“Because…” Her eyes focused on his bare chest. Good heavens. Were those muscles real? She felt a little like Krissy and must know. All she had to do was stand up, reach out her hand and touch his sculpted chest.
It wouldn’t really be breaking a rule if it was in the name of research, right? She almost lifted her hand but came to her senses. If she touched Beckett, then there would be kissing and probably a fair amount of wandering hands on her part.
“Because I’m about to commit a felony.”
Beckett’s eyebrows quirked up. “You want to kill me?”
“Not that kind of felony.” She took a sip of her drink, grateful it wasn’t spiked with alcohol. She was barely keeping her wits about her without it. “You really should put a shirt on,” she said, unable to stop herself from taking one more peek. “You might be getting sunburned.”
That was a lie. He was a perfect bronzed specimen of a male model for an ad that sold bronzer. People would buy it in droves.
“You should probably help me with the sunscreen then,” Beckett said as his eyes made a slow perusal over Camdyn. “By the way,
blue looks good on you,” he said when he looked back up at her. “It matches your eyes.”
Unable to sit there any longer, Camdyn set her glass down and jumped to her feet. “I’m so hot,” she said, feeling like she was engulfed in flames and needed to stop, drop and roll.
“I thought so too,” Beckett said, letting his eyes sweep over her again.
That made Camdyn laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that, you big goof.” Then, because she really did need to cool off, she placed her hands flat against Beckett’s chest. She took only a moment to catalog the feel of the hard granite beneath her palms so she could reference it later when she was writing the scene unfolding in her mind with Katya and Maksim standing near a pool of deep blue water.
“You’re it,” she said, shoving Beckett into the pool.
What she hadn’t counted on was him pulling her in with him or the blazing hot kiss that followed.
Camdyn cataloged that too, knowing exactly how her book would end with Katya diving in after Maksim to save him from the evil mermaid—who looked very similar to Paisley—and pulled him to safety. Then Maksim would give Katya her first kiss, breaking the spell and releasing all of her magical powers to reveal the hidden enchantress that had been locked inside Katya all along.
Camdyn could hardly wait to get a hold of her computer so she could write the final romantic scene where Katya declared her love to her boyfriend. But first, she had a wedding to attend. Then Camdyn planned on doing the same thing as the heroine in her book. Because she was in love with Beckett. She just had to find the courage to tell him.
10
Beckett had a hard time focusing on the bride and groom while they exchanged their wedding vows because he couldn’t keep his eyes off Camdyn. It wasn’t entirely his fault. She looked gorgeous in a curve-hugging dress that was the exact same color as her swimsuit. Just thinking about her in that teal blue bikini made Beckett’s shirt collar feel too tight.
Shifting on his feet, he caught the last of Stephanie’s vows. It was Kirk’s turn now, and Beckett was determined to listen to every single word. But Camdyn attracted him like she was a magnetic forcefield. Beckett only heard the first few words of Kirk’s vows before his attention drifted across the rows of wedding guests until his gaze collided with Camdyn’s.
At least he wasn’t the only one staring. Her blue eyes sparkled as a small smile emerged on her lips. “You’re hot,” she mouthed, lowering one eyelid in an exaggerated wink.
Beckett fought back a grin, wishing he could engage in a lip-reading conversation with her. He’d told her about Paisley’s failed attempt at flirting with him at the pool while Camdyn was still stuck in traffic. So, of course, she teased him about it every time he looked her way. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to ruin the ceremony by laughing out loud.
Giving Camdyn a barely-there smile, he focused back on the bride and groom, wishing like heck he was sitting beside Camdyn instead of standing in front of the wedding guests, wearing a rented tux that bordered on being too small.
A couple of hours before the ceremony started, Beckett was recruited by the groom to stand in for Sam, one of Kirk’s groomsmen. Sam was in the hospital with a concussion and a row of staples closing the gaping wound on the back of his skull. During the pool party, he’d had one too many shots of Jack Daniels and then decided to do a backflip off of the diving board. He didn’t quite execute it correctly. The guy was lucky he wasn’t dead or permanently injured.
Mrs. Jessup was freaking out that they were down one groomsman, so Kirk asked Beckett to fill in since he and Sam had a similar build. Mrs. Jessup’s first choice was David since he was dating Ellery but David was about four inches too short and didn’t fill out the suit coat.
So now Ellery and Beckett were paired for the wedding ceremony while their dates sat in the audience. At least David was seated on the groom’s side of the wedding guests. Otherwise, Beckett was pretty sure he would have planted himself right next to Camdyn. From this vantage point, Beckett could easily see David and how often his attention was riveted on Camdyn.
It irked him that the guy had been so callous to Camdyn, his criticism making her doubt herself and her worth. Now the D-bag acted like he wanted her back. Beckett wasn’t sure how pure David’s motives were and wondered how eager he would be trying to win Camdyn back if she wasn’t dating Beckett.
But she was dating him, and Beckett never wanted to let her go. He still didn’t want to rush things but he knew for certain that he was done dating other women. It was crazy how fast things had changed, but he’d dated enough to know Camdyn was it for him.
Now he just needed the perfect setting to tell her. He’d come up with a plan while waiting around for the wedding to start. Once the ceremony was over and they moved to the covered pavilion for the reception and dancing, Beckett intended to sneak Camdyn away from the party to find a romantic setting.
Beckett’s thoughts were interrupted when the wedding officiator pronounced the couple husband and wife. After Kirk delivered a very thorough kiss to his wife, the officiator presented the newlyweds. “Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Dumont.”
The wedding guests cheered loudly, and Beckett wanted nothing more than to find Camdyn but he was stuck. When he’d agreed to stand in for the downed member of the wedding party, he hadn’t counted on having the rest of his evening hijacked by all the traditional wedding stuff that was all for Mrs. Jessup since Stephanie and Kirk just wanted everyone to have a good time eating, drinking and dancing.
Gina, the super bossy wedding planner, didn’t allow Beckett even a second to talk to his date. She insisted he accompany Ellery to the reception area for pictures and some other stuff Beckett didn’t want to do, like dancing with Ellery and the rest of the wedding party for the bride and groom’s first dance. Hopefully, once that was done, he and Camdyn could find a quiet place where they could talk. And kiss.
“Sorry you’re with me instead of Camdyn,” Ellery said as she took Beckett’s arm so he could properly escort her to the reception.
“She understands,” Beckett said, hoping that was true. He hadn’t talked to her since putting on the tux. He’d wanted her to come with him to the brief wedding rehearsal prior to the ceremony, but Camdyn said she needed time to get pretty.
Beckett had already seen her without makeup after she’d pushed him into the pool and they’d played in the water for a couple of hours. She was just as beautiful without makeup as she was with it on. But even after he’d told her, she’d given him a quick kiss on the lips and scurried off to her room to get ready.
“If I ask you something,” Ellery said in a soft voice, “will you answer me honestly?”
“Yes,” he said with a slight hesitation. He doubted she’d ask him anything personal but after dealing with Paisley over the past twenty-four hours, he couldn’t be sure about anything.
“Do you know if David and Camdyn have a past relationship?”
Beckett wanted to track David down and punch the guy in the face. He still hadn’t come clean with Ellery about his past with Camdyn? It wasn’t Beckett’s place to say anything but he wasn’t going to let this girl stay in the dark.
“Yeah, they dated for about six months before he met you.”
Ellery stopped walking. “Six months?” she asked, her tone no longer vulnerable and soft. “When did they break up?”
Beckett couldn’t remember but took a wild guess. “I think about two or three months ago?”
“I am going to kill him,” Ellery said as she resumed her march, dragging Beckett with her since she’d picked up her pace. “That jerk has been stringing me along for eight months!”
“Not if Camdyn gets to him first,” Beckett said, wondering if he should just kidnap Camdyn and take her home before breaking the news that David had been two-timing her the entire time.
“Y’all need to slow down,” Gina said, stepping in front of them, so Ellery had no choice but to reduce her speed. Holding her iPad cl
ose, the wedding planner walked slowly backward as if sensing Ellery was on the warpath and would defect as soon as Gina disappeared. “Since both the bride and groom have family who couldn’t attend, we have several videographers that are capturing the entire event live.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Beckett said as the angry tigress gripping his arm stared straight ahead, no doubt on the prowl for her boyfriend. “We’re just anxious to get to the party.”
Gina cast worried eyes at Ellery. “Please remember this isn’t about y’all.” She forced her lips up into a smile. “This is Stephanie and Kirk’s day.”
“And Mrs. Jessup’s,” Ellery murmured under her breath when Gina stepped out of rank and allowed them to follow the wedding procession.
Ellery had a few more words for her ex or soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, but she kept an even pace and talked about getting her revenge only loud enough for Beckett to hear. That saying about hell having no fury like a woman scorned? Yeah, he totally got that now.
Before the dance started, Gina wanted pictures of the wedding party. Beckett only caught sight of Camdyn a few times. Each time, she was laughing and having fun talking with some of the wedding guests. But Ellery didn’t have any David sightings. It was a good thing. He wasn’t sure he could restrain his temporary date if she saw David right now.
Like Gina had said, there were several guys walking around with video cameras. There was also a huge jumbotron screen that showed different live shots of the party goers like you saw at professional basketball games.
Occasionally, a camera would zoom in on a couple and the crowd would chant, “Kiss. Kiss. Kiss,” over and over until the couple kissed. That happened mostly with the bride and groom, but no one was safe. Beckett was slightly paranoid that once David caught on to the game, he would purposefully seek Camdyn out.
So far, he and Ellery had lucked out. Even if the camera did focus on them, they’d already agreed that a kiss on the cheek was sufficient. It was almost time for the dancing to begin and then Beckett was free. He couldn’t wait for his part to be done. Before leaving for home tomorrow morning, he was going to tell Mr. Jessup he deserved getting the promotion after proving how loyal he was by stepping up to the plate when needed.