The Best Man (6 page)

Christine
nodded at the concierge, who looked alarmed by Jess’s reaction. “Do you think
we could ask the airline to trace the bag?” she asked. “Perhaps they can just
put it on the next flight. The wedding is Thursday, so we have a little bit of
time.” He nodded, then picked up the phone with obvious relief that someone reasonable
had appeared.

Christine,
meanwhile, prayed that the bag would be found.

* * *

Christine’s
confession echoed in his thoughts as he walked and Jake strove to recall every
detail. He wanted to get this completely right.

A
narrow wharf led from the beach out over the water to his cottage, and he
guessed that in high tide, the entire length of it would be needed. The roof
was thatched and the walls on the resort side had only high windows.

He
unlocked the door and froze in awe. It was essentially one large room, with a
sitting area to one side and the bed on the other. The bathroom and kitchenette
were on the wall closest to the resort itself. The ocean side wall was all
glass and could be opened to the sea and the wind. As elsewhere, the decor was
neutral in color, which just made the sea look more vividly blue.

The
architect had really worked with the landscape and the effect was perfect.

Christine
would love it.

Jake
dropped his bags and opened the sliding glass doors, pushing them back. They
slid into pockets on either side so that the wall could be completely opened.
He took a deep breath of the ocean air and went out on to the deck. It was only
accessible from inside the cottage and from the lip of it, he could look down
into the sea. The brilliant turquoise water looked to be about twenty feet deep
beneath him, and was active with fish.

He
couldn’t see any of the cottages to the left and right, and couldn’t hear the
sounds of the resort behind him. There was just sky and sea and wind, the
lapping of the waves against the stilts and the cries of the gulls.

By
moonlight, it would be magical.

Jake
smiled, knowing he’d had the perfect location for one fantasy seduction.

But
first, they’d meet on the beach.

He
showered and changed, before heading to the beach to find the right spot.

* * *

Much
later in the afternoon, Christine got to her room, feeling wilted and burdened.
They hadn’t yet located the bag, but she’d finally persuaded Jess to go to her own
room and have a rest. Fiona was in their room when Christine arrived, animated
and well-rested. She’d had a nap. Christine bit back a snarky comment, knowing
that her disappointment in Jake was coloring her mood. She unpacked a few
things as she tried to ignore Fiona’s running commentary on every man she’d
seen so far.

“This
place is teeming with gorgeous men and I’m going to try them all.” Fiona
concluded, then surveyed the room. “We need a signal, in case one of us is...busy.”

Christine
put her hands on her hips and confronted her roommate. “You’re not going to
lock me out at night.”

“But
I might in the afternoon.” Fiona held up a red ribbon. “Tie this on the outside
door knob if you don’t want to be disturbed. Or I will. Three guesses who uses
it first?” She smiled when Christine didn’t answer, then hooked the ribbon over
the latch for the closet door.

Instead
of commenting, Christine locked the sliding glass door that overlooked the
beach. To her surprise, Fiona marched across the room, pushed past her,
unlocked the door and flung it open. “It’ll get stuffy in here. I can’t stand
that.”

Christine
was starting to think that this could be a long week. She reached for the door
to shut it again. “Then we’ll leave the air conditioning on.”

Fiona
pushed her hand away. “No! I hate the smell of that recycled air.”

“Then
whoever gets back first can open the door. We’re not leaving the door
unlocked!”

“Forget
it. Leave it open now.”

“But
we have to lock the door!”

“Against
what? Chameleons?” Fiona propped her hands on her hips. “You are so uptight. I
can’t even believe it. Do you ever relax? Do you ever loosen up? Do you ever
have
fun
, Christine?”

“This
isn’t about fun. It’s about security...”

“It’s
about controlling every single little thing to ensure that you’re safe and that
life is predictable,” Fiona retorted, her eyes gleaming. “Start taking some
chances, my friend, or you’re going to end up withered and alone.”

Christine
gritted her teeth, but didn’t reply in kind. The week would only feel longer if
they started to argue. She took her valuables to leave them in the safe at the
front desk, and kept her money with her. It was unlikely someone would break
into their room to steal her shoes.

If
a thief wanted that frilly peach confection of a bridesmaid dress, he or she
could have it.

She
consoled herself with the knowledge that her day had to improve, instead of
sliding relentlessly downhill.

* * *

It
didn’t.

In
fact, their first dinner together as a group was a disaster. Jess had a fit when
she discovered that Ryan had been drinking all afternoon while she had been worried
about her bag. He didn’t even bother to leave the bar for dinner to eat with
the rest of the party. The entire conversation at dinner consisted of Jess
fuming. Arlene excused herself and went to bed early. Jake walked his mom to
her room, then disappeared as well, while Fiona headed to the bar to stalk
prey.

Christine
looked around the nearly empty table, just a smattering of acquaintances and
cousins lingering there, most of whom she didn’t know well, and sighed. The day
really couldn’t have ended in a more depressing way.

Jake
had hardly even talked to her. Christine came back early to the room, wishing
she could start the day all over again. In her current mood, it seemed that telling
Jake her fantasy had ruined everything.

She
should have stayed home and finished that big job. At least then, she’d have
her career on track.

Knowing
that the sliding glass door had been open still bothered Christine, especially
when she came back to the room alone. There was no ribbon on the knob, so she
put her card in the lock then stood on the threshold with the door open, wary.

Did
she really want to go in there by herself?

Was
the sliding glass door opened a little wider than it had been?

Or
was she as risk-averse as Fiona thought she was?

Christine
stood there for a moment, but she heard nothing other than the rhythmic lull of
the waves breaking on the beach. Maybe Fiona had come back for something and
opened the door wider, just to annoy Christine.

That
made sense. The two women were as different as possible, but it seemed that
today, Fiona had been out to provoke Christine.

All
the same, Christine quickly looked in the closet, the bathroom and the shower,
then peeked under the beds. The only intruder she found was a chameleon, who
was so shocked at the sight of her that it changed color as it fled for the
balcony.

If
she’d been in the mood, that might have been funny.

Christine
shoved her hand through her hair, feeling disheveled and unhappy. Maybe she
should have had more to drink.

She
opened the sliding door all the way and stepped on to the balcony. She wasn’t a
person who easily got depressed. She had to think positive. She had to help
Jess get through this week, if nothing else.

It
was a perfect night, the sky darker and more filled with stars than it ever
seemed to be at home. The wind felt like velvet against her skin, warm and
seductive. To think there was snow at home. She listened to the lap of the sea
and smelled the flowers in bloom and indulged herself with the fantasy of her
dream coming true.

Fat
chance of that happening.

When
Christine turned back to the room with a sigh, she saw it.

There
was a note on the pillow on one bed. Christine might have thought it was from
the maid service, but the other bed didn’t have one. A red hibiscus rested on
the white linen, the color as rich a hue as blood. There was an envelope beside
it, and on the front was her name written in bold handwriting.

A
man’s writing. She’d seen that handwriting before.

Christine
swallowed. In a heartbeat, she had the envelope in her hand. She opened the
envelope and found a card inside. It looked like hotel stationary and the note
was written in the same hand.

Meet me in the moonlight, at ten on the beach.

I will find you.

A sleeping
mask from an airline was tucked inside.

The
same airline they had flown that day.

Christine
sat down hard on the side of the bed. She looked at the note again. It was
Jake’s handwriting. She’d admired how decisively he wrote before. She
remembered him going to talk to the stewardess right after she’d made her
confession and fingered the mask.

Was
Jake really going to make her fantasy come true?

The
very idea filled Christine with anticipation.

And
she remembered all too well that Fiona was sure she never took any chances.
Well, she’d taken one in confiding in Jake, and she was going to take another. She
had twenty minutes to shower, change and get herself down the beach to meet her
fantasy lover.

If
he wanted to make love in the ocean, Christine was going to dress to make it
easy.

She
certainly wasn’t going to be late.

* * *

Christine
came.

Jake
couldn’t believe his luck.

Even
better, she was wearing that black bikini.

He
stood in the shadowed gardens surrounding the hotel buildings and watched her
walk onto the beach. The moon was bright overhead, even though it wasn’t quite
full, and its light made the beach look like ivory. The sand stretched toward
the horizon in either direction in a perfect crescent. There was a light breeze
from the ocean, carrying the smell of salt, and the water was dark.

Christine
was barefoot and her hair was loose, blowing around her shoulders like a fair
cloud. The bikini left so much of her skin exposed, and he ached with desire as
he watched her move closer. The mask dangled from her fingertips, a sign of her
trust. He liked the evidence that their thoughts were as one.

Christine
glanced back at the quiet hotel, then looked down the beach. It made sense that
she’d be a little bit nervous, but he couldn’t reassure her and keep his
identity hidden. He thought for a second that she saw him, because she stared
at the shadows where he stood. Jake didn’t dare to breathe, he was so afraid
she’d think the better of it and go back to her room.

But
she put on the mask and turned to face the ocean. He saw her take a deep
breath, then her shoulders relaxed.

Jake
didn’t give her time to change her mind.

* * *

Christine
felt silly, and a little bit nervous. Seeing the guy in the shadows by the shrubbery
nearly made her jump out of her skin, until she realized he was built exactly
like Jake.

Because
he
was
Jake.

And
he was waiting for her to play along. Knowing that he was close bolstered
Christine’s trust, and made it possible for her to put on the mask.

She
heard a man’s approaching footsteps, a faint sound against the sand. He walked
like Jake, with the same purposeful long stride. He paused behind her and her
heart skipped, then he caught his shoulders in his hands.

Exactly
as he had done at the airport.

His
lips touched the side of her neck. “
Bon soir, chère,
” he murmured against her skin, his voice familiar but
his accent unexpected. In other circumstances, Christine might have giggled
that he was speaking French to her, but she recognized that he was trying to
deliver on her fantasy.

Her
mysterious lover—who disguised his identity from her in more ways than
one.

She
savored his firm grip on her shoulders, the way he held her both gently and
firmly. In a way, it was doubly sexy to be blindfolded. Christine felt as if
all of her other senses were heightened, and her awareness of Jake was sharp. When
she tipped her head back, loving how he was kissing beneath her ear, she caught
a whiff of cologne.

It
wasn’t the one Jake usually wore. She liked that one, but this one was more
musky. It was exciting, both because its earthy sexiness was unexpected and because
Jake was trying to be a mystery to her. She felt the stubble of his day’s
growth against her skin and recalled how different he’d looked today. He kissed
her ear, and she melted into his embrace with a sigh.