Page 16 of The Best Wrong Move

“Nope, just me.” I look pointedly at Rex — who’s still glaring at me coldly — then back at Juju. “I’m single, actually. Single as can be. Single, single, single as a pri—”Oh my God.I might actually cry.What am I saying?I should have stuck to repeating the tail end of her words instead of trying to form my own sentences.“Well, yeah.” I clear my throat, reeling myself in. “You, uh, well, you get the idea.”

“We should go back inside.” Rex looks pointedly at Juju. “Our friends are waiting for us at Pipeline.”

She ignores him and giggles, bending at the waist, then flips her long mane of blonde hair back up as she nudges me on the arm.

“You’re a hoot, Liv,” she says. “Do your friends call you Liv? I like you.”

I’m officially dying inside.

She strolls across the deck to Rex’s side. Even her walk is sexy. More of a curvaceous saunter than a walk. She rises up on her toes to kiss Rex on the lips, her back to me.

He keeps his eyes wide open, pointed right at mine, silently begging me not to blow this moment by revealing our history.

I lift my sunglasses and mouth,What the fuck?at him angrily before she ends the kiss and turns back to me.

I drop the glasses back onto the bridge of my nose, holding my breath.

“She’s going to be a fun neighbor, babe.” She laughs happily, like we’re all about to have sleepovers and braid each other’s hair. Then she shoots me a grin. “Listen, why don’t you come do happy hour cocktails with us tonight? Just right out here on the lanai. You can’t beat the view at sunset.” She gestures to the ocean behind us like a model at a car show. “Five o’clock, right, babe?” She turns to Rex, failing to notice how pale he looks. The tan has magically drained from his cheeks.

“Right. We’ll probably be gone tonight though,” he manages to say. “We have that, um, thing. And we don’t need to bother our new neighbor on her first day.”

He starts dragging her toward their open door.

“Of course we’ll be here.” Juju smacks him on the shoulder, planting her feet. “We’re here almost every night, babe. Come join us, Liv!”

We’re already nickname buddies.

Almost. Every. Damn. Night. Babe.

Fucking hell.

Rex locks his jaw, looking pained.

My stomach dives toward the deck so intensely that my hangover threatens to spill out last night’s prosecco all over them both. I can’t handle any more of this right now.

“Actually, I believe I’m checking out later today—” I start to say, but stop when a huge man comes hulking through my side of the townhouse, ducking throughmysliding glass door to join the three of us on the lanai. He shrinks all of us with his height, even Rex.

“What the fuck?” I stammer up at him.

Chapter 12

It’s the guy.Theguy. The one who opened the door for me yesterday.

He must have come back to murder me. Why else would he be walking through my place unannounced?

Hot or not, I’m about to karate chop him in half and run, but Juju steps in front of me before I get the chance.

“Oh, hello, there!” she squeals, giving him a big hug, not even bothering with air kisses since there’s no way to reach up past his shoulders. She turns back to me. “I thought you said you were traveling alone!”

I blink frantically in the new guy’s direction, still ready to take a swing if need be.

He grins back at me.

“What are you doing back?” I manage to spit out, taking a step sideways. “And I didn’t say you could open my door again! Just that one time.”

Juju jumps up and down, grinning between this new man and me.

“Sooo” — she draws the word out like a mother coaxing a confession out of her toddler — “who’s this?”

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