Page 51 of Get Lost

Chapter Nineteen

Alex hadn’t sat beside Kelsey for the second leg, and he’d only gotten a couple glimpses of her for the duration of the flight because she was too many rows behind him, so he was anxious to get to the villas and kick off the long weekend of driving her crazy.

With his duffle and laptop bag in one arm and a garment bag in the other, Alex had everything he needed, so he was able to skip the baggage claim area and head straight outside, hailing the first taxi he could find. The drive to the villas was a brief thirty minutes north of the airport, on the west side of the island. When he arrived, he was greeted by some of the permanent employees that lived in and maintained the residences, then quickly directed toward the smallest villa on the far side of the estate, where he’d be staying, along with Kelsey and a few others.

The first to arrive, Alex perused the homes one by one on his way to his accommodations. The villas were even better than the pictures Drew had showed him a few months back. Alex took his time exploring each residence, meeting the staff that lived in and ran each home, and getting the lay of the land as the sun set over the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. He explored each kitchen extensively, assessing the size and layout, taking inventory of the supplies and deciding which would make the most sense for the sheer volume of food he’d be preparing throughout the weekend. Aside from Kelsey’s pink-haired friend, most of the staff would be locals, so it was up to him, as the chef, and Kelsey, as the wedding and event planner, to decide on all the finer details.

Which meant he needed to spend more time with her. He smirked at the thought because he knew proposing such a thing would really set her off.

When he’d visited all five villas and assessed each of the kitchens, he made his way back to the smallest of the homes, the one he’d be sharing with Kelsey, her friends, and a few other wedding crew members. He had a loose plan in his mind that she’d need to agree to. As far as he knew, no one else would arrive tonight, although some people were on redeye flights that would arrive in the wee hours of the morning, like the cake designer and a few groomsmen and bridesmaids.

He made his way inside, stopping at a pile of boxes near the doorway to the kitchen to do a quick count. All twelve that he’d sent were accounted for, as well as a few addressed to Kelsey.

He debated hiding the ones she’d shipped, but thought better of it. Even he wasn’t that much of an asshole.

He poked his head into the first bedroom, which held a large, four-poster king-sized bed in the center. Mosquito draping hung down in thick waves of white, pulled back for presentation. The house was quiet, and there was no luggage in this room, so Kelsey and her friends obviously hadn’t arrived from the airport yet. But he’d been walking through the villas for over an hour now… what was keeping Kelsey?

Maybe they’d been unable to find a cab…

Should he have waited for them so they could all ride together?

Nah… it wasn’t his responsibility. Maybe Kelsey had a last-minute errand to run before she settled in for the long weekend. He stepped into the room and walked over to a small dining nook. A welcome basket sat on the table with a notecard addressed to Kelsey. In the basket was a bottle of champagne, a couple bottles of Ju-C—a local soft drink in flavors like pineapple and banana—a pair of local pale ales, some local candy, and a clear gift bag full of necessities like tissues, sunscreen, and... oh. Feminine products. Nice touch. Alex shrugged, then lifted his duffle bag onto the tabletop to unzip it. He pulled out something from home that would be the perfect addition to the welcome basket, and something Renee wouldn’t have known to include, then situated it into the mix.

Scanning the room, he placed the basket on the bed instead of the small table, so Kelsey would be unable to miss it.

He left Kelsey’s room and headed down the hallway to the next available bedroom, which held two full-sized beds placed side by side with a small nightstand between them. He stepped inside, placed his duffle and his garment bag on one bed, then stretched out atop the other, closing his eyes.

As much as he wouldn’t mind sharing that plush California King in the room next door with Kelsey, she wasn’t quite at that point with him yet.

He still had to warm her up. Or wear her down.

Whichever.

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