Page 67 of Blue Hawaiian
“She can be overbearing, but I get it. She doesn’t want me getting hurt again.”
That was still no excuse. “Did you know she confronted me at the luau? She threatened to bust my balls.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
His anger melted away as he recalled the way the night had ended. “Because you were too intent on sneaking off to have sex on the beach. I wasn’t going to ruin the moment.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Oh yeah. That.” She grinned. “But it was fun, wasn’t it?”
“It was incredible.” If he had one memory he’d want to keep, long after the trip was over, it would be their passionate encounter on the beach.
Jess pulled out a packet of papers, tied with a ribbon. “Get this. Even the rehearsal dinner has a program. It’s just one sheet, but same calligraphy and everything.” She handed him one.
He read it over. “What’s the ‘Tribute to Big Bear’? Is that our video? I thought Gabi didn’t know about it.”
“No, it’s the speech Brody’s giving. Sort of a greatest-hits recap from all our summers there. We’ll show the video right after.” She put the programs back in the box. “Maybe I’m being cynical, but this seems like a ton of work. I can see why people elope.”
“Or fly off to Vegas for a quickie wedding.”
She set the box on the floor of the car. “Would you ever consider it?”
“What? Marriage?” He almost laughed, until he noted her serious expression. “I don’t know. The only time I came close was with Natasha, but she totally screwed me over.”
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
He squeezed her thigh. “It’s okay. It’s hard for me to trust anyone. Except maybe you. When I’m with you, I feel like I can tell you anything. Sometimes I wonder…”
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
She frowned. “It’s not, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re going back to Chicago in a couple of days.”
“And if I wasn’t?” Her voice shook.
Shit.What was he doing? How could he possibly string her along when their fling had an expiration date? There was no way he could consider extending it. Even in the best of circumstances, relationships were a ton of work. Toss in a two-thousand-mile separation and things were bound to get complicated. Not to mention, he was about to jump off a cliff, career-wise. He couldn’t allow himself a single distraction.
Still, he really cared about Jess. He was so grateful they were friends again. And he’d had more fun with her in the past few days than he’d had all year.
But, clearly, he’d said the wrong thing because she looked decidedly uneasy. Before he could smooth over the awkwardness, his phone rang, startling them both. In his haste to reply, he dropped it, then fumbled to answer it in time.
Marc didn’t even bother with a greeting. “Yo. Did you get the programs?”
“Done. I checked them over and didn’t see any typos.”
“Are you headed back? Rehearsal’s in thirty minutes.”
He started the engine, then switched his phone to the car’s Bluetooth speaker. “Yep. On my way.”
During the drive, Marc filled him in on every detail of the past few hours, which was more information than he needed, but better than dealing with the weird tension emanating from Jess.
Maybe tonight, after the rehearsal dinner, they could talk.
Or…
They could have a few drinks, engage in wild, uninhibited sex, and forget this conversation.
