Page 33 of One Night in Hawaii

“Dad, I can’t marry that woman.”

“It’s a good match,” he said.

“Dad, it’s not a good match, it’s a bad one. I don’t love her. I don’t even like her. I couldn’t stand the sight of her.”

“It’s a good match,” he repeated. “You need to marry someone with a similar background. Someone who understands. Someone who knows what it’s like to be in the public eye. Someone who knows what it’s like to be wealthy and have expectations.”

“That’s bullshit, Dad. I’m not marrying her.”

“You need to come home so we can work this out,” he said. “If you’re adamant you won’t marry her, we can work out a settlement.”

I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid to get caught in Ashley’s net. The bitch set me up. She never intended to marry me. The prenup was put together by our lawyers. It was supposed to protect both of us, but only now did I see how one-sided it was. I had been an arrogant fool to think there was zero chance she would back out of marrying me. I was Archer Ryatt. My family name and money made me a hell of a catch. I happened to know I was pretty easy on the eyes as well. Why wouldn’t she marry me? She knew she would be set up for life.

“Dad, you need to let our lawyers handle this,” I said. “She set me up. She set up our whole family. I have a feeling her parents were in on this as well. They dangle the perfect woman, get a contract signed, and then walk away ten million dollars richer. I would be interested to know if there were other jilted husbands.”

“And you know there is a clause in the contract that forbids us or them from talking about the contract,” he reminded me.

“Dammit. We got played, Dad. Do you see that? They did all of this on purpose.”

“Maybe, but it’s too late now. We’re in it. Just get home and let’s handle this.”

“I’m not coming home,” I said. “I’m on vacation. I’ve earned a vacation.”

“I thought you would be happy to know she wanted to go through with the wedding,” he said. “This puts you back on track and it will save you the humiliation of being stood up.”

“No. Not happy. Not even a little. I have to go. Don’t agree to any dates. I’m not going to marry that woman.”

“We need to move on with this,” he said. “If we delay, it will be our default.”

“She waited a week to warm up her feet, she can wait another week until I get back.”

I ended the call and took a moment to calm down. I felt the boat start to move. Shiloh was taking us back to shore. Whatever almost happened wasn’t going to happen now. Once again, Ashley was fucking up my plans.

Shiloh had put on her shorts and that was it. She stood barefoot at the wheel, steering the boat with total ease. The woman impressed me. I walked to where my shirt sat on the deck and quickly pulled it on.

The moment was over. My mind was a whirlwind of emotions, but one thing was clear—I couldn’t let my father’s ultimatum dictate my life. I wasn’t going to let Ashley coerce me into marrying her, not that I thought that was what she wanted. She would move onto the next guy and bilk him of a few million. Eventually, her little game would be exposed. If I had to pay her, so be it, but I wasn’t going to keep my mouth shut. No way.

I turned to see Shiloh looking at me, concern in her eyes. “Is everything okay?” she asked softly.

I forced a smile. “Great. Are we heading back?”

“Yes. Your sandwich is in the fridge.”

“Thanks,” I muttered and headed downstairs. It hurt to look at what I almost had but lost with a single phone call.

14

SHILOH

Iknew what I heard. I tried my hardest not to listen, but I heard him mention Ashley several times. From the side of the conversation I heard, it sounded like they were planning a new date for the wedding. That surprised me. I couldn’t imagine trying to marry the person who jilted me on my wedding day.

But that was just me. Maybe he really did love the woman. They said absence made the heart grow fonder. His bride got cold feet and left him at the altar, but now she changed her mind. Archer was a great guy. I couldn’t really blame her for wanting to reclaim the man.

But it sucked. I liked the guy. He was too far out of my league. I had been fooling myself to think he would want me for anything more than a quick roll in the hay.

I tried my best to shake off the feeling of disappointment as I drove the boat back to Ryder’s dock. I told myself that I shouldn’t have expected anything more from him. After all, we had only spent a couple of days together. He never claimed to like me or want me. He showed interest, but that was a typical red-blooded male thing to do. As much as I tried to ignore it, the thought of him marrying Ashley still bothered me.

Archer came up just as I was pulling up to Ryder’s dock. He easily hopped out and tied up my boat. “Do you want to get a drink or something?” Archer asked.

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