The Perfect Escape (The Perfect #2)

1. Rosie

rosie

Sunlight bounced off the waves in the distance, rippling across the ocean and kissing my long, tanned legs.

Like a lizard, I was spread out on a beach chair, basking in the mid-afternoon glow.

I soaked up every ounce of sun—along with the occasional lusty glances from strangers as they passed by—like a thirsty flower.

It was June, I was on vacation with my hot husband, and everything was perfect.

“Here’s that frozen margarita you asked for, baby.”

I opened my eyes and smiled as he handed me a giant glass full of frosted peach slush. There was even a little red umbrella with flowers sprouting from the top next to a maraschino cherry.

“Thank you, love,” I said, taking it from him.

Greg was the perfect picture of a sexy, doting husband.

Silver streaked his dark hair, and he’d trimmed his beard this morning so it was neat.

Despite working over sixty hours a week as a neurosurgeon, he was religious about lifting weights every morning, and it showed in his well-defined muscles.

He wore a bright blue speedo, sunscreen streaking the back of his neck from where I’d applied it.

The last thing I wanted was to scratch a sunburn in the middle of a midnight lovemaking session, so I was on top of our SPF application.

He gave me a wink, flashing his brilliant smile as he sat down in the beach chair next to me.

We’d been working so hard this year, so he’d surprised me with a four-day getaway to the coast, whisking away on a first-class ride to paradise.

The tender love and care was much needed, and I was grateful he’d thought ahead to do this for us.

After nine years of marriage, he still knew how to keep things exciting and romantic—which was no small feat. Many of my friends who’d been married this long found themselves inking divorce papers or spending an outrageous amount of money on couple therapy.

I supported both of those avenues. Sometimes things didn’t work out, and that was okay. Hell, my friend Skye divorced her idiot husband and ended up in a four-way with her childhood best friend, that friend’s husband, and her stepbrother.

Good for Skye , was all I could think.

But I was thankful my Greg was Greg.

He released a long, drawn-out sigh as he stretched on the chair, placing his hands behind his head. “So… I was thinking…”

I raised a brow and looked at him, letting my sunglasses slide down the bridge of my nose so I could peek over them. “Yes?”

“I signed us up for a fun activity,” he drawled.

“Oh really ?”

“Yes. Good for couples, I’ve heard.”

“And what activity is that? Swing dancing?”

He snorted. “You know I have two left feet, Rosie baby.”

I waited for him to continue. “Are you going to tell me?”

He smirked. “I like drawing out the suspense.”

“Greg.” I sighed. “Tell me, or else I’ll worry it’s something ridiculous.”

“It’s an escape room.”

Well, I apparently was right to worry. Goddamn it. “An escape room?”

He couldn’t be serious, right? I wrinkled my nose and pushed my sunglasses back up the bridge of my nose. A chuckle rumbled in his chest, and we both knew he was going to have to convince me it was a fun activity.

I had zero interest in an escape room. I’d come on this vacation to get my back blown out and my brains fried by the sun. All I wanted was good sex, good margaritas, and good food. I didn’t want to think about problems that needed solving.

“Isn’t that like a giant puzzle or something, Greg?” I whined. “I already do enough problem solving in my everyday life. I don’t want to think that hard on vacation.”

“It’ll be fun!” he exclaimed. “It’s a themed adventure, too. Some sort of beach thing or something.”

“Or something ?” I scoffed. “You don’t even know, do you?”

He shrugged in a way that annoyed me. God, I loved this man. I really did. But sometimes, all I wanted to do was strangle him. He knew an escape room was the exact opposite of what I wanted, so why in the hell had he gotten it in his head that I would be up for it? Ugh.

“I think you’ll like it.”

“I doubt it,” I said flatly.

“Well, I paid a lot of money for it.”

“How much?”

“A couple grand.”

I sat straight up, some of my frozen margarita spilling on my thigh. I screeched as the icy peach drink slid across my warm skin, shooting him an evil look as his laugh rang out across the beach.

“What in the hell is wrong with you?” I hissed, snatching a towel from his outstretched hand. “A couple grand ? On a kids’ game?”

“It’s not a kids’ game,” he protested. “It’ll be a fun challenge.”

“Do we win anything?” I asked.

“Confidence in our intelligence? Trust in each other? Knowing we’ve got sexy brains?”

“We already know that. And god knows you don’t need a bigger ego.”

He took a sip of his drink. “I promise it’ll be fun.”

“ Greg. ” I sighed. “Do we have to go? Can you get a refund? What happened to us just laying out on the beach? What happened to our plan ?”

“It’s in an hour,” he announced. “And I swear, Rosie, it’ll be relaxing. How about you finish your margarita, then we’ll head back to our room and get dressed?”

Damn it. I really didn’t want to do a stupid escape room.

I shot him another disgruntled look and resettled myself, scowling at the ocean.

Palm leaves danced above me as a warm breeze blew across the beach.

Chatter echoed from the family a few yards away from us.

There were a few other people scattered here and there, including a couple of sexy men I’d been eyeing.

I took a long sip of my margarita and let out a long groan. “Fine. We’ll do the escape room. And you’ll make it up to me later.”

“Oh, I absolutely will,” he promised.

I smiled, despite the temporary annoyance.

That was the thing about Greg.

He always kept his promises.

One of the hot strangers I’d been eyeing since I’d sprawled out on this beach chair slowed as he walked by us.

He had sea-salt-tangled blond hair drawn up into a loose bun and golden muscles for days.

His jaw was sharp with a short, well- kept beard.

Dark brown eyes danced with mischief and lust, an Adonis-like concoction of desire.

The stranger was also tall. Really fucking tall.

What in the hell are you doing? I mentally scolded myself.

He tossed me a wink as he headed towards the door to the hotel.

My brows shot up and I looked over at Greg, but he was obviously zoned out, reading a book on birds. Or whatever the hell that man was interested in today.

The second man—a gruffer, bulkier dark-haired god—walked by, too. Despite his long legs, he took his time strolling past. His beard was far more rugged, his dark brows relaxing as he offered a soft, promising smile.

My cheeks turned even redder under his brief, heated gaze. Once again, I looked over at Greg, but he didn’t notice.

It didn’t hurt to look, right?

I wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Right?

I took a long sip of my margarita as I watched those two head towards the door. Damn, they had fine asses. I wrinkled my nose and gazed out at the waves.

I was feeling all hot and bothered now, and it wasn’t from the melting sun.

“Greg,” I said. “I think I’m ready to go inside.”

He raised a brow, tearing his gaze from his book. “You sure?”

“Yes,” I said.

“You barely touched your margarita.”

“It’s fine.”

“Alright.” He sighed, sitting up. “Let’s go cool off.”

Cooling off was exactly what I needed.

An hour later, my mood soured again as I followed Greg into the lobby of Submit to Escape .

I hadn’t even bothered searching the place online, because I didn’t care.

I was determined to participate in this ridiculous activity quickly, then go back to laying out on the beach.

Hell, maybe I’d even go skinny dipping tonight.

I could bask in the moonlight, just like I had been under the sun.

I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest as Greg approached the front desk. A mirror on the stone wall reflected my appearance, and I sighed.

At least I looked good.

The dress I was wearing was short, pink, and covered in bright red cherries.

A little bow in the front bunched the fabric, drawing my breasts together.

I ran my palms down my waist, then smoothed down stray hairs on my head—my raven-black hair was short, but still a little mussed from the windy beach.

I wore red platform heels that gave me a little extra height.

The reflection of a chiseled face behind me drew my attention, and my heart lurched into my throat.

Oh god.

The two men I’d seen on the beach earlier waited behind me while Greg got us checked in. Their eyes feasted on me in a way that had my muscles quivering.

Swallowing hard, I pulled my attention from them and went to Greg, tucking my arm into his.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” the woman checking us in said. Her eyes darted to Greg, her cheeks flushed as she fawned over him. “Is this your first escape room?”

“Yes.” I sighed, giving Greg a dirty look.

The man was all smiles—either genuinely clueless about my mood, or was leaning on nine years of marriage experience to know better than to acknowledge it. His dimples flashed as he looked at the young lady, and I narrowed my eyes as she batted her eyelashes.

I cleared my throat, and she startled, stammering as she spoke. “Oh good, welcome. I’ll give you a walk-through once I get our other guests checked in.”

“Perfect,” I said, tugging Greg to the side.

The blonde devil and his dark-haired sidekick approached the desk to sign their wavers. Occasionally, the dark-haired man glanced our way, a soft, teasing smile on his lips. His gaze raked over my body again, completely unashamed.

Greg rolled his shoulders. “This will be fun.”

“I can’t believe you signed us up for this.” I sighed.

“It’ll be good,” he said. “You’ll have so much fun.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Sure. Have you ever done an escape room before?”

“A couple times,” he said.