Chapter Eighteen
“Okay, fair is fair. The Cobb Salad was awesome,” Kayla said.
“Not as good as the fish tacos,” Mack said.
The sparkle of mischief in her eye made Kayla laugh, and she wrapped her arm around Mack’s waist. When had it gotten so easy to act like a couple?
Amy fell into step beside Kayla, dragging Skye behind her and wearing a very satisfied smirk. “Told you. Vegetables are actually good for you.”
“You’re such a doctor.” Mack shot her a grin, and they shared a laugh.
The warm bubble of happiness around Kayla didn’t quite burst, but that shared joke definitely caused a puncture. She and Skye had only been at their massage for an hour. How had these two gotten so chummy in such a short time? More importantly, why did it bother her so much?
They arrived at an intersection in the path, the afternoon sun reducing the shadows to little more than slivers. The pressure of time settled onto Kayla’s shoulders and thickened the air as she tried to breathe.
“Want to head up to that secluded pool by our villas?” Kayla asked. “I can introduce you to the swim-up bar. We had margaritas yesterday, and they were amazing, weren’t they, Mack?”
“Totally. They juiced fresh limes right there in front of us.”
Skye cut a glance at Amy that Kayla couldn’t quite read. “No thanks. I think we need a little time out of the sun.”
“Headache still bothering you?” Kayla studied her face as she asked. Skye was a terrible liar. She had absolutely no poker face.
“Yeah,” Skye said simply, but she avoided Kayla’s eye.
Kayla leaned forward, ready to give several persuasive arguments for why a trip to the swim-up bar was a great idea, but Mack gave her hand a surreptitious squeeze. Glancing over, Mack shook her head just enough to get her point across. Kayla sat back on her heels and forced a smile.
“Okay. Hope you feel better. See you tonight at dinner,” Kayla said.
Amy smiled, more at Mack than at her. “Can’t wait. I love French food.”
Mack slung an arm over Kayla’s shoulder and laughed. “We come all the way from America to the Caribbean only to eat at a French restaurant.”
Skye laughed along, obviously reluctantly. “I’m pretty sure Amy would find a French restaurant on the Moon if I took her there.”
Amy said, “And you’d happily eat your weight in baguettes just like me.”
“True.”
They parted on a happy note, all laughing in the tropical sunshine. As soon as Skye and Amy were out of sight, Kayla collapsed against Mack. “Thanks for saving me there. You know me, I push too hard sometimes.”
Mack pulled her closer, wrapping her strong arms around and holding her tight. “I’ll always be here to save you from yourself, LaLa.”
“Promise?”
Kayla had intended it to be teasing, but once the word formed on her lips, it turned real.
Real, raw, and suddenly terrifying. What if she failed?
What if she pushed too hard and ruined everything?
She would go home empty-handed. Well, not empty-handed.
As long as Mack was there, she could do anything.
“You know it,” Mack said.
And just like that, everything was right with the world. “Well, I offer the same service.”
“Hmm?”
“Saving you from yourself.” Kayla pulled out of Mack’s arms and gave her a wink. “No lounging poolside for you today. You’ll just end up diving into some work-related spreadsheet.”
Mack laughed her throaty, musical laugh. “Probably. What did you have in mind?”
“You. Me. Swim-up bar. Drink of the day.”
Mack kissed the top of her head before turning toward an open chair to deposit her bag. “Sounds perfect.” As they pulled off their cover-ups, Mack asked, “So how did that couple mix-up happen exactly?”
“Bribery.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Of course not. It was a major point in the Plan of Seduction. Don’t you remember?”
Mack said, “I didn’t read it cover to cover. How much did it set you back?”
“Too much. I tried stripping seductively, and she didn’t even look over once.”
Mack jerked upright. “You did what?”
Kayla whipped around at the loud splash behind her.
Mack was quicker, however, hustling over to the poolside to help the waitress she’d startled collect a full tray of liquor bottles out of the pool.
Mack was bumbling and apologetic, but the waitress was just blushing.
Kayla couldn’t help shaking her head as she watched Mack gain yet another admirer.
“What?” Mack asked as she returned to their chair.
“You can’t help it can you?”
“Help what?” Kayla nodded her chin toward the waitress, who seemed in real danger of dropping her bottles again since she walked by with her eyes glued to Mack. “She’s scared of me now, isn’t she? I really need to work on my outbursts.”
Kayla laughed. Was it really possible she was this oblivious? “Not scared. She looks willing to help you with an outburst, though. Everyone you meet falls in love with you.”
Mack rolled her eyes again, but this time she was smiling. “I don’t know where you get these wacky notions.”
Kayla was going to tease her more, but Mack surprised her by snatching her up off the pool deck and sprinting to the water’s edge. All Kayla could do was giggle and shriek, her arms wrapped tight around Mack’s neck as she leaped into the water.
Sputtering and shaking water out of her eyes, Kayla said, “Now who’s the one with wacky notions?”
“You’re the one who said we should go to the swim-up bar, and here we are.”
The bartender slid something multicolored and frozen to a nearby customer and turned to them. “What can I get for you?”
Mack hoisted Kayla up to get a better grip and smiled down at her. “What do you say, LaLa? Something frozen? Fruity? Boozy?”
“All of the above.”
Mack turned back to the bartender. “Two frozen, fruity, boozy drinks, please.”
Apparently, he was used to vague orders like this.
He nodded and started grabbing bottles. Mack didn’t seem interested in putting her down, so Kayla leaned in.
After all, it was ridiculously comfortable being carried around by Mack like a bride crossing the threshold.
Unfortunately, she noticed her favorite floppy straw hat slowly sinking into the chlorinated depths over Mack’s shoulder.
“Oh no, my hat.”
“I’ll secure us a couple barstools while you go rescue it,” Mack said.
The water was perfectly cool as it slid over her sun-warmed skin, so Kayla took her time swimming over to get her hat.
Once she’d secured it, she flopped onto her back and let herself float.
Water lapped gently against her cheeks. Her ears settled below the surface, blotting out the sounds of the world.
The sun was so bright overhead that she had to close her eyes against the glare.
For several long moments, she floated, weightless in a world without stimulation.
It was beyond glorious and just what she needed to recover from an expensively mediocre morning.
When she finally forced herself out of that simple world, she stood to discover the seat to Mack’s right was waiting for her.
The seat to Mack’s left, however, was occupied by a shockingly gorgeous woman in an equally shockingly small bikini.
She was doing her best to make it even smaller, in fact, as she leaned toward Mack to display her impressive cleavage.
A little growl of annoyance stirred inside Kayla.
This was the woman who had received her drink when Mack carried her up to the bar, so she had to have seen them together.
Why would she so blatantly flirt with someone she knew was taken?
Kayla pushed her way through the waist-deep water.
She would give that little hussy a piece of her mind.
She’d taken about four steps when she remembered that, despite what they told Skye and Amy, Mack was not her fiancée.
How had she gotten so lost in the illusion?
Of course, Mack could flirt with this woman if she wanted to.
Although Mack wasn’t flirting nearly as hard as she should have been.
Maybe Mack was also momentarily forgetting their relationship was just for show?
Kayla whispered to herself, “Time for me to do that saving you from yourself thing, Mack.”
She hopped up onto her barstool and snatched her drink. It was a strange, frozen concoction of layered vivid yellow, red, and green. When Mack turned a smile on her, she pointedly looked at the busty newcomer rather than her drink. “Now this looks delicious.”
“It’s called a Bob Marley,” the stranger said in a thick Alabama accent.
“It’s really good.” Mack’s eyes sparkled with healthy mischief.
“Well, y’all enjoy your afternoon. It was nice meeting you, Mack.”
The stranger slid off her barstool, but Kayla reached out to put a hand over hers. “Oh, don’t head out so soon. You just got here. I’m Kayla.”
“That’s a real pretty name. I’m Ali.”
“Ali is from Huntsville, but she went to college at Duke,” Mack said.
Just how long had she been floating, that Mack had learned so much about her? Or was she that interested? “That’s where you went to school. You two must know some of the same people and places.”
“A few, yeah. But she was there a while before me,” Ali said.
“Well, don’t let her age fool you. She’s got an awful lot of energy.” Kayla gave Ali a wink that made her laugh.
“You have to forgive Kayla. She’s never met a stranger.”
“It’s called being friendly, Mack. You should be more friendly, don’t you think, Ali?”
Ali’s smile didn’t falter, but she gave Kayla a shrewd look and bit her bottom lip. She leaned forward so the bartender couldn’t hear and asked, “Are y’all looking for a third?”
Kayla nearly choked on her drink. “Um, no. Thanks. I’m not into that.”
“Really? Because Mack says y’all are getting married on Friday, but it sorta sounds like you’re encouraging me to flirt with her. Are you open?”
That was interesting. Maybe it would be easier than she thought to get Mack to loosen up.
Mack turned a panicked stare on Kayla. “No, we aren’t.”
“Don’t be so hasty, sweetie.” Kayla slid her fingertips over Mack’s arm. “We haven’t talked about it, but if you’re interested—”
“I’m not.” Mack jumped off her barstool like she’d been electrocuted. She turned a pained look on Ali and said, “No offense. I’m flattered, but I’ve got my hands full with this one.”
“No worries.” Ali stood and made a business of adjusting her minuscule bikini. If she was delaying in hopes that Mack would change her mind, she was bound to be disappointed. Still, she handled it well. “It was nice meeting y’all.”
She swam off, and Mack definitely watched her go longer than usual. Kayla laughed and swatted her arm. “You should’ve gone for that. You obviously think she’s hot.”
Mack walked around behind Kayla. She turned just in time to find Mack looming over her, sliding into her space and leaning in.
There was a wicked grin on her lips and that same twinkle in her eye.
Kayla’s breath stuttered to a halt, and her heart started to race.
For a wild second, she thought Mack was going to lean in for a kiss, and she tilted her head to accept her lips.
What the hell was going on? Why was her body reacting like this?
It was Mack, not Skye, standing in front of her, putting on the seduction routine.
Her body never reacted to Mack like this.
Mack leaned close, holding herself up with a hand on the bar right next to Kayla’s shoulder. Kayla could feel the heat of her skin. She smelled like vanilla from her sunscreen and something fruity from the drink.
“LaLa,” she purred.
“Hmm?”
“You know I was telling the truth, right?”
“Truth?”
“When I said I have my hands full with you.”
Kayla laughed hard and wanted to tease back but didn’t have time.
Before she could say a word, Mack reached out, snatched her off her barstool, and flopped backward into the water with Kayla wrapped in a bear hug.
She didn’t even have time to shriek before they were both engulfed in water thanks to Mack’s little joint cannonball move.
Mack held tight to her with both arms as they tumbled under the water and held her even tighter as they broke the surface again, both spluttering and laughing with the unexpected dunk.
Her hat was now officially ruined, but as Mack spun her around in her arms, Kayla was happier than she could remember being in years.