Prologue #2
I felt a pleasant tremor work its way up my spine.
I’d dated in the past—it was a very rare occurrence, but I hadn’t wanted to go to college as a virgin.
Then, I hadn’t wanted that one uncomfortable, sloppy romp with my high school prom date to be the extent of my sexual experience, so I’d given two guys from college a shot.
Needless to say, they hadn’t been much better.
But those guys didn’t come close to comparing to this man before me.
They were just boys. This guy was all man, and I’d never caught the attention of someone so .
. . virile before. I had to admit, it was exhilarating.
“Is that right?” I asked, a pleased grin pulling at my lips.
“Absolutely,” he announced with mock seriousness. “You in that bikini? All that smooth, golden skin on display? You haven’t noticed, but every man here’s been watching you, looking for the opportunity to approach.”
He was right, of course . . . I hadn’t noticed. Mostly because I wasn’t paying attention. In that moment, I didn’t give a single flip about any of those other men. “Well, I’m glad you were the one to work up the courage.”
His grin made my heart rate kick into high gear. “Me too. I’m just glad your friends decided not to join you.” He leaned in and lowered his voice. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Even the bravest men are nervous to make a play when a woman is surrounded by her girls.”
I giggled at the teasing lilt in his voice. “Something tells me you’re a man who’s up for a challenge like that. But if it makes you feel better, that’s not an issue. I’m here by myself.”
He leaned back, his expression pinching in bewilderment. “You’re alone? You from here or somethin’?”
I gave my head a shake. “Nope. I just graduated. This trip is supposed to help me kick off my new life. I made a list of things I want to accomplish while I’m here,” I found myself admitting.
I wasn’t sure why I was opening up so easily to a man I had literally just met.
He was a complete stranger, but before I’d thought better of it, my mouth opened and the words poured out.
“Is that what you’ve been scribblin’ in there?” he asked, pointing to the journal on the cushion beside me.
Wow, he really has been watching me. “Yeah.”
He arched a single ebony brow. “Can I see?”
“Um . . .” I began chewing on my thumbnail, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. Without answering verbally, I did something as out of character as sharing about the list in the first place; I nudged the journal Bryce’s way.
He flipped it over, shuffling to the page marked by a thin ribbon, and began to read, his brow puckered in concentration. A few excruciating seconds later, he returned his attention to me. “Well, that’s quite a list you have there.”
“Yeah.” I reached up and tugged at the hair that had fallen from my haphazard bun, twisting the strands around my index finger nervously. “I might have gotten a little carried away. I’m only here for a week. I probably won’t get half of that accomplished.”
The journal snapped closed with a resounding thunk, and Bryce shook his head. “That’s unacceptable. If you don’t check off every item on that list, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life, and I can’t allow that.”
A snort tickled my throat as it traveled up and burst past my lips. “You can’t allow that?”
The sternness in his expression was diluted by the enjoyment shining clear from that spearmint gaze. “Absolutely not. I’m part of this now,” he said, holding the journal up. “I’m a very determined man, and I’m going to help you check off every item on this list.”
His exclamation set off a thrill that ignited my blood and raced through my body. A bewildered laugh bubbled from my chest. “I’m not sure. I’m starting to think you might be a little crazy.”
“Far from it,” he informed me. “But if you don’t wanna take my word for it, you can ask my buddies over there.
They’ll vouch for me.” He pointed across the pool to a tiny cabana where three other men were lounging.
One was clearly flirting with a woman, another was kicked back enjoying a brightly colored drink with an umbrella in it, and the last was watching Bryce and me with obvious interest. All three were sporting the same military buzzcut as Bryce, and all of them were wearing dog tags.
I lifted my hand in a tiny wave that the last two quickly returned with good-natured smiles.
Each man was hot enough to wreak havoc on any woman’s ovaries, but there was something about Bryce that made him stand out from the rest of them.
He smoldered, and in our short acquaintance, his smile made me shaky in a very pleasurable way.
“You guys are military?”
“That we are. This trip is kind of a last hurrah before we ship out.”
“Ship out?”
“Afghanistan,” he explained.
My stomach did a little clench at the thought of this man heading to somewhere so dangerous. Ridiculous, Tessa, I scolded myself. You don’t even know this guy. “If this is your last hurrah, shouldn’t you be spending it with your friends?”
The grin he laid on me was pure seduction. “Sweetheart, I walk away from you, and those guys will beat my ass for bein’ the worlds biggest idiot. Besides, we’re about to be stuck together for six months in the middle of the desert. Trust me, they’ll understand.”
I was in a strange city, contemplating spending time with a man I didn’t know from Adam.
A smarter woman probably would have turned him down, knowing the dangers that lurked behind every corner.
But the romantic in me, cultivated by my parents for the first ten years of my life, came screaming to the surface.
I nodded reluctantly. “All right. I’m in.”
“Good.” His smile stretched even bigger. “And I know just where to start.”
“So? What’s the verdict?”
Bryce looked at me from across the table in the middle of a posh, five-star Japanese restaurant with a charming, boy-next-door grin on his face.
We’d parted ways after the pool but only long enough for me to get ready for what he called “an epic night on the town.” My little black dress and heels were another purchase made to take me out of my comfort zone.
But when Bryce had shown up at my room earlier in a slate gray button-down and black slacks, looking the picture of temptation, I was glad I’d taken the leap.
Especially when I caught the way his eyes darkened with hunger as he looked me over.
We were currently ticking off number six on my list; try sushi and Saki for the first time ever. And the reviews were mixed.
“It only took me twenty-three years to summon the courage to try it, but I actually like sushi.”
“And the Saki?”
My face pinched up as I recalled the one and only sip I’d ever have. “It tasted like hot rubbing alcohol, sweetened with Splenda.”
He laughed as he lifted the beer bottle to his lips and took a drink. “Yeah, it’s definitely an acquired taste.”
Leaning forward, I rested my arms on the table, fiddling with the big, chunky watch I always wore on me left wrist. Lowering my voice, I said, “Thank you for doing this with me. I’ve had a great time tonight.”
It had been one of the most enjoyable evenings I’d had in a long time.
Bryce was . . . something else, that was for sure.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much.
His dry, clever sense of humor kept me in stitches, and as the minutes ticked by, I was dreading the impending end of our night.
“I would have done as much of that list as possible, but I have to admit, it’s a whole lot more fun with someone else. ”
He mimicked my position, leaning in and bringing us even closer together, the light from the small candle in the center of the table making that spearmint green dance.
“My pleasure, beauty. But we’re just gettin’ started.
” Pulling the napkin from his lap, he tossed it onto his plate. “Time for the next task on your list.”
Excitement began coursing through my veins, growing stronger with each beat of my heart. “Oh? Which task is that?”
He smoldered as he leaned closer. “Number ten.”
Be someone else for a day.
My brows rose as I asked, “And how do you plan on pulling that one off.”
“Easy,” he answered with a shrug. “This place was booked up a month in advance, so in order to get a table, I told the guy on the phone I planned on proposing to my girlfriend of two years tonight. Turns out he was a bit of a romantic, so he fit us right in.”
“You didn’t!” I cried, laughter bubbling up from my throat.
“I did.” He gave me a wink before pushing his chair back. He slowly rounded the table, coming to a stop at my side. “Better get into character,” he murmured under his breath before dropping to one knee.
The move seemed to catch the attention of everyone around us, and they all turned to stare.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, trying not to burst into laughter. “Are you really doing this?”
“Oh yeah. And it’s gonna be so good it knocks you on your ass, sweetheart.
So get ready.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring that looked like it came from one of those old grocery store machines where you paid a quarter, turned the dial, and got a toy that came in a small, plastic bubble.
“Agatha Snoot”—he winked when I snorted at the ridiculous name he’d christened me with—“I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember.
Even before you had that crazy snaggletooth fixed .
. . even before that horse kicked you in the head and straightened out your weird, wonky eye .
. . you were still the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on.
I know you’ve been married five times, and I know you’re pregnant with another man’s baby, but I don’t care.
I’ll raise this child, and the other seven, as my own.
Make me the happiest man in the world and say you’ll marry me. ”
I covered my snort behind my hand, needing a few seconds to collect myself after that insane backstory.
“Yes!” I cried, reaching down to cup his cheeks.
“I don’t care what my daddy says. Just because you can’t get a job, have no money, and have been to rehab twice .
. . it does not make you a loser. Besides, everyone knows the third time’s the charm.
I love you too, Buford, and I would be honored to make you husband number six. ”
Bryce slipped the ugly ring on my finger and pulled me out of my chair, spinning me around in a circle as the patrons around us clapped hesitantly and offered awkward congratulations.
When he finally put me back on my feet and smiled down at me, I was giggling uncontrollably. “So what do you say, beauty? You ready for our next adventure?”
That night had been the start of the most incredible week of my life. Bryce and I had spent every waking hour together, a bond unlike any I’d had before growing between us.
By the end of that week, we’d crossed off every item on my bucket list, and with each passing day I’d found myself experiencing feelings for this man I’d never felt before.
There had been something about Bryce that drew me to him like a magnet. After those seven days, I’d no longer felt like he was a stranger, but someone special, an integral part of me. As crazy as it sounded, he’d become important to me.
I couldn’t put into words how he made me feel.
The best way I could describe it was: this man I’d only just met made me feel safe.
A voice in the back of my head had told me I could trust him.
I couldn’t help but think back to what my father had told me about the first time he’d ever laid eyes on my mom.
“Love at first sight is real, sweet pea. It’s pure magic. I’m living proof. I looked across the street and saw your mom for the very first time, and just like that, I knew, she was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”
I truly believed connections like that existed, because what my parents had was very, very real. Up until the night they’d died, they’d been insanely in love. I’d never experienced anything close to what they’d had . . . until him.
It hadn’t started as love at first sight, but by the end of my trip, I couldn’t deny it any longer.
I’d given him everything, all my secrets, my past, my pain.
I’d laid myself bare to him, wanting him to know the real me, because what I’d felt was something so intense it couldn’t be ignored.
I’d been fascinated by him, enthralled, drawn to him in a way I’d never been drawn to anyone before.
And it had been the same for him. Or at least that was what he’d told me.
Like I said, it had been a whirlwind fairy tale. Only, I didn’t get the happily ever after that was supposed to come with it. Instead, I got a broken heart that never properly healed.
There hadn’t been a day that had passed where I didn’t think of Bryce, no matter how hard I tried to purge him from my mind.
I’d been a stupid, na?ve girl back then, and I’d spent the next ten years building a fortress around my heart and emotions, only allowing a very few in who’d proved worthy of my loyalty.
I’d made connections, but most of them were only surface, and I’d never let another man as close as I had let Bryce.
The girl I’d wanted to be after years and years of heartache, the one I thought I’d become for that week in Vegas, was long gone.
I was content with the life I’d built for myself. I didn’t need another connection like the one I’d felt with him.
I told myself he’d done me a favor, that I was better off without the likes of Bryce Dixon, and I had no desire to ever lay eyes on him.
So imagine my surprise when we crossed paths in the most unlikely place.