Chapter 8
EIGHT
ALEC
I knocked firmly on Mr. and Mrs. Dufresne’s hotel room door and waited for them to answer. Tally had been anxious about seeing her parents in person for the first time since we’d decided to go ahead with this ruse, so we’d opted to drop by and visit them before dinner to get it out of the way.
Mrs. Dufresne—who tried to insist I call her Daisy every time we met—opened the door with a wide, infectious smile.
“Darling!” she exclaimed, sweeping Tally into a lavender-scented mom-hug. “How was the flight?”
“All smooth and on time,” Tally replied, briefly returning the hug and then drawing back enough to meet her gaze. “How about yours?”
The Dufresnes had flown in yesterday morning, so Mrs. Dufresne could participate in a one-day yoga retreat happening nearby.
“A few bumps, but nothing to worry about, and the retreat was divine. I had the best time, and learned a new modification for one of my favorite poses.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Sometimes these things become necessary as we age. But shh, I’m still young at heart.”
“Don’t hog them, Daisy,” Mr. Dufresne called from deeper inside the room. “Come in, kids. Are you unpacked? Do you have everything you need?”
“Yes, sir,” I said as Daisy stepped aside, allowing Tally and I to enter.
I debated whether to take Tally’s hand or not.
We hadn’t discussed exactly what we were telling her parents—another oversight.
I started to move away from her, certain that more deception was exactly what she wouldn’t want, but to my surprise, she slipped her hand into mine.
“Oh, yes. We heard about that development from your mother,” Mr. Dufresne said, eyeing our joined hands.
“It’s still early, but we feel good about the decision to see if our friendship might turn into more,” Tally said so naturally that I had to resist the urge to turn and stare at her.
Okay. Perhaps I hadn’t given any thought as to what we were telling her parents, but apparently, she had.
“Yay.” Mrs. Dufresne clapped, but then her smile faded. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but that snake Thad is here with Coral.”
“I know.” Tally’s voice didn’t give away how upset she’d been to see them earlier. “We ran into them downstairs.”
“That jackass has some nerve,” Mr. Dufresne snapped, his eyes glinting dangerously. “I’m amazed Sylvia allowed Coral to invite him.”
Mrs. Dufresne’s nose crinkled. “It’s Lake’s special day, which means she gets the final word, not Sylvia, however much my sister might wish otherwise. Lake said it was okay. I suppose she didn’t want to alienate Coral.”
“But it’s okay to alienate Tally?” Mr. Dufresne demanded, his sharp expression reminding me of what a shark he was said to be in the courtroom.
Mrs. Dufresne waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not condoning it. Just explaining to Tally and Alec how it happened. If I’d known…”
“You would have complained to Aunt Sylvia, who’d have complained to Lake, who’s stressed out enough already,” Tally said, as if she’d already thought of all of this before. “It’ll be fine. Right, Alec?”
“Yeah.” I squeezed her hand. As far as I was concerned, my primary job for this weekend was to make her time here as bearable as possible and ensure that neither Thad nor Coral had the opportunity to hurt her any more than they already had.
I was her designated fake boyfriend bodyguard.
Tally sat on one end of the bed. Her parents’ room was similar to ours, except that where we had a view of the water, their window overlooked a lush area of planting and rock gardens.
“Congratulations, you two,” Mrs. Dufresne said belatedly. “We’re so thrilled that you’re together.”
“We can’t say we were waiting for it to happen, but we aren’t surprised that it did,” Mr. Dufresne added, his features relaxing again, losing their hard edges.
I glanced at Tally, wondering what was up with our parents. Both sets seemed to have half-expected us to eventually end up together.
We chatted for a while and then, once Tally had relaxed and we’d realized that we weren’t going to have any issues with her parents, we returned to our room to prepare for dinner.
Those members of the bride and grooms’ families who’d already arrived had been asked to gather at the waterfront restaurant to share a meal. I hoped Lake had the sense to keep us away from Coral and Thad.
“Maybe we should order room service and stay here,” Tally said as the door clicked shut behind us. “If we go, it’s only going to create drama.”
I hesitated. “Is that what you really want?”
If it was, then we’d do it, but I doubted the thought was anything more than a desperate desire to hide rather than an actual choice she wanted to make.
“No.” She released a slow breath and flopped onto the bed. “If I do, he’ll think he’s won. I’d just rather avoid the unpleasantness.”
“Let’s make sure you look even more beautiful than usual then.” Excitement churned in my gut as I opened the closet and withdrew one of the garment bags I’d hung in there earlier. I passed it to her and she took it, her head cocked curiously. “Open it.”
I held my breath, praying that she liked my surprise.
She unzipped the garment bag and her breath hitched. “Oh, my God. You didn’t have to do this!” Despite her protest, she stroked the pink dress, clearly pleased. “You spent so much on me already.”
“I didn’t get the shoes, but the matching purse is somewhere in there,” I said, not addressing her comment.
She turned to me, her eyes shining with moisture. “This really wasn’t necessary.”
“But do you like it?” I asked, because that was all that mattered.
She clutched it to her chest. “I love it.”
I allowed myself to breathe properly again. “Then put it on and let’s wow everyone.”
“Okay.” Now that she’d accepted the gift for what it was, she squealed and pulled it gleefully from the bag. “It’s such a pretty color.”
“It is.” It perfectly matched the pinkness of her cheeks anytime she blushed. Not that I was stupid enough to say as much.
Practically bouncing, she took the dress into the bathroom to change.
Meanwhile, I chose a pair of tidy slacks and a relatively tame white-and-blue patterned shirt.
I slipped my feet into sandals and checked my reflection in the full-length mirror to make sure I looked good.
I wanted Tally to be proud to have me on her arm, even if it wasn’t real.
I relaxed against the pile of pillows on the bed and waited.
And waited. And eventually, Tally emerged from the bathroom, not only wearing the pink dress with the purse in her hand, but also standing slightly taller than usual in black, strappy-heeled sandals that wrapped around her shapely calves.
Her lips were painted pink, her cheeks dusted with blush, and dark eyeliner exaggerated the blue of her irises.
I couldn’t look away. “You are… stunning.”
She beamed. “You look good too.”
I blinked and did my best to gather myself. “Are you ready to head down?”
She nodded. “Let me just grab a jacket in case it gets cold.”
She fished around in her suitcase for a jacket, slung it over her arm and offered me her other arm to escort her out of the room.
“Is this too much?” she asked as we waited for the elevator, gesturing to her dress, shoes, and makeup.
“A situation like this calls for the big guns,” I assured her.
When she didn’t look comforted, I realized I was going to have to do better. I dipped my head, so my mouth was near her ear, not wanting my next words to be overheard by any passersby.
“Any guy who sees you in that dress is going to want to put his hands on you. Touch you. Taste you. Ruck up your skirt and see if you’re as scorching hot as you look.”
An image slammed into me. Tally, pressed against the wall while I edged up the hem of her pretty dress and caressed the silken skin of her thigh.
Would she lean into my touch? Whimper as I moved my hand higher? Part her legs to give me better access?
My cock stiffened.
Fuck. Get yourself together.
But the image wouldn’t budge from my mind.
“This dress may look proper but with you inside it, wrapped up like a tempting package, trust me, it’s anything but,” I added.
She stared at me, her eyes wide, her cheeks painted the same shade of pink as the dress, just as I’d pictured. Sparks of need zapped through me everywhere we touched.
How had I never realized exactly how hot my best friend was?
The elevator pinged and opened.
I cleared my throat. “Come on. We’d better get down there.”
She followed me into the elevator, her eyes slightly glazed. Perhaps my misguided attempt to reassure her had affected her as strongly as it had me.
Neither of us spoke as we rode the elevator down, gathering another pair of guests on the second floor before reaching the lobby. Signs directed us to the waterfront restaurant, and when we reached it, I paused to admire the view.
The restaurant projected out over the water and the sides were open.
The roof was made of some kind of thatched material, and a waterfall rose behind the building, spotted with greenery and tiny pink flowers.
It looked natural, but surely, it must be man-made.
It was too odd a location for a naturally occurring waterfall.
Rectangular tables were positioned end-to-end along the center of the part of the restaurant nearest to the water. Our party was gathered there, chatting and laughing. The open air was warm, and birds chirped from somewhere out of sight.
I was relieved to see that Thad and Coral were seated at the nearest end of the tables, with Lake and her fiancé, while the empty chairs were all at the opposite end.
We greeted the happy couple. I shot a warning look at Thad, and noticed that I wasn’t the only one to do so. Coral did as well. We managed to escape without Tally’s ex saying a word, which was better than I’d hoped for.
We claimed a pair of seats opposite two men I didn’t know. I pulled a chair out for Tally, and she smiled at them as she sat. We exchanged greetings.