Ashley peeked inside and grinned. “You owe me a drink. A good one.”
Maddie figured the white string bikini with BRIDE sequined over the butt was worth an entire magnum of champagne, and Ashley hadn’t even spotted the lacy pareo yet. Plus, Maddie had a crown of flowers in a box and a Home Shopping Network wedding-band set.
“Meet me on the beach in fifteen minutes.”
“Roger that.” Ashley flashed her another grin and then disappeared back inside her bungalow, the bikini clutched in her fist. Now all she needed was a groom. She found her victim at the pool. The pool guy was stacking another one of his never-ending piles of towels. He’d do. She marched over and tapped him on the shoulder.
He swung around, an easy grin on his lips as she scanned his name tag. “Morning, darling.”
He was big and buff, if slightly tired looking, and absolutely perfect. “I need to borrow you, Levi.”
He grinned and ran a hand down his front. “Do I pass inspection?”
She gave him another assessing stare. “You’d be even better if you were blond, but otherwise you’re perfect.”
“First time I’ve heard that today,” he muttered, the grin fading.
She’d empathize about the bad day later—when she wasn’t losing the light. “So that’s a yes on the borrow?”
He jammed the rest of the towels onto the shelf and turned around. “All yours. Lead on.”
Maddie wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but when she directed him onto the beach where Ashley was waiting, he cursed beneath his breath. Since Ashley was absolutely stunning, Maddie wasn’t sure what the problem was. Ashley didn’t seem particularly thrilled to see her faux groom, either.
“Hey, Maddie?”
“What’s up?” If they didn’t get started soon, she’d miss the sunset.
“What exactly am I doing here?”
“Getting married.” She beamed at him and handed him a beach bag. “Your clothes are in there. Go change.”
For a minute, it appeared Levi might drop his pants right there on the beach. Possibly, Maddie decided, because Ashley was glaring at him. Then, with a muttered curse, he disappeared into a grove of palm trees. Nice. She had a groom with a potty mouth. Thank God for fantasies—and Photoshop.
“You’re cranky. Tell me why.” She positioned Ashley on the sand and eyed the horizon. Ten minutes until sunset. She hoped Levi would hurry up, or she’d have to go drag him out here herself.
Ashley made a face. “Did you have to pick him?”
“I assure you, I had purely superficial reasons. He’s hunky. He’s tall. He’s also the only single guy I could scare up who was bachelor-aged.”
Ashley snorted. “His ego’s even bigger than he is. I wouldn’t marry him if he was the last man on earth.”
“Right back at you, sunshine,” Levi drawled, striding over to join them. He wore the pair of white swim trunks with GROOM embroidered on the butt that she’d picked out for the shoot from the hotel gift shop. The shorts rode low on his hips, the black band of his underwear peeking out. His steel-toes flopped untied around his ankles. How anyone wore those in the sand was beyond Maddie.
“I’m demanding hazard pay for this particular job,” he grumbled, hiking up the shorts.
Ashley leaned over and smacked his butt. “Toe the line, buddy. And lose the boots. You look ridiculous.”
While the two of them bickered over Levi’s choice in footwear, Maddie waved over the male employee the resort had sent to stand in as the minister. Their minister was a dignified middle-aged man in a cream linen suit.
“Okay, guys. Let’s get started.”
While the minister began the ceremony, Maddie got busy with her camera. At some point, Ashley must have won the footwear war, because Levi was barefoot. At the minister’s prompting, the two joined hands and Maddie clicked away. The shots would look gorgeous and her blog followers would eat it up.
“Maybe we should have discussed exclusivity,” a deep voice growled in her ear. Hard arms snaked around her waist, pulling her back against a warm, familiar body. “What are you doing with poor Levi?”
“Nothing too permanent.” She flashed a grin up at Mason. “I’m marrying him.”
He bent his head and nipped her ear. “That was fast.”
“To Ashley.”
He grinned. “Even faster.”
“Now that you’re here, you can help,” she said happily. Mason always made everything easier. “You can give the bride away. Just lose your shirt. We’re going for the bare-chested-man edition.”