“See you then,” Morgan said.
Then she dragged me away as I stumbled over my own two feet.
“What the hell was that?” I asked. “Cake and wine? Are you insane?”
“Look, if you want to make him drool then this is a prime opportunity,” Morgan said. “We’re gonna get dressed up, go eat his food and drink his alcohol, he can stare some more, then he can watch you walk away. Over and over again. Like you had to watch him. Besides, you’ve been complaining about writer’s block. Maybe a change of pace will help you finally get your creative juices going again.”
“But—” I started before Morgan cut me off. “Woman, I want wine and cake. And since you won’t stop gawking at him, I think I did you a favor,” she said.
“So, wait. Do you want me to stick it to him or do you want me to sleep with him?”
“Which gets me to wine faster?” she asked.
“If you want wine, I can buy us wine.”
“But he’s rich. Did you see that vacation house? He’s got the good wine.”
“You’re absurd, you know that?”
“And you still have some writing to do. Come on. We’ve got a couple of hours to burn,” she said.
We headed back across the island and walked down the pier to our private hut. It had taken all the money we had saved up while at college, but this trip was worth it. Not only was I going to rid myself of my cheating ex, but I was going to get my creative juices flowing again. I had a book I wanted to write and market to publishers, but I’d hit a mental block that wouldn’t let up ever since my ex and I had started having relationship issues.
I sat down at the small desk in my room that overlooked the ocean. I was hoping this vacation would prove to inspire me after my broken heart and ugly break up. I stared at the blinking cursor in front of me, hoping that the words would flow from my fingers. There was a time in college where I could write an entire manuscript in under a month. Where I could sit down at my laptop with just coffee and my glasses, whittling away until an entire world was in front of me.
But even the beautiful sea surging in front of me didn’t inspire me past the fir
st line of text.
Her fate was determined the moment she arrived on the island.
I scoffed and shook my head before I closed my laptop.
I got up from my chair and began to get ready for the evening. I rifled through my clothes, trying to find something decent. Unfortunately, I hadn’t packed for this trip to socialize. I’d packed a bag that would allow me to do two things: swim and write.
Which meant I had nothing to wear that would impress anyone, let alone a guy like Kevin.
I settled on a pair of faded jeans and a flowing blouse. My shoulder-length brown hair was tousled with the salt of the sea and the humidity pouring in from the horizon. I splashed on a bit of waterproof makeup so it wouldn’t run with the dampness of the Caribbean night, then I met Morgan outside.
“Really? Jeans and a shirt?”
“I don’t have anything else,” I said. “I didn’t pack to impress anyone.”
“At least the jeans are tight around your ass. Come on. Let’s go,” she said.
Then my best friend dragged me down to the end of the pier and we started walking all the way over to the private beach with the decadent vacation home that sat on the shore.
Yep. It looked like all that work he put in during our relationship had paid off.
Too bad he couldn’t spare some of that attention on us.
CHAPTER 3
KEVIN
It had been just a few days back that I found myself wishing to see Brooke again, and here I was preparing to host her and her friend for the evening.
Don’t screw this up.