I followed him along a grassy pathway and peeked back at the wedding. No one noticed me leaving. My friends were all lost in their own bliss.
We created that. My friends and I had come together to coordinate this celebration of love and life. We planned the reception, tasted the cakes, ordered the flowers, decorated the space, and sent out the invites.
We made a day so perfect no one should have been negative about it.
Yet, there he was. Jett Stonewood. Mr. Negative.
The man had everything going for him. He practically owned a multibillion dollar company, had a family that loved him, and was in Kauai celebrating his brother’s happiness. He looked like a freaking god. He stood half a head taller than me even though I wasn’t short and I was in heels. His crystal-blue eyes popped against his obsidian black hair. The way he filled out a collared shirt had just about every woman at the wedding salivating. And his face. His freaking jawline and cheekbones and full lips. The combination, honestly, was unfair to every other man.
So how Mr. Everything could also be Mr. Negative was very confusing to me.
Frustrating.
Exhilarating.
Interesting.
I blamed my lack of foresight on it.
I hurried along behind him. He never slowed down for me or looked back. I wondered if he even knew I was following him. When I stumbled over a rock in the path, though, he spun around and caught me before I fell.
“Careful,” he grunted.
I mumbled a thank you as I righted myself and tried to step back from him.
He slid his hand down my arm and threaded his fingers through my hand. He slowed his pace as we walked toward the hotel.
I looked out at the horizon and pointed. “This is the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s the same one you see everywhere, Pixie,” he replied with a smirk, like he knew I had a point.
I laughed. “You know my name’s Vick, right? And, come on, it’s setting over the same mountains they used to filmJurassic Park. It has every color bleeding out into the ocean. It’s not the same everywhere and you know it.”
“Real is real, doll. It’s the same.”
I halted on the path, and he turned to look at me. “Sometimes seeing something in a unique light brings a whole new view. You have to admit that.”
He squinted at me. He dropped my hand and stepped back. Then he tilted his head as he dragged his gaze up and down my body. “You’re in a different light in this sunset.”
I didn’t shrink at his assessment. I was confident about how I looked even if I was standing in front of one of the most attractive and powerful men I’d ever met. “And? Am I different?”
I didn’t realize I was searching for a compliment until he replied with an insult. “No different, Vick. You are who you are. You look how you look. A sunset isn’t going to change that.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved past him. When we got to a fork in the path, I stopped and asked, “Which way to your hotel room?”
He halted at the fork too. He put his hand on the small of my back before he asked, “You sure you want to come to my hotel room? Will you remember any of this in the morning?”
He wanted to make sure I hadn’t drank too much. Or that I wouldn’t regret the decision I was about to make. He was giving me a way out, and for some reason that made the way out much harder to take.
“Which way?”
“We should probably call it a night.”
I glared at him. “Which way, Jett?”
He sighed and turned to his right without answering. I followed.
Our hotel rooms sat on the edge of cliffs that overlooked the ocean. They were more like condos or suites, so big and inviting that they each had their own entryway. We walked up to his door, and he swiped the keycard while looking at me. The beep sounded, and he twisted the handle but didn’t look away. “We walk in here, we lose the facade, Vick. I’m too on edge to play any games or recite some fairy-tale poetry you might want for your happy ending to your day.”