Lacey’s phone dinged with another text message from Grace.
Grace:Are you awake?
Lacey:Yes, just finishing up a run.
Grace:Alone?
Lacey:Yes.
Her phone rang, and a photo of Lacey, Grace, and Janine popped up on the screen. “Good morning, Grace.”
“Don’tGood morning, Graceme, missy.”
Lacey laughed coyly. “What?”
Grace huffed. “You met someone? Were Janine and I supposed to assume you made friends with the bellhop? You can’t just drop a bomb like that and ignore us. Geez, you’re basking in the glorious sun while we’re freezing our butts off. Give us something to warm our cockles. If Janine wasn’t teaching her yoga class, I’d add her to this call.”
“Fine, his name is Drew…” Lacey lifted a handful of sand, allowing the cool white grains to sift through her fingers. “He’s gorgeous, sweet, and perfect.” Just thinking about Drew made her feel like a giddy schoolgirl.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone is a bit smitten… and in less than twenty-four hours. Imagine if you were there withhe who shouldn’t be mentioned. You might not have met Mr. Perfect.”
Lacey dusted off her hand on her thigh. “Kevin is here, and in a way he’s the reason Drew and I met.”
“Come again? Kevin is there? Why the hell would he go on your birthday vacation?” Grace’s tone echoed the way Lacey had felt when she first spotted Kevin, and how she knew her friend would react.
“He didn’t want to waste the ticket.” Lacey shook her head, realizing how ridiculous that sounded. Water rolled up onto the shore. She stared at it while she recounted yesterday’s events toGrace. Including the kiss that was what fairy tales were made of.
“Wow. I’d love to be kissed like that. I’m so proud of you, Lace.”
“To tell you the truth, it wasn’t my proudest moment. But something inside of me snapped, and there Drew was.” Lacey sighed. “Grace, he’s wonderful. He’s pretending to be my boyfriend while we’re here. He knew what I needed before I could even ask. It’s weird, right? But it’s like we already knew each other.”
“Really? And no it’s not weird,” Grace countered. “You know I believe in fate, that everything happens for a reason. When you and the jerk broke up, you were crushed. Granted, that was almost a year ago, but do you remember what you told me?” Lacey nodded, which of course her friend couldn’t see but must have sensed. “You wanted to knowwhy. What that other woman had that you didn’t, and how you could have missed the signs.”
Lacey sighed. “Yes, I remember.”
“Right, but if that didn’t happen, you would have never met Drew. Sweetie, have fun, and if he’s as wonderful as you say, then who knows what will happen.”
“You know I don’t believe in fate. Fate is an excuse people use when they can’t find a rational explanation.” That was God’s honest truth in Lacey’s mind. “Ever since I was a little girl, I worked hard for everything. From making the track team never having run a day in my life to graduating from college with honors. Everything comes from hard work and timing.” Her eyes prickled with unshed tears. “Just like when my parents died. If they hadn’t gone to dinner that awful Friday night, they wouldn’t have been anywhere near the other driver who had a heart attack. They would never have been hit head-on. And if I wasn’t going to a party that night, I would have been in the car with them.Timing. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” She wiped away a few tears with the back of her hand.
“I know, babe,” said Grace. “But whatever the reason, I’m glad you met someone who curls your toes. And take this for what it’s worth, but you deserve to let your hair down and live a little. I love you like a sister, you know that, but you’ve been so consumed with business and getting over your loser of an ex-boyfriend that you need to throw caution to the wind.”
“Grace—”
“You’re on vacation,” Grace said, cutting her off, “not a trip to test the lock on your self-imposed chastity belt. Not to mention, if the kiss was so stirring, can you imagine—”
“No need to explain, thank you.” Drew definitely curled her toes. How could a virtual stranger give her more confidence than Kevin ever had? Drew had a peaceful yet self-assured aura around him. He was so much more than a handsome man wrapped up in a perfect package… he was the entire package. But she had just started feeling good about life again and had resolved that no man would ever again make or break her. Even though Drew was nothing like Kevin—thank God—Lacey still needed to put herself and her career before the organ that beat wildly in her chest. A fake relationship, no matter how irrational it sounded, at this point, was all Lacey could commit to.
“Can you at least promise me one thing?”
Lacey’s heart beat a bit faster, speculating what her request could be, but like everything else so far on this trip, she threw caution to the wind, “I suppose…”
“Promise me that you won’t overthink things. That whatever happens… if anything else happens, can you promise you’ll just enjoy yourself, and, if nothing else, let your hair down and have a great time? Not every man is a low-down dirty cheater.”
“Don’t hold back, Grace, really. Speak your mind.”
After hanging up the phone with a promise to not vague-text again, Lacey headed back to the resort. Droplets of sweat trickled down her back and her cleavage, leaving a damp trail on her peach tank top. She scanned the rows of sunbathers, hoping she wouldn’t see Drew; she could only imagine what she looked like.
Thinking she was in the clear, Lacey jogged up the stairs to the main deck to head into the hotel and smacked right into something. If it didn’t have hands that gripped her shoulders, she would have thought it was a wall. When she looked up, a very handsome man smiled down at her. His short hair was unruly in a sexy-beach-vibe sort of way.