Kissing Kendall

He stared at his phone after his brother hung up without a goodbye, per usual, and tried to unwind the emotions twisting him up. Part of him wanted—needed—to believe it wasn’t right, that Byron had gotten it wrong. But that wasn’t possible. His brother was a lot of things, but he was damn good at his job and he was thorough. There’s no way he would have named Aubrey without a solid, air-tight case.

Carter looked up to where she stood about a third of the way up the limestone staircase. She paused to take a photo of the waterfall next to stairs and then turned around and waved at him again. He didn’t wave back. He couldn’t. He was having too much trouble catching his breath after that gut punch. She hesitated for a moment, then headed down to him.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

And the concern in her voice as she took his hand, that all too familiar buzz of awareness shot through him at her touch, had him rethinking the truth again. Was he really this gullible? Or was there more to all of this than he or Byron knew? God, the whole thing made his head feel like it was going to explode.

“We need to get back to the ship,” he said.

Once there, he’d figure this all out. He’d get the truth from Aubrey and after that he had no fucking clue.

She looked down at her clock on her phone. “Oh shit!” She turned the screen to face him. “How is it that late?”

Adrenaline jolted him into motion. They took off at a sprint. Backtracking their path back to the port should have been easy, but that wasn’t how it worked out. After at least five wrong turns, they got there right in time to see the ship heading home without them.

“What do we do now?” Aubrey asked, her eyes wide with panic.

Wasn’t that the question he couldn’t get out of his head. “I’m getting a hotel room and then we’re going to have a talk and you’re going to tell me everything.”

Because that discussion sure as hell wasn’t one that could take place in the open. He wasn’t about to have his cover completely blown by having a fight with Aubrey in the middle of the Nassau cruise ship port where any tourist with a camera could document the entire thing and sell it to the highest bidder. He took her hand and started toward the hotel they’d passed a few blocks ago.

“Carter, what’s going on?” She asked, taking a step and half to every one of his long, fast strides.

“We’ll talk about it at the hotel.”

“No.” She tugged her hand free and stopped walking. “You need to tell me right now.”

He turned, the white noise of his hurt and anger rushing in his ears and blocking out the sound of the ocean, the people passing them on the sidewalk, and everything else in the world except Aubrey. He heard her perfectly and it cut right through him that she was still playing the innocent. She wasn’t dumb. She had to have guessed the gig was up, but she couldn’t let go. Whatever the payoff was, it had to be significant.

“I know you were the one running that damn thirst account that said I was on the cruise.”

She took a step toward him, reaching for him. “I can explain.”

He sidestepped her easily and started walking again. “Not here.”

And as they made their way at a fast clip to the hotel, he pushed down the part of him that still hoped there was an explanation for all of this. He couldn’t afford to let that happen, he’d been fooled by her already once and he couldn’t let that happen again.

Ten

Aubrey was fighting to hold it together when she walked through the hotel room door and into the suite with its three walls of windows overlooking the hotel’s private beach. At any other time she would have rushed over to the panoramic view of the Nassau Harbor to look out at the gorgeous Caribbean water and sent up a thankful prayer that there had been a hotel room left at the last minute.

Not this time.

It was all she could do to even glance over at the early evening view. All she could do was watch Carter as he strode over to the desk and set the room keys down with deliberate care, each move precise and controlled. Then, he stalked over to the window stared out at the harbor, his entire body tense.

She stood her ground near the door, wanting to give him his space. “I know you’re mad, but I can explain.”

He didn’t bother to turn around. “Can’t wait to hear it.”

The ice in his voice pelted her and she flinched. What had she been expecting? She’d known it would go like this and, honestly, this was why she’d waited. She’d been a giant chicken putting off the inevitable because she wasn’t ready for this, she wasn’t ready to lose Carter.

Exhaling a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and look him straight in the back of the head. If he wouldn’t turn around, fine, but it was past time she finally got the truth out. “The thirst account, it’s for fun, I never meant it to hurt you. It was just a hobby, a silly thing. It doesn’t mean anything. No one is just one thing. I can be the woman who started a dumb Insta account and the one who fell for the last man she ever expected to meet.”

“Really?” He turned around, his hands were shoved into his pockets and his face blank of all expression as if they were talking about the weather or how long to microwave a day old glazed donut. “That post could fuck my entire career path.” His voice held steady, as calm as the water in the harbor. “I’d say that means something.”

The casual dismissal in his tone, set her on edge but she bit it back, fighting to keep the emotion out of her voice. Losing control right now would not help. “I didn’t know when I posted it and by the time I figured it out, it was already everywhere.”

He chuckled. It was not a nice sound. “How convenient.”