“Oh, sorry, let me just jump out the window so you can finally get laid despite the fact that I told you to get it over with ages ago.”
“Smart ass,” I giggled as we toasted our glasses. Sipping my drink, I gazed out at the glittering ocean below us, letting out a long breath of awe. “God.”
“We’re almost there.”
“I know. Which means it’s really happening. I was engaged to Aaron two months ago and now we’re two hours from the destination where he’s going to marry another woman. Sofia, we’re going to Aaron’s wedding,” I whispered, finally processing that the day we’d planned for had finally come. I chewed on my nails. “It’s just so fucking weird.”
“It really is.” Sofia stared blankly out the window. “But you know what the weirdest part is?” She brought her earnest gaze to mine.
“What?”
“That you’re not upset about it. Not even a little,” she murmured with a little grin. “In fact, you’re happier than you’ve ever been in your life because every day with Mason keeps making your smile brighter and brighter, and while I kind of hate him for getting you over Aaron like I couldn’t, I also fucking love him for doing whatever he did to heal you,” she said quietly, tangling her fingers in mine. “I couldn’t fix it when you lost the baby, and I couldn’t fix it when Aaron left you. And as your best friend, it was the worst feeling in the world so thank God for Mason because now you’re back. And I can see it – you’re better than ever.”
I smiled back at her.
I couldn’t argue that at all.
Chapter Seventeen
“This place is beautiful, but we are fucking idiots,” Noah declared upon arrival. The Sundara Resort was a gleaming paradise set atop a lush, five hundred acre beach. It was evening but we could see the colorful fish flitting in the waters of the crystal clear cay, and we could make out the towering silhouette of the majestic mountains that encompassed the hotel.
But none of us could quite enjoy the scenery just yet because thanks to champagne-heavy plane ride, we’d forgotten to change out of our New York outfits before touching down in St. Lucia. Wrapped in winter sweaters, thermal leggings and thick jeans, we dragged our feet into the front desk of the hotel, laughing miserably at how breathtakingly stupid we were. Trailing behind Sofia and Noah, Mason and I snorted, watching them whine like children and strip off as much as was appropriate for being in public. Picking up the scarf she left strewn on the floor, I agreed with Sofia’s proposal that we check in then promptly jump in the pool.
Set with our key cards, the four of us split up to find our rooms and find each other again at the pool. As if I weren’t hot enough, I felt the heat of Mason’s stare on me as we rode up the elevator.
“God, I’m looking forward to seeing you in a bikini.”
“Mm. Too bad that’s all you’re going to be able to do.”
“Come again?”
I smiled mischievously. “You can look but you can’t touch.”
Mason gave that sexy laugh. “I didn’t realize we were still on that.”
“Oh, we are.” I pressed myself against the opposite side of the elevator. “I think it’d be fun to torture you a bit. If you think it’s funny to make fun of my lame birthday wish and then gift me a pair of Wednesday panties, then you deserve a little bit of punishment.”
“I know I shouldn’t be but I’m turned on. Any idea what kind of punishment?”
“Somewhat,” I replied.
We left it at that before finding our beautiful suite on a floor of only four others, the room tucked behind a brush of coconut palms. It was beautiful, with sunset-colored hardwood floors, bright accents splashed about and a plush, white hammock right by the balcony overlooking the water. I genuinely couldn’t wait to get into my swimsuit and dive in but after searching fruitlessly through my luggage, I remembered that some of my new purchases were in Sofia’s luggage, so Noah let me do a quick switch-a-roo, coming to my room to have a pre-dip drink with Mason while I went downstairs to get changed with Sofia. Since the entire resort was rented out solely for guests of the Leo-Tully wedding, she had apparently bumped quickly into familiar faces and learned exactly everyone was hanging out tonight.
“There’s supposedly a spectacular infinity pool upstairs and even better, Aaron and Eva won’t be there because they’re having some boring-ass dinner with her parents,” Sofia said, tying the neck of her teeny, tiny floral bikini. She grinned as she watched me pull on mine. “I see we’re going for heavy torture tonight,” she remarked, nodding with approval for my choice of swimsuit.
“Thought it’d be fun to rile him up as much as possible before giving him some much-deserved relief,” I grinned, adjusting the cups of my white crochet bikini before pulling on a peach cover-up that I left open and untied. “I’ve already blue-balled the living hell out of Mason. I might as well take him to his limit before letting him…”
“Fuck your brains out.”
“Yes.”
My heart was beating out of control at just the thought of it, but I couldn’t wait anymore. I needed Mason. I needed to feel him, every part of him and considering how careful he’d been with me thus far I knew the ball was in my court. So tonight was the night. I’d made the decision on the plane and surprisingly, there were no nerves. I hadn’t had sex in months, I hadn’t had good sex in years, and I’d only ever been with two other men in my life but I wasn’t afraid of whether or not I’d satisfy Mason. Just the ways he looked at me had me feeling beyond good enough, and the fact that he got hard almost every time I touched him pumped me with the confidence and total reassurance that I had nothing to be nervous about tonight.
“Gotta say, way to break a dry spell, lady,” Sofia said, taking my hand as we made our way out of her room and through the hall. “Mase is a good man.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but I agree.”
“That said, you still better make him work for it tonight.”