Sun-Kissed (Love In All Seasons 1)

“Dad’s right. The piece will be nothing but the best,” I tell her, wishing I could make an inroad with my dad before Anna’s big day.

“So now that that is settled, I wanted to remind you, Alice, that Peter is going to be your date. He’ll be at the rehearsal dinner too,” Anna says, getting my attention.

I raise an eyebrow. “No way. I’m not going with Peter. Remember last year when we had Thanksgiving dinner with his family? It was so creepy.”

Anna immediately purses her lips. “You always say it was creepy, but you are the only person who thought it was.”

I snort. “Anna, he literally kept asking if I wanted more gravy.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Mom asks.

I look at them incredulously. “He meant baby-gravy. Meaning he wanted to sleep with me.”

That’s the last straw for my dad, who finally interjects. “He’s the man everyone expects you’ll marry--”

“Dad, I don’t care about that,” I say plainly, not even feeling the need to argue. It is just flat-out not happening. “I’m not going with him.”

After meeting with Aiden, everyone gave me a lot of heat for the rest of the cruise. My foray into the Alaskan wild upset everyone and they had no qualms with letting me know.

By the end of breakfast the day after I lost my virginity, I was so tired of their pushback that I just went along with their regularly scheduled program for the rest of the trip. Since I got home, I’ve barely had a second to get out of line. This audition really does mean so much to me that I wouldn’t dream of sabotaging it by getting distracted with an argument.

But telling me Peter is my date?

No. This deserves a conversation.

“It’s not happening,” I tell them. “Isn’t it better that everyone knows my intention now instead of later?”

“Intention?” Mom asked eyebrow raised.

“Yes. My intention. I don’t intend to have a future with Peter. I never have.”

Mom narrows her eyes. “This isn’t a discussion. He has agreed to go with you. You’d be a fool to think he isn’t enough, and it isn’t like there are any other offers on the table.”

I hate that they think they know me better than I know myself.

And I do have offers.

Well, not exactly offers, but experience.

I’m fuming, my hands are clenched in my lap, and I swear my knuckles are white. There is no way I’m going to a family wedding with Peter Gunheight. I loathe the man. Talk about a control freak. Talk about a man who sees a woman as an object, not as a person. He’s only interested in getting me in bed.

I’ve been out with him plenty of times over the years, we’ve so often been forced together at events that mean nothing to me and he is always the same. An uptight asshole. He thinks because he’s as rich as I am, that we’re the same.

But we’re not cut from the same cloth.

“I’m not going with Peter,” I say with finality.

My sister and Donovan glare at me. And I remember that Peter and Donovan were college buddies. Of course, they were.

“Yes, you are,” Anna says. “You have to come with someone and you have no other option. You’ll ruin the seating arrangement otherwise.”

They’re more concerned with a dinner than they are about my feelings. I can’t even.

“Actually,” I say, pursing my lips in a fashion that is uniquely me. “I have a date.”

“You have a what?” Anna asks.

“A date. As in a man taking me to your wedding in two weeks. A date.”

Mom laughs. “Don’t be ridiculous, Alice. Even if you did have a date, you can’t just go with anyone. We would have to pre-approve –”

“No, actually you don’t have to pre-approve anything. I’m twenty-one years old. I live here because you won’t give me access to my trust fund until I get a spot in the symphony. But I can go to my sister’s wedding with whomever I please.”

“And who is this date of yours anyways?” Dad asks.

“For your information,” I tell them, hands clasped tight in my lap. “He’s my friend Aiden. My very good friend.”

“And where is this Aiden person from?”

“From Alaska. We met on the cruise.”

“And we never met him?” Anna asks. Disbelief is written on her face. “We were on that boat for seven days.”

“Right, well, we met on the fishing excursion.”

My sister laughs sharply. “But why didn’t we meet him?”

“He wasn’t exactly on the cruise. He was the guide.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Alice,” Dad cuts in. “A fishing guide you met for one day is going to fly down here for your sister’s wedding?”

“I can’t believe you guys. I can’t believe this conversation. Why is it so impossible to believe that someone would want to be with me?”

Mom shakes her head ever so slightly. “Alice, frankly, it’s hard to imagine anyone bringing you out of your shell. Let alone a fisherman.” She says the last part with such disdain I hear my teeth grind.