Scandalous Engagement

One

Josie Coleman flung open the front door of her beachfront home and rolled her eyes.

“I’ve told you for years to just come on in,” she exclaimed as she stepped back. “Why do you insist on knocking?”

Her best friend, Reese Conrad, shrugged like he always did when he refused to just walk into her home, where he was always welcome. She always just walked right into his house when she stopped by. They didn’t live far from each other on this stretch of beach in Sandpiper Cove, North Carolina. It was one of the things she treasured about the place.

“Respect,” he replied in that low, gravelly tone of his.

She always asked the same question and he always gave the same one-word response. She’d also offered him a key, but he always said he didn’t need one because he only stopped by when she was home.

Typically, they were either at his place, out on his yacht or traveling together when their schedules permitted.

“I thought you were out of town on a work trip.” Josie walked through the spacious open layout of her living room and headed back toward the wall of open glass doors leading to her patio. “I’m having coffee if you want to join me.”

“It’s five o’clock in the evening.”

She stopped and threw a glance over her shoulder. “What does that have to do with the love of coffee?”

He laughed and shook his head. Like he didn’t know her mad love of coffee?

“I’m good,” he replied as he followed her out onto the outdoor living area. “And I cut my trip short because I had seen all I needed to see.”

Something crossed through his eyes, something almost...sad. Reese was usually the happiest guy she knew. He had everything—a successful career in the restaurant industry, parents who doted on him and loved him unconditionally, her as a best friend. What more could he need?

Yet something was off.

“Everything all right?” Josie asked as she settled into her lounger and curled her hands around her favorite coffee mug, the one Reese had given her last Christmas.

Reese shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced out at the horizon. It was impossible to be in a bad mood with this view, but she couldn’t get a bead on what was going through his head. That was a first. They always knew each other’s thoughts. They could be at a party or in a crowded room and one look at each other and they’d smile or nod, knowing exactly what the other had on their mind.

There was something to be said for the unique bond between lifelong besties.

“Honestly—”

Her shrill ringtone cut off anything he was about to admit. Josie sat her mug back on the glass table and picked up her cell, then muttered a string of curses.

“What now?” she answered, totally not in the mood for her ex-husband.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Reese staring at her. Reese knew the mess she’d gotten into by marrying the wrong guy on a whim. The marriage had been a mistake and she was still trying to figure out how she’d temporarily lost her mind and agreed to marry a man she didn’t love.

Oh, Chris was a nice guy; he just wasn’t for her, and lately he’d been trying to win her back. There was no going back.

“Listen, I’m not trying to be rude,” she said now

into the phone, “but it’s not going to happen. We’re divorced for a reason.” She sat up and swung her legs to the side. “You’re a great guy, but we’re just not good together, Chris.”

Yet he’d been calling and texting more and more. Josie could see where Chris would be confused. They’d only dated for three months before they’d up and eloped. Never in her life had she made rash choices—she prided herself on being just as regimented and predictable as her military father—yet she’d been spontaneous with one of the most important decisions of her life.