Fake Engagement, Real Temptation

She pleaded with her own eyes, begging him to go along.

“I see,” Kevin said.

“Do you?” Carrie countered with venom in her voice, trying to keep it together. Unlike the scam Carrie was trying to pull off, Kevin really had cheated on her and planned to take this woman on their honeymoon.

And now she was here with Blake. She wasn’t giving up the honeymoon she’d saved for and booked—and was nonrefundable. So she’d use Blake to save her pride since she was stuck on the same island as Kevin. Not the best plan, but better than crying and running away. She was stuck there. Committed to starting fresh. She could do this. Because if she left now, Kevin once again would win. Making h

er feel less and less each time he kicked her while she was down. Not to mention, she’d be out of a year’s worth of savings.

“It all happened so fast,” she said, going back to her admission about Blake. She smiled and leaned into him. “We’ve known each other a while but just recently starting seeing each other.”

“Very recent,” Blake said. Then leaned in to kiss her ear and quietly mumbled, “I don’t know what the hell you’re pulling, but let me deck this douchebag and we can be done with this.”

“Later, sweetie,” she said back in a flirty voice. Kevin could only hear her response, so she’d let him think what he wanted. “And this entire package is booked, so Blake and I are staying here.”

“Then we’ll be seeing you around. We’re staying at the bungalows,” Kevin said.

A flash of dread went through her. “You’re at the bungalows? Not the main resort hotel?”

Kevin shook his head. “Nope, wanted the very best. So we’re in…” He squinted at Wendy, then said, as if the answer physically hit him, “Bungalow suite B.”

Now Carrie really wanted to crawl into a hole and die, because her only other choice was crawling back to her bungalow suite A. As in, eff me in the A, I’m neighbors with my ex and his mistress on my canceled honeymoon turned fantasy vacation. Too bad there was no sign of her fantasy at the moment.

She glanced at Blake, and he seemed to know the same thing she did. His nice upgrade had just put them wall-to-wall with Kevin and Wendy.

“I… We can fix this,” Blake whispered in her ear.

Carrie thought about it for a moment. Yeah, they could move. But the suite was beyond gorgeous, and this was supposed to be her fantasy. She wouldn’t let Kevin run her out of the nicest place to stay on the island. And whether it was a wall, a room, or an ocean separating them, nothing would change the fact that Carrie had to handle this. To really deal with the hurt and ache of the past week. She wasn’t going to run away. She was going to enjoy herself the best she could.

At least, that’s what she told herself in the moment.

“I love the room. We’re staying,” Carrie said lowly back to Blake. Then she smiled. Wendy hadn’t looked up from her nails the entire conversation, and Carrie didn’t know if she was stoned, too, or just didn’t care. Either way, Kevin seemed to have found his match.

Kevin squeezed Wendy to his side, and Carrie wanted to throw up in her mouth. She was everything Carrie wasn’t. All the things Kevin wanted and Carrie would never be.

Her shoulders sank. She couldn’t keep up this ruse. What was she thinking?

“Let’s get you inside and out of the sun,” Blake said, and laid a hand on the small of her back. Kevin raised an eyebrow at the touch. It was kind and intimate. It was just enough to bring her self-esteem back.

Blake pushed past Kevin and guided her into the hotel.

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he said, “Oh, we really have to talk about expectations now, little girl.”

Yeah, they really did.

This was a clusterfuck.

Chapter Five

Blake ushered Carrie into the suite. The amazing suite. The amazingly decorated with love crap everywhere suite. He’d gotten the upgrade to assist with her adventure, her dream vacation, her fantasy. But he’d had no idea the level of romanticism, and now, after the stunt she’d pulled, he was seeing all this as bad, blaring signs.

She looked around the room as if it were her first time seeing it. Kind of was, since she’d booked it into the bedroom to change the first time. Or get away from Blake. Either way, she was stalling, looking around the mostly private duplex. The bungalow shared only a single wall with their neighbors and had wrap-around windows, giving sight to the lush forest and trees on the north side.

The room itself was romantic as hell. It had a fireplace, rose petals on the bed, and since the master door was open, he could see the beach to the west.

But he couldn’t think of that now. He had to figure out what he was going to do and how he’d gone from his grand plan of staying away from Carrie and just protecting her from afar to her pseudo boyfriend.

“What the hell was that?” he asked, the only thing to come to his mind.