“Let’s face it; we live in a now, now, now world. Nobody wants to wait to get what they want. They want it immediately downloaded on their e-reader, so they can read on the toilet—the way God intended.”
“What a lovely thing to say.”
“Hey, if you can help just one reader through a difficult bathroom trip, wouldn’t you say it was worth the effort of writing the book?” She flashes a wicked grin while opening the door to a nearby restaurant, where they happen to serve nachos worthy of epic love poems.
“You are so darn charming sometimes. Not exactly what I want on my mind when I’m minutes away from eating.”
“Oh, please. I could describe a dismemberment in graphic detail, and you’d listen while dragging your finger through the last of the guacamole—and don’t even pretend otherwise.”
She’s not wrong.
It doesn’t take long for me to figure out why Hayley started talking about my work either. “I should’ve known,” I groan when the spinner comes out of her purse. “You don’t usually bring up business out of nowhere.”
“Well, you know Maggie’s going to start asking about the next book, if she hasn’t already.”
“I was hoping to wait until after the wedding, to be honest. A nice little vacation to recharge the batteries and all that. And I might end up with inspiration after spending a week in the lap of luxury. Who knows?”
She taps a finger on the spinner, which is now between us on the table. “It’ll be easier to put your inspiration to use if you already have a hero in mind, right? And, hey, what if you happen to meet somebody at the resort who falls in line with who you’re supposed to be dating next?”
I guess she has a point though really. It would be nice to just meet somebody and date them without the ulterior motive of writing a new book dangling over my head. After almost a year of dating for business—though there’s been pleasure; don’t get me wrong—I’m getting tired of feeling like my personal life and my career are permanently intertwined.
Still, I know darn well she’ll never let it go. I won’t leave the restaurant with all my body parts intact if I don’t play along. “Okay, fine, you win. Let’s see who I’m writing about this time.”
“I’ll spin it for you.” She’s already flicked the wheel, spinning through trope after trope without giving me a chance.
“Wow, you’re eager. Maybe you should be the one to date whoever the lucky guy happens to be.”
“I’m always interested in who you end up with, and you know it. Besides, I’m the one who came up with the idea to use this thing.”
We both look down at the spinner once it arrives at the next trope I have to tackle.
And my foot shoots out to kick Hayley’s shin under the table.
“Ouch!” she yelps before kicking me back.
“You rigged it!”
“Did not.”
“I know you did.” I snatch the device from the table before she can grab it and then scroll through the list of tropes written down for me to choose from. Sure enough, every single one of them is the same.
Best Man.
When I look at her, shooting a glare that could melt steel, she shrugs and slumps a little in her chair. “He’s amazing. I know the two of you will hit it off.”
“You erased all the tropes and added nothing but Best Man, so there wouldn’t be a choice. That’s not fair.”
“He’s gorgeous and Zack’s best friend. Kylie loves him, and trust me, my sister is a hard sell. I’ve hung around him a few times at parties at their place. He’s a really nice guy, Mr. All-American. Works in finance. I wouldn’t recommend you date just anybody.”
“He might be your future brother-in-law’s best friend, and he might be really nice, but that doesn’t mean I appreciate you forcing me into dating him.”
“Fine. Suit yourself. If my vote of confidence isn’t good enough for you …” She sits back, folding her arms and pouting.
“You know, our server’s going to trip over that bottom lip of yours if you stick it out any farther.”
She does it anyway, just to spite me. “You’re no fun.”
“What’s his name?”
She wrinkles her nose. “You’re gonna hate it.”
“Oh, this bodes well.”
“Briggs.”
I can’t help it. A laugh bursts out from between my pursed lips. “So, a prep-school preppy?”
“Who says he went to prep school?”
“Knowing your sister and the sort of people she hangs around …”
Kylie is a financial wizard. Basically Hayley with darker blonde hair and slightly less sparkly eyes and a knack for numbers instead of law.
“Okay, he went to prep school. Happy? That doesn’t mean he’s not super nice.
“And obviously, his first name isn’t Briggs. That’s his last name. Everybody just calls him by it.”
“I won’t.”
“Great. I’m sure the two of you are going to hit it off famously if that’s the attitude you insist on taking.”
“Does he wear polo shirts with the collar popped?”
That earns me an eye roll.
“He’s not the villain from an ’80s teen comedy, Kitty.”
“I at least have to know his real first name. I can’t take him seriously without knowing his actual name. I’m sorry. Those are the rules.”
She shakes her head. “I’ll see if I can find out, though something tells me my sister has a lot more on her mind than that right now.”
“Would finding out this dude’s real first name take that much time out of her busy pre-wedding schedule?”
“You don’t know my sister. You think I’m Type A?” Hayley snickers, shaking her head though there’s obvious affection in her voice. “You have yet to meet the ultimate. Her brain is like a computer that’s always running twenty programs at a time. Like having a million tabs open in a browser all at once, while playing some weird music or video in the background. I’d hate to be inside her head.”
Meanwhile, I’m sitting here, thinking I’d like to get to know her better.
I’ll have plenty of time to do that once we’re at the resort, I guess.
CHAPTER TWO
“Let me get this straight. A gorgeous best man and an entire week at a first-class resort, where you can have tons of hot sex? Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?”
I have to give it to my editor. She knows how to encourage a girl’s ideas.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d talked Hayley into rigging the spinner, so I’d have to pick the best man.” I’m in the process of trying desperately to close my stinking suitcase. It won’t play nice.
“Oh, please. What, do you think your friend and I conspire against you?”
“You’re the one who inspired her to make the darn spinner in the first place,” I remind her. “Calling her behind my back like I’m a child in need of supervision. Why would I put conspiracy past you?”
“Well, to be honest, if I had known you were going away for a destination wedding, I would have certainly asked her to rig the device.”