I’m starting to get a little nervous about meeting his family...and what this trip has in store for us.
CHAPTER 11
The car pulls up in front of our hotel, and I can see straight through the open lobby and out to the beach. The white marble floors paired with massive arches, gorgeous greenery, and a ginormous fountain right in the middle of the lobby tell me this hotel is a paradise oasis...and it’s mine to enjoy for the next ten days. You know, with the guy I have a huge crush on that I’m actually going to marry while I’m here—the guy who doesn’t return my feelings even though we shared that one spectacularly hot night.
I sigh as that old cliché of a warning haunts my thoughts. Be careful what you wish for. I wished for a one-night stand. Sure, that’s what I got...but somehow I also got a roommate, a boss, and a fiancé. Funny how that worked out.
And in a couple days, I’ll be meeting my future in-laws. I’ll have to put on an act like the two of us are so in love when this is nothing more than a publicity stunt. My chest aches at the thought.
We’re promptly lei-ed with fresh orchids when we get out of the car, and we check in and head to our room—a corner wraparound suite, incidentally, but this one has a separate bedroom unlike the one in Vegas. I take a quick glance out the windows at our view of the beach as I fight off the memories of my hands pressed up against the glass while he took me from behind.
The view is different, but the urges are the same. I wanted him in that hotel room in Vegas when he was nothing more than a stranger, and I want him even more now that I’ve had a few weeks to get to know him.
I’m falling for him.
Actually, that’s not true. It’s even worse. I’ve fallen for him.
I turn from the windows and bump right into Luke.
“Oof,” I mutter, and he grabs onto my biceps to steady me. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were right behind me.”
I glance up at him, and our eyes lock. His twinkle down at me as he lets off a soft chuckle. “Nice view,” he says, his eyes still on me.
A beat of heated silence passes between us, and is it thick with sexual tension or is that totally just my imagination?
He finally flicks his eyes to the window, and I step out of his grasp because I have to. I was seconds from reaching my hand around his neck and pulling him to me. Seconds from stripping naked and pressing my hands on the glass and sticking my ass out so he could take me again.
Okay, so it’s getting warm in here. I step toward the air conditioner and set it cooler, and then I slip my lei over my head and set it on the desk. I check my phone, and then I glance back at Luke, who’s staring out over the water deep in thought.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask softly.
My voice seems to startle him from his thoughts. He turns from the window back toward me. He exhales, and he offers a small smile. “Nothing. What time’s our meeting with the wedding coordinator?”
I glance at the clock. “We’ve got an hour.”
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
I lift a shoulder. “Not really.” I do have a wedding dress to fit into in just a couple days, after all.
“Me neither,” he mutters. “Want to explore the hotel?”
I nod, and we set off on a walk of the grounds. This particular resort was voted the best luxury accommodations in Maui, and it offers six restaurants, four bars, and three pools. It sits directly on Polo Beach, and we walk around the gorgeous, plush hotel before we slip off our shoes to walk on the sand. People sunbathe all around us as it’s a little before three in the afternoon, and soon they’ll head inside to shower and get ready for a romantic night out.
I want to reach for his hand because there’s something about a beach that’s always romantic to me...but this is just pretend. I can grab his hand in a few days when it’s for the benefit of his family watching us. While there’s always the chance there may be paparazzi around somewhere, right now we’re just two people walking side-by-side down the beach.
We walk toward the ocean and dip our feet in. The water is warmer than I was expecting, but I’ve learned lately that my expectations rarely meet reality.
We rinse our feet and head back inside to the lobby, where Alana, our wedding planner, told us to meet her.
“Luke and Ellie?” a woman with long dark hair wearing a flower-patterned dress asks. “I’m Alana,” she says when we both glance up at her, and I can’t help but languish in the sound of our two names side by side.
Ellie Dalton.
If I had a notebook and a hot pink gel pen and I was ten years younger, I’d be doodling my new name and hearts all over the page.
“How’d you know it was us?” Luke asks.
“You have that soon-to-be-wed glow,” she says warmly, and while her sentiment is meant to be sweet, it just makes me feel sad.
Luke laughs, and I offer a smile.
“Let’s start with where your ceremony will take place,” she says, and we make small talk with her as we follow her out to the beach we just walked in from. She shows us the general area and explains how it’ll be set up and how we’ll have privacy for our ceremony.
“The bride will stand here,” she says, and she stands in place and motions for me to come over because I’m the bride.
It’s all more than a little surreal. I was dating someone else what feels like five minutes ago and suddenly I’m marrying this guy I’ve known four minutes. What the hell am I doing?
“The groom will go here,” Alana says, and Luke moves into place beside me.
“Take her hands in yours, Luke,” she instructs, and he does.
“Manny will be presiding over your vows, and he’ll stand here where I am,” she says. “Your only job will be to hold one another’s hands and look into each other’s eyes as you listen to his words, repeat after him for your vows, and then you’ll be husband and wife.”
Luke’s eyes are on mine as she speaks, and my heart pitter-patters. He’s only doing it because she’s telling us to, but a girl can still wish there was more to it, right?
Alana shows us the restaurant where we’ll have our rehearsal dinner and another restaurant where we’ll have our reception with Luke’s family there to celebrate our new titles as husband and wife. She takes us back to her office, where we review all the details, and then we’re done, and while I should be elated that this is going down in just a couple days, instead I feel...hollow.
My family isn’t here to celebrate.
I don’t even have any friends here. The only people who will witness our vows are people he doesn’t really even want at his wedding.
“Are you hungry now?” Luke asks as we stand in the hallway and I debate whether I should tell him my thoughts. “The place where our reception is going to be looked pretty good.”
“That’s fine,” I say, and we head in that direction.
The hostess seats us in a quiet corner booth, and once we’ve both had a chance to look over the menu and placed our drink orders, he glances across the table at me. “You’ve been quiet since Alana told us where to stand for our wedding. Are you okay?”
I lift a shoulder and glance away, and then I pick up my wineglass to have something to do with my mouth rather than answering.