She nodded, fighting to gain control. Josh moved toward the offending dress, now several feet away on the ground, when he realized the fishermen had returned and both men were standing in the small boat, staring up at them with open mouths. They looked so ancient that Josh worried they were about to lose their balance and fall out.
Josh moved in front of Megan, blocking her from their view. He held up his hands as he addressed the men. “Everything is fine here. It’s just a tick.”
“That must have been some tick,” one of the men muttered, his voice carrying over the water.
Megan lunged around Josh, but he held her in place—blocking her body with his and out of the fishermen’s view—as she shouted, “Ticks are no laughing matter!” She pointed her finger at the men to emphasize her point. “They can kill you!”
Josh turned around, grabbing her arms while making sure he was still blocking as much of their view as possible. “Okay, calm down, Tick Lady of Doom. Cut those guys a break. You just gave them the biggest thrill they’ve probably had in the last twenty years.”
She shrieked again when she realized she was naked except for her bra and dropped to the ground to grope for the blanket.
He picked up her dress again, shook it out, and checked it twice before handing it to her.
“I’m not wearing that!”
“So you’re Lady Godiva now? Maybe you want to follow in Gram’s footsteps.” He gave an involuntary shudder. “I’m not sure they’ll serve you pancakes at IHOP if you’re not wearing clothes.”
“We’re not going to IHOP!”
“Then we’ll go somewhere else, because I promised you breakfast, Megan, and damn it, I’m taking you to breakfast!”
He heard a gasp behind him. When he turned to look, he saw two more boats in the cove, everyone onboard mesmerized by the Megan and Josh show.
He squatted next to her. “Come on, Megs. We have an audience, and Knickers isn’t even here to appreciate it.” When she didn’t answer, he pressed on, “I made sure there weren’t any ticks. I checked twice. I promise.”
She took another deep breath and released it, her eyes narrowing at him as she jabbed her finger into his chest. “If I even find the hint of a tick turd on this dress, I’m going to make you suffer.”
“I accept the sentencing . . . err, I mean the consequences.”
Her mouth pursed in disapproval, but she let him slip the dress over her head. When she stood, he zipped her up, and then she marched over to the edge of the bluff, which loomed twenty feet over the water. “You can all go home now, you freaking perverts!”
She was close enough to the edge to make him nervous. He moved behind her, snaking an arm around her waist to pull her back. “You told them, so why don’t we go now?”
She marched over to the blanket and picked up her shoes and the cooler, then headed down the path without comment. Scooping up the bedding, Josh found Megan’s panties under the pallet. He picked them up and shoved them into his pants pocket before readjusting the load in his arms and hurrying after Megan.
Her stance proclaimed she was a woman on a mission, and it looked like a major part of the plan involved leaving him behind. But he caught up to her as she opened the back hatch of the car and set the cooler inside. Josh shoved the wadded bedding into the back and quickly closed the lid so he could corner Megan against the car before she opened the driver’s door.
“I know you’re pissed right now, but stop a moment to take a deep breath before we leave.”
She glared up at him.
“I’m sorry I laughed at you when you were clearly terrified.”
“I was not terrified!”
“Says the woman who would rather face an audience of old men in the nude than put on a dress that might contain a seed tick.”
A grin tugged at the corners of her lips.
“I hereby promise to do my utmost never to let another tick touch your gorgeous body for the rest of the time I know you.”
Her eyes danced with mischief. “That shouldn’t be too difficult, since we have to break up tonight.”
How could she say it so casually? The mere thought ripped his heart out.
But he was determined to make this the best day of his life, Knickers’ schedule be damned. “Unless the rehearsal dinner is outside.” He lifted his eyebrows to emphasize the danger.
She laughed. “You can put away your tick-vanquishing sword. It’s in a restaurant.”
He rested his hands on either side of her head and leaned in to kiss her. Her hands lifted to his cheeks as her lips met his.
There were tears in her eyes when he pulled away, but she blinked them back and smiled.
“You owe me breakfast. Are you coming?” she asked.
He opened the car door and held it open for her. “I’ll follow you anywhere.” When she gave him a questioning glance, he hastily added, “Hey, I love breakfast.”
The casual comment came easily enough, but even if it fooled her, it didn’t fool him.
Chapter Nineteen
Megan studied Josh out of the corner of her eye, trying to determine if their inevitable breakup tonight bothered him as much as it did her. He’d dropped his guard often enough for her to know he didn’t want to do this either, but there really was no other way out. She couldn’t tell her mother the truth, and if they didn’t pick option one or two, that only left three—they went through with the wedding.
She turned over the engine and picked up her phone from the console where she’d left it, not surprised to see all the missed calls and texts. She and Josh had taken off without telling anyone where they were going. Everyone was freaked out. Nicole Vandemeer was inevitably more upset than the rest, but not for the same reason as everyone else.
She scrolled through the list—calls from her mom and her dad, multiple calls and texts from Libby, one from Blair this morning, and one that came in at two a.m., which would have been midnight Pacific Time.
Jay.
Her chest tightened. She hadn’t talked to him since she’d told him the wedding was off and walked out of his apartment six weeks ago. Why was he trying to get in touch with her now?
She glanced up at Josh, whose questioning gaze told her he’d noticed her reaction. “Is everything okay?”
Shaking her head, she forced a smile. “Yeah. I’m just overwhelmed by the number of calls and texts I missed. Did Noah try to reach you?”
He grimaced. “My phone went in the pool with me last night. It’s on your bathroom counter awaiting its funeral.”
“So we need to get you a new phone today.”
“Yeah.” He was still watching her. “Did your mother send you a threatening text?” he asked, sounding worried.
“Text?” she snorted, scrolling through them. “Knickers does not text.”
“Then what’s got you so anxious?”
“I should have told someone where we were going. Libby and Blair are freaked out.”
“Take five minutes to call them and let them know you’re fine. Breakfast can wait.”
But she wasn’t in the mood to answer Libby’s excited questions and Blair’s accusations. Instead, she sent them a group text.