Faking Forever (First Wives #4)(22)

When Justin remained quiet, she glanced his way. His eyes were closed, his frame stretched out. Team Victor won on the attractive scale, but the man needed a neurorectologist to remove his head from his butt . . . where Team Justin, while still attractive, skipped out on a certain something that she couldn’t put a finger to.

Not that it mattered. She’d likely never see either one of them again by morning.





Chapter Eight

Victor noticed Shannon sitting in the open dining area of the hotel the next morning, drinking coffee and reading on her e-reader. He’d spent most of the previous day licking his metaphorical wounds and nursing a headache. Kurt and Arwin flew out the day before, and Justin was an hour away from jumping into a taxi to the airport.

It was Monday, and most, if not all, of the wedding guests had already left the country.

Dressed in cotton pants that went midcalf and a light shirt, she looked like she was dressed for a long plane ride home. As much a pain in the ass as the woman had been, he felt compelled to say goodbye. After all, he was the reason she was there.

He walked up quietly behind her. “If it isn’t the woman who fed me mezcal.”

The sound of his voice made her jump.

Too bad she wasn’t holding her coffee.

“You have got to stop doing that.”

Without an invitation, he sat and smiled. She took a deep breath and looked away, came painfully close to rolling her eyes. For some reason, he appreciated the fact she held back and wondered just how much it would take for her to disregard him with such a gesture.

“Please, sit down,” she said.

He glanced at his chair. “Thank you.”

She set her e-reader aside. “I thought for sure you’d be back at the office by now.”

So did he. “I couldn’t fly yesterday even if I’d found a flight.”

“Oh?”

He didn’t miss the tiny shine in the corner of her eye.

“No. I had one too many the other night. Inflicting that on whoever had the misfortune of sitting next to me on the flight home was more than I could take after my flight here.”

She smiled, briefly, and lifted her chin. “I’m glad to hear you’ve evolved since Friday.”

Unable to help himself, he laughed.

Her smile returned.

Victor felt a twist in his gut, a pull to something he didn’t want to name. “I guess you’re leaving today,” he said.

She shrugged. “I am.”

He nodded. “Justin informed me you made sure I didn’t decide to go for a late night swim.”

“It was tempting. But then I realized you wouldn’t be able to pay me if you swallowed too much water.”

“Self-preserving. Very smart of you.”

“It’s a gift.”

When the woman wasn’t tossing barbs at him, she was beautiful. Perfect lines in her face, high cheekbones . . . he couldn’t tell if her olive skin was from an ancestor or the byproduct of living in Southern California. Not anything like Corrie. Nothing like anyone he’d been attracted to before.

What was he thinking? He wasn’t attracted.

Victor shook his head and stood. “Well, I saw you sitting here and thought I’d at least say goodbye.”

She stood with him and extended her hand. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry things didn’t go as planned this weekend.”

Her fingers were long, elegant. Just like the woman. Disappointment saying goodbye was an emotion he had no business feeling. Yet there it was, like a lump in his chest.

“Are you?”

Her smile cracked. “No. But it seemed the right thing to say. I am sorry for the heartache. That’s never easy, even if it’s for the right reason.”

Victor realized he was still shaking her hand and let go.

“Goodbye, Victor. Good luck to you.”

“Goodbye, Shannon.” And because it was the appropriate thing to do once you said goodbye, Victor walked away. When he turned to take a last look, Shannon sharply moved her gaze to her coffee.



Shannon moved up the beach by half a mile and settled into one of only two second-story suites the boutique hotel offered. With the uninterrupted views of the ocean and a private patio that had its own plunge pool, this hotel was exactly what she’d envisioned while staying in Tulum for a vacation. As planned, there wasn’t one familiar face from the Brookses’ wedding party. If any of the family or guests had decided to extend their stay, they hadn’t changed hotels. Most people wouldn’t. Then again, most people didn’t plan on the nefarious actions Shannon had in mind for the rest of her stay.

She was on the balcony when she heard Avery enter the room. Shannon stood from the shady spot she’d propped herself up on to greet her friend. Avery held her welcome drink in one hand and her purse in the other.

“Eeeeek. This place is the shit,” Avery said, tossing her purse aside and offering Shannon a one-arm hug.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

The bellhop placed Avery’s bag in the room and asked if there was anything else he could assist with. Shannon tipped the man and closed the door behind him.

“Look at this room.”

It was pretty nice. A king-size bed and an additional twin was the best they could do without having separate rooms. If Shannon found a baby daddy, it would do well to have a roommate to fall back on if she needed the man to go to his own room when they were done.