Faking Forever (First Wives #4)(38)

They somehow fell into a conversation about their siblings. She told him about her sister.

“Your sister is in the Peace Corps?”

“That’s what I said. You wouldn’t think joining would make her the black sheep of the family, but for my parents, it did.”

“How’s that possible?”

“They didn’t approve. They wanted us to marry up and add our family name to more guest lists.”

Victor considered her from the seat across from hers. “Is that why you married a governor?”

Should she deny it? “He wasn’t a governor when we married.”

“I’ll pretend you didn’t avoid answering that question.”

There was no way she would directly. Let him guess all he wanted. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t want my marriage to end. But things happen and we split.”

There was a brief pause in the conversation. “Can I say something and risk it sounding like a pickup line?” Victor asked.

“Go for it.”

Victor looked her in the eye. “He’s an idiot.”

She should have expected his words.

She didn’t.

Unexpected moisture gathered in her eyes. “No accounting for taste.” She blinked away her emotions.

“I mean it.” Victor looked away, giving her the ability to hide her instant response to words so many had said before. “I know you and I didn’t start out on the best footing . . .”

“To say the least. I fell in your lap.”

“. . . and blamed me.”

She rolled her eyes, feeling laughter instead of pain. “Whatever.”

“But today was good,” Victor said.

“Don’t forget the salsa dancing. If we can call it that.”

“I’m ignoring the bruise on my instep.”

“You do not have a bruise.”

Victor lifted his foot to prove her wrong.

Shannon saw sand, but nothing else. “I don’t see anything.”

“It’s on the inside.”

They laughed together.



Thirty minutes into the ride back to the hotel, Victor put his head back and closed his eyes. “For the first time in a long time, I feel like I escaped the rat wheel of my life. I owe that to you,” he told Shannon.

“Even rats need to recharge once in a while.”

“Yeah.” He turned and watched the landscape outside the window. “I’ve been thinking about your question earlier. About working too hard.”

“Your explanation told me a lot about you.”

He shook his head. “It made me sound like a saint. I’m not. I like the perks, the money . . . the path to decent tables at restaurants and first-class seats on airplanes. My ego gets a charge quite a bit with this company.”

“There is nothing wrong with enjoying the benefits of your labor,” Shannon told him.

He shrugged. “Until it’s not enough. I need more of this. Days where I don’t have a phone to my ear and my biggest worry is if the big fish looks at me as if I’m lunch.” Just saying the words made him envision their snorkeling adventure taking a turn for the worst. “I need balance.”

“Was that what Corrie was?”

Her question couldn’t have been more spot-on.

“My attempt, I guess.”

Shannon must have sensed he was sorting out his own feelings on the topic and gracefully changed the subject.

Leo pulled up to their hotel a short time later, and Victor gave him a generous tip.

It was just after three, and the beach party was in full swing. “I had a good time today. Thanks for stepping in for Avery,” Shannon told him.

“I hope she’s feeling better.”

“I’m sure she’s fine.”

“Thanks for inviting me out,” Victor said. “And for listening to my . . . well, my current drama.”

“I’m a therapist on the side. I’ll send you my bill,” she teased.

“I’ll look for it.”

The awkward goodbye lingered above them. “I need to get out of this suit.”

Victor lifted an eyebrow. “That’s a damn shame.” He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

Backing up, she lifted her hands to the air, a mischievous smile on her lips. “Okay, I’m gone.”

“We’ll touch base for dinner,” Victor called after her.

“If Avery’s up to it,” Shannon said as she continued to walk away.

He didn’t say goodbye, and neither did she.

But his eyes followed her as she left his sight.





Chapter Fourteen

Avery had recovered but spent the day on their deck nursing a headache. Shannon joined her outside and received the inquisition.

“Did he hit on you?”

“If you’re asking if he made a pass, the answer is no.”

“No inappropriate touching?”

“Nope.”

Avery frowned. “What about comments? I’m sure he had something to say about that swimsuit.”

“He had plenty to say about the suit.”

Avery smiled. “Give it up.”

Shannon looked down at the suit she had yet to take off. “He said it should be illegal.”