Faking Forever (First Wives #4)(40)

Victor peeked out the window. Nope . . . the sky was still there.



Clouds rolled in as the sun started to go down, and the rain that made the region tropical started to fall.

Shannon and Avery ended up having dinner at the hotel restaurant, where Victor joined them. They took their time with their meal but ended the night early.

Avery still wasn’t a hundred percent, and Victor didn’t suggest they extend the night longer.

The next morning, Shannon sat on the side of Avery’s bed, placing a cold washcloth on her head. “I think you need to see a doctor.”

“I must have eaten something bad.”

“Food poisoning doesn’t last this long. Unless you ate something that has a parasite, it wouldn’t linger.”

Avery’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard horror stories of stuff in the food here.”

“That has to be it. We didn’t drink last night, and I didn’t buy a hangover from the night before. No offense, my friend, but your liver is seasoned better than that.”

Avery attempted to smile through her misery.

“I could just be sick.”

Shannon thought that, too. “What do you want to do? We can find a clinic.”

Avery shook her head. “A Mexican hospital isn’t something I want to experience, not when I don’t speak the language. If I’m not feeling better by tonight, we’ll go.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Shannon. I know this isn’t how you pictured the week to be.”

She stood. “It’s okay. I wasn’t ready for meaningless sex yet, anyway. I’ll go out to the beach and check on you by lunch. If you’re not feeling any better, I’m going to drag you to the nearest doctor.”

Avery rolled over, tucked her hands under her cheek. “I might let you.”

Shannon grabbed a coffee from the hotel coffee bar and parked herself in her usual beach spot.

She opened the book she’d been nibbling away at and lay back to take in the morning. It didn’t take long for Dylan and Erasmo to find her and settle in, and soon after, Victor worked his way down.

“Good morning.”

It was a simple greeting. One she’d just received from Dylan and Erasmo . . . yet his had her smiling on the inside.

“Morning.”

He spread out under the palapa to her left and glanced briefly at her body. “No white swimsuit today?”

She blushed. “I need to switch up the tan lines.”

Today she wore a more conservative navy blue number without all the crisscross strings.

“Still nice,” he said. “But yesterday’s wins.”

“I didn’t know there was a contest.”

He leaned back, put sunglasses over his eyes. “Now that you do, I’ll look forward to tomorrow.”

“Look forward to disappointment, then. I only brought two. One to wear, one to dry.”

Dylan overheard their conversation and spoke up. “I can help you with that.”

Shannon picked up her e-reader, woke up the screen. “Victor can have his own little fashion show in his head. I have plenty of suits at home. No need to shop here.”

“Where’s Avery?” Erasmo asked a few minutes later.

“She’s still not feeling right. I want to take her to the doctor, but she’s not cooperating.”

“She’s not drinking the water out of the tap, is she?” Victor asked.

“No.”

“She didn’t drink alcohol last night,” he added.

“Even if she did, of all my friends, she’s the one with the iron stomach.”

“She seemed fine last night.”

“I know. It’s like she’s allergic to the morning.” Sick in the morning . . . fine by the evening. It reminded her of when she wanted to skip school as a kid.

Only Avery was skipping her vacation.

“Is that the new e-reader?” Dylan asked.

Unless . . .

“Yeah,” Shannon answered on autopilot.

She flipped forward several chapters in the book she was reading and came across the one titled “Pregnant and Single.” She skimmed several pages and read a passage on morning sickness.

“Oh my God.”

“What?” Victor asked.

Shannon dropped her e-reader and jumped up. “I’ll be back.”

She all but ran through the sand, around the beach chairs, and up the stairs to their suite. She swung the door open, startling Avery.

“Geez, Shannon . . . you scared me.”

“You don’t have a parasite,” she said, smiling. “You’re pregnant.”





Chapter Fifteen

Victor watched as Shannon ran off. “What is that all about?” he asked the other guys.

“Who knows. I don’t try and figure out the actions of women,” Erasmo said.

Victor laughed.

Dylan moved over to Shannon’s spot and picked up the e-reader he had been asking her about. “I’ve been thinking about getting one of these.” He waved it around. “It’s waterproof. Perfect for the beach.”

Things like that didn’t interest Victor.

He looked around the shade of his palapa to see if he could get a glimpse of Shannon up in her room, but his vantage point wasn’t nearly as good as it was across the beach.