Faking Forever (First Wives #4)(39)

“That’s something.”

“He was a surprisingly good sport with all of it. It was obvious that he hadn’t snorkeled in a while, or at all. But he kept a smile and made a good show without complaint. The cave was incredible. We have to come back here and bring Trina and Lori.”

Avery rubbed her temple. “But no pass.”

“No. But it isn’t like I gave him the opportunity. I’m enjoying the flirt, like you suggested. No one said anything about physical contact.” Although the more she thought about it, the better it sounded.

“We still have three nights left. I’ll be sure and leave you alone with the man to give him an opportunity.”

Shannon glared. “Don’t you dare, Captain Obvious.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Avery backtracked. “If he wants it, he will create his own opportunity.”

She thought about his confessions about work, about his life. There was a lot more to the man than she first thought. Not that she was going to reveal any of that to Avery right at that moment. Doing so would get the woman going more than she already was.

Shannon pushed up off her chair to walk inside. “I’m taking a shower and a nap before dinner.”

“Good idea. Rest up before the night comes, in case you need your energy.”

Shannon walked away shaking her head.

Avery was like a dog with a bone.

A bone named Victor.



Victor kicked back on his bed, wrapped in a towel. The air conditioner and the fan spinning above him were the only sounds in the room.

He’d purposely left his phone behind for the day, and in fact was making a concerted effort to avoid logging into the real world or risk being sucked into his normal life. Except a text from Corrie waited for him when he returned to his room.

In the off chance you care, I thought you should know I’m not dead in a ditch somewhere.

Her words evoked a desire to immediately text her back to let her know he was quite aware she was alive and well, that her parents had informed his parents, who had told Justin, who revealed the information to him.

What was the point?

His conversation with Shannon about balance had him rethinking why he’d asked Corrie to marry him in the first place. She was a beautiful girl . . . woman, he corrected his thoughts. Except now when he thought about her, he realized she was immature in many ways. Just like her text suggested. She and her friends liked to hang out in clubs and wake up late. Things he learned when he called her early in the morning and found her sleeping in after stumbling in past two.

He didn’t see Shannon doing those kinds of things. Even in Tulum, the lady didn’t overindulge. And her friend Avery obviously didn’t drink all that much if she was getting sick after their wine at dinner and maybe one cocktail. Comparing Shannon to Corrie was like the apple and the orange.

Corrie accepted his need to overwork.

Shannon challenged it.

Corrie had openly flirted with him when they first met.

Shannon blew him off.

Corrie ran off.

Shannon stayed.

He supposed the last part wasn’t truly for or because of him. But Victor owned it anyway.

The opportunity to miss Corrie, even when they were dating . . . yeah, that never really happened. She was right there, ready to jump when he called. She fell into place, and asking her to marry him was as much about closing a chapter in his life and moving forward as any business deal he’d been a part of.

He was an asshole.

Marriage wasn’t a business.

At least it isn’t supposed to be.

Marriage and love are about the welled up emotion that surfaces at the most unexpected times. Like with Shannon today. He hadn’t missed the tears in her eyes when she spoke of her ex.

Victor kicked his feet off the bed and retrieved his laptop.

He ignored the three hundred new e-mails in his inbox and logged into the hotel’s Wi-Fi. He googled Paul and Shannon Wentworth and scanned through their public pictures.

“Jesus.” He blew out a whistle.

He knew she was attractive, obviously. Between his voyeur tendencies, the killer white bikini, and the relaxed sundresses she wore, it was hard to miss her beauty. The pictures he looked at now were of her and her ex-husband in black-tie attire, floor-length rhinestone studded dresses, full makeup, and jewelry fit for a princess.

Victor stuck to his earlier conviction.

Paul Wentworth was a fool.

Victor removed Paul’s name from the search and found a new thread of society page photographs. Pictures ranging from gossip magazines after her divorce to her attending celebrity weddings. In fact, on closer inspection, it looked as if Shannon and Avery had both been in the wedding party of a well-known country singer and an oil heiress.

Yeah, Shannon Wentworth was a lady, where Corrie stuck out like a college student.

He had an itchy desire to read the articles about her divorce, then decided against it. He considered it a violation of her privacy, even in light of it being public knowledge.

“Yet you secretly watch her swimming naked,” he said to himself. “Twisted, Vic . . . really twisted.”

He glanced again at the number inside the red circle above his e-mail inbox, clenched his fists, and closed his computer.

It could wait.

Whatever it was . . . it could wait.

Stephanie was told to call him only if the sky was falling.