“I’d ask you to report back tomorrow, but I don’t think I need to know the details.” Marcy smiled wide. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to visit with some of my other guests.”
“I wonder what the surprise is,” Lily said. “Chocolate-covered strawberries?”
“Probably. The usual clichéd trappings of engagement.”
Lily’s mouth formed a thin line. “You might think it’s clichéd, but I think it sounds quite nice. Plus, there are worse things than someone leaving chocolate-covered fruit in your room.”
“I know. You’re right.” It’s just that I’m going to want to feed it to you and take off your clothes and that was not part of my plan for this wedding. “Let’s go mingle.”
Over the course of the next several hours, Noah and Lily met nearly every member of the extended Hannafort family. Lyle’s parents, then Marcy’s, as well as cousins and aunts and uncles. They had a lovely tropical-themed meal served poolside. Lily was a big hit, making sparkling conversation with the other guests and impressing everyone with her knowledge of everything from real estate development to romance novels. She even told Lyle’s uncle a few off-color jokes that made him belly laugh and declare Noah the luckiest son of a bitch he’d ever met.
As the sun set and the sky turned darker, torches blazed and flickered. The waterfalls were lit with dramatic effect. The ocean breezes blew, and although the air cooled, it never lost that warm and humid feeling.
“I’m really tired. Let’s go back to the room,” Lily said.
It was ten o’clock and most of the guests had left. Noah had been putting off their departure, going back for seconds on key lime pie and ordering one last drink. He couldn’t stomach the thought of what their romantic surprise might be. Surely something that was only going to make his charge that much more difficult. “You sure you’re ready? It’s so beautiful out tonight.”
“Fine. You stay. I’ll go back by myself.” Lily got up from her chair.
“No. No. I don’t want you walking by yourself.” He reached for her hand, and she turned back, stealing his breath from his chest. She was so breathtakingly beautiful in this light, with the wind blowing her hair across her shoulders and her skin glowing with a gorgeous peachy tan.
“I couldn’t possibly be in a safer place. And it’s pretty obvious that you’d rather be here and not alone with me.”
His stalling had been transparent, probably a little too much so. There was a very hurt edge to her voice that he disliked greatly. “I was enjoying myself with you tonight. That’s all.” He smiled. However much he wanted to create distance between them, he didn’t want her to think he didn’t enjoy her company. He did. He simply enjoyed it too much. He got up from his chair and took her hand. “Come on. Let’s go see what over-the-top thing Marcy has waiting for us.”
They took their time on their walk, listening to the birds in the trees and the gentle lap of the ocean off in the distance. Lily dropped his hand and traced her fingers along the inside of his arm, snugging him closer. He knew he should’ve ignored it, but he didn’t want to. He put his arm around her shoulder and let her lean into him as they took the final steps to the front door.
When they walked inside, there was no sign of romance in the seating area where the bottle of champagne had been left earlier. “Huh. I wonder if they forgot.”
Lily walked ahead of him into the bedroom. “Oh my God, Noah. In here. It’s unbelievable.”
He braced himself and followed her. The lights in their bedroom were off, but a warm glow came from the glass doors to outside. Hundreds of candles were lit out on the patio around the plunge pool. Even more were floating in the water. The bed had been turned down, and purple orchid blossoms were strewn all over the duvet. Another bottle of champagne was on ice next to the bed, and a tray was next to it with coconut massage oil. He couldn’t have arranged a more romantic, sexy setting if he’d wanted to.
“Marcy wasn’t kidding,” Lily said.
“It’s going to take forever to clean this up.” He felt like such an ass the instant the words left his mouth. Lily deserved every romantic delight before them and he was raining on her parade.
She cast a disappointed look at him. “We can’t really call housekeeping and ask them to take care of it. Anyone who knows this is here thinks that our clothes are off by now. They think I’m giving you a sensuous massage. They think we’re making love.”
As imagined visions of Lily naked, her hands all over him, wound through his consciousness, desire and determination battled inside him. He wanted her more than he’d wanted any woman. She was right there. Mere inches from him. What if he took her in his arms right now and kissed her? What if they did everything that logically came out of this quixotic setting? Would it really hurt anything?