“We should get back to the house,” Ariel says. “I need a shower.”
“And I need to make myself bee-you-tiful for the unclaimed bachelors.” Jazz twirls in the sand. “I didn’t smuggle half a suitcase of glitter and cheap lingerie through customs for nothing.”
Unclaimed bachelors.
Is Brett in that group now? Or has Jake claimed him?
If so, that’s two bachelors down, though Jake wasn’t one of the originals. Probably three, with Emily and River.
“Come on,” Ariel tugs on my arm again.
“I’ll catch up in a second,” I say. “Just want a minute here.”
She nods. “Okay. But don’t disappear. I’ll come hunting for you.”
I smile faintly. “Wouldn’t dare.”
They all head toward the concrete path, Ariel and Jazz giggling, Evangeline giving orders to the staffers, and Cheryl doing… Well, whatever Southern mothers of brides do.
I stay back.
The breeze has picked up a little. It flutters the fabric draped across the arch, making it ripple like a breath. I drop my gaze to the sand. Lots of footprints.
The laughter fades as the others move farther up the path. I close my eyes for a beat, just long enough to let thewind cool my cheeks. Just long enough to push everything down again.
Then I hear it.
“Sienna.”
My name—rough, urgent—carried on the wind.
I turn before I even think.
And there he is.
Brett.
He’s crossing the beach, barefoot, his shirt half untucked, his brow furrowed like he's been searching for me and just found what he wasn't sure he wanted to see.
“Sienna,” he says again, stopping a few feet away.
The world narrows. Sound dulls.
Everything sharpens around the look in his eyes.
Like he’s been holding something in too long.
Like now, when it’s already too late, he’s finally ready to speak.
I turn away from him to follow the others.
“Sienna…please.”
EPISODE 228
Misty
“Okay. Now I’m interested,” June says when Jake leaves my suite with Brett.
