Off to the side of the clearing are several employees from the resort and a spread of picnic blankets and overstuffed pillows. There’s a grill set up, and the smell coming off it is amazing.
There’s also a space to hitch our horses. Everyone begins to dismount, and Kaia comes by to gather our reins. I slide off of Lo and hand them to her.
“Feel free to swim, take photos, or just relax while we finish getting lunch set up,” Kaia says with a smile. Everyone is headed toward the waterfall, but my eyes only catch on Jamie. He takes his shirt off and dives into the natural pool, resurfacing a few seconds later and shaking the water from his hair.
Jamie’s movements are slow and languid as he pulls himself out of the water, and the flicker in my chest zips through the rest of my body, crackling along my skin. Water sluices across his chest and down his stomach. His shorts cling to his thighs, and when he reaches down to scoop his shirt from the ground, they stretch even tighter.
I clear my throat.
“Not going for a dip?” Seb appears at my side and is following my heated gaze.
“Nope,” I say, my voice clipped. “How about you?”
“Darling, he can’t swim right now,” says Harriet, the woman in the glamorous caftan. “I need him to take my photo with that fancy camera of his.” Her hand is suddenly wrapped possessively around Sebastian’s arm, which makes me cock an eyebrow at Seb. He shrugs at me as if it’s his lot in life to be accosted by ostentatious women at least two decades his senior. But at that moment, Kaia calls out that the food is ready.
The food is set out on a low table between the picnic blankets, and our small group convenes around it.
“Jamie, you looked excellent on that horse, man,” Seb says, as we all start loading up our plates. His voice is warm, friendly. But still, I wish he wouldn’t engage more than he has to. Jamie nods tightly, accepting the compliment. The two of them both being here feels like a weird rift in the time-space continuum. Like one wrong move could send us hurtling into a black hole.
“So,” Elliot, one of the retired science teachers, says, once we’re all settled. “Are the four of you here on a couples’ trip?”
“No.” The word comes out of Jamie’s mouth like a bullet, and he doesn’t elaborate.
Elliot’s eyes go wide, but he’s polite enough that he doesn’t push further. “Oh, of course. My mistake.” There’s a moment of silence as everyone turns to their meal to escape the awkwardness, but it’s broken almost immediately by Sebastian.
“Sybil and I are here celebrating,” he says with a cheeky grin, reaching over to squeeze my hand.
“Actually,babe,” I say with a tight smile, “we’re here for work, remember?”
“Sure, sure,” Seb says easily. “The squid and the moon and all that.”
As an only child, I’ve never had the pleasure of dealing with an annoying little brother of my own. But I’ve heard Nikki talk about hers enough times to recognize the similarities in how I’m feeling toward Seb right now. I’m torn between wanting to sock him in the arm and bursting out laughing at his ridiculous attempt to play the besotted boyfriend. He’s not even making an effort to be a convincing marine biologist. Though I’m glad that he at least seems to have retained the core details of our cover story.
“But still,” Seb continues, “this is kind of a special trip for us, isn’t it, Buttercup?”
“Oh?” Hank asks. “How come?”
I’m wondering the same thing. I narrow my eyes at Seb, silently warning him. But he ignores me, turning to Hank.
“Well, this is the first trip we’ve taken since we got back together.”
“You two have a history?” Kaia asks.
“Oh yes.” Seb’s eyes are twinkling. He lets go of my hand to reach an arm around my shoulders. “Our love story is one for the ages.”
There’s a clatter near the end of the lunch table. Everyone turns to see Jamie picking up the serving spoon he just knocked over. “Sorry,” he mutters.
“Well, I love a good romantic epic,” Harriet says, drawing everyone’s attention back to Seb. “Do tell.”
“Sybil and I met back in New York—how long ago was it, Schmoopie?”
“Six years ago,” I say through gritted teeth. “And I thought we agreed: no more pet names.”
“She loves it,” Seb says conspiratorially to Harriet.
“I really don’t,” I say to Harriet. I mean come on,schmoopie? Is he my fake boyfriend or my fake grandpa talking to his fake cat?
“Anyway,” Seb continues, “we met and fell madly, deeply in love. I mean, honestly, can you blame me? Look at her.” He casts me a look that’s so genuinely affectionate that my cheeks turn pink despite my annoyance. “I was smitten. Even asked her to marry me. But tragically, fate intervened.”
