Page 76 of The Work Wife

Fortunately Lance and Holly were given a suite, so they wouldn’t have been in hearing range of the argument. When they arrived they were oblivious to the earlier discussion.

In the van, Jamie took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. He looked down at her to see she was smiling at him. Not the fake, pretend-wife smile, but her real smile. Glancing around the van he noticed no one was even looking at them.

This was real. This smile was for him. She was telling him she was fine.

He smiled back and squeezed her hand in answer to hers.

They could do this. They could maintain their friendship while pretending to be in love for the sake of wooing a client.

Just as long as he could keep his body in check. His reaction had surprised him. He expected to be immune to Jamie. Now he was aware that wasn’t true, and he’d be better prepared.

They arrived at the resort in time for lunch, and met Misty, their activities director. Their luggage was taken to their cottage as they were escorted to a veranda that looked out over a bay with sparkling blue water and white sand.

“The prize,” she whispered next to him, making him laugh.

“You’re saying you like this better than Boston’s piles of gray snow and snotcicles?” he teased her.

She looked up at him. “This is paradise.”

Yes, it was. But more because she was here with him rather than the warm sunshine and palm trees. He could have come here whenever he wanted, but he never had.

Truth be known, he’d rather go to work and hang out with Jamie than take a vacation by himself.

* * * *

“Okay, everyone,” Misty piped up when they’d finished eating. She held a piece of paper in her hand and had a look of authority in her eye. “I’d like to go over the itinerary for the next few days. There will be a copy waiting in your room, but I thought we’d go over it now in case anyone had any questions.”

No one said anything, but Weston tensed, not knowing why. The whole purpose of the trip was to build a stronger connection with his wife. He didn’t think it was an issue, until after that kiss. A stronger connection might not be a good idea.

“When we’re done here we will retire to our rooms to unpack and relax. Tonight at dinner we will be playing a game to get to know each other better.”

So far so good.

“Tomorrow after breakfast we will be doing our first workshop on trust. Bathing suits required.” Not a problem. He already trusted Jamie. “After lunch we will meet with Dr. Steinburger, who will go over conflict resolution in a loving relationship.” Maybe it was him, but it felt like the rest of the group looked at him.

“The next day we have goal-setting for couples, and Romance 101. Yes, men, you must attend. Take notes,” she joked, and everyone laughed. Weston wondered if he could bail on that class. It would do him no good to exercise those skills with Jamie. “The last day will be open, but we’ll end the evening with a dance instructor before we leave the next day.”

Everyone nodded their approval of the plan.

“Please use your free time to take advantage of the other activities and build a bond with your partner. I’ll see everyone back here at four for the game.”

“Come on, partner.” Weston took her hand. “Let’s get unpacked so we can kick everyone’s ass at this game.” He knew how competitive she was.

She laughed and took his hand.

He was feeling completely at ease as they walked up to their bungalow. Not just because he had an actual key instead of a blasted key card, but because they had gotten over the awkwardness and were ready to have fun for the next few days. She’d already mentioned kayaking and hiking, and he was looking forward to hanging out with his friend.

From the front, it was difficult to tell how big the bungalow was because of the vegetation surrounding it. He was completely caught off guard when he opened the door and stepped inside with Jamie right behind him.

“Oh, hell.” He vaguely heard Jamie murmur as they looked around the tiny—no, miniscule—bungalow. It was smaller than any hotel room he’d ever seen.

Small wouldn’t have been a problem except small meant there was only one queen-size bed and no other place where he could sleep. Not even the floor.

“Okay, well, we’ll just have to share the bed. It’s bigger than the bed at your dad’s place.” He tried to sound optimistic.

He looked at her, knowing the size of the bed wasn’t the issue. It was that they would both be in it at the same time. They’d slept together many times by now, but it had been different. It had been before that wicked kiss. After the kiss the night before, he didn’t trust himself to be close to her in the dark in a horizontal position.

“No big deal,” she said, in the tone she used when she was trying to convince herself more than other people.