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Glancing over his shoulder, he caught Lilly’s smirk just before she walked away from him.
Never to be seen again, he supposed, because the woman willed it to be so.
Well, his common sense said, reasserting control, it’s probably for the best.
Lilly slipped into the bungalow, tiptoeing because she assumed Audra remained resting in her bedroom.
“Did you enjoy the yoga class?”
Lilly started, then her head whipped toward the living area couch. Audra sat there, legs drawn up, dressed in a pair of jeans beneath the damn wedding dress. She’d done something to the hem, taking some sharp object to it so now it ended unevenly at mid-thigh.
Instead of commenting on the new style, Lilly decided it would be best to ignore the change. It was an improvement, right? “It’s good to see you up,” she said breezily. “Are you hungry? We can order something from room service, or—”
“That must have been a long class,” Audra said. “Or did you take a second after it?”
At the swift kick of guilt, Lilly winced. Watching her best friend steeping in misery the day before had left her feeling frustrated, useless, and with an ache in her chest that just wouldn’t go away. So she’d rushed out to the first yoga class on the resort’s schedule this morning and had dawdled on her return.
The woman who’d rescued Lilly from her own misery freshman year and then gone on to become the truest friend ever deserved better than that.
“I wonder whatever happened to Suzanne Dobbs,” Lilly mused, naming the person who’d been her assigned roommate. Without her, she might never have met her BFF.
“She works at one of those all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean. Client relations,” Audra said.
“Of course it’s client relations,” Lilly replied, remembering how Horny Boyfriend had gotten the heave-ho for a succession of rangy young men that Suzanne had seemed to scoop up like candy bars and discard as easily as their wrappers.
“She’s doing quite well—a big promotion just a couple of months back.”
Lilly’s brows rose. “How do you know all this?”
“I follow her on social media. We text from time-to-time.”
Of course Audra would keep in touch with an old college acquaintance.
“I sent her a congratulations card on the career move.”
No surprise. Lilly had once told herself that thoughtfulness was another privilege of the rich, but the truth was, Audra was ever kind and always non-judgmental. She liked and trusted everyone…which went far to explain how she’d ended up engaged to Jacob the Jerk.
“Suzanne sent me a card too,” Audra said, her gaze falling to her lap and her fingers playing with the shredded edges of her dress. “Best wishes on the upcoming marriage and all that.”
Damn, Lilly thought, that ache in her chest expanding again. Why had she brought up Suzanne anyway? And why had she left Audra on her own this morning, when her friend was feeling stabby enough to go after her wedding gown?
“I’m sorry I was gone so long,” Lilly said, dropping down to the sofa. From this moment forward, she pinky swear-promised to herself, she’d stick by the other woman. They’d stay inside if that’s what Audra wanted, playing endless rounds of hangman or watching reruns of Friends like they used to do when they locked themselves in their apartment with the intent of studying for finals. Lilly would do whatever it took to make her friend happy.
And sticking close to Audra would have the added benefit of making sure she kept to that other pledge she’d made—not to see Alec again.
He had no right to be so damn gorgeous! Even in jeans and a shirt, cuffs rolled up, tails out, and with a pair of battered leather deck shoes on his feet. She’d be fooling herself if she didn’t admit to being severely tempted by the idea of a one-night stand, not to mention those “few nights” he so generously—hah!—offered, but she’d held strong.
Thank goodness, because in the blink of an eye he’d been tackled by a blonde with a pair of fake knockers and veneers that should come with sunglasses for anyone near enough to be blinded by them.
Thank goodness, because now that she’d had the cold splash of a wake-up call in the form of Audra’s broken engagement, Lilly realized she’d barely dodged the threat Alec posed. For whatever reason, she knew this man could damage her.
