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He leaves, but I sit a while longer in the heat, mulling it over. I know my uncle thinks he’s got it all figured out, and he’s going with his gut when it comes to Avery, but I can’t help wondering if it’s a different organ calling the shots here.
Because I’ve got instincts too, and they’re all hollering that this is going to end in disaster. But if Robert doesn’t want to hear the truth…
Maybe he has tosee it, instead.
I get up. I haven’t checked the schedule, but I’m guessing there’s a whole day of wedding events planned – even more wild and extravagant than yesterday. I’m hoping I can get a moment alone with Hazel in the midst of all the madness.
Two moments. A whole damn night.
But first, I’ve got a call to make.
9
HAZEL
I wake alonein my room, lost in hazy, sensual reruns of the night before. Josh was the perfect gentleman, walking me back to my bungalow and leaving me with a hot kiss that made it clear it wouldn’t be our last. He could probably tell I was too dazed with pleasure from our chocolate-coated hookup to be capable of going another round. At least, not last night, anyway.
But today is a brand new day…
I sigh, stretching happily in the luxurious sheets. 500-thread count,andtwo orgasms? It’s no wonder I feel like I just spent a week at the spa. I’m practically giddy, replaying our moment of reckless passion. I can’t believe I was bold enough to go rolling around in the jungle with him like that – out in the open air!
Or that in addition to the handsome good looks, charm, and noble career ambitions, it turns out Josh Carlyle has god-level skills of seduction. Expert.Epic. They should give the man a medal for his services to oral pleasure. Hell, carve his face into Mount Rushmore – and pay special attention to his miraculous tongue. Even the memory of it has me swooning all over again.
So. Damn. Good.
“Hazel? Hazel, are you in there?”
Suddenly, a loud banging on my door startles me from my XXX-rated memories.
“Wake up!” the yelling gets louder.
“OK, OK!” I call back. I slip out of bed, and grab a robe, knotting it around me with a yawn as I pad across the room and open the door to?—
“Thank God you’re up, it’s adisaster!” Avery hurls herself inside. She’s wearing another perfect outfit, a pair of trim denim cutoffs and a gauzy shirt, open over her pink bikini top. It looks casual enough, but with her gold jewelry and slicked back hair, it’s like she just got finished with a glossy magazine shoot.
At least, one of those modern, edgy ones, because the poor woman has mascara smudging under her eyes, and tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I can’t believe it. Months of planning.Yearsdreaming about my perfect day, and with all this time and money and organizing, they can’t even pull off the first dinner!” Avery wails, sinking down onto the couch. “We didn’t even make it through the appetizers before those flies swarmed everywhere. DeeDee thinks she got bit, she’s demanding a blood transfusion, and nobody even got to appreciate my dress. What am I going to do, Hazel? This wedding isdoomed!”
Uh oh.
Some serious damage control is needed, so I grab a tissue box off the dresser, and go sit beside her. “I know we’re having a bumpy start…” I say tactfully. “But the flies last night were a just freak thing, a force of nature! I’m sure everyone understands.”
“Idon’t understand!” Avery protests. “I just want everything to be perfect.”
“Perfect is out of our hands, I’m afraid,” I pat her shoulder.
“Well, it shouldn’t be!” she sniffles. “I’m breaking out in hives with the stress of it all. Look!”
She thrusts one perfect, tanned arm at me. I think I see a freckle, but that’s about it.
“I know you think I’m getting worked up over nothing,” Avery adds. She wipes her face, then looks at me, genuinely downcast. “But all this stuff – the fancy dinners, the themed events, the photos… It matters. This is how Hollywood works: my whole career depends on me being in those magazines. Being someone that gets written about, posted and reposted. Gossipmatters. And clearly, I can’t get the good parts on my own without it.” Her voice twists.
“I, umm, heard. AboutTotal Annihilation 3,” I offer, sympathetic. “I’m sorry, I know you had your heart set on that role.”
“It was a shitty script, and the character did nothing but strut around in skintight leather pants and get kidnapped so the hero has to save her,” Avery says bluntly. “But it’s a massive franchise, and if I can’t even get cast as the hot crossbow babe…”
A wave of sadness and insecurity crosses her face. Then there’s another knock, and Brooke pokes her head in. “Have you seen—Birdie, there you are!”
