Page 44 of The Trouble with Love and Ink
Hesitantly, I walked with Beck over to the table, and when my eyes snagged on Reagan’s cold, blue ones, I slipped my hand in Beck’s. Beck could try and shrug off her disloyalty all he wanted, but he wasn’t fooling me. Reagan had hurt him. I tried not to melt as his warm hand completely enveloped mine. He squeezed once, a silent thanks.
When we took seats nearby, Doug addressed the group again, excitement flickering in his eyes. “As you know, the wedding is taking place in Costa Rica. But what you didn’t know is that we are going up there a week early. All of us. Get ready for the best fucking time of your lives.”
Victoria beamed, looking at her fiancé before turning to the rest of the group. “We are taking a week-long joint bachelor and bachelorette party.”
Beck’s hand gripped mine again, this time from shock.
“In Costa Rica?” someone shrieked excitedly.
“Hell yeah!” a deep voice bellowed.
Some of the guys high-fived, others clapped each other on the back.
Victoria’s eyes danced with laughter. “We have it all planned out. All you have to do is pack your bags.”
“And call in sick!” Doug shouted as if leading a war party. Cheering and hooting ensued.
I shot Beck a look, hoping my eyes conveyed the question shouting in my mind: What the hell have you gotten us into?
Chapter 13
“You know, there will be plenty of places to swim in Costa Rica,” Beck said as I stopped for a drink between laps. He’d been dropping hints about the trip all week. And I got it. He needed an answer: whether I’d be joining the bachelor and bachelorette party. But I didn’t have one, not yet anyway.
I downed the last dregs of coffee in my blender bottle. I planned on over-caffeinating to compensate for staying up until two forty-five after attempting to catch up on things for work. I was both still behind and tired. The idea of Victoria’s wedding being over soon would excite me if it weren’t for the fact that I absolutely loved completing those projects.
“Yeah, but if I stay here,” I replied at last. “I’ll have the lane all to myself while you’re gone.”
He frowned at my answer, and I took off for another lap, even though I hadn’t rested nearly as long as needed. I got to the end of the lane, ready to try the kick turn one more time, but I chickened out at the last minute, stopping the movement with an outstretched hand before I could slam into the wall again.
Beck and I ended our workouts at the same time, and as soon as I’d wrapped my body in the safety of my oversized, hibiscus-covered beach towel, I approached him.
“I want to help you,” I admitted.
“You do?” he asked with delighted shock.
“But I think it’s a bad idea,” I said. “The trip is a mere two weeks away. It will be a cold day in hell before Wesley lets us both off with such little notice.”
“You are going to ask first.” He’d given this some thought. “Concoct some excuse—a family emergency: Nana Beth fractured her hip, Uncle Tim has a bunion, something small but urgent. Something they can’t say no to.”
“You want me to lie?”
Beck gave me a look that said, seriously? “It wouldn’t exactly be your first time, Hailey.”
I could have stomped on his foot for that comment. “What if they ask me to prove it?”
Beck laughed. “They aren’t going to launch an FBI investigation, Lane. They are going to take your word for it. Have they ever asked you to produce so much as a doctor’s note?”
“Well . . . no.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay. But what about you? After my debacle, they aren’t going to believe you have a family emergency, too.”
“No. That’s why I’m going to tell Wesley the truth.”
I scoffed. “You think he’s going to let you off with less than a month’s notice to go on a weeklong bachelor party?”
Beck didn’t seem at all phased by my lack of faith. “He will. Wesley likes me.” He frowned. “Or he likes the idea of me at least, an Atteridge.”
