Page 151 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

This week had flown by, but at the same time, I felt like I’d been here for a month. I wanted to take Jason up on his offer to use Ethan Valentine’s secure internet and work from here the rest of the week. I pictured myself with my laptop on Valentine’s deck with that amazing view. Then I imagined myself in bed with Jason every night.

Jason poured me a frothy glass of sangria, his fingers brushing against mine, before he went back to others who were demanding his time. He was so confident, comfortable. He seemed to be a truly happy person. Because he took risks and had fun? Because he lived one day at a time? Because he didn’t worry about his retirement thirty years from now?

Could I love a man who had no thought for the future?

I froze. Love? Where had that thought come from?

Where? Maybe in bed last night when I didn’t want to let him go. Maybe this morning when I read his note that endedLove, Jason. Maybe the first night we almost kissed in the lagoon after he caught me skinny dipping.

Maybe all the romance novels were right and Jason was my destiny. The one perfect person for me.

Quickly, I slid off the stool, these emotions foreign and confusing. What if he didn’t feel the same? What if, for him, it was just a fling? A fun, sexy fling, and I’d leave, and he wouldn’t remember me in two weeks?

Stop, I told myself, but then I glanced over at him. He was looking at me with a serious expression. When he met my eyes, he blew me a kiss. My stomach fluttered. Unbidden, the song from Cinderella popped into my head.

So this is love...

I couldn’t stop staring, certain he would think I was jumping ten steps into the future if I told him. I didn’t take risks, and love was the ultimate risk.

Jason broke eye contact when Doug and David went up tothe bar. Relieved, I turned and saw Parker and Amber walk into the open room together. Both looked miserable.

I went over to them and smiled. “Hi, Amber. Glad you could make it to the party tonight. It should be fun.”

Parker scowled at me and went to the bar. Charlie went over to serve him as Jason was busy at the other end.

Amber said, “I need a drink.”

She, too, went to the bar.

I’d thought for ten seconds about giving Amber the documents I’d found folded in the pages ofThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but considering what they said, I couldn’t in good conscience keep the information to myself. I would be an accomplice to fraud, now that I knew the truth.

I sidled over to the appetizer table and made a plate, more from nerves than hunger. The truth—thetruths—would come out tonight. But I began to worry about Brie. She hadn’t called or texted me. I hoped her conversation with her dad went okay. I hoped she wasn’t upset.

Kalise walked onto the small stage where the band had set up and took the microphone.

“For our early arrivals, in ten minutes, please have a seat for a brief but joyous wedding at our beautiful Sky Bar. Then we’ll take a few moments to remove the chairs and set up the buffet for dinner.”

Where was Brie? Where were Andrew and Sherry? Had they not told Kalise the wedding was off? Had Brie not convinced her dad to dump Sherry?

I approached Kalise. “I haven’t seen the bride or groom.”

“Ms. Morrison is in the tent.” Kalise motioned to the opposite side of the space, in the direction of the hole I’d fallen in. “And Tristan is escorting Mr. Locke. Please, be seated.”

“I’m waiting for Brie,” I said.

I walked out of the main area to where the shuttle dropped people off. A minute later, I saw Tristan driving one of the shuttles with Andrew in the back. Brie wasn’t with him.

I texted her.

Where are you? Your dad is here at the Sky Bar dressed in a suit.

No response. My stomach fell, and Parker Briggs’s crime was no longer my first priority.

I walked over to Andrew as he got out of the shuttle. “Where’s Brie?” I asked.

He glared at me. “I should be asking you the same question.”

“She was going to meet you at the dock this afternoon.”