Page 99 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

He left, and I closed and locked the door. Okay, that was a lot to unpack from a short conversation.Steer clear of my daughter, she’s a great kid, by the way I’m getting married.

A little weird, but he was so nice about it. Did he think I was a bad influence? A small giggle escaped me.Me, Mia Crawford, doing anything that wasn’t proper, legal, and right. I couldn’t even have a successful one-night stand.

No, he was just worried about Brie and all the bad things that could have happened to her on an island that had already coughed up one dead body.

My head hurt. Tomorrow was soon enough to make decisions.

I had five minutes to order room service before they closed the kitchen. I should have been starving, but my stomach was still twisted in knots between Gino intentionally intimidating me and Andrew Locke playing protective dad and me being trapped in a muddy hole for what seemed like hours but was only forty-two minutes. I ordered a shrimp salad and bottle of pinot grigio because there was no way I wanted to go to either of the restaurants or the bar and eat alone. Or, worse, have people ask about what had happened.

I had a voicemail on my cell phone. Tears welled as I listened to Amanda, Braden, Jane, and her fiancé singing happy birthday. They laughed at the end, and I smiled through my tears.

“Thank God you didn’t answer, or we would be on the next plane down to St. Claire!” Jane said.

“Love you, Mia!” Amanda trilled. “Take pictures! We needallthe deets.”

“Bye!” the four said in unison, and then there was silence.

A rush of complex and unexpected emotions ran through me as I stared at my phone.

I came to this island for a week of sun, sea, and sex. Everyone told me how easy it would be to find an unattached guy. Then there was Jason, who said he had plans for us tonight, who kissed like a dream, and instead of meeting him on a romantic cruise, I pursued two people because I thought they’d broken into my room and stolen my book.

Was I so insecure and unsure about my decision to let myself go wild that I intentionally sabotaged the one opportunity I had to enjoy the moment and not think about the future?

Except... I really detested people like Diana Harden who used people’s faults against them. When I first read her notes, I’d admired her boldness and observations. Now I realized she was trouble. Not that most of the people she was blackmailing were any better than she was.

Then I thought of Anja Stockton, who had made a difficultdecision but ultimately what she felt was the best decision for her and her baby. She didn’t deserve to be humiliated or blackmailed or threatened. What of the other people Diana was blackmailing? Maybe they made a mistake. Maybe there was more to their stories just like there was more to Anja’s.

Then I thought of Sherry and whether the dirt Diana had on her had driven Sherry to murder.

Did Diana deserve to die for it? Why did I even care?

I stood in the threshold of the open sliding glass doors and listened to the waves. I heard music far away at the Blue Dahlia. Distant laughter. I realized in that moment that Ididcare. I didn’t like what I knew about Diana Harden, but she didn’t deserve to be strangled. I remembered the personal notes she’d written, about being lied to and betrayed. While that might not justify her actions, it made sense that she would want to expose liars and cheats.

What secret was so dark, so dangerous, that murder was the only answer to keep it hidden?

A knock on my door made me yelp. I chastised myself. It had to be the room service I ordered. Thinking about murder had me jumpy. I closed and locked the glass doors, then went to the peephole and did a double take.

Jason.

I opened the door. “I—Jason. Hi.”

Smooth, Mia. Very smooth.

“Are you okay? I heard what happened tonight.”

He tilted my chin up and looked at me closely. The intimacy of the gesture surprised and warmed me. “You’re hurt.” He touched one of the cuts on my cheek. “Did you see the nurse? I can send her over.”

“I’m fine.” My voice squeaked as his touch was more intimate and sweet than I expected. “I’m sorry I canceled on you tonight. I’m glad you’re here.”

“I can’t stay,” he said. “I wish I could.” He seemed so concerned, like he really did care about me and what had happened.

“You have to work?”

“Tristan called a full staff meeting tonight. He wants to find out exactly how the hole was exposed and set up better safety protocols. It could have been so much worse. You’re sure you don’t need the nurse?”

“Nothing’s broken. I just feel stupid and klutzy.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”