There it was again—that warm, shivery littlezingthat shot through her body. Maybe it was her thirties. Maybe it’s Maybelline.
“I actually need your help,” he said.
And let’s be honest. To the part of the population that was at the intersection of being an eldest daughter, Asian and an earth sign…was there anything sexier than someone asking your help?
Today, Mara learned, that the answer was no.
“It’s the wedding. There’s a floral emergency.”
“Brief me while we walk,” Mara said, throwing her tapis on. “What’s the emergency?”
NINE
Whatisn’tthe emergency?Jay almost snorted as he led Mara through the beach, past the property line of her hotel and the approximate fifteen steps to his. As it turned out, the best man could not have come at a better time.
The wedding was tomorrow, and Mon, their unofficial officiant, and his plus-one, Olivia, weren’t arriving until two hours before. A last-minute preproduction meeting for Olivia’s latest project meant the soonest they could leave Manila was tomorrow. Luna had seen Alex try on her wedding outfit and cried in a shocking bout of hysterics because she couldn’t conceive anyone being “prettier than her.” Red tide hit Aklan so half the seafood was no longer available, and neither Alex nor Tori had finished writing their vows.
All these things he could handle. Jay was a finance guy; he knew how to handle disastrous situations when someone was yelling at him from halfway across the world on two different phones. The key to managing a situation was to, one, decide if the problem was something you could fix, and two, if you couldn’t fix it, find someone to do it.
So far he’d been doing well—Mon was in charge of figuring out timings and keeping them updated if there were any changes. Ate Irene was with Luna, distracting her with a treat from Jonah’s Fruit Shake while trying to explain to her daughter that more than one person could hold the crown of “pretty.” He’d spoken to the chef and recalibrated the menu for taste testing tonight, and tasked the maid of honor, Ava, and Scott on locking their friends in their rooms until vows were written.
Things were fine. Things were under control.
But everything changed when the flowers attacked. Sorry.Arrived.
Jay instantly knew that there was only one person on this island that he could trust to help. Lucky for him, she was right there wearing a red bikini while lounging on the beach.
Logically, Jay knew that the possibility of seeing Mara Barretto in a bathing suit was pretty high considering they were on an island made for bathing. But thinking something logical was completely different from something being actually true, and Jay found that out the, uh, slightlyhardway when he saw Mara on that lounger. Slow down, boy.
It did things to him, seeing her body facing the sun, the lazy way she stretched. The suit clung to the softness of her, and he wanted to hold her, revere her curves. He wanted to wrap his body around hers, kiss the skin on her generous cleavage. Mara had looked so content lying on that lounger. He almost curled up next to her to take a nap.
Almost. Because he was a good best man. And the best of men risked the ire of women they wanted to sleep with to help brides out of a tight spot.
“I’m sorry I’m pulling you out of your vacation,” he said. At least he knew what he was doing wrong this time.
“I know you wouldn’t have done it unless it was really important,” Mara said dismissively, tightening the knot of her sarong on her waist. Jay already missed the skin her bikini had exposed, that space under her breasts, and the top of her waist, lined with stretch marks and itching for his touch. “What happened?”
“Well—” he cleared his throat “—that.”
They crossed a low line of strategically planted beach fauna to enter Shorewinds’s open air space, one that doubled as their restaurant. They were immediately greeted by the chaos of the flower company staff moving its blooms in to the venue, restaurant staff telling them they couldn’t and diners eyeing the scene unfold with the interest of old men watching construction sites in their spare time. Tension was getting thick as the oppressive beach heat only made everyone more irritable.
“Apparently the supplier got the dates confused and delivered the flowers today.” Jay spoke quickly as they rushed in to diffuse the tension. “I couldn’t get them to take it back because apparently the owner has a job in Cebu and is currently on a plane. So I—”
“Haven’t told the couple, have you,” Mara guessed, assessing the situation.
“Neither of them have finished writing their vows! And it’s not ahugeemergency yet.”
“This is pretty huge, Jay.” Mara held her hands out at the unfolding situation.
“That’s why I called the best florist I know.” He winked.
“It’s floral designer,” Mara corrected him, rolling her eyes. But it lacked any kind of heat and so he took it as affectionate. She sighed and surveyed the situation again. “But you’re right. You are so lucky I came.”
“I know I am.” He grinned at her, because what was a better inducement than charm and total honesty? It was all he had, really.
“Boss,” one of the flower guys called, apparently recognizing Jay. His eyes widened at the sight of a whole fucking arch being unloaded from the back of a small truck. “The waiters said we can’t set up.”
“Sabi ko sayo, sir, this is adining area,” the waiter said, sounding exasperated.
