Bean gets to her feet, dragging me with her, and hugs me tight. “I’m going to go crash in one of the other bedrooms in here if you two don’t mind. In a few hours, we’ll get up, drink a shit ton of coffee, and make plans for two different vacation adventures. Just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You won’t elope without me there. Screw everyone else, but I’m not being left out.”
“You’re adorably goofy. Go to bed. Wake me up whenever.”
I turn but she stops me. “Thanks for being my best friend. And the best kind of best friend. Today…or I guess yesterday…could have been a million times worse than it was. And I know it wasn’t just you that made it better, but like always, you took charge and made this day your bitch.” Her serious face morphs into a humored smirk. “No wonder you got the job as Dad’s secretary and he fell madly in love with you.”
I roll my eyes. “My official title is Personal Assistant, and I’m fucking amazing at my job. Now, to bed with you, or I’m going to spend my morning findingyoua job on a cruise ship.” I walk toward the closed door of the bedroom where Alex is waiting for me.
She laughs. “I love you, you asshole. Though I’m disappointed that you put on your own clothes instead of one of Dad’s shirts for this talk.”
“Love you too, Beanie Weanie.”
My smirk over my shoulder makes her narrow her eyes, and then they go wide.
“I knew it was you! Henry and Raerae won’t stop calling me that! Damn you, Minnie!”
“It’s been hilarious, but it was actually Haven that started it.” I open the door, turn and blow her a kiss, then close it behind me. I climb into bed and curl up on my side next to Alex, my head on his chest. He pulls me close, and we’re both asleep again in minutes.
In the morning,we make our way down to the coffee bar and then the dining room.
No longer fighting our feelings or hiding our relationship, Alex sits close to me and can’t seem to stop touching me in one way or another. Not that I mind in the least. His arm is around the back of my chair, and he’s running his hand up and down my arm softly.
Bean’s off on another tangent, this time about how she never wanted to go to Cancun in the first place. We’ve let her bitch about whatever she’s needed to.
My dad sits down at the empty chair across from me and smiles at Bean. “Hey, sweetheart. I was thinking of asking your dad here to join me for a round of golf if that’s okay with you.”
“Oh god, he’d probably enjoy that a lot more than hearing me complain all day, and then I won’t feel bad when I drag Minnie back to the spa.” She tilts her head thoughtfully. “Actually, I want to go to the nail salon and get rid of the wedding nails. Then maybe the spa.”
“Whatever you want, BW.”
She glares at my shortened form of Beanie Weanie. “I’m going to get some bling on my middle fingers so you never miss it when I flip you off, MM.”
Dad looks at Alex and shakes his head with a grin. “I can’t even understand them sometimes anymore. It’s like when they were ten and made up their own language.”
I choke on my coffee laughing. It started as a way to swear without the adults knowing, and we had an entire notebook full of fake words by the end of the school year. Neither of us remembers much of it anymore, but our versions of ‘fuck’, ‘shit’, and ‘suck it’ are ingrained into both our memories.
Alex’s green eyes sparkle as he looks at us. “A whole secret language, huh?”
“Oh yeah. I think I still have the notebook somewhere.” Bean grins back at him. “But anyway, please go, Dad. You’ll have a better time with Barry than you will with us unless you’ve suddenly discovered a love of manicures.”
“Pretty sure I’d choose almost anything over a manicure.” He turns to my dad. “What time are we hitting the course?”
“Half an hour. Your dad is already out there, trying to teach your mom how to play. Grant and that boy who better not break Haven’s heart so I don’t have to murder him are teeing off with us.”
“Dax, Dad. His name is Dax, and something tells me we don’t need to worry about that,” I say.
“And you’ll have plenty of help hiding the body if it does come to that,” Alex tells him.
“I’ll need it.”
Bean chuckles. “You two are dreaming if you think either of you will get to him before Grant does. I’m still half convinced he and Haven are really twins.”
“Lizzie, I love you, but I’m not having this conversation with you again today. They’re not secretly twins separated at birth.” Dad stands and looks at Alex. “I’ll see you in thirty minutes.”
He claps Alex’s shoulder as he walks past and grins at me. After being worried about my dad accepting our relationship, a smile takes over my face at the sight.
