A shame, really. I liked the stubble and the rough scrape of it against my skin. That realization was concerning.
Even more concerning was the sudden urge to reach up, run my hand along his jaw, and pull him down toward me. My throat tightened.
"Get up."
I blinked. "What?"
"The breakfast buffet ends in an hour."
"I'll survive."
"We paid for it," Dane pointed out.
When I continued lying there, he said, "They have eggs Benedict."
I rolled my eyes. Of course he knew what was on the menu. Though I wasn't entirely sure when he'd found the time to check.
The bed creaked as he shifted even closer, enough that I could feel the heat of him through the thin layers of clothes between us.
I pressed a hand against his chest and gave him a light shove before this turned into a problem.
"Fine."
A few minutes later, I was dragging myself toward the bathroom while Dane sipped his coffee, looking entirely unbothered by how easily that had gone his way.
The buffet turned out to be annoyingly good. I hated when Dane was right.
We carried our plates out to the hotel’s oceanfront patio and sat under one of the white umbrellas. The beach rolled out toward a calm, endless stretch of sea. For a while, it was almost easy to forget why we were here.
Then I spotted a familiar face walking along the boardwalk. Or rather, she spotted us.
A woman from the wedding party changed direction and approached our table with an easy smile. “There you two are.”
I vaguely recognized her from the welcome party, enough to return the greeting when she stopped beside us.
After a few polite exchanges, she asked, “Are you heading over for brunch later?”
I frowned. “Brunch?”
“At the house. Everyone’s gathering before the ceremony.”
“Oh.”
I hadn’t known about it, which meant I hadn’t been invited.
That made sense. Yesterday’s rehearsal dinner invitation had already felt like an exception. Today was different, though: family, the wedding party and close friends only.
“No,” I said. “We don’t have plans to.”
She nodded and lingered only a few more minutes before heading off.
Once she disappeared down the path, I let my attention drift back to my coffee.
It didn’t bother me. Spending another few hours around everyone didn’t exactly sound appealing anyway. I wasn’t going to go. I didn’t need to.
Still, something small lingered under it all. Yesterday had briefly felt like I was part of things again. Now the lines were back where they were supposed to be.
Which was fine. It was better that way.
