Shannon saw the wisdom, and the stupidity, in Avery’s suggestion. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and Shannon?”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t wait to hear what prompted you to get drunk your first night there.”
Shannon shook her head and instantly regretted it. “By the time you get here, most of those reasons should be gone.”
Avery laughed as she hung up the phone.
With the aforementioned sunglasses covering her eyes, Shannon left her room wearing a pair of shorts, a cotton shirt, and sandals to make her way to the hotel restaurant.
She asked for a table, because sitting at the bar would make her early morning drinking look obvious. And she really didn’t want anyone from the wedding party seeing her.
The good news was the rain had vanished overnight.
The bad news was the rain had vanished overnight and the sun added to the pain in her head.
Note to self: Mezcal bad. Water good!
Her Bloody Mary arrived and she studied it for a good five minutes.
This is a stupid idea.
Best idea ever!
Stupid!!!
“It’s meant to be drank, not stared at.”
The voice came from behind her. Without looking, she knew the person it belonged to.
And that had her picking up the glass.
“I know that.”
“Mind if I sit down?”
The tomato juice, the vodka . . . maybe it was the pepper. Bad, bad, bad.
“As a matter of fact . . .”
Victor Brooks sat facing her.
“This is becoming a bad habit,” she said, ignoring the roll in her stomach.
“Oh?” He flagged the waiter down, ordered coffee. “What habit is that?” he asked once the waiter left.
“You,” she said. “Invading my air space.”
He leaned forward. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest you don’t like me very much.”
The tomato juice wasn’t that bad after the second sip.
She lowered her sunglasses long enough for him to see her peering at him with as much disapproval as she could muster with bloodshot eyes. “You’d be right.” This man brought out the worst in her.
She shivered.
“Shouldn’t you be ass kissing right now? Aren’t I the one paying you?”
She could physically feel gray hair sprouting from her roots. “Actually, Mrs. Harkin hired me.”
“But I’m covering the wedding.”
The sound of reason knocked up beside her temple, but she ignored it.
“Then fire me. I’m sure Corrie’s wedding party with their cell phones will be happy to send you their pictures.”
He leaned forward. “I can see why your ex-husband divorced you.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
There were hits . . . and then there were low hits.
“Does Corrie know you plan on rushing back to LA by Tuesday for your meeting?”
She could tell by the twitch in his eye that his fiancée had no idea.
“Don’t pretend to know a thing about me when it’s obvious I know a few things about you. I’m here for Corrie, Mr. Brooks. I’ll do my best to hide your self-centered, egotistical horns while taking the pictures. But if they pop out, don’t blame me.” She stood, leaving her drink behind, and walked away.
Let him deal with her bill.
The incidentals of her trip were supposed to be handled by the wedding party, anyway.
By eleven, room service had delivered a replacement drink and toast. Shannon felt seventy percent better, which was sixty-five percent more than she expected.
Unlike the wedding guests, her outfit for the event was about blending in and becoming invisible. In the past, that meant wearing dark clothing, often pants, since kneeling to get the right shot was easier in flexible clothing.
She’d thought ahead and bought tan cotton pants, a simple loose shirt that would breathe while she ran around in the sun, and sneakers. Although she saw herself ditching the shoes if sand getting inside of them became a thing.
Unlike the night before, the way to travel from one location to the next was along the beach.
A vast span of white sand spread for as far as the eye could see. The clear turquoise water faded into deeper shades of blue and disappeared on the horizon. It was spectacular. The gentle waves came on shore like an invitation. Speedboats rushing by or Jet Skis buzzing around didn’t interrupt the peaceful scene because that kind of activity was forbidden in the waters of Tulum. It was one of the reasons the location was ideal for beach weddings. In Cancun, where the hotels were bigger and the venues could hold hundreds of people, you had to contend with traffic on the water and more people wandering on the beach during the ceremony. Here, those things simply didn’t