She smiled, briefly, and lifted her chin. “I’m glad to hear you’ve evolved since Friday.”
Unable to help himself, he laughed.
Her smile returned.
Victor felt a twist in his gut, a pull to something he didn’t want to name. “I guess you’re leaving today,” he said.
She shrugged. “I am.”
He nodded. “Justin informed me you made sure I didn’t decide to go for a late night swim.”
“It was tempting. But then I realized you wouldn’t be able to pay me if you swallowed too much water.”
“Self-preserving. Very smart of you.”
“It’s a gift.”
When the woman wasn’t tossing barbs at him, she was beautiful. Perfect lines in her face, high cheekbones . . . he couldn’t tell if her olive skin was from an ancestor or the byproduct of living in Southern California. Not anything like Corrie. Nothing like anyone he’d been attracted to before.
What was he thinking? He wasn’t attracted.
Victor shook his head and stood. “Well, I saw you sitting here and thought I’d at least say goodbye.”
She stood with him and extended her hand. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry things didn’t go as planned this weekend.”
Her fingers were long, elegant. Just like the woman. Disappointment saying goodbye was an emotion he had no business feeling. Yet there it was, like a lump in his chest.
“Are you?”
Her smile cracked. “No. But it seemed the right thing to say. I am sorry for the heartache. That’s never easy, even if it’s for the right reason.”
Victor realized he was still shaking her hand and let go.
“Goodbye, Victor. Good luck to you.”
“Goodbye, Shannon.” And because it was the appropriate thing to do once you said goodbye, Victor walked away. When he turned to take a last look, Shannon sharply moved her gaze to her coffee.
Shannon moved up the beach by half a mile and settled into one of only two second-story suites the boutique hotel offered. With the uninterrupted views of the ocean and a private patio that had its own plunge pool, this hotel was exactly what she’d envisioned while staying in Tulum for a vacation. As planned, there wasn’t one familiar face from the Brookses’ wedding party. If any of the family or guests had decided to extend their stay, they hadn’t changed hotels. Most people wouldn’t. Then again, most people didn’t plan on the nefarious actions Shannon had in mind for the rest of her stay.
She was on the balcony when she heard Avery enter the room. Shannon stood from the shady spot she’d propped herself up on to greet her friend. Avery held her welcome drink in one hand and her purse in the other.
“Eeeeek. This place is the shit,” Avery said, tossing her purse aside and offering Shannon a one-arm hug.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
The bellhop placed Avery’s bag in the room and asked if there was anything else he could assist with. Shannon tipped the man and closed the door behind him.
“Look at this room.”
It was pretty nice. A king-size bed and an additional twin was the best they could do without having separate rooms. If Shannon found a baby daddy, it would do well to have a roommate to fall back on if she needed the man to go to his own room when they were done.
“Check out the balcony.”
Avery didn’t need to be asked twice. She wandered outside and tossed her arms wide. “A private pool?”
More like an oversize hot tub, but yeah. “A great place to wash the salt water off after a day in the ocean.”
“This is fabulous.”
They talked briefly about her flight and drive from the airport. Then the conversation turned toward the nonwedding.
“. . . so I had the bartender pour him several shots of mezcal, and before you knew it, he was passed out on the bar.”
“On?”
“I took great pleasure in thinking he was hungover the next day.”
They were sitting on their balcony, enjoying the ocean breeze and shade of the palapa.
“I didn’t know you had such a merciless side.”
“Me either,” Shannon said. “I kinda like it.”
Avery grinned. “You’re either getting to an age where pretending has grown old or I’m rubbing off on you.”
“I think it’s the former. I don’t want a child of mine growing up feeling like they have to hold their emotions back all the time.”
“Like we did.”
Shannon regarded Avery. “I doubt you did a lot of holding back.”
“Yeah, I sucked at it. Still do.”
“It’s served you well.”
Avery swung her legs over the chaise and stood. “Let’s find our swimsuits and hit the