Last Name - Dr. Rebecca Sharp Page 0,27

hadn’t made a single move to disrobe.

What was it with this family and bribery?

Or was it blackmail?

“Okay.” The sound of my zipper as I undid my khakis was her ‘go’ signal.

“So, Lynn is James’ ex-girlfriend.”

My shoulder slammed into the door as her admission knocked me off-balance.

Five minutes later and I had the run-down on one more piece of my husband’s past. Suz and Lars had started dating and she’d introduced her best friend, Lynn, to her new boyfriend’s brother, James.

“In retrospect, it’s obvious that it was a mistake,” she mused as I finished adjusting myself into the one-piece, the plunging front neckline dropping daringly low on my generous chest and the decorative tie that corseted across the two halves only seemed to emphasize how my cleavage sat between them. “It just would’ve been so nice to have them dating that I wasn’t really thinking how not-perfect they were for each other.”

I stepped out from the stall and she clapped with glee. “That looks phenomenal on you!”

I glanced at the mirror and my cheeks reddened at the sight.

It was definitely the most enticing piece of clothing I’d worn since that night in Vegas. And considering that night in Vegas had ended with me married, a shiver of dread coursed up my spine wondering just where—and with whom—this afternoon would deposit me.

“I don’t even want it back,” Suz went on. “Seriously, keep it. It looks so good on you. James will—” she broke off with a chuckle.

“James will what?” I turned and demanded a touch harsher than intended.

Was she trying to set me up with James?

Was she trying to set me up with my own husband?

My eyes narrowed. Because now her wanting me here—her wanting me to participate—was starting to make a lot more sense.

“Oh, nothing.” She waved me off, fluffing her hair and checking her own appearance before she linked her arm with mine and pulled me toward the exit. “But, I do just want to warn you…” Oh God.

She huffed and shook her head. “Lynn still has this idea that James wants to be with her but that he was so traumatized from the loss of his father and taking over the business that he broke up with her without thinking.”

“Okay…” I said slowly as I reached for the door.

“So, just ignore her if she makes any comments to you.”

“Why would she make comments to me?”

Suz turned to me and blinked, wide-eyed, twice before replying. “Because obviously James is attracted to you.” She clucked like a match-making mother hen. “And Lynn can be… territorial… over things she thinks belong to her.”

Great.

I opened my mouth, more than tempted to turn back around, change, and make an unnoticed departure. But Suz had other plans.

She yanked me back outside and we beelined for the shore. “She might be fine,” she rambled on as we closed in on the wedding crowd. “It’s been a little while since they’ve seen each other, so she might be over him, like I told her she needed to be—but that’s beside the point. Anyway, I just didn’t want you to be taken off-guard.”

I bit my lip and squinted at the cluster of people. And then I saw two figures already out on the lake. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to deal with James’ reaction right away. Lars and he were already on paddleboards, goofing off out on the water.

“Thanks,” I grumbled under my breath as we joined the group and the ray of match-making sunshine disengaged from my arm to begin the multitude of introductions.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” I said with a low voice as Suz and I dragged two more boards toward the water’s edge. “I’m not coordinated. And by that, I mean I can barely stay upright when the world isn’t swaying under my feet.”

At first, I thought I’d escaped Lynn’s wrath since Suz introduced me with my job title, crediting me for today’s activity with effusive compliments. But it was when Kathleen jumped and mentioned that I worked for the hotel—the hotel James had just purchased—and how it was his brilliant idea to get me involved that her vapid hazel stare shifted threatening at me.

Lynn began to ask questions—how long had I worked there, if Kathleen and I had met before today… No matter how platonically I phrased my answers, she could tell I was hiding something. Either that, or James’ mom jumped in to offer information that made it look like there was more to James and me