up. But it did. “Heard there’s a secret Mexican restaurant on this island. Need a local to get a table. Dinner tonight? I have something I want to tell you.”
“Mexican?” Zoe did a little dance, shouldering Lacey across the lobby into the apothecary shop. “Someone’s getting the whole enchilada.”
“Stop it, Zoe,” Lacey said, but nothing could stop the smile that had started just by reading his name on her phone.
“We’ll get you all ready,” Zoe said, ignoring the order. “Clothes, hair, makeup.” She snapped her fingers as if a light bulb had gone on in her head. “And I do believe I saw a condom display in that cute little apothecary in the lobby.” She grinned, delighted. “We’ll pop right in there and pick something perfect.”
She pulled Lacey toward the shop. “Lacey needs to grab something in here,” she said to the others. “We’ll meet you up in the room, okay? And, Joss, can you throw your weight around and get my friend here an appointment for a wax? I’m thinking the whole shebang, huh?”
“Absolutely,” Jocelyn said. “How about a pedicure, too?”
“You guys.” But Lacey knew her protests were falling on deaf ears.
“What are you wearing?” Tessa asked.
“Whatever Zoe picks for me,” she said, any chance of a fight gone. Besides, she didn’t want to go home and dress for a date with Clay while David and Ashley looked on.
“Tell him yes,” Zoe prodded, pointing to the phone. “C’mon, before you find some reason not to.”
Lacy looked at the phone, typed “Sure,” and hit Send before she could do exactly that. “Done.”
“Safety first.” Zoe guided Lacey into the store, past displays of gifts and toiletries, all the way to the back. “Really, you should see the selection.”
“When I was younger, there was only one brand,” Lacey said. “Trojan.”
“In three sizes. There was Color Me Happy Large, This Will Have to Do Medium, and Oh Isn’t That Thing Cute Small. Here we go.” They arrived at the condom rack.
Lacey grabbed the first one she saw. “What’s this? A warming condom?”
“Oh, they’re nice,” Zoe said. “Thinner and they get kind of hot. I like these, too, the Pleasure Shaped.”
“Do you know all of this from firsthand experience?”
“I read a lot.” Zoe flipped the box over. “Stimulates nerve endings and heightens sensitivity. Oooh. Lovely.”
“Put that back,” Lacey said, giving a nervous glance as a couple entered the little store. “My nerve endings are stimulated enough just by being in the same room with Clay. Are you sure I need these? I think we’re jumping the—”
“Here’s Durex Tingling Pleasure with a spearmint lubricant.” She slipped the box off the wire hook. “Tasty and safe.”
“Shhh,” Lacey warned. “Just pick one. Large. No, extra large.”
Zoe gave a soft whoop of approval, flipping through some more boxes. “Oh, my God, French ticklers!” She struggled to get the box off the hook as the man separated from the woman, looking at them, then taking a few steps closer.
“Zoe, quiet.”
“These have the most amazing little nodules.” She yanked the box and suddenly the whole top row of the display popped off, hooks and all, sending a shower of condom boxes everywhere.
“Oh, shit!” Zoe shrieked a laugh, hands out, missing more than she caught.
The man kept coming toward them, so Lacey gave Zoe a nudge to start picking up the mess. As she crouched down, Zoe was laughing so hard she lost her balance and tipped onto her backside, letting out a howl as she landed in a sea of condom boxes.
She whipped one out from under her butt holding it up like a prize just as the man walked up behind her. “And the winner is… Kiss of Mint non lubricated, safe for oral—”
“Zoe.”
“—sex with a reservoir tip for heightened—”
“Zoe Tamarin?”
“—male…” The arm waving the box overhead froze, but Zoe didn’t look up. “… sensation.”
“Is that you, Zoe?”
She didn’t move. Not a single muscle so much as twitched on a woman who couldn’t do “still” with a gun to her head.
“I recognized your laugh,” he said.
Dead silent, she put her hand on the floor and started to push up. Instantly, he reached down to help her, and she wrenched her hand out of his, standing on her own.
Lacey was vaguely aware that he was tall and dark-haired, a striking figure with bold features and broad shoulders. But she didn’t do a close inspection because she was more concerned with Zoe, who seemed almost unable to face him.
Zoe, who didn’t know the meaning of shy with strangers and especially not