Главная страница | Современная зарубежная литература | Hot Mistake

Hot Mistake
Cara Lockwood
She’s willing to make a bad decision! Maid of honor Gabriela Cruz doesn’t want to ruin her best friend’s wedding cruise. And that’s all sleeping with best man Sebastian Lott will do. But Gabriela can’t resist one night with him. One night that leads to so much more…


Opposites attract for one incredible night that leads to so much more, in USA TODAY bestselling author Cara Lockwood’s latest sizzling DARE novel! Turquoise waters, white-sand beaches and starlit nights are the perfect setting for exquisite sensual pleasure...
Her best friend’s luxury wedding cruise is the perfect opportunity for a scorching-hot encounter. But Gabriela Cruz isn’t the one-night stand kind of girl—at least she didn’t used to be. Plus, she’s the maid of honor, and sleeping with the best man will only create drama.
Notorious bad boy Sebastian Lott was her high school crush and the hottest guy in school, and Gabriela was pretty sure he didn’t even know her name. But the successful lawyer is certainly noticing her now. She can’t help falling for his practiced charm and the mischievous gaze that promises exquisite pleasure...
One amazing night. Sebastian wasn’t known for sticking around longer than that—but Gabriela didn’t count on Sebastian having changed almost as much as she had. She also didn’t count on him wanting more...and more...and more. And she really didn’t count on falling for the one guy she should have avoided above all others!
Sexy. Passionate. Bold. Discover Harlequin DARE, a new line of fun, edgy and sexually explicit romances for the fearless female.
CARA LOCKWOOD is the USA TODAY bestselling author of more than eighteen books, including I Do, (But I Don’t), which was made into a Lifetime Original movie. She’s written the Bard Academy series for young adults, and has had her work translated into several languages around the world. Born and raised in Dallas, Cara now lives near Chicago, with her husband and their five children. Find out more about her at caralockwood.com (http://caralockwood.com), ‘friend’ her on Facebook, Facebook.com/authorcaralockwood (https://Facebook.com/authorcaralockwood), or follow her on Twitter, @caralockwood (https://twitter.com/caralockwood?lang=en).
Hot Mistake
Cara Lockwood


www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08706-3
HOT MISTAKE
© 2019 Cara Lockwood
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Note to Readers (#u55d8a336-a632-57c6-bd26-8526761c5cf6)
This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

Change of font size and line height
Change of background and font colours
Change of font
Change justification
Text to speech

For my husband, P.J.
Thank you for being my real-life romantic hero.
Contents
Cover (#ub9fcd86d-13bd-5118-9d77-90162a557b28)
Back Cover Text (#uafb82087-51fc-59f1-90d7-d83d85192564)
About the Author (#uf6d15647-fe3f-53db-83bc-704b228a7e39)
Title Page (#u6cb53d80-8123-5970-a15a-756fcfb76866)
Copyright (#u24ad9f77-173b-5418-b4f0-b8453f31e6d9)
Note to Readers
Dedication (#u39b66845-0aa4-53dc-b049-915af87720a2)
PROLOGUE (#u9e0e45db-e86e-5678-a298-abc04d6e1645)
CHAPTER ONE (#u26a13548-5643-5e1f-a068-baa9729c0b48)
CHAPTER TWO (#u80244abc-f777-58d1-8d57-5a650f0e3ba3)
CHAPTER THREE (#u20365260-aef5-56d5-9df3-cb84ce62e22a)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u86596b93-4263-5bed-aae0-fff6dd783037)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

PROLOGUE (#u55d8a336-a632-57c6-bd26-8526761c5cf6)
THEY TUMBLED DOWN onto the plush cushions of the poolside lounger and she found herself on top of his hard, fit body. The shock of the impact jolted all her senses at once. The cruise ship’s pool was deserted, the silver moon high above their heads. No one was around. No one could see them. All her senses came alive then, rousing needs she’d long denied. Their bodies fit together perfectly, the thin layer of clothing between them not enough to contain the heat they generated. Everything about him screamed sex: the lopsided smile, the thick muscles across his chest on display through his thin T-shirt, the barely there hint of stubble on his chin. She glanced at his hazel eyes and the way he stared at her told her everything she needed to know: he wanted her. Her heart thudded in her chest as her brain struggled to realize what her body already understood: she wanted him, too.
This was the man she’d been warned about, the man with the reputation for breaking hearts. But none of that seemed to matter now. Nothing mattered but the feel of his body beneath hers.
He waited patiently for her to make the first move. Almost challenging her as he kept still, their lips nearly touching. All she had to do was dip down to taste him. She inhaled his scent: sandalwood and something muskier, something dangerous. She wanted that smell on her, she realized. She wanted him, period. An inner voice of warning pinged in her head. Don’t do this. It’s a mistake. He’s going to use you.
Not if I use him first, she told the voice.
Oh, she liked that idea. Play the player. Take what she needed...and she would. She’d denied herself for months. She’d been good for far, far too long. What had being tight-laced gotten her? Nothing. She needed this. She needed him. She was tired of being polite. What she wanted was a bad boy, someone who was off-limits, someone who wouldn’t play nice.
Her inner wild child roared to life. She’d been held down too long beneath the prim and proper, the straight and narrow path she’d struggled to walk. Tonight she wasn’t going to be a good girl. Tonight she was going to let the bad girl out. Her real self, finally. Wild, free, a woman who knew what she wanted and took it.
She dipped down and kissed him, pressing her lips against his, tasting the caramel-sweet sourness of bourbon. But she wanted more. So much more. Her tongue flicked out, meeting his in perfect unity, as if he anticipated her every move. Every nerve ending in her body stood on end, her blood buzzing in her veins, as she tasted him, drank him in. Her hand skipped down, running the length of his fit chest, finding him even harder, even more ready than she’d imagined.
She knew he’d had plenty of women. His reputation preceded him, after all. But she knew for a fact he’d never had a woman like her before. She reached for his fly and pressed her fingers against the length of him through the fabric and he groaned. Yes, that’s it, groan for me, her inner wild child thought. Get ready for the night of your life.

CHAPTER ONE (#u55d8a336-a632-57c6-bd26-8526761c5cf6)
Four hours earlier
THE BRIDE-TO-BE SHRIEKED with laughter. One of her would-be bridesmaids accidentally dropped a margarita glass on the outer deck of the bar of the massive cruise ship. Gabriela Cruz inwardly cringed as she heard the glass shatter. Another one? She silently moaned. Seriously? She sprinted over, exchanging her glass of hardly touched wine for a dish towel. She worked to sop up the mess. Gabriela was already beginning to regret accepting the maid-of-honor gig from Lola, but how could she say no to the woman she’d known since preschool? Lola was her oldest and most loyal friend, and if she wanted to invite fifty of her closest friends and family on board the Royal Harmony for a three-day wedding extravaganza, then Gabriela could certainly babysit the bachelorette party on Deck Seven.
Felicia, the buxom blond bridesmaid who’d dropped the glass, was already on her way to the bar for another one, not bothering to help Gabriela. Figures. Felicia had been all about Felicia since high school and, Gabriela noted sourly, little had changed.
“Don’t worry about that,” Lola scolded Gabriela, gesturing for her to stand. Lola’s curly amber-colored hair was perfect—per usual. As was her outfit, a sweet, flower-printed short halter dress with platform sandals. She wore silver eyeshadow across her blue eyes, making them pop even more. Gabriela always thought Lola was like a Disney princess: hair and makeup always perfect. And she had a heart of gold.
Gabriela felt not-quite-as-adorably sexy in her sleeveless, festively printed, flowing long jumpsuit, the humid Atlantic air wrecking havoc on her long, dark waves. But then again, who was she trying to impress? These were her Miami friends. They thought she was the buttoned-up Gabriela of high school, the by-the-book, no-breaking-the-rules, no-alcohol-tolerance honors student. They had no idea about the Gabbie living in New York for the last five years and Gabriela wanted to keep it that way.
“Someone else will clean it up,” Veronica added. Of all the friends from high school, she was the most traditional. She’d married when she was twenty-four and had had two babies in four years, the last of which was only six months old. She was the mother of the group. Veronica gestured to a baby-faced busboy who was already on his way over with a mop. “See? What did I tell you? Gosh, I love cruise ships. Wish I had a staff at my house.”
“Come on,” Lola implored, grabbing Gabriela by the hand. “Have some fun, please?”
Lola caught Gabriela’s eye and grinned. This had been Lola’s harebrained idea: take her entire wedding party, and heck, her entire wedding, on board a four-day cruise to Mexico. She planned to have her bachelorette party, wedding, wedding reception and honeymoon all in one sweep. Lola deserved this happy-ever-after and Gabriela was going to do her best to give it to her.
She realized she’d lost her clipboard and glanced around the bar for it. The clipboard had all her notes for the party—the games she’d planned, the cruise-ship-sanctioned activities and, of course, the ever-important schedule. If it was one thing Gabriela hated, it was falling behind schedule. She grabbed the clipboard from a nearby table as Lola led her to the bar.
“We should calm things down a bit,” Gabriela suggested. “It’s only nine and...”
Her cautious words were drowned out by Felicia shouting, “Shots!” at the bar. Gabriela looked up to see a row of tequila shots—one for each bachelorette partygoer at the mahogany bar.
“Time for this mama to get her groove on,” Veronica joked and then headed to the bar.
“You coming?” Lola glanced at Gabriela, who hesitated. Lola shot Gabriela a sharp glance. “I know you don’t act like this in New York.”
“We’re not in New York,” Gabriela muttered. “And...you promised not to...”
“I’m not going to tell anybody what I know,” Lola said. “Not that they’d care. They might even like you more. And you know Veronica. She just had her second baby, so she’s looking to live vicariously.”
“Yeah,” Gabriela sighed as she looked at Felicia offering up her chest for a body shot for the tanned, hunky bartender. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Lola squeezed her hand. “If you want me to talk to Felicia, I will. I know she’s kind of crazy, but you know she’s been through a lot...what with her divorce...”
“Which was completely her fault.” What did she expect, sleeping with her brother-in-law?
“Yes, but...come on. We all make mistakes.” Lola gave her the wounded puppy dog look and Gabriela inwardly felt herself melting. Lola was the kindest, most generous, judgment-free friend, which was exactly why Gabriela loved her so much. It was also why she’d have to smile and put up with Felicia and her antics.
“True.” Even though Felicia seemed to make more than her share of them.
“Come on, have a shot with me,” Lola said, linking her arm through Gabriela’s and dragging her to the bar. “You’re more fun when you have tequila.”
“More dangerous, you mean,” Gabriela retorted, thinking about the last time Lola had come to visit her in New York and the trouble a few rounds of margaritas had gotten them into.
“Please?” Lola batted her thick, dark eyelashes and Gabriela knew she wouldn’t be able to tell her friend no. This was Lola’s weekend. She was marrying the man of her dreams in two days, and Gabriela’s job was to make sure everything about the cruise was perfect—even this bachelorette party.
“You know I’d do anything for you,” Gabriela said.
“Tequila!” cried Felicia and handed Lola a full-to-the-brim shot glass. Gabriela noticed Felicia didn’t bother handing her one, skipping right over her and giving one to Liv, her sister. Gabriela knew the snub was on purpose. She suspected Felicia had wanted to be the maid of honor and was put out a bit that Lola hadn’t picked her.
Gabriela helped herself to a shot and a slice of lime. Just ignore the toddler behavior, she told herself. Ignore Felicia. Do not, under any circumstances, scratch her eyes out. Not until this wedding is done, that is.
“Here’s to the bride!” cried Felicia, holding up her shot glass.
“To Lola!” the others chimed in and clinked their glasses. As Gabriela knocked hers back, the searing liquid burned down the back of her throat. She quickly quenched the fire by biting into the slice of lime. She felt the blanco tequila settle in her stomach, warming her. She was already starting to feel the tingle of a little buzz. With a little more tequila, even Felicia would be bearable.
“Now to important business,” Felicia declared, pulling down on the hem of her too-snug halter dress. “Lola, you’ve got your man meat all settled and Veronica...you’ve got yours...but the rest of us are single. We’ve got to decide dibs on groomsmen.”
“Is this really necessary?” Gabriela sighed.
“Of course it is,” Felicia snapped, annoyed. “We’ll avoid a lot of fights this way.” She gave a pointed look to Liv, her younger sister who was a lot like a mini Felicia, except with blue tinges to her blond hair.
“Well, you can have them all,” Veronica joked. “I’ve got one husband and that’s enough man to take care of for me. Lola, did I show you pictures of the she-shed he built for me? Seriously—a she-shed. From scratch.” Veronica pulled Lola to the side and began thumbing through the photos on her smartphone.
She-shed? Felicia mouthed then rolled her eyes.
“The groomsmen aren’t even here,” Gabriela pointed out. They were currently having their own stag party on Deck Ten, which was just fine by Gabriela. Handling the G Squad was enough trouble—and broken glasses.
“All the more reason to figure out who has dibs.” Felicia took a breath. “Not that you’d care about men.”
Gabriela’s phone dinged, more notifications from her Spark dating app. Sure, I don’t care about men. She almost wanted to laugh. How little you really know me.
“I want Marco’s younger brother,” Felicia declared.
Lola was so deep into Veronica’s slideshow about her she-shed that she was no longer paying attention. Ugh. Gabriela hated it when Lola wasn’t in the mix. Lola always calmed the Tyler sisters down in ways Gabriela never could.
“No way. I want him.” Liv’s lips curved down into a pout. Gabriela just stared at the two sisters, amazed. While she’d only had brothers, she couldn’t imagine why on earth two sisters would be plotting how to best divvy up the single guys on a cruise ship. Besides, how could they be thinking about hookups during Lola’s big wedding weekend? Then again, she knew the answer: the Tyler sisters thought about hookups all the time, so why would this weekend be any different? She was saddened yet not at all surprised that they’d grown so little since high school.
“What about Bill?” Felicia offered.
Gabriela still couldn’t believe they were talking about men like trading cards. This was what she didn’t miss about Miami.
“Bill is...okay,” Liv said.
“Bill is married,” Gabriela pointed out, not that it seemed to faze either Liv or Felicia. Gabriela felt like she’d dropped into the Harlot Twilight Zone.
“I’d rather have James,” Liv said, ignoring Gabriela altogether as she pushed the tray filled with empty shot glasses and signaled the bartender for another refill on her now-empty margarita.
“Or maybe we shouldn’t be planning hookups at all,” Gabriela offered, already feeling like she needed another shot of tequila to make it through the night.
“Says the woman who is allergic to fun.” Felicia rolled her eyes. “We all know you’re never hooking up with anyone, Gobstopper.” Gabriela cringed at the sound of her awful nickname from high school. She never knew how she had become Gobstopper, but the name had stuck. She hated it.
“You never do anything fun.”
Not true. Not that you need to know that.
“Come on, girls, let’s get along,” Lola pleaded just as the bartender brought a fresh round of margaritas and a new glass of malbec for Gabriela. Both Liv and Felicia instantly stopped. Gabriela inwardly sighed. She’d talked to Lola about them before, but Lola was loyal to a fault, and she had a habit of adopting strays. Once you were in her inner circle, she’d never kick you out. Her fierce loyalty inspired others, as well. Even though Gabriela didn’t like Felicia or Liv, she knew both women would take a bullet for Lola if asked. So be nice, Gabriela told herself. Don’t start anything. Don’t stoop to their level. Just let it go.
“Yeah, stop picking on her,” Veronica said, and Gabriela was happy for the defense. “We all know the lamest person here is me. I haven’t stayed up past ten o’clock in two years.”
“You have two kids under the age of four!” Lola cried.
“Exactly,” Veronica said. “And I’m literally nearly drunk from half a margarita and one shot.” She hiccupped as if for effect. Veronica stared at her new margarita. “Seriously, someone else should drink this or I will be asleep in, like, ten minutes.”
Felicia happily took it, double-fisting her drink. Gabriela frowned. Not a good idea. “Well, you know, ” Felicia added, a wicked smile crossing her face. “If I must, I’ll take Sebastian.”
Gabriela choked on her wine at the mention of Marco’s best friend and the infamous best man. Sebastian Lott was not a name she’d thought about in a long time. He’d been the hottest guy in high school, the one everybody’d had a crush on at some time or another, and also the man who’d left the most broken hearts in his wake. Sensitive, he wasn’t.
“No!” Gabriela said, gagging on her drink. “Are you insane?”
“Yeah, girl, don’t you remember summer after high school?” Liv looked as taken aback as Gabriela felt. She thought everybody knew the rules about Sebastian Lott. The man was toxic, pure and simple.
“Well, yes, I remember summer after high school. The man knew his way around a body, is all I’m saying, and that was then. What if he’s picked up new tricks since?” Felicia’s eyes glazed over at the thought as she greedily sipped at one of her margaritas.
“No. Absolutely not.” Gabriela shook her head. “It’s a bad idea.”
Felicia frowned at Gabriela. “You already spoiling my fun, Gobstopper?”
Felicia let out a sigh. “Do you think he still has that motorcycle?”
“He does, actually. A new one,” Lola said. “Saw him driving it down around South Beach the other week.”
“Okay, well, if he has the motorcycle...” Liv seemed to be suddenly okay with her sister dipping her toe back into the shark-infested Sebastian Lott waters.
“No, guys!” Gabriela needed to put her foot down. “From here on out, we need to think about Sebastian as Swipe Left.”
“Why?” Felicia grabbed her phone and pulled up Sebastian’s Instagram account. She swiped through picture after picture of a gorgeous man who seemed none too keen on wearing shirts. She stopped on one where he was astride his motorcycle, an amazing Miami sunset behind him, wearing a tight-fitting white tee and jeans that hugged his flat hips.
God, he still looked the same, Gabriela mused. Sex on a stick, that’s the only way to describe Sebastian Lott. Those smoldering eyes, that washboard stomach. Gabriela felt the little tickle at the back of her throat she used to feel in high school. She wasn’t immune to the man’s good looks. Not that Gabriela had ever told a living soul she was fond of the broad-shouldered football player with jet-black hair and hazel eyes. Scratch that, she’d only ever told one person. Some good it had done. Not that he’d ever noticed her. Sebastian would’ve never given her a second glance in high school. She’d been the awkward kid with glasses and braces, the one who’d opted to stay home from parties to study. No, definitely not hot enough, daring enough, for Sebastian Lott’s tastes.
“Oh...my.” Veronica leaned in to get a closer look.
“You cannot be serious!” Liv cried. “He’s Swipe Left!”
“He’s hot, though.” Felicia tucked a small bit of blond hair behind one ear.
“He knows it, too.” Liv rolled her eyes. “I’d rather not spend the evening talking about how great he is, thanks. Look at all those half-naked women hanging all over him in all those pictures.” She thumbed through them and Gabriela saw she was right. There was a new woman in each one. “Ugh... Gross.”
Gabriela nodded. She needed to talk some sense into Felicia. “You can’t do this. Say you hook up with him and say he says something that upsets you. Or, ignores you for the rest of the trip.”
“He does tend to do that,” Liv said. “He is Mr. One and...Done.”
“We can’t let him and his man-drama ruin Lola’s big day.” Gabriela glanced at her friend, who stared at her drink.
“Sebastian’s not that bad,” Lola offered, ever the optimist. “He’d be nice. He’s...matured. He’s actually pretty nice now, if you spend more time with him.” Also, she was going to be Team Sebastian because he was the reason she’d met her groom, Marco. The two worked together at the same law firm, and Sebastian had introduced them at a bar on South Beach. According to Lola, it had been love at first sight.
“You’re biased, Lola,” Liv said. “Sebastian might be older, but you can’t convince me a leopard can change its spots.”
Felicia seemed to consider this. “But it’s not like I want a relationship,” she said. “I just want to hit that.”
“Yeah, but why give him the satisfaction?” Gabriela offered. “Didn’t he ghost you summer after graduation? After you and he were finally going to get together...” Felicia and Sebastian had been heavily flirting with each other through all of high school, with Felicia doing most of the pursuing, if Gabriela remembered right. Then, after a particularly wild party the summer after graduation the two were rumored to have made out. But after that, Sebastian had ignored her.
“That was ten years ago.” Felicia’s voice was flat. It was clearly a sore subject even all these years later. So why did she want to go back to drink from that same well? Seemed like it had disaster written all over it, and Gabriela’s one job was to make sure the wedding went smoothly. Lola didn’t need some brewing drama between Felicia and Sebastian to worry about, either.
“Well, it does sound like maybe Sebastian’s a bad choice,” Veronica said. “And we want things to go smoothly for Lola.” She leaned in and gave Lola a one-armed hug.
“Yeah,” Liv agreed, nodding, her blue-tipped blond hair rippling. She’d dyed it blue for something blue in the wedding party.
“I guess so.” Felicia shrugged. “And I like James anyway.” She glanced sideways at her sister, but thankfully Liv didn’t rise to the bait.
“Okay, so then we all agree?” Gabriela felt a little bit of relief. She raised her glass. “To none of us going near Swipe Left tonight.”
They all raised their glasses and clinked them together, and Gabriela breathed a little sigh of relief. The last thing anybody needed was for someone to hook up with Swipe Left and then have the whole wedding party sidetracked with drama.
Lola took a sip of her quickly vanishing margarita. “Seriously, though, Sebastian isn’t the same jerk from high school. You should actually have a conversation with him. See what I mean.”
Gabriela scoffed. No way was she talking to Sebastian Lott. She’d long since gotten over her girl crush on the guy. No need to revisit those painful days when she’d be frozen by her locker and he’d come bounding up to his, three down from hers, with a caravan of hangers-on following his every move.
“Oh, lord. Is that a cheese plate the bartender just put out? I freaking love cheese,” Veronica exclaimed, glancing at the small snack nook near the end of the bar. “Lola, come on, honey, let’s go get fortified. Come with me, I can’t be the only one pigging out. Did I mention I love cruises? Seriously. Love them!”
“You know she’s getting married in two days,” Gabriela felt the need to point out. The last thing she was probably thinking about was consuming dairy fat.
“All the more reason for her to keep up her strength.” Veronica tugged Lola off her bar stool and the two snuck over to see about the cheese bar.
“I’ll be right back,” Lola promised, leaving Gabriela with her least favorite people at the bachelorette party. Gabriela would’ve headed over, as well, but Liv grabbed her arm.
“You’re right about Swipe Left,” she said. “Thanks for reminding us.”
Felicia even reluctantly nodded.
Gabriela felt perhaps a temporary truce might have been struck.
“Okay, I get it. I get it. No Swipe Left.” Felicia shrugged, adjusting her strapless bra. The top of a tattoo at her neckline became visible for the briefest of seconds and then disappeared behind the spandex fabric. Gabriela thought she saw the head of a running stick figure. Really, Felicia? She’d just started running 5Ks a few months ago and now she suddenly got herself tattooed?
“The worst part is that I heard he’s seriously hung,” Felicia said.
Gabriela seriously did not want to know this information. She really didn’t. Why were they still talking?
Felicia, however, could not read a room. “One girl told me she didn’t even know they came that big. Like an actual eggplant,” she whispered.
“Guess that’s where the emoji came from,” Liv said and barked a laugh.
“Do I really need to know this?” Gabriela protested.
“Yes, Liv, consider poor Gobstopper. You know she hates being explicit,” Felicia teased and the two sisters burst into laughter at Gabriela’s expense.
Gabriela was half tempted to confess a few of her exploits in New York. But she wouldn’t. Not to these gossips. She mentioned word one and then the whole ship would know about her sexual exploits.
“Ugh, all this talk about cock makes me want some,” Felicia declared, slamming her margarita glass on the bar as some of it sloshed over the rim.
Classy. Gabriela sipped at her malbec, wishing this night would come to an end.
“What are we going to do about this lame-ass party?” Liv moaned. “I’m bored.”
Lame? This party was not lame, and Gabriela had a clipboard to prove it. A clipboard full of activities. Granted, they’d only gotten through the shots part so far, but they were warming up to the rest, like Friend-ivia. Trivia all about the roots of Lola’s friendship with each bridesmaid. Gabriela had read about it online.
“We could play a trivia game. I made up one just for Lola,” Gabriela began, searching for her clipboard. She had all the questions mapped out and party prizes for bridesmaids who got the right answer.
“Trivia? No way.” Felicia frowned. Then she seemed to get inspired. “I know! Why don’t we go crash the bachelor party?”
Liv squealed in delight, clapping her hands together. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Oh, no, no...no! Gabriela couldn’t think of a worse idea. For one, they were supposed to have separate parties, and she’d made sure through a detailed schedule on her clipboard that they’d all be headed to different bars at different times to avoid crossing paths. Now Felicia was going to ditch all her hard work!
“No, we can’t,” Gabriela said. “We promised we’d stay in separate bars.”
“Who promised? I didn’t promise.” Felicia smirked at Gabriela.
Gabriela thought the idea had disaster written all over it. “Seriously. What if they’ve got strippers there?”
“On a cruise ship?” Liv looked doubtful. “Besides, I bet Lola wants to go. Lola!” Liv raised her voice.
Lola turned after having a bite of cheese. Veronica was already stacking her plate high with tiny cubes.
“Do you want to go crash the boys’ party?”
Felicia skipped over and Lola’s face lit up. Pretty soon, the two were jumping up and down and squealing in delight.
“Of course she does!” Felicia called as she tucked her arm through Lola’s and led her out of the bar.
“But I don’t think...” Gabriela protested one last time.
“What the bride wants, the bride gets,” Liv said and pushed past Gabriela on her way to the cruise ship elevators.
Gabriela shook her head. She had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.

CHAPTER TWO (#u55d8a336-a632-57c6-bd26-8526761c5cf6)
UP ON DECK TEN, Sebastian was desperately trying to liven up what he could only call the world’s tamest bachelor party. They’d taken over the small whiskey bar on Deck Ten, with the ornate, old-fashioned, carved wooden wraparound bar, and had staked out the corner table surrounded by oversize leather chairs. The men sat in a semicircle: the groom, Marco; his brother, James; and Marco’s cousin Bill, who were about as lively as a stick in the eye. The only lively attendee so far was Lola’s brother, Theo, whom Sebastian had known since first grade.
So far, the men had only barely sipped at their expensive whiskeys and the most exciting conversation revolved around who took which expressway to work every morning. Boring.
Sebastian had to think of something to put this party back on track and fast. He was determined to make this bachelor party the very best party of a lifetime. If his best friend was saying goodbye to singlehood, something Sebastian himself thought was darn near close to social suicide, then he was determined to send him off with a bang. First, he needed to get these guys to drink.
Sebastian raised his glass high for a toast. “To you, Marco. Tonight is almost your last night—technically—as a single man. You crazy fool!” The others laughed a bit, but he continued. “I know that Lola is going to make you a very happy man. And no one deserves it more than you.”
Sebastian meant every word. He’d known Marco since law school, where the two happened to sit next to each other in Constitutional Law. But their friendship had deepened when Marco had helped him bury his mother after she lost her battle with liver cancer. That was a sorrowful memory, but Sebastian would always be grateful to Marco for being there.
“Hear, hear,” James echoed.
“Let’s get this party started,” cried Theo.
They all clinked glasses and took a swig. “By the way, when is it going to be your turn, Sebastian? Isn’t this the fifth wedding this year you’ve gone to?” Marco asked.
“The answer is never,” Theo interrupted. “This guy? He’s not the settling-down type.”
“That’s not true,” scoffed Sebastian. And lately he’d been thinking more and more about settling down. Sure, marriage sounded like pure insanity to him: one woman for the rest of his life? What was he, dead inside? Or he would be if he ever put on a ring. But, lately, he was thinking more about a woman who might be able to keep his interest for more than a week or month at a time. Lately, his parade of partners on the dating hookup app Spark was all about the quick physical connection. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d had a decent conversation with one of them. Then again, that’s not why they came over to his house at midnight, either.
“You like to play the field, huh?” Bill leaned forward and grinned, his wedding band catching the meager light. “Tell me about it.”
Bill was the last person Sebastian wanted to confide in.
“He was the first guy with a dating app account in law school,” Marco agreed. “He cleaned up.”
“He’s got game.” Theo grinned and elbowed Sebastian hard. Sebastian mustered up a weak smile. Sure, he had to admit, it was fun hooking up with random women who weren’t looking for commitment, but these days, he wanted to take a girl out for once, maybe even learn a single detail about her other than what position she liked best. Maybe he was getting old, or maybe he was just tired of the revolving door of his own bedroom. He wanted something more. Marco had showed him exactly what he wanted, actually—real companionship. Someone to talk to. Someone to care for him when he was sick. Somebody who’d just care about him period after the fury of the one-night stand wore off.
“Yeah, but I’m not into that now.” Sebastian shrugged and stared at his glass of whiskey.
“You want to get married?” Theo asked, shocked.
“Hey, I don’t know. Maybe.” What was he saying? Was he really ready to shelve his riding spurs for life? Strap himself to one woman for all time? He didn’t know. All he did know was that for the very first time in his life, he’d actually consider the possibility.
“Oh, please.” Marco didn’t believe him. Of course, Sebastian didn’t blame him. Why would a player suddenly have a change of heart? Because the player was almost thirty, that’s why, and realized that he’d built a life and had no one to share it with. In fact, most of the men here were married or engaged. James and Sebastian were the only fully single partygoers. “You once dated three girls in one weekend.”
“Well, be careful,” Bill said. “You know how many STDs are out there? Some of them aren’t pretty.”
Who talked about STDs at a bachelor party? Geez.
“Sounds like you know a bit too much about that, Bill,” Sebastian joked. But when the man turned bright red, Sebastian realized that Bill might actually have had a few experiences at the local health clinic.
“You get in trouble, Bill?” Theo echoed.
“I’m married now,” Bill said, as if that answered anything. It didn’t.
The men all stared at Bill. Now they were all thinking about Bill’s issues. How had this party got so far off track? Next they’d be asking about where his rash might be.
What this party needed was a drinking game. Sebastian knew he sure needed another drink.
“How about we play a game of Never Have I Ever?” Sebastian offered.
“Yes, let’s,” Theo said, leaning forward.
“Remember first year of law school?” Marco slapped the table, causing his whiskey to slosh in his glass. Beneath their feet, the boat swayed slightly, the only indication they were out to sea. “You killed with this drinking game.”
“You binge drank in law school?” Bill shook his head in disapproval.
Sebastian glanced at the man’s pressed khakis, super-starched, pin-striped, short-sleeved, collared shirt and wingtips. Who wore wingtips on a cruise ship? Hell, who wore them to a bachelor party? Sebastian had opted for a tasteful Aloha shirt and flip-flops. They were headed to Cozumel and then to Key West. Nowhere in that itinerary did wingtips factor in.
“Hell, I binge drink now,” Sebastian joked. Or I will soon if this party doesn’t get going. “Come on, one round?”
“Let’s do it,” James said, his dark eyes lighting up a bit.
“How do we play?” Bill asked. Of course Bill wouldn’t know how. He’d probably drunk wine spritzers in college. Sebastian glanced at the wingtips again. Hell, he probably drank wine spritzers now. It would explain why he’d barely touched his whiskey on the rocks.
“Everyone takes turns declaring ‘never have I ever’ something. If it’s true for you, you drink. If not, you don’t drink. Those aren’t the regular rules, but it’s more fun this way.”
“Sounds a little silly,” said Bill.
“Let’s just try it.” Sebastian raised his glass. “I’ll go first.”
“But never is such a strong word. I mean, does this include all future acts, as well?” Bill asked, clearly overly concerned about the legalities of a drinking game. “Also, what if a participant lies? How will we know?”
Sebastian stared at the man wearing Argyle socks in the tropics. God, if there was a vampire of fun, Bill would be it. Did the guy have to be so literal? Theo frowned and shook his head, as well. At least Theo got it. The two men exchanged a what’s-with-this-dude look. He guessed it just went to prove you didn’t choose family.
“Well, nobody’s taking an oath to tell the truth, so the only way we’ll know if you’re lying is if we just call you on it,” Marco explained.
“Fine.” Bill shook his head in disgust.
“Let’s just play. Here.” Sebastian put down his drink. “Okay, never have I ever...” He tried to think of something fun. “Never have I ever run down the French Quarter naked.”
The other men laughed. Sebastian lifted his whiskey and took a deep drink. He noticed Marco and James did the same, while Bill barely sipped at his. This was going to be one hell of a looong night at this rate. Sebastian bowed his head.
“Okay, okay, I have one.” Theo raised his glass. “Never have I ever gone more than six months as an adult without sex.”
Theo tipped his glass back. James and Sebastian both drank, but Bill failed to lift his glass.
“Are you serious?” Theo glanced at Marco, surprised.
Both Marco and Bill shrugged. “Hey, anyone can have a drought,” Marco said.
“Well, I haven’t had sex with my wife since the first year I got married,” Bill admitted. Sebastian’s mouth fell open. “Just telling you, bud, things change when you get married.”
“No, they don’t.” Sebastian wanted to derail this conversation pronto. While marriage might kill a man’s sex life, the last thing he wanted was for Marco to start thinking matrimony meant never having sex again. “Lola isn’t like that. She’s mad for you. I don’t think you’ll be like...” Wingtip Bill, who seems to be walking birth control.
“Sebastian defending marriage? Never thought I’d see the day. What? You’ll be getting married next!” Theo exclaimed.
“If I find my person, you bet I will.” Sebastian was surprised by his own forcefulness. Since when was he so open to the idea of marriage? Or was he just playing the part for Marco? Keeping the man’s spirits up? Hey, I’m just walking the man to the guillotine here, trying to remind him things don’t look so bad.
“Really? And how are you going to find your person sleeping with everyone?” James asked.
Sebastian stared at his glass and frowned. “Hey, how do I know unless I try them all?” The other men at the table chuckled at the joke.
“If you’re really serious about this,” Marco said, “you’ll get serious about dating.”
Was Sebastian serious? He could be, he reasoned.
“There’s no way this conversation is even happening,” Theo said, shaking his head. “Come on, get serious. I’ve had longer relationships with yogurt in my fridge than this guy’s had his whole life.”
“Not true.” Sebastian was getting a bit defensive. “Besides, what does that have to do with finding the one?”
“You can’t find Mrs. Right if your bed is crowded with Ms. Right Nows,” Marco pointed out. “I’d been hookup free for a full month before I met Lola. It was nice not to have all that other noise when we started dating. I didn’t have to keep my phone away from her or worry about awkward run-ins with dating-app hookups.”
“You’re going to ask Sebastian to be celibate for a whole month? Not possible.” Theo shook his head so vigorously, he sloshed a little whiskey out of his glass. “Heck, even a week would be too much. Or weekend!”
“I could be celibate for a weekend,” Sebastian protested. Of course, come to think of it, he hadn’t been celibate for a whole weekend in a long, long time. But so what? He could do it anytime he wanted. All he had to do was shut off his Spark profile. “I’ll bet I can be celibate this entire cruise.”
Marco and Theo laughed. “We’re stuck on a boat, so that feels like cheating.”
“Stuck on a boat with thousands of attractive women. Uh-huh. Not exactly so easy,” Theo offered.
“Look, I’m not a sex addict,” Sebastian maintained, wondering why on earth he had to defend himself for getting some often and just the way he liked. “But what do I get if I do it? What’s the wager?”
“Bragging rights?” Marco offered.
“Why would I brag about not getting any?” Sebastian joked. Somehow he’d dropped out of this reality and into a dimension where men had seemingly lost all their hunting instincts.
“Fine, then, a nice bottle of bourbon,” Marco said.
“Hardly enough for a weekend of blue balls,” Sebastian said.
“What? You not man enough to take it?” Theo nudged Sebastian with a sharp elbow.
“Oh, I’ll show you what kind of man I am.” Sebastian flashed a wicked smile. “Give me five minutes alone.”
Theo laughed. “I don’t need my ass kicked today, thanks very much. You win.”
Marco raised his glass. “To Sebastian, and his vow of weekend celibacy.”
“We’re seriously going to toast celibacy at a bachelor party?” Theo asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Besides, he’s never going to last the weekend.”
“I could last the weekend,” Bill offered.
“Your wife isn’t even here, Bill,” James pointed out.
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Okay, you nut jobs. Here’s to celibacy.” He lifted his glass reluctantly as he glanced around the table.
“Your celibacy, not mine,” Marco joked, and the men laughed and clinked glasses.
Just then a shrill cackle of voices hit them like a wall of noise. Sebastian turned in time to see their man cave whiskey bar being invaded by...bridesmaids...and the bride.
What the...?
“Baby!” cried Lola as she ran into Marco’s open arms. “Is it okay that we dropped in?”
“Is it okay? It’s more than okay,” Marco said and clearly meant it. He swept her up and gave her a fierce kiss, worthy of a chick flick. Lola gave the kiss her all, as well, wrapping her finely manicured hands in his thick, brown hair. Sebastian felt a twinge of envy then. Their love was the real deal. Anyone could see that.
Sebastian glanced at the bridesmaids, the first time he’d seen them since boarding the ship that afternoon, and recognized Felicia, who’d seemed to have had a rough ten years since high school. Why did she look ten years older than the rest of them? Somehow she’d etched crow’s feet into her crow’s feet. Her sister, Liv, looked exactly the same, except for the blue streaks in her hair.
Felicia and Liv saw him and frowned. It looked like they weren’t going to let bygones be bygones. This was going to be awkward. Granted, he’d not exactly been the most sensitive guy in high school, but then what guy was at sixteen? Of course, this would make his vow of weekend celibacy that much easier to keep. They beelined for James, Marco’s brother, practically ignoring Sebastian. He supposed he deserved that.
Veronica came in next and gave him a happy little wave. Well, at least there was Veronica. She was nice to everyone. It was a good thing, because Sebastian knew he would have his hands full this weekend. He’d known coming back to his hometown would mean swimming with his exes, who were more unpredictable than sharks. But he’d do anything for Marco. His best friend. Hell, he’d introduced him to Lola, and watched as the two had fallen madly in love. Marco deserved that kind of happily-ever-after, though.
He glanced up and saw a striking woman in a flowing, halter-top jumpsuit. Who was this beauty? She looked vaguely familiar and yet he couldn’t quite place the face. Was this a new friend? Somehow outside the high school circle? No...wait a minute. Wait a damn minute. That’s...Gabriela Cruz. He was sure of it. She was the only other bridesmaid it could be. Yet...how?
He racked his brain. Gabriela Cruz, the shy, nerdy and very smart salutatorian at their school. She’d always gotten As, always known all the answers. But he never, ever, remembered her having a body like that. The flowy jumpsuit hinted at her ample curves and the halter top seemed to be holding itself up. Her skin was amazing, too, and those dark, smoky eyes. Oh, mama. He’d remembered a wiry girl with braces. But she was all grown up now.
Sebastian finished his drink, put it down on the table and stood. Looked like they had some catching up to do.

CHAPTER THREE (#u55d8a336-a632-57c6-bd26-8526761c5cf6)
GABRIELA TRIED NOT to panic. Sebastian Lott was coming her way. Surely that was a mistake. No way the golden boy of high school with those amazing hazel eyes meant to pay her any attention.
Stay calm, Gabriela. She held her clipboard like a shield. Just stay still and he’ll pass on by, just like he did in high school.
“Hello.” Sebastian almost sounded tentative. She glanced up so quickly she almost gave herself whiplash. His hazel, not quite green, not quite blue eyes, focused on her. Gabriela froze for a nanosecond, feeling like the awkward girl of high school burdened with glasses and braces her sophomore year, the one boys like Sebastian Lott looked right through. Except he wasn’t looking through her this time. He was looking right at her. Intently. On purpose.
“Uh...hi.” She smiled, feeling the awkwardness bubbling up in her. Why did the man look so good? The ten years since high school had been very kind to him. He’d always been striking, but now he was even more...manly somehow. More grown-up. The just barely there hint of stubble on his squared-off chin made her want to put her hands on his face. Feel the roughness beneath her fingers.
Snap out of it, Gabriela. Geez. This isn’t high school. You’re not boy crazy. This is Sebastian Lott. The last guy on earth you should even consider touching.
“Gabriela...right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“You look good enough to eat. I just wanted to tell you that.”
“R-really?” Her reply came out as a squeak. Was Sebastian Lott, the guy who’d never given her a second glance in high school, calling her gorgeous?
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She hesitated. She was still clutching her clipboard, still hoping she could convince the other bridesmaids to leave. “We shouldn’t be here that long. Sorry about crashing the bachelor party. I tried to convince them...”
“Don’t worry about it.” Sebastian smiled, a gleaming, white, toothpaste-ad-ready smile, and Gabriela felt her insides melt a little. The charisma was real. She could feel his charm washing over her in waves. No wonder so many women fell for Lott. All you had to do was get lost in those warm hazel eyes, that deep baritone voice. Stop it, Gabbie. He’s trouble and you know it. Hadn’t she just convinced Felicia to avoid him?
“I’m glad you’re here,” he murmured.
She felt the words in her toes. Sebastian Lott was glad to see her. Her heart sped up a little. Could it be that maybe she’d been wrong all these years she’d assumed Lott thought she was invisible? Could it be possible that even during her awkward high school days of glasses and braces, that somehow he’d seen her? All those years she thought her school-girl crush was unrequited, could it be that he had feelings for her, too? But why would she care? He was toxic, she reminded herself again. Completely and utterly toxic.
“Uh...” Gabriela felt all her college vocabulary leave her head. She was a successful CPA, but now she felt like a stammering, no-social-skills teenager all over again. She inwardly shook herself. Come on, she wasn’t an awkward teenager anymore. She was a successful woman who had men pinging her dating app every weekend. Sometimes more than once. So what if her first serious crush of all time was finally, after a decade, paying attention to her? She could handle this.
“Let me buy you a drink.” Sebastian waved to the bartender, who nodded as he finished the round of drinks he was pouring for Felicia and Liv. “What does the lady want?”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows, his attention like a beam of warm sunshine. Suddenly, Gabriela felt hot. Sweat broke out on the small of her back. What was wrong with her? He was just a man and yet she felt so flustered, he might as well have been a celebrity. Then again, she reminded herself, he was a celebrity at Culver High.
“Vodka soda,” she managed to say.
He nodded swiftly and proceeded to order her cocktail with the most expensive vodka offered on the menu. He ordered himself a whiskey on the rocks. As the bartender put the two drinks down in front of them, Gabriela glanced up to find Felicia staring at them, frowning. She’d noticed Sebastian paying her attention.
“So, what are you doing with a clipboard at a party?” Sebastian nodded at it, resting on the bar.
“I just like to be organized,” Gabriela said. “Someone has to keep the party on track.”
“Not too spontaneous, are you?” Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Let me guess. You sort your underwear drawer by color?”
Gabriela felt heat rise in her cheeks. Actually, as it turned out, she was exactly one of those women. Not that she’d ever let him know that.
“You are!” Sebastian laughed. “So, how about you show me that drawer sometime?” He laughed a little, to show her that he understood how cheesy that line was. That was the charm of Sebastian Lott. He was an unapologetic player, but he also knew it.
“You think I’m going to invite you over to look at my underwear drawer?”
“I was hoping you’d model some underwear for me.” He grinned.
“Has that line worked on any woman ever?” Gabriela cocked her head to one side, dubious.
“Not yet. But there’s always a first time.” The man’s ego and confidence were out of control and, Gabriela noted, somehow all that swagger worked. He seemed to know his lines were cheesy but he didn’t care. That was the amazing part. But then again, Gabriela was sure the man could pick up a woman reading a Chinese take-out menu.
Felicia and Liv had sidled over to their side of the bar. “What are you doing, Lott?” Felicia barked, not even bothering to hide her derision.
“It’s nice to see you, too, Felicia,” Sebastian said, barely giving Felicia a glance before focusing his attention right back on Gabriela. “If you must know, I’m having a drink with a beautiful woman.”
Gabriela felt the tops of her ears burn. At least her hair covered them, she thought. Beautiful...really?
“Beautiful?” scoffed Liv.
“You can’t be serious,” Felicia said.
Now it was Gabriela’s turn to be offended. She might have been awkward in high school, but she’d grown into her forehead, and had long since had the braces off. She knew she wasn’t a runway model, but she felt she could hold her own. The guys in New York weren’t complaining.
“Jealous?” Sebastian asked Felicia, whose mouth fell open.
“Me? No way. She can have you.”
“Well, Felicia, that’s indeed her decision to make. So, if you’ll excuse us,” Sebastian said.
Gabriela felt a creeping unease. This was not the way to avoid drama at Lola’s wedding. Gabriela knew Felicia still had a thing for Sebastian and the very last thing she wanted to do was to create some kind of oddball love triangle. I’m not interested, she told herself even as she caught a glance at his strong, bare forearm. He’s toxic, remember? Keep it together, Gabriela.
“Excuse you?” Felicia’s mouth dropped open.
“Actually, no, I...” Gabriela was going to come up with an excuse, something to get her out of Felicia’s line of fire. Seriously, I am not trying to make you jealous.
“Why don’t you just butt out, Felicia? Gabbie and I are talking here.”
Gabbie? Nobody except her New York friends called her Gabbie. Did he know one of them?
“Why’d you call me that?” she asked, suddenly suspicious.
“I think the name fits.” He smiled. Wow, but he was a whole hell of a lot nicer than she remembered. Was he always this nice? Or was he just this nice to her because she was the only available single person here who didn’t outwardly hate him?
“Why are you being nice to her?” Felicia asked.
Gabriela wanted to ask the same thing.
“Why not be nice?”
God, the man was just all sex. Everything he said sounded like an innuendo somehow. Gabriela felt her pulse tick up a notch. Was it getting hot in here? She fanned her face.
“Why not? This is why.” Felicia grabbed her phone. “I’ve got access to the yearbook online. Let me pull up her picture...”
“No!” Gabriela shouted, louder than she intended. “Felicia, don’t do that.” She lunged for the phone, but Felicia skipped out of her way. The last thing Gabriela needed was for her to dredge up her horrible high school yearbook photo. One eye was half-closed and she was wearing a full set of braces. When would Felicia finally stop sabotaging her? Seemed like the answer was never. “Felicia, don’t show him—”
“Here it is!” Felicia cried, triumphant, holding up her phone for Sebastian to see. He glanced at the picture and then at Gabriela, who could feel her face burning. He studied the photo a bit, but said nothing. He didn’t point and laugh. Didn’t tell her how ugly she’d been ten years ago, either. For that, she was grateful.
“Look at her!” Felicia said, tapping her phone. “That hair! Those braces.”
“I wasn’t that bad,” Gabriela protested. She knew she’d been nothing special in high school, but now it was a point of pride. She hadn’t been an ogre in high school. Sure, she was more manicured now, more put together, and she wore makeup now and she’d learned how to wax her eyebrows, but still.
“I think you’re kind of dorky adorable, actually. Look at those pretty brown eyes.” He seemed entirely serious. Could he be?
“Are you kidding me?” Felicia looked like she might explode at any moment. Not good.
“She’s got a great smile,” he added.
“The braces?” Felicia barked.
“The dimples,” he corrected.
Felicia let out an exasperated-sounding sigh.
Rival feelings fought in her heart. Gabriela was glad Sebastian had finally noticed her yet felt ashamed for liking the attention. Why did she care? Why did she want him to notice her at all? Hadn’t she felt at some level him ignoring her was a blessing in disguise?
He grinned at her now, eyes almost teasing and she felt her brain buzz with the attention. Don’t get sucked in by the nice-guy routine. You get close enough, he bites. You know he does. She had a flash of a memory, a mortifying memory, standing by his locker.
“Well, thanks? I think?” Gabriela snuck a look at Felicia, who stewed in her jealousy. Not ideal. She felt color rush to her face and turned away, looking for Lola. Best thing to do was leave, and let Felicia have Sebastian. Lola was sitting in a tiny booth with Marco across the room. She’d have to go break up the lovebirds.
“Gabriela, wait.” Sebastian reached out and touched her arm. His hand felt warm there. “Where are you going?”
“Let her go,” Felicia demanded. “We’ll have more fun without her.”
She and Liv cackled with laughter then. Gabriela thought she was long done with getting kicked around by them, but part of her felt like that awkward fourteen-year-old again.
Gabriela put down her drink and snatched her clipboard off the bar. She walked to Lola, even as behind her, Felicia and Liv closed the gap, pinning Sebastian against the bar. Good, she thought. Less for her to have to deal with.
Lola saw her coming and a small frown line appeared between her eyebrows. “What’s wrong?” she asked, pulling her attention away from her groom-to-be.
“Nothing,” Gabriela said. “But, uh, maybe we should go? We’ve got activities.” Gabriela thumped the sheet on her clipboard.
“No! Don’t go,” Marco cried, throwing his arms around his bride in an exaggerated effort to keep her in place. “You just got here!”
“Yes, but it’s your bachelor party. We’re crashing it,” Lola pointed out.
“I want you to crash it.” Marco pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck. She giggled. “Stay longer!”
“But don’t you need a guys’ night?” Gabriela asked, hopeful. “It’s tradition, right?”
“I don’t care about tradition,” Marco said. “I want to be with my bride.” He hugged her closer and Gabriela’s heart sank. Lola sent her a minuscule shrug that said, what can I do?
“What the groom wants, the groom gets,” Sebastian said, appearing beside Gabriela.
Was he going to follow her around this party? In high school, she’d have to set herself on fire to get his attention, and now she couldn’t get rid of him. What the hell? She hugged the clipboard closer to her chest and considered her escape, eyes darting to the two exits. Could she conceivably hide in the bathroom? God, that would be prom all over again. She cringed.
“Why not ditch the clipboard?” Sebastian asked, tapping the silver clip at the top. “You taking attendance? Keeping track of tequila shots?”
“Just trying to keep organized,” Gabriela said. “How else am I going to keep the party on schedule?”
“There’s a schedule?” Sebastian laughed.
“There is a schedule and this little excursion is ruining it.” She hugged the clipboard tighter, hoping it would act as a shield against Sebastian’s knowing eyes.
“I’d say if your party had a schedule then it was already ruined.” Sebastian shook his head. “Good thing you guys came to us or this bachelorette party would be DOA.”
“Excuse me?” Anger pulsed in her veins. Was he implying she couldn’t throw a party? That she wasn’t any fun? “We were having plenty of fun without you.”
“Not as much fun as you’d have with us. Anyway, we’re staying as long as the bride and groom want us to stay. It’s their weekend, right?” Sebastian flicked a look toward the groom, who had his arm draped around Lola’s shoulders. The two looked blissfully happy, and that was what this weekend was all about.
Suddenly the lights in the bar went dark and Gabriela heard a loud shriek from Felicia. What was happening? The bartender turned up a thumping bass and, before Gabriela could blink, two men and a woman suddenly appeared: all wearing hardly any clothes. Each of them jumped on top of a separate table and began dancing.
What on earth? Who organized this? Then, in a split second, as Gabriela glanced at Sebastian with a big grin on his face, she immediately knew. This was his doing.

CHAPTER FOUR (#u55d8a336-a632-57c6-bd26-8526761c5cf6)
WELL, THIS IS A SURPRISE, Sebastian thought as he watched the two men and one woman dance together on top of three conjoined tables. Granted, he could do without the oiled-up men, but, hey, this technically wasn’t his party. He glanced over and saw the other men from the bachelor party looking stunned. He doubted Bill had ever been to a party like this in his life. Or, hell, even a strip club. He didn’t seem the adventurous type.
“That’s it, put on a show!” cried Felicia as one of the men unbuttoned his shirt. In that moment he knew she’d done this. It had Felicia written all over it: from the excessive spray tans to the sparkling Speedos the men wore. Sebastian threw back his head and laughed as Felicia jumped up on the table next to the tall, blond stripper and began dancing right next to him. He’d considered bringing in strippers, but the cruise line had balked, and he hadn’t wanted to cause trouble for Marco. Felicia, however, seemed to have somehow gotten around the rules—per usual.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Gabriela demanded at his shoulder. “Get ridof these peopleright now before we get in trouble—”
“Me? Why do you think I hired them?” Sebastian studied her. He still absolutely could not get over how gorgeous she’d become. How on earth had he missed this beauty in high school? She had the most adorable heart-shaped face and warm brown eyes. Had she always had such amazing skin? he wondered. Like toasted caramel. He had the sudden urge to run his fingers down the nape of her exposed neck. Find out if it was as soft as it looked.
“Of course you brought them here. I want you to get rid of them.”
“Look, if I had hired them, they wouldn’t be keeping their swimsuits on,” he said, nodding at the dancers. “And there’d be more women up there. Not that I have an issue with men—everyone has their thing—but my thing is not men. Also, I’m not the one groping them right now.”
He flicked a finger toward the dancers and Gabriela’s eyes widened in new understanding as she saw Felicia shimmying next to one of the shirtless men.
Gabriela let out an exhausting sounding sigh. “Felicia.”
“Exactly.” Sebastian glanced at Gabriela’s nearly empty glass. “Want another?”
“I want these strippers out of here. The cruise ship has rules.” Gabriela gripped her clipboard tighter. She was clearly still a person who hated rule breakers.
He still couldn’t believe this was Gabriela Cruz. She’d been the one at parties who was always telling them to stop drinking so much, to keep the music down. She’d been an awkward braces-wearing girl from what he remembered. Smart, too, but not on his radar in terms of a girl he wanted to date. Did that make him a bad person? No, he decided. Just shortsighted. Goodness but she had an amazing ass. When had that appeared? Had it been there all along? He barely remembered Gabriela Cruz, but if she’d looked like this in high school, he would’ve made it his business to remember.
Of course, he’d just gone and insulted her clipboard. He’d have to work doubly hard now.
But if he thought about it, Gabriela was exactly the kind of woman he’d want to settle down with: whip-smart, opinionated and not afraid to speak her mind. Not that he’d really pursue anything this trip. He did bet Marco he’d be celibate.
He glanced at Gabriela.
“I don’t think the bartender cares about the rules,” Sebastian said, nodding toward the man behind the bar who was clapping and enjoying himself. Sebastian noticed, too, that the busboys had closed the bar doors and had most likely placed a private party sign outside. Felicia had paid them all off, clearly.
“I care about the rules.”
“I seem to remember that,” Sebastian said.
“Really?” Gabriela’s dark eyes flashed with doubt. God, the flush of those perfect cheeks. He almost wanted to keep pushing her buttons.
“How could I forget you yelling at me to put pants on when we were skinny dipping in Felicia’s pool?”
“That wasn’t Felicia’s pool. That was her neighbor’spool, and I was trying to make sure nobody got arrested.” Gabriela lifted her chin in defiance.
“We weren’t arrested.”
“Because I got us out of there before the neighbors got home!” Gabriela glared at him. Felicia was now grinding against the blond dancer on top of the table. Gabriela glanced over and groaned. “I’ve got to stop this before somebody gets hurt.”
“Felicia has a pretty solid hold on the dancer, so it might be too late.” Sebastian sipped his drink and watched as Gabriela ignored him and marched up to the dancers balancing precariously on the tops of the tables.
“Felicia!” she called, clapping her hands like a middle school gym teacher. “Come on. Get down.”
Felicia ignored her, putting her hands on the man’s now-bare shoulders. He grabbed her lower back and the two of them put the dirty in dirty dancing. Sebastian had to bark a laugh. Felicia might not be the kindest woman but the girl knew how to party.
“Seriously, guys! Come on. We’re going to get kicked out.”
“Of the cruise ship?” Liv said doubtfully. “Come on. Let them dance.”
The other male dancer and the female dancer then jumped down off the table and moved over to the bride and groom. Lola’s eyes grew wide as the male dancer, whose ample chest muscles shone with a thick layer of oil, took her hand and led her around in a little waltz. The female dancer, tall and thin with strawberry-blond hair, grabbed Marco’s hand and all four of them danced together in a little circle.
Gabriela noticed the couple seemed to be having a good time, but soon enough, as the music switched to a new song, one with a slower beat, the groom and bride disengaged from the dancers and found each other once more.
That was true love, Sebastian thought. Everyone in the room could tell the couple only had eyes for one another. That’s what I want. The desire rose up in him, surprisingly strong. That’s exactly what’s missing from my life. A partner I can truly share it with. Or, hell, a woman who’d hold more than a five-minute conversation with me.
He glanced at Gabriela, who was still trying in vain to get Felicia off that table. Hell, that was not happening now that Felicia had found her spotlight. If it was one thing she hated, it was sharing attention.
Gabriela had abandoned her vodka soda on the bar, Sebastian noticed. Well, the least he could do was take it to her. Judging by the scene unfolding before them, she’d need a stiff drink and soon.
“Felicia! Get down.” Gabriela stomped her foot on the carpeted floor of the bar. Felicia was now making out with the dancer in full view of everyone. Nice touch.
“Seriously, Gab. Come on. Ignore them. Have this drink.” Sebastian tried to hand her the vodka soda she’d abandoned.
“I’m not going to let this party get so far out of hand,” she snapped.
“You mean, you’re not going to let people have fun?” Sebastian said dryly.
“Fun isn’t grinding on strangers on a tabletop.” Gabriela’s dark eyes were fire and ice all at once. He wondered if she were as passionate in the bedroom as she was about enforcing party rules. She’d probably make a hell of a dominatrix.
“It isn’t?”
“You’re impossible,” Gabriela cried, looking like she was about to pull her hair out. Sebastian wondered what her thick hair would feel like in his hands.
“And you haven’t had enough to drink.” He rattled her glass and the ice cubes clinked together.
Gabriela glanced at the drink. “Fine,” she growled and swiped it out of his hand, sloshing a bit onto the carpet. She downed it in one big gulp and slammed the glass on the countertop, unfazed.
Holy hell that was sexy.
When did she learn to drink like that? And, look, the drink wasn’t affecting her at all. Could she actually keep up with him?
He glanced up and noticed that Felicia was sticking her hands down the front of the dancer’s Speedo.
Whoa. Okay, that was off bounds. Sebastian had to admit it was getting a little hot. Probably too hot for this audience. Bill, for one, was about to have an aneurysm. His eyes were so wide they seemed about to pop out of his head. Sebastian didn’t know if he disapproved of Felicia’s antics or very much approved of her short skirt. Veronica was staring, transfixed. The entire bar swayed slightly as the ocean liner cruised through the Atlantic, the low lights flickering across Felicia’s face. Her eyes were already bloodshot. Too much tequila, Sebastian guessed.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/pages/biblio_book/?art=48663934) на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.