Love is Grand - Rachel Blaufeld Read online

  Even worse, I’d never mentioned meeting Cal to Rylan, or about his coming back once to secretly check up on her for his brother. It had been shortly after that heavy-hitter guy nicknamed Chewy was here, and Cal showed up at Camila’s.

  Driven over in a car from the Ritz, Cal had explained that his brother was going through some things and missed his “secret vacation lover.” Cal was here to see her from afar, so he could let his brother know she looked okay. He was staying at the Ritz, so he wasn’t seen by anyone at the Grand or suspected of stalking.

  I’d told Cal that he was kind of stalking, and we laughed.

  Then his expression turned serious. “Actually, I volunteered for the assignment so I could see you.”

  One sentence, and I was floating on a raft in a quiet part of the ocean.

  He stayed for dinner at a table for one in my section, patiently waiting for my delivery of his food and drinks all night. At the end of my shift, he insisted we have a glass of wine together.

  And that was pretty much how the next five days went, his insisting I join him at the Ritz for a drink, or at the restaurant for brunch, or for a stroll through the shops in town. Each time, I gave in. I had to scramble for someone to watch Weezie at the last minute, but I did it anyway.

  Cal didn’t ask me much about Rylan, only said he’d caught a few glimpses of her and she looked fine. It was clear she hadn’t moved on, and that was what he’d come to confirm for his brother. So, Cal decided to enjoy himself the rest of the time, and apparently that was with me.

  One thing led to another, and I spent the night with him just before he had to leave. It was the only time I’d ever spend the night at the Ritz. The more I thought about it, I realized that maybe it was the only time I ever would . . .

  Now, finally dressed and with guilt roughly the weight of an elephant weighing on me, I slipped out my front door to head over to Adam and Rylan’s, berating myself once again for accepting the mysterious package delivered to the coffee shop that day.

  Shell

  “Great, you came!”

  Rylan answered the door in a pair of cutoffs and a silky black tank. Her hair fell in waves down her back, and her feet were bare. She gave a whole new meaning to natural beauty.

  In contrast, I found myself chewing on my lower lip, wondering if I was overdressed for the occasion in a jean skirt.

  “You look fab,” Rylan said softly as she pulled me in for a hug. Spinning me back out, she stared at me. “Something’s different. Did you get a haircut?”

  I shook my head, trying to ignore the frog that had taken up residence in my throat.

  “I straightened it and then curled it,” I finally said when I realized Rylan was waiting for an answer.

  “I love it. You should do it always.” Leaning close, she whispered, “You need to date.”

  At this point, everyone knew about Ricky leaving and openly scorned his decision. Once my mom decided she was done with my moping around, she told everyone she knew what a deadbeat he was. That was Marva, never one to mince words.

  I gave Rylan a tight smile. “If it were up to my mom, I’d be walking down the aisle with one of her friends from church. She doesn’t understand that will be a while. Two years with the way Ricky ran off.”

  “There’s no rush to get married again,” Rylan said, mirroring my sentiment. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t have hot sex.” Her voice was whisper quiet beneath the music and voices floating from the other room. “You don’t have to talk about Tony with me.”

  “I’m just trying to live my life, not get in my head, you know? Be there for Weez and manage some self-care.”

  Rylan squeezed my hand. “I got you. I was alone for a long time and liked it. Eventually, you’ll find peace.”

  I nodded, trying not to blurt out that I’d already had one night of really hot sex with her boyfriend’s brother.

  “What can I get you to drink?” Rylan’s question knocked me out of my naughty reverie. Rolling her eyes, she added, “Adam has Ben behind the bar. Offered him gobs of money.”

  “Well, that way you can have fun, Ry. You deserve a night off. I know for a fact you can’t stay out of the bar area when you’re at the hotel.”

  Tugging on my arm, she guided me toward the party. “Teddi should keep her mouth shut.”

  We walked through the foyer with Rylan’s arm linked with mine until we got to the great room at the back of the house.

  Like most people who lived and worked on the island, I knew the house used to be a pricey rental for expensive bachelor parties and family vacations. Adam bought it when planning to make his grand gesture and change his whole life for Rylan.

  Now they both lived there, going back and forth to the United States for Adam’s work and seeing his family. Except, his family was here now. Standing next to Adam was his brother, Cal, who was a little shorter, his skin lighter than Adam’s olive.

  Cal was no less attractive, though. With his own fair hair trimmed and wearing a gray polo, he stood with a drink in hand while talking with Adam. All I knew was the brothers were born as triplets but had lost their sister to tragedy.

  “Hey, Shell, come on, let’s get you a drink,” Rylan said, oblivious to my foggy state.

  Now standing in front of the bar area at the back end of the house, alongside the expansive windows, open to let the salt air flow in and out, I was only aware of Cal to the right of the bar.

  “Hi, Ben,” I said to Rylan’s friend and coworker from the Grand Escape resort. He also loved Island Coffee and popped in regularly. We might have our secrets here on the island, but we all knew one another.

  “Hey, Shell, you look great.”

  As Ben greeted me, the tiny hairs on the nape of my neck stood at attention. I sensed Cal’s gaze land on me, and my body heated to what felt like two hundred degrees.

  With my cheeks burning, I cleared my throat, attempting to play it cool. “Thanks, Ben. What are you mixing up?”

  I knew Rylan, and there was no way she didn’t come up with the menu herself—including the cocktails—to be sure the concoctions and combinations were perfect.

  “Mojitos,” he said, seemingly not noticing the man staring at me from the side of us.

  I allowed myself a millisecond to glance at Cal before quickly turning back toward the bar. He’d been standing there, not even pretending to look at his brother, who was talking. Cal’s eyes were fully focused on me. I knew they’d be the color of rich caramel, warm and melty, beckoning me to dive in and get stuck.

  “Here you go.” Ben slid a drink in front of me, and I wanted to chug it.

  Instead, I took a sip, allowing the fresh lime-infused liquid to cool my throat, waiting for it to reach my belly and quench the fire raging there.

  “Oh, I have to go check on the food.” Rylan slipped away, the stacked bracelets on her arm tinkling as she hurried toward the kitchen.

  Now that we were alone, Ben leaned over the bar and lowered his voice. “You doing okay?”

  Like I said, everyone was mad at Ricky.

  I nodded. “Yeah, it’s nice to be out,” I lied. The truth was, I wanted to run back home and put on my jammies.

  “That’s good. Hey, if you ever want to hang—” Ben didn’t get the chance to finish because a deep voice interrupted.

  “Shell.” Cal said my name as if he owned it, his tone oozing with control and a hint of step the hell back directed toward Ben.

  This was crazy. Cal and I had had one awkward moment outside a jewelry store and a few days of adventuring on the island. Of course, there was the one night. The best night of my life.

  I had to bite back a smile that Cal had no idea that Ben was gay.

  “How are you?” Cal’s hand came to rest on top of mine, his palm burning through my hand on top of the bar. If Ben noticed the sexual tension, he didn’t let on. He was busy helping a few guys line up shots.

  “I’m . . . good. Yeah, good.”

  But I wasn’t good. I was a bumbling idio
t, absolutely nothing like the society woman who had sidled up next to Cal at the hotel, interrupting us when we first met.

  “You never called or texted.” His eyes bored into me, forcing me to remember what he’d said to me back then.

  You take the lead, and I will follow.

  Not meeting his intense gaze, I shrugged. “I’ve been busy. You know, with Weez and helping Dad.”

  Cal didn’t respond, and the pause floated between us. One beat, two beats, three . . . until I couldn’t take it anymore. Knowing he didn’t believe me, I began to ramble like I did when I was off-kilter.

  “It’s just not a good time for me to start something with anyone, especially a long-distance thing because I have to think about my daughter, you know, because she misses her dad.”

  Cal leaned closer, never moving his hand. Nervous, I scanned the room to see if anyone was watching us, if anyone suspected anything. I hadn’t mentioned knowing Cal to anyone.

  “You mean her deadbeat dad?” he asked.

  “Cal, don’t. You don’t know.”

  “I know enough,” he said, his tone low and pure gravel.

  Unfortunately, that growly voice did things to me I couldn’t explain. I blamed getting knocked up at nineteen and not knowing a sexy come-on from a quickie on the beach, but if I were honest, I’d admit that Cal was different. Also, he wasn’t the commitment type, no matter what he said. This I knew.

  “I know enough too,” I said quietly. “I know that this is a fun time for you, one that could leave me with a lifetime commitment.”

  “I see you’re wearing the anklet.”

  Typical Cal. After only a few days spent together, I knew he was the king of redirection. I assumed this was what made him a successful divorce attorney. He could easily steer a discussion in whatever direction he wanted.

  “We should probably separate,” I said quickly, “and go mingle.”

  His hand tightened on mine, not in a painful way, but in a no-fucking-way way. “No reason. I’ve talked to a bunch of people who I didn’t care about seeing, and now I’m seeing the one person who I wanted to see. I gotta say, it came as a surprise when Rylan said you were coming.”

  My throat felt like it was going to close. “You didn’t tell her, did you? We—”

  He shook his head. “Of course not. Neither did Adam.”

  “Oh, come on!” My voice rose to practically a shriek at the end. Quickly reining myself in, hoping no one had noticed, I said, “Adam knows? He’s not going to keep secrets from Ry.”

  “He will when he doesn’t want Rylan to know I was here spying on her.”

  Instead of giving him a useless rebuttal, I downed the rest of my mojito.

  “Want another?” Cal leaned in a bit and inhaled near my hair while asking, as if I couldn’t order my own drink. His voice even lower, he said, “You smell so fucking good.”

  Those words, meant only for me, hit me square in the chest, radiating warmth in my heart like I knew they shouldn’t be doing.

  “I’m driving later.”

  “I’ll take you.”

  I scoffed. “And what, leave my car here? No thanks.”

  “I’ll drive your car.”

  “Oh, you drive on the wrong side of the road now? Last I remember, you took a private car from the Ritz everywhere you went.”

  “I do. Well, I’m at the Grand now, thanks to Ry, but that ass did manage to set me up with a driver and car.”

  “What ass?”

  “Tony, Rylan’s bestie.” Cal huffed out a breath. “I have to be nice, my brother tells me.”

  This was getting too complicated for me. The spiderweb of our connections was weaving itself tightly, strangling me. I couldn’t decide if Cal knew Tony was pursuing me and mentioning him because of that, or if he simply didn’t know.

  Deciding to not dwell on Tony or call any more attention to him, I waved a hand in the air. “That doesn’t explain how you’ll drive my car.”

  Cal tilted his head, watching me. “Spent a semester of college in London. I can drive just fine on the wrong side of the road. Then I can call my driver to get me. Done and done.”

  “I’ll stick with water for now.”

  “Weez at home?”

  I hated how Cal shortened her name like I did. Even more, I hated how I’d allowed someone to know so much about my daughter.

  Someone who would probably never meet her.

  Cal

  “Hey, Cal,” Rylan said as she strolled into the house, all pure happiness and good vibes. “I thought I’d see you at the hotel. Didn’t they have your room ready yesterday?”

  I was sitting in their kitchen, my ass firmly planted on a stool as I drank a sparkling water, wondering why the fuck I’d come back to the island. But I knew why.

  Drawing a glass of water from the tap, Rylan continued to babble. “You could have stayed here. We have so much room, and we wouldn’t have bothered you.”

  I shrugged. “No, it wasn’t free yet, so I stayed at the Ritz. You know, houseguests are like fish, they start to smell after a day or two,” I said, not wanting to reveal the real reason for my standoffishness.

  “That doesn’t apply to siblings, especially ones that shared the same womb.”

  “I think it’s worse when siblings have shared the same womb. We want our own space, you know?”

  “Cal, you don’t have to put up those walls with me. I was an expert at it, and I promise you, it doesn’t get you anywhere good.”

  Rylan studied me, her words a dagger to my heart. My brother had come here on a vacation to get over his own demons and fell for this young woman, twelve years his junior. He’d turned his life around because of her. For her.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m not putting up walls, Ry. I’m a grown man who likes his space.”

  “Whatever. You do you.”

  “I will. That’s a promise,” I told her, yet it was more of an affirmation for myself.

  “Adam should be back soon,” Rylan said, pulling me from my deep thoughts, or about as deep as they got.

  “I know, he dropped me here. Went to get coffee beans.”

  She rolled her eyes. “The man loves his coffee, but he’s also trying to talk Sam into expanding and letting Adam front him the money. Wants Sam to sell his beans to all the hotels in the area and on other islands.”

  “You don’t say?”

  There goes my fucking brother, wading in as usual. We had a few secrets even Rylan didn’t know. Namely, I’d come to the island to have a private look at her when he’d gone back home. He wanted to make sure she hadn’t moved on, and I’d wanted to be certain that hitting on wealthy tourists wasn’t her MO.

  I might have gotten myself tangled up with a local during that time, and while Adam wasn’t happy about it, he wasn’t going to tell anyone.

  “You know Adam,” Rylan said, “always the fixer. Shell’s single now, and Sam wants her to join the family business officially rather than just working there part-time, but she won’t. Adam thinks if Sam expands, then Shell won’t be able to say no. Of course, Tony is opposed. He tolerates Adam but doesn’t like him swooping in with a solution.”

  Glancing away, I said evenly, “I don’t know anything about it.”

  Although I pretended to be indifferent to that bombshell, all the hairs on my neck stood at attention. I wasn’t sure why Adam, Tony, or any Tom, Dick, or Harry had to be involved when it came to Shell. But I wasn’t sure why.

  All I knew was that it couldn’t be me.

  I didn’t do long-term commitments, especially with single moms. My jam was beautiful women who liked me for my money and status. They knew the score, yet I couldn’t get Shell out of my goddamn head.

  I picked up my water, trying to cool my thoughts.

  “Shell’s waiting tables five or six nights a week, plus helping her dad and raising Weez. It’s too much. Freaking Ricky.”

  There was nothing worse than a deadbeat. My mom raised us triplets on her own, but she had a sizable inher
itance to keep her afloat. Shell had nothing, I knew, but of course I didn’t share this with Rylan.

  Nodding, I looked at my phone. “Look at that, my room is ready.”

  “You want me to take you, or do you want to wait for Adam?”

  Standing, I put my glass in the sink. “Do you mind?”

  Putting a big smile on her face, Rylan shook her head, probably as happy to get rid of me as I was to be leaving. “I have my Jeep. First time I’ve owned a car in . . . ever.”

  Ignoring her excitement, I wondered why I’d thought this trip was a good idea. I’d told Adam I’d slipped down to the island for some R&R, but I knew it was more about her.

  Shell.

  The one woman I didn’t need to get involved with.

  Now, as I stared at the beautiful bombshell, the rest of the room melted away.

  Legs that seemed to go on forever were barely covered by her no-name jean skirt, and nothing but a skimpy green scrap of fabric hugged her breasts. As you’d expect, I’d dreamed about those breasts on lonely nights. I’m ashamed to admit that I’d longed for them on not-so-lonely nights too.

  Yes, I was a dick of epic proportions. I had a great woman warming my bed in New York, but this woman standing in front of me, real and true, had stolen all my free thoughts.

  Shell looked at me wide-eyed when I asked about her daughter, Weezie, as if she thought I’d forgotten she even had one. Shell’s devotion to her daughter was the best part about her . . . and the worst. I had no business wading into this situation.

  “Weez at home?” I asked again.

  It was a trick question, and Shell would hate me for it. But not because I was a selfish man.

  No, I wanted to hold her and cherish her body, make her forget she was a struggling single mom for one night. I’d give her pleasure until she couldn’t take any more and collapsed in my arms with a smile. More than anything, I wanted to see if she’d known I was here, and had possibly decided to spend the night with me.