Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Elle gripped Liddy's forearm the moment Callum and Quinn were out of sight on the pathway to the bungalow she'd be sharing with Callum. "What the hell, Liddy? Tell me everything. When did this happen with Callum? I thought you hated him."

Oh God, what did I get myself into?

Shit.

Liddy scanned her sister's wide blue eyes, considering, for the eight hundredth time, to just tell the truth and get it over with.

This was crazy, wasn't it?

Even if they tracked Sergio down, there was no guarantee they'd get the dress back—and then what? Were they supposed to blame Callum's sister?

Whatever plan Callum had, it didn't seem like a good one.

And now I'm stuck with him during this entire trip.

But Elle had burst into tears when she'd seen Liddy, something that wasn't usual for her sister. Quinn whispered how glad he'd been that Liddy was finally there because everyone else was driving Elle crazy, and that had been that. She couldn't add one more thing to Elle's plate right now.

Liddy swallowed hard. "It happened a few months ago. I thought nothing would come of it at first and now, here we are."

And he just kissed me.

She'd frozen in place when his gaze had focused on her lips, then realized if they were going to play this off, she had to consent to it.

She just hadn't expected the contact to make her heart race like that.

"I mean, he's easy on the eyes, but is he treating you the way he should? You always said he was such an ass to you. I can barely forgive the way he treated you when you first met him, so I'm not sure how you got over it. And isn't that complicated with him being your boss?"

Yeah, no, I haven't forgiven that either. "Water under the bridge," Liddy said, pushing away the memory of that kiss. "But yes, the work thing is . . . complex. Which is why we haven't told anyone."

Elle looked torn. "Are you sure about this? I like Callum. He can be really charming when he wants. But Quinn also told me some stuff about his reputation with women, and I'm not sure he's the sort of guy I trust with my sister."

Ugh. This is going to be harder than I thought. Clearly, Elle's excited reaction in the office had been fabricated, probably because she'd been in front of Callum and his mother.

Liddy had one easy way to settle Elle's mind somewhat, but it felt so deceptive and gross. She turned toward Elle and squeezed her hand. "Well, you trust your sister, right? I really like him, Elle. Please don't make a big deal out of it."

She almost shuddered saying it. Elle searched her gaze, still hesitant, then nodded. "If you're happy, then I'm happy for you, Liddy. I always am. I know you're all grown up now. I don't want you to feel like I'm questioning your choices."

Quinn and Callum had stopped at the doorway to a bungalow, right off the stone-lined path. The bungalows, which the website described as "rustic" were tidy one-story numbers made of wood. They stood in a circular formation centered on a small kidney-shaped swimming pool. Each bungalow had three more built directly behind it, about fifteen in all, and featured a hammock on the front porch.

And down another path, beyond a long stretch of tropical plants and trees, was the beautiful beach.

This hotel was cute. Rustic. Just as the website had boasted.

"So what's wrong with the place?"

"It's all just a bit . . . less than I should have done for the wedding." Elle pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "Not the luxury my in-laws are accustomed to. The included breakfasts are tortillas, fruit, and this rice, bean, and scrambled egg mixture called gallo pinto —which is admittedly delicious—but Mom and Dad have been complaining they're still hungry afterward. They have to walk into the main strip and get more food. And then the bed situation—the biggest bed I've seen is a double, including mine and Quinn's in the ‘honeymoon suite.' No television or internet. Cell service is spotty, and you have to go to a local café to get Wi-Fi. And when I talked to Callum's mom, she said it's designed to encourage guests to spend time together."

Lydia laughed and squeezed her sister's shoulder with a side hug. "So it's a little hippie-dippie. It sounds like something you would love. Small and intimate, a chance to spend time with your closest friends and family. Which is probably why you booked it? It seems private, given how close to the main beach it is. And that's good to keep any potential paparazzi away."

"Yes." Elle sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I love it. I really didn't want to overdo anything. Just go have a simple ceremony, have dinner together on the beach. Do some dancing. But I wasn't trying to make everyone else miserable. And now I don't even have a caterer."

Liddy nestled her head against her sister's. "I'm sure we can find a local place to get food. Most of what you said sounds like a them problem, not a you problem. You just ignore their complaints. Now that I'm here, tell them they can come directly to me with every issue. Have Hunter and Taryn arrived yet? I'm sure my co-maid of honor would be willing to step in and field all parental issues."

"They arrive later this morning." Elle's best friends and business partners, who owned the music and arts studio for disabled children in Nashville with Elle, Heartbeats, would surely not put up with that nonsense. Taryn, especially.

"What about Kyle? Maybe he can take the dads out for a fishing trip or something. I hear fishing is amazing here." Their younger brother was outdoorsy. He'd jump at something like that.

"He arrives this afternoon, same as Quinn's brothers. We were thinking it might be good to have a big family dinner tomorrow. Just immediate family."

Tomorrow? Liddy grimaced. When would she and Callum need to leave to track down Sergio?

Elle put her hand on Liddy's forearm and drew her to a stop. A divot showed between her eyebrows. "When does Callum's sister arrive? She won't forget the dress, will she?"

Liddy held her breath. Elle was clearly worried about this. Maybe she should just tell her. It would be embarrassing to admit the lie, of course, but it would save her from having to share a room with Callum. And an enormous weight would be off her chest. "I think she comes in a few days. I have to double-check with Callum."

"Okay." Elle let out a slow breath. "I'm just not sure if it's going to fit as well as it did at Christmas, and I need to try it on."

Scanning her eyes, Liddy frowned. Why would it not fit?

Unless . . .

Liddy's eyes widened. "Are you pregnant?" she hissed.

Elle nodded quickly.

Oh my God.

Liddy's jaw dropped open, then she let out a muffled squeak. "Oh my God! Elle!"

I can't believe this. Elle didn't look any different. Except she's a mom now. What! I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt.

"Shhhhh," Elle said. "We haven't told Mom and Dad. Or Quinn's parents. And we don't want to tell them until after the wedding. They'll take the news better that way. And I'm only like nine weeks along."

How could her sister have kept this quiet for so long?

"Nine weeks!"

Callum and Quinn twisted their heads.

Quinn ducked his chin. He chuckled at Elle as they drew closer. "You told her, didn't you?"

"She's my sister. I had to."

Liddy's heart thudded in her chest. No wonder Elle seemed so emotional. And thank goodness I didn't tell her about the dress. Stressing out a bride was bad enough. Stressing out a pregnant woman was much, much worse.

Thank God Callum stopped her from saying anything in the car.

"Told her what?" Callum asked as he opened the door to the bungalow.

Quinn drew Elle closer to him. "It's all hush-hush still, but Elle is expecting."

Callum grinned, then offered Quinn a hearty handshake. "That's amazing. Congratulations." He hugged Elle with such genuine enthusiasm that it almost stopped Lydia short in her tracks.

Callum really seems to care about Quinn and Elle.

She gritted her teeth. She sort of hated that fact. Hated that they loved him and vice versa. But right now, it might have to be their common ground if they were going to survive this trip.

Quinn and Elle hung by the door, holding hands.

God, Elle is glowing.

Liddy pushed her discomfort to the side. She didn't want to take one ounce of happiness away from her sister right now, not if she could avoid it.

"We got married legally back home a couple of months ago because of the whole destination wedding thing, so technically this is a honeymoon baby, but in the meantime, we don't want the parents freaking out. You know, especially with Mr. Fancy Pants over here being all aristocrat," Elle told Callum. "So don't tell anyone."

Callum nodded. "The British aristocracy is hardly in a position to pass judgment, but you know you can trust me."

Really?

Yet both Elle and Quinn really seemed to.

"We'll let you two settle in. We have a few more family members coming in the next half hour, so we want to make sure everything is ready for them," Quinn said. They said their goodbyes and left, closing the bungalow door behind them.

Their absence was a vacuum in the brightly lit room. Liddy took in the room that would be her "home" for the next week. The walls were yellow, the trim around the windows was the same wood as outside, and there were frilly lace curtains over the windows. Simple, but not elegant. It could honestly do with some work. Not that she'd tell Callum that. Elle was right—there wasn't much space here. And the bed looked small.

Liddy gave it a pointed look. "We are not sharing that. This is my room, and your body parts aren't getting close to my body parts. You can get a cot."

The corners of Callum's mouth twitched. He set his bags down near a desk in the room, so narrow that Liddy doubted a laptop could even fit comfortably there. "Don't worry, my body parts aren't interested in getting close to yours. I'll happily take the floor."

Ass.

She should have expected that. But then again, she'd set herself up for it. She pursed her lips, realizing how immature she'd sounded when he'd repeated it back to her, then grudgingly said, "Thank you for your help back there."

Callum pulled out his laptop case and set it on the chair. "Thank you, too." His eyes were unreadable as he set his suitcase on the floor and crouched. "I'm going to take a shower and change, then head into the main strip to get some work done." He opened his bag. "But if I could make a suggestion, I think we should call a truce."

"A truce?" Lydia went over to the bed and dumped her sweatshirt and carry-on on the tropical-patterned comforter.

Callum nodded. "There's no use avoiding the elephant in the room, Lydia."

She sat on the edge of the bed, her back aching from the morning's adventure. "If we're going to pretend we're dating, you'll have to call me Liddy. Anyone close to me knows I like it better."

"What's wrong with Lydia?"

"Other than that my mom named me after one of my least favorite and most annoying Jane Austen characters?" She rolled her eyes. "At least it's not as bad as my sister—who she felt the need to christen Ellis."

Callum smirked. "You should talk to my sister. Her name means ‘island' in Spanish. Wouldn't be such a terrible thing—if she hadn't been partially raised in a Spanish-speaking country."

"Yikes, that's true." She flexed her fingers, a shooting pain going through her limbs. "What was that about the elephant in the room?"

Callum shut the suitcase and set some clothes and a pair of flip-flops on top of it, along with a toiletry bag. "You and I . . . don't have the best relationship." He stood and came closer.

"That's putting it mildly." She set her hands on either side of her and leaned back. "But you're also my boss. This feels threatening to even discuss, if I'm being honest."

And it was weird, how refreshing it was to be honest with him. She rarely had honest conversations with him. Except maybe on the plane, and that had been because she'd been buzzed from drinking champagne and flirting with Sergio.

"You know you won't be fired, no matter what happens. You have the security of your connections."

She didn't like the implication that she hadn't earned her position, as he'd done in the past, but that was an issue for another time. "Yeah, but you can make my life a living hell. Or more of one. Because if you think I haven't noticed you giving me the worst assignments in the past year, you're naive."

His eyes flickered. "The worst?"

She held his gaze. "You give every hard job—everything that's going to require hours of overtime—to me. And I'm not the only one who's noticed."

Callum didn't respond, the seconds ticking by in deafening silence as he seemed to absorb her statement, his expression unreadable. He secured his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans. "Right. Well, I promise I won't make your life a living hell because of anything that happens here. Good enough?"

She stood to face him and crossed her arms. "What happens in Costa Rica stays in Costa Rica?"

He nodded. "And I would expect your discretion about the circumstances as well. Particularly to do with anyone we work with. For obvious reasons."

Except . . . she'd already probably told Miranda more than she should have. But Miranda would be discreet, wouldn't she?

God, I hope so.

Also, the Camdens would be here. And Mason was bringing Rebecca. What would they think about Lydia and Callum's "relationship"? She might figure out a way to share enough with Rebecca that she would understand what was going on. Rebecca was trustworthy.

"What about the Camdens? And Rebecca is going to have a hard time believing all this."

"Convince her any way you like. Then we can explain how our relationship fell apart after the trip."

So basically, more lying. This was what she had agreed to, though. "All right. No more kissing me like that, though. Holding hands and hugging is fine, but I think it would be best if we kept all physical contact at first base."

Callum's eyes lit with amusement. "You realize that includes kissing."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does. First is kissing, fourth is fucking, and etcetera."

Her breath hitched at his words. Even talking about this with Callum was so . . . taking my brain places I don't want it to go. "Then . . . then, no leaving home."

"You look embarrassed."

That's because I am. Liddy shot him a glare. "I swear to God, if you keep being this obnoxious, our fake happily ever after will fall apart sooner rather than later. We still have to work together when this is all over."

"Agreed." Callum crossed his arms. "Hand holding and light, affectionate touches it is. Anything else? Some of us have jobs to check in with."

He really was a workaholic robot. She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?"

"I have too much to do to disconnect for ten days. No matter how good a friend Quinn is. Not to mention that one of the hardest working members of my team is also on holiday."

She frowned. Does he mean me?

His expression seemed to show that he did. Is this his way of complimenting me on my work?

She steadied herself. Why does it feel like he just called me beautiful or something?

Clasping her hands together, she looked down. "Um, yeah. I guess that makes sense." She cleared her throat. "Oh, just one more thing. What happens if we don't find Sergio or get the wedding dress back? I don't want your sister to get involved in something she had nothing to do with."

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But there's always the old ‘the airline lost the bag,' excuse." Callum winked and then went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

That's true.

Then Liddy startled.

That had always been true. She clamored over toward the bathroom door. "Wait a second, why didn't you suggest that to me earlier? Instead of this whole relationship idea?"

Why didn't I just think of saying that earlier? I could have bought myself some time rather than say I was dating Callum. But she'd been so distraught, and Callum's solution had been a last-minute, desperate grab to control the situation.

The shower went on, and Callum didn't respond.

Callum had clearly given some thought to her options before this. He just said nothing because it wasn't convenient for him.

And now I'm stuck.