“Good, because I’m not letting someone else do the bridal boudoir pictures of me in sexy poses—especially not some old guy with a camera.” She shivers like it’d be creepy.
“I’ll still do everything we agreed on. Don’t worry about it, Sophie. We’ll work it out. Just enjoy yourself.”
She grins at me and looks through the sea of people, spying Steven. Her smile broadens as her ribcage fills with air. “I can’t believe it’s finally here.” She squees and skips away, still Sophie after all these years.
For a second, I stand there watching the two of them together. That’s when I hear her voice over my shoulder.
“What on earth are you wearing? Really, Skylar, I brought you up better than this!”
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I turn on my heel. “Hello, Mother.”
“I really think you should talk to Dr. Norman about medication dear.”
Oh, screw it. My eyes roll up and I push two fingers to my temple, attempting to ease the sudden pain. “We’ve been through this, Mom. I’m not crazy.”
“Well, did you get locked out of your room?”
“No.” Her perfect eyebrow lifts and she taps one shiny red patent leather shoe on the floor. I smile serenely and pull at the curtain. “This is my dinner dress.”
She thinks I’m serious. “Well, go change. You can’t wear that monstrosity. Sophie will be horrified.”
“Sophie already saw me, Ma.”
“Well, then she’s much too kind. You look insane. Go change.” She turns away from me and greets a stranger with more warmth than she just gave me.
Working my jaw, I pad across the polished floor to the elevator and shoot laser beams from my eyes at the doors, willing them to open.
The couple next to me looks seriously worried, so I glance over at them and smile. “Hey.” I nod, like I’m normal. “What’s up?”
The woman is older than me, maybe fortyish, and tries to smile politely, but I think I broke her face, because it twitches. The guy she’s with acts like I’m the poster child for normal. Ha. He should inform my mother, because she’s probably in the chapel looking for holy water.
The doors open and we all walk in. I turn and press the button for my floor. Looking up, I see my mother across the room and a horrified expression clouds her normally placid face. I wave the tips of my fingers and smile as the doors shut.
This week is going to suck.
CHAPTER 7
I don’t have my key card. I left it with Spawny downstairs. Super suck. When I get to my door, I knock. I know he’s in there. Nick disappeared from the lobby way before me and I would have seen him through the massive amount of floor-to-ceiling glass windows downstairs.
A second later, he pulls the door open. Nick has his cell phone pressed to his ear. “Are you sure? Nothing? All right, thank you so much.” How does he do that? It always sounds like he’s so nice, but the man is a snake. He destroys everything he touches, like one of those demigods in Amy’s stories.
Nick runs his hand through his dark hair and tosses the phone on the bed next to my bags. “Well, it looks like we’re roomies. Every other place on the island is booked solid and no one has an extra room. So much for small town life, huh?”
My jaw opens and I make a repulsive face without thinking. “You are not staying with me.”
“Yeah, I think the sentence you’re looking for is, ‘thank you for not throwing me out on my ass.’” His eyes dip to my butt. The shower curtain clings tightly and I’m pretty sure I have a wedgie. I’m losing it. My lower left eyelid twitches and the more I try to steady it, the worse it gets. Nick sits on the bed and lays back. Staring at the ceiling, he asks, “Your head isn’t going to spin in circles is it? If so, let me know and I’ll sit up and watch.”
Every muscle in my body is corded tight. The mental strings that tie this hot mess together are coming undone and all I can manage to do is stand here mashing my lips together. When I finally speak, my body is vibrating with DEFCON 5 cray-cray. “I hate you.” Holy understatement, Batman.
“Really?” He has the audacity to sound surprised. Nick lifts his head and looks at me with that stupid smile on his face.
“Yes, really! You’re destroying my business and ruining my life! What the hell is wrong with you? Why can’t you get hit by lightning or something? God knows you deserve it.”
He shrugs and lies back down. “He can’t smite something this awesome. Besides, then who would be left to ruin your life?”
“Don’t mock me. We both know what you’re doing. Don’t pretend to be stupid and charming with me. It won’t work.”
“What if I just opt for charming?”
“Asshole.”