LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER TWO

      HER DIVORCE WAS hardly a cause for celebration.

      Rita was just getting used to the idea that she was single again. The breakup had been her idea. She’d been the one who wanted out of her marriage. Still, it wasn’t something she wanted to party over. Jay hadn’t been a bad person. He hadn’t even been a bad husband. In fact, he’d make someone else a fitting spouse one day. Just not her.

      But Lizzie’s heart was in the right place. So Rita figured she’d drink Clint’s champagne with her. Speaking of, she hadn’t missed Clint’s curious glance in her direction when Lizzie had spoken of her breakup. Now, as they passed through the open-air lobby on the way to his suite, she could feel his intense gaze on her back. The knowledge sent a tingle of awareness along the surface of her skin.

       Cut it out.

      She was simply reacting to seeing her crush again after all these years. And that’s all Clint had ever been: a crush.

      “And it all starts tonight!” Lizzie chimed with excitement.

      Rita was paying just enough attention to know Lizzie was rambling on about the various sightseeing tours and excursions planned for the wedding party. Apparently, it all kicked off with a traditional Hawaiian luau this evening.

      Good thing one of them was talking; God bless her old friend for never being at a loss for words, as Rita wasn’t feeling particularly chatty. Heaven knew she hadn’t said much to Clint on the plane ride over. But what would she have talked about? Her stalled career? Her failed marriage? And she certainly didn’t want to get into her currently very strained relationship with her parents.

      At least she wasn’t the only one here alone. Clint was also without a plus-one. Looked like they both were leaving some part of their pasts behind.

      They finally reached his door and Clint used his card to let them in. Rita had to bite down a gasp as she stepped inside. His suite was the size of a small apartment. A wall of glass stood opposite them, the view a spectacular one of the ocean and the island mountain in the distance. Pity the woman who was supposed to be here and was now missing out on all this.

      Among the other things she was missing out on.

      Rita couldn’t help but study Clint as he walked to the veranda and pulled the sliding door open. She’d certainly had good taste all those years ago when she’d first started crushing on the man. Tall and lean, he seemed to be quite fit. And he had the most striking facial features. Where his sister was fair with a patrician nose, Clint had more the look of a well-mixed genealogy. Lizzie had mentioned once that there was some Asian blood in their family ancestry. Though those genes hadn’t found his sister, Clint clearly had what would be described as such characteristics. Overall, it made for a dashing, exotic look that definitely made him stand out in a crowd.

      “They gave you the good stuff,” Lizzie said as she pulled a green glass bottle out of the ice bucket.

      “And I’m giving it to you two,” Clint replied.

      “I suppose we can let you have a glass. Not a big one though.” Lizzie pinched her fingers in a demonstration of how much his pour would be. “We probably shouldn’t have too much right now anyway. There’ll be plenty of food and drink at the luau later this evening,” she said, then glanced at Rita as if looking for agreement.

      “Right.”

      “By the way—” Lizzie addressed her brother “—Tessa Campbell has been asking about you since she arrived. She happens to be your roommate, Rita.”

      Clint gave her a distracted nod as he stood staring at the majestic view in front of them. “Which one was she again?”

      Lizzie gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes in Rita’s direction, the effect so comical it made her giggle. “How can you not remember?” she asked her brother as she gave him the bottle to uncork. “She’s been hitting on you since the tenth grade. Wait till she finds out you’re here alone.”

      He actually groaned. “Now I remember. What are the chances I’ll be able to avoid her?”

      “Slim to none,” his sister replied. “She is a member of the wedding party after all.”

      “Great.”

      Clint’s tone held every hint of resignation. He was a man used to such attention. She wasn’t surprised. It was all merely an annoyance for him. He deftly uncorked the bottle with a pop and grabbed two flutes off the serving table then began pouring. Tiny florescent bubbles floated through the air. He handed each of them a glass.

      Lizzie suddenly let out a laugh that had her snorting bubbly champagne through her nose. The sight, in turn, made Rita laugh.

      “What’s so funny?” Clint wanted to know.

      Lizzie rubbed the tip of her nose. “I just had an image of you ducking behind palm trees during the luau when you saw Tessa approaching.”

      Rita laughed harder at the visual that invoked. Clint glanced from one to the other, a resigned expression on his face. “I’m glad you two find this so amusing.”

      “I’m sorry,” Rita told him but she couldn’t seem to stop one last giggle. When was the last time she’d really laughed? The past few months had been an emotional hailstorm. She was so glad to be here, finally able to get away. To have it be for such a happy occasion was just icing on the cake. This chance to step back from her troubles for a while was exactly what she needed right now.

      But then Clint focused those dark chestnut-brown eyes on her, his lips curved into a smile. She had to suck in a breath just as her stomach did a dive straight to her toes. Perhaps she’d found trouble yet again.

      * * *

      Clint’s intention to get some rest before the luau with a quick nap was not going well. Every time he started to drift off, a set of dark brown eyes framed by silky jet-black hair sprang into his mind’s eye and jolted him awake. What was wrong with him?

      He was simply here to see his sister married off and to give her away. Not to explore a wayward attraction to a friend of hers.

      A glance at the wall clock across the room told him the shuttle to take them into town for tonight’s festivities would be arriving right about now. He had to get going. Lizzie didn’t tolerate lateness. Not even from the big brother who was paying for this whole shindig. He didn’t mind. Somehow his sister had escaped the cynicism spouted by their grandmother all those years. Bless her for it.

      Maybe Lizzie would prove him and his grandmother wrong and make her marriage work. Maybe she’d be the one to break the Fallon chain of doomed relationships.

      Lord knew, he wasn’t going to be the one to try.

      If that made him cynical, so be it. At least Lizzie had found love. Or what she thought was love. But then she’d always been the dreamer. While he’d had to be the responsible, serious one. He’d had no choice. With both parents gone and only an elderly, bitter matron in charge of them, the burden of responsibility had fallen solely on

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