Tropical Heat

by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime

  Bright sunlight streamed into the room. Sydney tried to turn over in bed, only to find herself tangled in the bedspread. She sat up gingerly. She was still wearing the white sundress with its purple flowers, only someone had cocooned her in the bright yellow bedspread. She peered around the curtains on the four-poster bed and found the likely culprit spread out on the pull-out couch snoring softly.

  Sydney searched her memory for last night’s events. She remembered kissing Jesse by the pool bar and the walk back to the room. And then … Brittany.

  Jesse had left to escort Brittany safely to her room. Sydney couldn’t remember anything beyond coming into the room alone and sitting down on the bed. She must have fallen asleep. But how long had Jesse been gone? Had he gone back to Brittany’s room only to have the romantic encounter he planned to have with Sydney with Brittany instead?

  He’d been so kind over the past day, taking the mix-up with the rooms in stride, offering to be her wingman, giving up their competition. But still, she barely knew him. And he’d seemed to have a thing going with Brittany when Sydney had arrived. Could she have misinterpreted the meaning behind that kiss? Then again, as she’d admitted to Jesse, her experience was somewhat limited. Was there a way to ask? One that wouldn’t make her seem prying or jealous? Maybe he’d simply offer the information. If he did, could she believe him?

  Jesse slept soundly despite her inner turmoil. She decided not to wake him. A few moments alone might help straighten out her conflicting feelings.

  A hot shower and a change of clothes later, Jesse was still fast asleep. Putting the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, Sydney slipped from the room and headed for the breakfast buffet.

  The sun had already risen high in sky. She’d be lucky to catch the end of the breakfast buffet. Coffee would be welcome, though.

  She slid into a seat alone at a table for four. The restaurant was nearly vacant, the buffet offerings well picked over. Sydney wandered over to the bread basket and selected a croissant that didn’t look too wilted. When she returned to her seat, a waitress came by to offer her coffee and she gratefully accepted.

  Her stomach roiled at the thought of food, but she took a few bites of the croissant and washed it down with coffee. Fortified, she turned her thoughts to Jesse. Had she mistaken his signals? Now Brittany had returned, would Jesse be happier in her company instead?

  Her musing was interrupted by a rowdy cheer from one of the tables in the corner. Sydney glanced up to find Ethan and his groomsmen had arrived. They hadn’t found much to eat at the buffet, but they’d apparently found the mimosas. An open bottle of champagne and a pitcher of orange juice sat on their table. So the party continued.

  In fact, it looked like the party had gone on all night if the state of their rumpled clothing was any indication. Well, she had to admire their fortitude if nothing else.

  Sydney finished her coffee and shoved away the remains of her croissant. She was pushing in her chair and getting ready to leave the restaurant when a voice behind her said, “Hey.”

  She turned to find Jesse standing behind her wearing a clean white t-shirt and his ever-present cargo shorts. His hair was still wet from the shower and he blinked in the bright sunlight.

  “I woke up to find you gone.” He sounded hurt.

  She forced a smile. “You were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to wake you. Thought I’d get some breakfast.”

  He took a seat at her table and she sat back down as well. Maybe now he’d enlighten her as to what had happened between him and Brittany.

  Instead, he said, “Speaking of sound sleepers, when I got back to the room last night you were out like a light. I couldn’t rouse you at all.”

  Which still left her in the dark about Brittany, but she had to say something. “Thank you for covering me up.”

  “Well, the air conditioner was running full blast. Thought you’d be cold.”

  Suddenly taking notice of Jesse’s arrival, Ethan rose from his seat and came over to their table. He moved pretty well for a guy who’d been up all night drinking, Sydney couldn’t help observing. The groom, it seemed, could really hold his liquor. Still, his eyes were red-rimmed and the smell of stale rum rolled off him like a bad cologne.

  “Aren’t you two looking cozy this morning having breakfast together and all.”

  Jesse eyed the buffet where the wait staff was already removing the hot plates and getting ready for lunch. “I think we pretty much missed breakfast.”

  Sydney wanted to elbow him in the ribs. That sounded way too suggestive, something Ethan didn’t miss because a sly smile crossed his face.

  “Slept late?”

  “Yeah.”

  She wanted to groan. Either Jesse was still too tired, or he was completely missing Ethan’s sarcasm.

  Jesse glanced up at Ethan, squinting against the light. “You?”

  “Just having a night cap before we hit the beach to catch some Z’s. Might as well sleep on the beach. We can catch some rays while we’re at it.” Ethan waved at their nearby table where Josh and Lucas had nearly finished the bottle of champagne. He gave Sydney an expression that could only be described as lecherous. “You should join us.”

  “Yeah,” Lucas yelled from the other table. “Come on over here and join us.”

  Jesse waved back. “Nah, I’m going to take it easy today. Don’t want to spoil the party.”

  “No chance of that,” Ethan said in a tone that made Jesse narrow his eyes.

  Ethan went in search of another bottle of champagne, but not before giving Sydney an appraising once over.

  Something was going on between them. Something besides Ethan’s upcoming wedding to Jesse’s ex-girlfriend. A nasty undercurrent ran beneath all of Ethan’s interactions with Jesse. He seemed to be baiting Jesse every chance he got. Then again, maybe he was a little angry Jesse hadn’t taken part in much of the festivities. Jesse was supposed to be celebrating the last of Ethan’s bachelorhood and he hadn’t spent much time with the groomsmen. Not since Sydney’s arrival. And judging by his involvement with Brittany, he hadn’t be spending much time with them even before. It had to be hard to watch your best friend marry your ex, she couldn’t help thinking.

  Jesse was watching Ethan’s attempts to swindle another bottle of champagne from one of the waitresses. His eyes narrowed even further.

  “Is he always like that?” Sydney asked.

  “Yeah. Always.”

  “Do you think he’s going to slow down once the wedding’s over?”

  Jesse turned back to her. “Honestly, no.”

  “So why is he getting married then, if he’d rather just keep partying?”

  A look of pain crossed Jesse’s face, one he quickly smothered. He took a long swig of coffee. “To be honest, I think it’s a competition thing. He thinks he stole Gracie from me and now he’s got to close the deal.”

  “Or you might get her back?”

  “No.” He exhaled. “Gracie and I were never meant to be together. But I don’t think a guy like Ethan is what she needs, either.”

  ****

  And there he was spilling his guts again. What quality in Sydney compelled him to do that?

  No matter his feelings about Ethan, he felt guilty betraying him.

  “Ethan’s not such a bad guy,” he heard himself saying, as if from a distance.

  “He stole your fiancée.”

  Jesse took a deep breath. This was hardly the place to discuss it. He didn’t want to discuss it at all, really. But Ethan seemed to have scored another bottle of champagne and the rowdy party at the other table continued. Whatever he said wouldn’t be heard above the commotion.

  “He didn’t steal her, exactly. We’d broken up, mostly. Ethan swooped in and scooped her up before we had much of a chance to work out how we were going to go on after that.”

  Sydney cast a quick glance in Ethan’s direction. “So you might have gotten back together?”

  “Probably not. We’d already done the ‘let’s ju
st be friends’ part. We needed a bit of time to let everything settle.”

  She nodded. “And Ethan charged in before you had a chance to do that.”

  “Yeah.” He should shut up now. Talking about it didn’t make the pain subside, it only rubbed the wound raw. Yet somehow, he found himself continuing. “Thing is, I think once Ethan got Gracie, he didn’t know what to do with her. She came with a whole bunch of plans and expectations.”

  “She substituted the wedding she planned to have with you with one to Ethan?”

  He took another long drink of coffee. “I think she might have.” He put down his cup. “But there’s no way I could say that without coming off like a sore loser. I mean, what am I going to say, ‘You and I weren’t any good together, but this guy isn’t either?’”

  Sydney seemed to consider his point. “No, I agree, that’s not going to sound good coming from you. And it sounds like Gracie’s already made up her mind about what she wants.”

  His gaze tracked Ethan again, involuntarily. Sizing up a rival. He squelched the thought. Ethan wasn’t a rival. As Sydney said, Gracie had chosen him. “Yeah, well I sure hope Ethan is what she wants.”

  Sydney glanced around. “Where exactly is the bride? I haven’t seen any women here partying like Ethan and his posse.”

  “She’s due to arrive in a couple of days. She was going to have her party at another resort, but then she got promoted and had to work, so the party’s going on back home. Presumably.”

  Sydney’s pointed questions only served to highlight the differences between hard-working Gracie and hard-partying Ethan. He shouldn’t have said anything. Now he’d be thinking about it, when before he’d been content to cruise along at the resort drinking rum and trying to distract himself with an endless supply of women in bikinis. Which would have been great, if it had been working. Then he could go home and make like everything was okay. His best friend married his ex. So what. Nice wedding. Great party week. Met some new people. Had a blast.

  Except he wasn’t having a blast. He’d upset Brittany, whom he assumed was there to have the same kind of fun as he was. And he’d ended up with a female roommate who seemed intent on extracting every dark secret he possessed. An alluring female roommate he’d kissed and almost bedded. He hated to admit it, even if only to himself, but like Gracie, he seemed to have gotten himself in over his head. Worse, he had no idea how to get himself out of it. Because, despite his intentions just to have a good time and blindly ignore the wedding happening in plain sight, he did like Sydney. Even worse, she seemed like someone he could imagine feeling more than like for.

  Thing was, she’d shown up at the worst possible time. He needed distraction, sure enough. But the last thing he wanted to do was to involve an innocent woman in this complicated mess. Maybe once they were back home and he could put Ethan’s betrayal and Ethan and Gracie’s marriage out of his mind, they might have a chance. In the meantime…

  He was dimly aware Sydney had asked him something else. Something he hadn’t been paying attention to, but his concentration was interrupted by a commotion at the other table. He looked up and his heart sank.

  Brittany had arrived.

  She wove her way through the tables, appearing fresh and bright eyed, despite a night spent partying hard. Her long, brown hair was still damp from the shower, but she’d arranged it in an artful braid. Her skin glowed from the kiss of sun. She was wearing a skimpy little dress thing that barely concealed the bikini underneath. And she was heading straight for Ethan’s table.

  Halfway there, she seemed to notice Jesse and Sydney and made a hasty detour.

  “Morning.” Her voice sounded overly bright. If she even remembered throwing a drink in his face or how she’d gotten back to her room, she made no mention of it.

  Trapped in her gaze, Jesse could only utter his own, “Morning.” Sydney didn’t seem happy to see Brittany at all, but she offered her own greeting.

  He hadn’t had a chance to tell Sydney about anything that had happened once he’d gotten Brittany back to her room. When he’d returned to the room he shared with Sydney, he’d found her fast asleep. They hadn’t had a chance to discuss anything. Not their interrupted lovemaking, or Brittany’s behavior. And now here she was making him feel oddly guilty.

  Brittany’s gaze darted from Sydney’s cold smile back to Jesse’s face. She gave him a hearty pat on the back. “Thanks for last night.”

  He opened his mouth to say something to clarify the situation, to explain without coming out and saying it what she was thanking him for.

  But Brittany was already on her way to Ethan’s table.

  Jesse followed her movements. Damn. When had that happened?

  When he glanced back, Sydney’s expression had grown colder still.

  “Syd—”

  She pushed her coffee cup away and stood. “Well, I guess that explains a lot.” She cast a hostile glance at Brittany’s departing back. “I’m going to check if anyone has checked out of the hotel and see if I can’t get my own room. You go ahead and rejoin the party.”

  Jesse stood as well. “Wait!”

  She turned back. “No, I’m not waiting. I don’t want to hear what you have to say. I’ve heard enough, thank you. Oh, and it’s Sydney.”

  Without another word, she strode off.

  Chapter Five

  Well, that answered her question. Sydney choked back tears as she headed off toward the lobby. Truth was, she had no business getting so involved with someone she barely knew. Someone she’d only just met. Sure, he’d been kind. He’d taken pity on her at the party. But he owed her nothing. Jesse was here for a holiday, same as her.

  She was the one who’d gotten her heart into it when she should have known better. Was there any bigger cliché than the holiday fling? Which was fine, if all she’d wanted was a holiday hook-up. Strange thing was, a holiday fling was what she’d thought she’d wanted. Now she wasn’t so certain.

  Sydney cast a furtive glance over her shoulder. Jesse wasn’t following her. He’d accepted her dismissal. She squared her shoulders. He wasn’t coming to explain or to ask forgiveness. He probably had rejoined the party. Now she had no choice but to continue on to the front desk and demand another room.

  She took a peek at the line at the front desk and sighed. Judging by the size of the line, a lot of people seemed unhappy with their room arrangements. She took her place and waited.

  By the time she reached the front of the line, the expression on the clerk’s face gave her the answer before she even opened her mouth. There were no free rooms. There was, however, a lengthy list of people who wanted to change their arrangements. She’d be happy to add Sydney’s name to it. Having no other choice, she agreed, certain her new room would become available five minutes before she was due to leave for the airport.

  She stepped back from the desk, allowing the next in line to state their case. Glancing around the lobby with its rattan furniture and arrangements of bright tropical flowers, she wondered, now what?

  She never should have let Jesse leave with Brittany. It was a prescription for disaster. Because she’d wanted Jesse. If she allowed herself to admit it, she’d wanted Jesse for herself. She’d taken his gallant display of walking Brittany back to her room at face value. She’d trusted him. And agreed, she was a little out of the game. She’d been working so hard at her career she’d already let one man get away. Now she’d lost another. And true, Jesse hadn’t yet been a boyfriend, but she’d started to think he might be. She’d always been more of a geek. She’d never quite understood the games women played. Did she have it in her to try and win Jesse back from Brittany? Then again, Brittany and Ethan seemed pretty cozy as well. Whatever had happened last night between Brittany and Jesse hadn’t stopped her from being overly friendly with Ethan the next morning.

  Sydney sat down on a rattan couch to think. Mistaking her for one of the new arrivals, a waitress offered her a fruity drink. Sydney sipped it thoughtfully. Maybe she should go home.
Nothing about this holiday was turning out the way she’d hoped it would.

  But with her newly reduced salary, she couldn’t afford to waste a holiday. She had no idea when she’d have the money for another one. She glanced around the lobby with its towering bright floral arrangements. It was a beautiful place. Somehow she had to get this holiday back on track.

  Which left her with a couple of options. Find someone else to bunk with. She surveyed the lobby again. That didn’t seem likely. She didn’t know anyone else there. Or go on with the holiday as if Jesse really was just her roommate and last night had never happened.

  She wasn’t very good at hiding her feelings or pretending. But she had most of a week of sun and sea waiting for her. She shouldn’t waste it.

  Maybe she’d hoped for too much on this one little holiday. It was too much to expect for one holiday to make up for a year gone bad. She needed a new goal for this vacation. Have some fun. It didn’t matter if she met anyone new. It didn’t matter if Jesse and Brittany hooked up. The only thing that mattered was having some fun. She didn’t need Jesse’s company to enjoy the beach during the days. She could still go to the nightly party. She didn’t need to impress anyone with her small talk. She could still savor the warm night air and the music.

  Last night never happened, she repeated like a mantra. Today was a fresh new day.

  With that thought in mind, she stood to leave. But on her way out of the lobby, she noticed a sign offering tours of the countryside. It promised a stop at a local market, a chance to do some souvenir shopping. The clerk sitting at the desk glanced up hopefully. A day away from the resort might be just what she needed. She’d see the countryside, take some pictures on her phone and buy something to take home with her. By the time she got back in the evening, she’d have a new perspective on everything. Sydney searched in her bag for her wallet.

  Jesse hadn’t come back to the room when she went to collect the things she’d need for her outing. He’d left the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, so the room hadn’t been cleaned yet. One glimpse of the room made her glad she’d be gone for the day. The clothes Jesse had been wearing last night hung on the back of the room’s only chair in a growing heap. A pair of boxers that had somehow escaped the pile lay on the floor. He’d obviously showered because he’d left his wet towel hanging off the sink.