Page 81 of The Bridges I've Burned

I looked at the flat, washboard abs pressed against his tight T-shirt. Where the hell does he put it all?

“No, it didn’t. His ego did not recover well from that one.” I looked up and found Zander staring at me.

“But would you say it’s possible outside of the workplace?” Hendrix asked.

“What?” I pulled my gaze away from Zander.

“A casual relationship.”

“Oh, sure.” I shrugged.

Hendrix’s face broke out into a wide grin, and Zander…

Zander just kept staring at me as if I was a puzzle he couldn’t solve.

The next day, I had promised Marin my undivided attention. There were still a lot of details to work out regarding the wedding, and with the unexpected arrival of Zander and the baby announcement, things had understandably gotten a bit…derailed.

We spent the morning at By the Bay Inn, discussing ceremony and reception details with Molly, who was seriously the most organized person I’d ever met. Her lists had lists. She showed us pictures of past weddings held at the inn, including her own, and made sure Marin was comfortable with every choice, down to the very last cream puff.

“If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be sitting here, planning Macon Green’s wedding at our family inn of all places, I would have never believed you,” she told us as we headed out.

“Not just planning it—a bridesmaid, too. Don’t forget that part.” Marin grinned.

Molly laughed. “Oh, I haven’t.” She gave me a wink.

“Life has a way of surprising you, doesn’t it?”

Marin had originally met Molly on the way to the hospital after the ferry accident. Molly had been engaged to Jake’s best friend—which was a whole other story—and they both caught a flight from a local pilot to get there as quickly as possible. Marin had never thought she’d see Molly again.

“Sometimes in the most amazing ways.”

Molly pulled her into a tight hug, and after I wiped away the dust that had somehow lodged itself in my eyes, we headed out to Billy’s for a much overdue lunch, where my best friend tried to badger me again about my almost kiss with Zander.

“I don’t know what to tell you other than it won’t happen again.”

God, how I wanted it to happen again.

“Why?” she challenged.

“What do you mean, why?” I scoffed. “He’s Macon’s brother. I can’t just hook up with your brother-in-law!”

“Why?”

“Are you a broken record today?”

She grinned. “Just don’t rule it out. I know you have your man ban or whatever, but Zander could be good for you. You could be good for him.”

“Or…it could be a cataclysmic disaster,” I countered, rolling my eyes. “Zander is already a bit of a flight risk. I don’t need to give him one more reason not to come back here.”

“I’m hearing a lot of excuses, but I haven’t actually heard you say you don’t like him.” A wide grin spread across her face.

I didn’t have a comeback for that one because she wasn’t wrong.

Liking Zander had never been the problem.

Liking Zander too much? Now, that was a problem.

The rest of the day was spent working on the dreaded seating chart and making sure the out-of-town guests were all accounted for. Marin had insisted on making these ridiculous welcome baskets for each of them, and we drove all over town, gathering items to put in them. In addition to all the rooms at the inn, one of Marin’s other new friends, Lani, had offered up discounted rooms at her upscale hotel as well.

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