Page 31 of Caribbean Crush

I open my bag and tip it toward her so she can peer in. There’s a to-go box from the dining room, sitting on top of all my stuff. “I brought you food.”

Her jaw drops. “You’re joking.”

I take out the small container and hand it over to her. “It’s a few pastries. They’re probably a little smashed, but they were delicious. Here.”

“Oh my god, where have you been all my life?” She cracks the lid and laughs. “Christ. There’s enough here to feed an army.”

“Casey?”

Ricardo tries to get my attention, and I look over to see he’s waving me toward his golf cart. “There’s room up here.”

He’s indicating the seat beside him.

Sienna titters under her breath. “Ah, a little vacation romance brewing? My, my. You work fast.”

“Don’t even go there.”

“He’s cute. What’s wrong with him?” she asks, taking a huge bite of a croissant.

“I’m working,” I say as if we both weren’t three sheets to the wind and acting like fools in her suite last night.

“Oh, please. This is hardly a stuffy boardroom. Who cares if you live a little? Surely, that’s better for your writing anyway. Getting the inside scoop from letting Ricardo get inside—”

I cut her off by clearing my throat. “Noted.”

I accept the seat beside Ricardo, and Sienna hops in right behind me in the second row. While Ricardo drives us around Old Town, pointing out the sights, Sienna wastes no time at all in prying into his personal life.

I’ve got the gist. He’s lived on the Keys his whole life. He works part time at a bar by Sunset Pier. No girlfriend.

“You don’t have to keep humoring her,” I tell him while we’re stopped at the Key West Lighthouse. Sienna and I listened to Ricardo’s spiel about it. It is as interesting as an old lighthouse could be, but the rest of the group is still roaming the grounds, taking their sweet time. Sienna and I sit in the golf cart, wanting the shade. “She’s about to ask you if you have a 401(k) ... when you last had a dental checkup, that sort of thing.”

Sienna leans forward, not even denying it. “Yes, actually, those are both good questions. Let’s see your teeth.”

Ricardo laughs. “I don’t mind. Swear. You two should come out tonight.”

“Out? Where?” Sienna asks with a mouthful of pastry.

“I’ll be bartending. Free drinks ... dancing. It’ll be a good time.”

“And they say romance is dead!” Sienna jokes.

“Ricardo?” A guy in our group waves to get his attention. “Who did you say built this lighthouse again?”

Ricardo hops out to answer his question.

Sienna moans quietly. “Who cares about some shitty lighthouse? Can’t we go to the beach already? It’s sweltering. I feel like I’m sweating out every ounce of alcohol we consumed last night.”

“Maybe that’s not a bad thing ...”

“I don’t know. At this point, I feel like I could lick my arm and come away tasting tequila.”

The thought makes me laugh.

“I had breakfast with Tyson, sort of by accident.”

“Oh, really?”

Her brow arches. I remember him carting her off yesterday to give Phillip and me a moment to talk by ourselves. I wonder if there was more to it.

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