Page 2 of Surprise Baby for Daddy's Best Friend

We stepped into the elevator, and he dropped the bag as carefully as he could manage. He pressed the button for the third floor. I wanted to tell him to just get one of those carts with wheels on it, but I didn't see any coming into the resort.

"Kind of. My brother is getting married. So, they paid for us to come out here for the wedding."

He nodded and averted his gaze. "Weddings are nice." He bit his bottom lip. "So, you'll be staying for a few days? If you want..." he sucked in a deep breath. "If you want, I can give you a tour of some non-touristy places?”

I raised my brow and eyed him up and down. “That an invitation?”

His back straightened. “Ah, yeah! I mean, sorry I should probably stop before I get reported.”

I nodded and stared off into the distance. “Yeah, better if you do that.” I clicked my tongue a few times. “Sorry, but you’re not exactly my type. Maybe in a few years.”

“Oh…” His voice trailed off. “I see.” He shrugged his shoulders and heaved the bags to get a better grip.

The elevator dinged to signal that we were on my floor. I let out a soft sigh of relief to get out of the awkward conversation.

“Here we go,” he mumbled and turned left out of the elevator.

I followed close behind and grabbed the room key. Each door had a small black circle where the doorknob should be.

We stopped in front of my room. The faded 308 plaque signaled for me to scan my card. I tapped it against the black circle as a red light flashed on, blinked a few times, then turned green followed by the whirling sound of the door unlocking.

The room was smaller than I expected. Two queen size beds were positioned near the back of the room. A half wall separated it from the study in the main area.

“Cozy. Guess most people are spending time outside the room anyway.” I pointed over to the desk. “You can leave my bags over there.”

The attendant nodded and scurried over, dropping them with a soft thud. Before I could thank him or offer him a tip, he scurried out of the room muttering something under his breath.

I slumped into the chair and closed my eyes for a moment. My mind drifted to visions of time by the pool with a drink in one hand and a book in the other. The cacophony of laughter and talk in the hall pulled me back into reality. I jumped up and looked over at the closed door. I recognized the huge belly laugh. My brother was here.

“Took you all long enough.” I opened the door and leaned against the frame.

My brother and his soon-to-be wife, Amanda, were rolling their bags across the hall. He was already pulling his card out to unlock room 309.

“Oh!” Amanda gasped. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were here.” A slight red tint covered her cheeks as she reached into her oversized purse. “Here!” She handed a folded brochure over to me. “It’s the itinerary for the weekend.” She gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry, there’s not much planned for tonight. We didn’t expect anyone in until later this evening.”

I shrugged. “My flight got rescheduled for a little earlier. Not going to complain. I’d rather be here early than show up exhausted in the middle of the night.”

“True enough.” Carl smacked the side of my arm. “Already situated then?”

“Yeah. There are two beds in my room though.”

“One of my bridesmaids,” Amanda answered.

I raised a brow. I wasn’t told I would have a roommate out here. Not like I should be surprised. My brother paid for everyone’s travel, so he had to save money somehow.

“Well, either way,” Carl said, bringing me back into the conversation. “Dad’s going to be late.”

“Like usual,” I groaned.

Carl shrugged, “He has work. Thankfully the ceremony isn’t for another few days, so he’ll be fine.”

“So…” I flipped through the itinerary. “You said we don’t have any plans for tonight?” There was nothing written for today. The rest of the week was packed from random meal dates with the other girls, to shopping sprees.

“Nope. We were thinking about getting some drinks. Don’t want to do too much tonight. Maybe meet up with some stragglers.”

I mulled the idea over. I wanted to go to the pool and explore the resort, but it was also my brother’s wedding, and I didn’t want him to get in too much trouble.

“Fine, let me change into something a bit more comfortable and I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby.”

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