Page 1 of Nothing to Do

ONE

THE WARMTH OF THE Pacific sun, sea salt in the air, yep, vacation was upon them. Okay, so it hadn’t been high on her agenda that year, or, well, ever, but she and her sister had arrived.

“A tropical paradise!” Alessia exclaimed. “I told you. Didn’t I, Thea? Didn’t I tell you?”

Right on the beach, the first-floor deck ran the length of the hotel. Ten rooms, maybe twelve, side-by-side with only a strip of green and a few palm trees framing the sand and sea on their doorstep.

The Florin sisters weren’t used to the vast blue ocean or breathing such fragrant air. Her eyes closed. Seduced by the beauty and atmosphere, her imagination couldn’t help but get carried away.

“Thea!” Alessia grabbed her arm to shake her. “I told you!”

She smiled. “Yes, you did.”

In many ways, she and her sister were complete opposites. The vacation hadn’t been her idea. In fact their mother’s insistence she join Alessia was the only reason for her presence. Uh huh, weird to be chaperoning her full-grown sister? Maybe. Given the catalyst for the trip, their mom’s apprehension was natural. But, seriously, did it have to be her? The question was kind of rhetorical. Alessia had plenty of friends, most of them as crazy and gregarious as her. So someone may wonder, why hadn’t she brought them along instead?

The answer to that question was revealing in itself.

Best to start at the beginning. Cliché but necessary. Alessia won the tickets through an online contest. And the vacation wasn’t the only prize. No. Thirty days on a private island south of Hawaii was just the beginning.

“Meet Roman Lowe!” Some Hollywood star Alessia was beside herself about meeting was the real prize. Never mind that the only reason she’d even heard of the guy was his negative image in the press. Fights. Drugs. Dramatic episodes. God only knew what the next thirty days would hold.

Okay, so, yeah, this Roman guy was supposed to have cleaned up his act. “Supposed to” wasn’t exactly money in the bank. The purpose of this stunt had to be rebuilding the actor’s image. Would it go off without a hitch? If anything went wrong, her little sister could have her heart broken and need support. Hence why their mother demanded she be Alessia’s plus one.

For a decent spell, this Roman guy’s reputation bumped from one mishap to another, blow after blow. Her awareness of that was significant given she spent about as much time reading celebrity news as someone without a yacht would spend at a marina. The details were hazy. Run ins with law enforcement, substance abuse issues, and various high-profile fall outs with his girlfriend, the glittering beauty Sway Sheridan, dominated the entertainment headlines. According to what Alessia told her on the plane anyway.

The real prize lay before her. Until witnessing it, she hadn’t known the environment would be so renewing. Curling her fingers around the deck rail, she arched into her breathing. Beyond the vast ocean, someone, somewhere, could be looking right back.

The island felt a million miles from anywhere.

Felt, but it wasn’t.

After a flight to LA and a night in a hotel, they’d boarded a plane to Honolulu, then another, small, private luxurious plane filled with other competition winners.

Ten, apparently, each with one companion.

That they were all female wasn’t much of a surprise.

Roman Lowe’s incredible physique had been a popular topic of conversation, and his charm, his talent, his love of the ladies. Yadda, yadda… The excitement passed her by, but she was happy to see Alessia happy.

Sway Sheridan, Roman’s girlfriend, if she was still his girlfriend, came up more than once too. Were they still together? Was he single? Would his rockstar brother make an appearance? Maybe they could share. As long as talk stayed talk, the frenzy could pass her by.

On finally making it to the island, a bunch of glorified golf carts transported them to check-in. To cocktails and flowers, promises they’d have the trip of a lifetime. So far, so good.

The main building was just a couple of floors high, surrounded by a tranquil pool, crisscrossed by wooden walkways. One of the paths led to a separate structure where the rooms lined up together.

With lots of pale wood and fabric, maximizing their natural environment must’ve been a conscious choice. And what an amazing one.

Tearing herself away from the aroma of flora and the beckoning surf, she went back inside through the sliding door. A double width square arch displayed Alessia’s adjoining room, a mirror image of hers.

Busy, Alessia spread clothes from her suitcase on the bed. “What do you think I should wear tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” she asked. “Today isn’t over.”

“They said we were eating in the dining room tonight. Just us. The competition people. We don’t meet him until tomorrow.”

Going to admire the delicate fabric draped across the bed, her sister’s excitement was palpable.

She swayed sideways to bump Alessia’s hip with hers. “Like you haven’t already picked out exactly which outfit you want to wear.”

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