Page 35 of All I Desire

He sends a shocked face emoji.

Why don’t you join me at the resort for lunch and I’ll tell you all about it?

How can I resist that offer? When should I come over?

Anytime. I’m starving.

Should take me all of ten minutes to get there. I’m at the airport.

It’s a little crazy how excited I am to see him. I grin stupidly at the phone, right when my brother Max barges in.

“Thanks for knocking,” I say.

“There’s no way we can host a nudist convention.”

I look up from my phone. “Naturist convention. They prefer the term naturist. Their group is called FUN. The Florida Union of Naturists.”

“Whatever.” Max sinks into the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “Can you imagine what the city council would do if we unleash hundreds of naked people, all roaming the island?”

I squint at my brother. “I don’t think they’ll be naked anywhere but at the resort. It’s not like they’re just roaming the streets of Paradise Beach naked. That’s why they want to hold their event here. Because we’re a self-contained place and they can be nude at all times, and not have to go off-property.”

Max grimaces. “Do you want to see a bunch of dicks swinging for a weekend?”

I roll my eyes. “You are so uptight. This is business. It’s money. They’re paying top dollar to reserve our entire resort for a long weekend. And”—I pick up the proposal—“they’re willing to pay an extra cleaning fee.”

He wrinkles his nose. “You really think we should do it?”

“I do. There’s no harm in it. I’ve been doing some research, and the naturists take things pretty seriously. It’s not a sex thing. It’s a nude thing. Live and let live. God, I don’t know how you got to be so stuffy. Ma and Dad didn’t raise us that way. Remember when we were kids and that hippie band and their groupies came for a weekend?”

“Fine,” he grumbles.

“If you don’t want to deal with it, plan to take Lauren somewhere that weekend. I’ll handle everything.”

Max reaches for a bowl of gummy worms that I keep on my desk. He scoops out a handful. “Not a bad idea. She’s been wanting to go to the Caribbean.”

“Perfect.”

“I wish I could talk her into eloping.” He shoves the candy into his mouth.

“And deny Ma the pleasure of seeing her first-born prince get married? No way, dude. Plus, Damien will be home early next year. It’ll be a family celebration.”

“Yeah,” he grunts. “You heard from him?”

“Got an email.” Our younger brother’s in Syria as a military contractor.

“Did he say anything substantial?”

I shrug. “He’s thinking about getting a job with the island fire department. Talking about attending the fire academy in Tampa when he returns.”

Max raises his eyebrows. As much as our younger, twin brothers are risk-takers, Max is the total opposite. Everything Max does is well-thought-out and carefully planned. Except for pairing with Lauren. She was his one and only curveball.

“Okay, so I’m going to send the contract to FUN. The nudists. Okay?” I ask briskly. In truth, I want to hustle Max out of my office before Matthew arrives because I know my brother will grill me. He’s extremely protective of all of us, but especially me — probably because he knows what I went through with Chad.

“Fine.” He stuffs more gummy worms into his mouth. “You hungry? Want to grab lunch at the bar?”

“God, Max. Don’t eat all of those.”

“I’ll buy you more. C’mon, let’s get a burger.”

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