“Emmaline Neal,” she said to the clerk.

“Welcome,” the woman said, clicking some keys. “And your name, sir?”

“Jack Holland. Can our rooms be adjoining?”

“Not necessary,” Em said.

“It’s no trouble,” the clerk replied cheerfully. “I can put you in rooms 112 and 114. Just go down this hall and take a right. Both rooms have ocean views.” She smiled again at Jack and handed them both keys.

“Thank you,” Emmaline said. She picked up her bag, turned and nearly bumped into an extremely beautiful man. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Broad shoulders, chiseled bone structure, and electric attraction buzzed in her stomach.

“Emmaline!” the man said. And holy bleepity-bleeping bleep, it was Kevin.

Her face went hot immediately, and her knees felt sick and weak.

He looked like the love child of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. Square jaw, perfect nose, lovely mouth and those eyes... The eyes were the same.

“You made it,” he said.

“What?” She cleared her throat. “Yeah, I did. Um, we did. Yes. Thank you for inviting me. You look...you look great, Kevin.”

Almost three years since she’d seen him last. He’d been very handsome, yes, and strong and solid.

Now, though...now he was a sculpted wonder of science and divinity. His T-shirt, which read Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead, clung to his pecs, and his arms...his arms were a thing of beauty. Those were Daryl-from-The-Walking-Dead arms. Jeremy Renner arms.

Em closed her mouth. Presumably, Jack was nearby and hadn’t burst into flames, but even if he had, it might’ve been hard for Emmaline to look away from Kevin.

Her ex grinned. “That’s right. You’ve never seen the end result. Pretty amazing, huh?” he said, and with that, he took off his shirt and flexed.

Such a...such a...such a jerk.

But holy bleep.

He was tan and hairless (he used to have chest hair, but the landscape was smooth and golden now). Perfectly defined muscles, no trace of fat anywhere. It was as if New Kevin had killed Old Kevin, melted down his fat and used it for lamp oil or something, because even though she’d slept with this guy for years, she didn’t recognize one thing on that beautiful panorama of skin and muscle and beauty.

Then Naomi came jogging up, wearing workout gear smaller than any bathing suit Em had ever owned. Emmaline tore her eyes off Kevin’s eight-pack (was there such a thing?) and blinked.

“Babe. There you are.” Naomi slid a tanned arm around Kevin’s perfect waist and smirked at Emmaline. “Emily. Long time no see.”

“It’s Emmaline.”

“Right.” Naomi hefted up a liter of bile-colored sports drink and guzzled.

“Hi. Jack Holland,” came a voice. “The bride and groom, I take it?”

“Sorry,” Em said. “Jack, these are Kevin Bates and Naomi Norman. This is my friend, Jack Holland.”

Naomi scanned him up and down. “What’s your BMI?”

“I have no idea,” he said patiently.

“How much can you bench?” Kevin asked.

“I’m not really a gym kind of person,” he said, smiling. He took her hand. She didn’t remove it. She might’ve even been squeezing it very hard.

She should’ve hugged Kevin to show she was over him. She should’ve smiled. She should’ve said, Kevin, hey! Look at you, gorgeous! and been all casual and happy and not frozen and stupid.

“This is a beautiful spot,” Jack said. “We were so happy to get out of the weather back home.”

Neither Naomi nor Kevin answered.

“Emmaline, why don’t we get settled?” Jack said.

She stared at him mutely. Better than looking at Kevin, that was for sure. Let alone Naomi.

“Good idea,” she said, and hooray for her, she was speaking at long last. “We’ll see you guys later. Of course. Because it’s your wedding! Yay!” Oh, Lord. Where was her gun? She had packed it, right? It would be so great to shoot herself right now.

Jack laughed, angels bless him, and put his arm around her shoulders. “Long flight,” he said, giving her a little squeeze. “We were up before dawn.”

Naomi smirked. “Yeah. Get some rest, Emily. You look exhausted.”

Then, hand in hand, the bride and groom walked the opposite way. Naomi still had the most amazing body she’d ever seen, and Em couldn’t help the flash of envy she felt. Just once, just for one afternoon on the beach, she would’ve liked to have rocked a bathing suit. Okay, fine. She would’ve liked it for a weekend. A month. A few years.

And Kevin... He’d done it. He certainly wasn’t fat anymore. He was the one percent—the perfectly beautiful people with perfectly beautiful bodies.

“You okay?” Jack asked.

“Yep.” She stepped out from the comfort of his arm. “I appreciate the thought, Jack, but I really don’t want to pretend to be a couple.”

He looked at her for a long minute. “You sure?”

“Yeah. But thank you.” She looked away from the kindness in his eyes and headed down the hallway.

Time for a very big glass of wine. Or two. They passed another hallway, and a familiar voice stopped Em in her tracks.

“Emmaline? Sweetheart!” It was Mom. “How are you? Are you crushed? Did you see Kevin? You were very brave to come.”

“Of course you came, Emmaline. You’re very strong, as I raised you to be,” said Dad. There was a brief scramble as each parent tried to be the one to hug her first.

“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.” She gave them simultaneous, one-armed hugs so as not to play favorites, then smiled at her sister.

“Emmaline!” Angela said, her eyes growing damp. “How wonderful to see you!”

Her sister managed to extricate her from their parents and gave her a hug. Then Dad had to give her another, extra-long hug to show that he was a better parent than Mom, which meant Mom had to hug her again and kiss her twice on the cheek.

“It’s good to see you guys,” Em said. She meant it, but there was no way she’d ever sound as nice and sincere as her sister. “This is my friend, Jack Holland.”

“Jack, lovely to meet you,” Angela said, shaking his hand warmly. Honestly, those nuns at the orphanage had done a fantastic job raising her.

“Oh! This is Jack?” Mom exclaimed. “What a surprise! I didn’t—well, we didn’t...ah...”

“What, Mom? I told you I was bringing someone.”

“I just assumed this ‘Jack’ person—” Mom made quote marks with her fingers “—was actually ‘Jacqueline.’ Not that there’s anything wrong with you, Jack.”

“Very nice to meet you,” Jack said, smiling at Em. He shook hands with her parents.

“Son, a pleasure,” Dad said, to prove that he was way cooler than Mom.

“We were just going to have some dinner in the restaurant,” Angela said. “It’s very pretty. You have to join us, don’t they, Mama? Papa?”

“Sounds great,” Jack said, damn him. “Give us an hour, why don’t you? We’ll meet you there.”

More hugs were exchanged until, finally, the three other Neals went off. When they were a sufficient distance away, Em looked at Jack. “What did I say about hiding in the room and drinking wine?” she asked. “I thought you were a winemaker. You were supposed to support that plan.”