Modern Girl's Guide To Vacation Flings (8 page)

That's exactly where Matt found her, an hour later, tucked away in a corner booth enjoying her book.

"That didn't take long," she said, not bothering to look up from the screen.

"I know this morning I said I was calling the plan off, but are you still be willing to help me?" he said, skipping the niceties. "My brother told everyone at breakfast this morning. And now things are complicated."

Beth set her e-reader down and gave him a quick once over. The poor guy looked as if he was on the verge of a breakdown. His eyes were a little wild and he paced nervously in front of the table. The curly locks around his temple were standing up in all directions. It made her want to run her hands through it just like he was doing now.

"Why don't you sit down and tell me what happened." She patted the empty seat next to her and waved over the waiter.

"Can I get something else for you, Beth?" Palo asked.

"I think we could use a few more drinks." Beth looked over at Matt. A tropical drink with an umbrella wasn't going to cut it. He needed something stronger. "Bring us some tequila shots."

"I'll pass," Matt said to the waiter. "It's not even noon."

Beth turned to the waiter, and making sure Matt didn't see her, she held up four fingers behind her hand. "You'd better make it four," she mouthed before turning back to give Matt her full attention.

"So? Tell me about this complication," she said calmly.

"Mom flipped out," he said, burying his face in his palms. "She thinks I've been hiding our relationship because I'm embarrassed of the family."

"Did you tell her about my work?"

"That was the first thing I said, but she thinks if our relationship was serious enough for you to come on vacation with me, I should have introduced you by now."

"I was afraid of this," Beth said, and snatched two shots off the tray before Palo could set them down. She handed one to Matt, along with a lemon wedge. He shook his head, but she downed hers. "For fuck's sake, you're on vacation and you're stressed. If ever there was a time to do Tequila shots before lunch, this is it. We can talk after you've had a drink."

"Fine," he said. He downed the shot, tossing the glass back on the table. Then did the same for the next one. "Are you happy now? I really need to know if you're still on board."

"I'm still with you." Oh, she was on board alright, but she didn't think he had the same destination in mind. All her fantasies came flooding back, and Beth was ready to help out, as long as it meant spending more time with this him. But before she explored that idea, she needed to figure a few things out.

It was almost like he was two different guys. There was the lickable, push you against the wall, hot guy. But there was also the introverted, awkward, shy guy. And while she found shy guy cute, Beth really wanted to spend some quality time against a wall with the hot guy.

"How about we talk to your mom together. I'm good with people. We can fix this little complication without a problem."

"That's not the complication. I could have dealt with that." Matt was rubbing his head and eyed the empty shot glasses. Maybe she should order them another round or six. "Mom thinks I'm being insensitive for not including you in the family activities. Hell, she even fought with Bridget this morning about inviting you to the reception on St. Maarten. I know that wasn't what we agreed to, but Mom's insisting. Now I'm fucked. Either I tell my family that I tried to convince a stranger to lie to them or ruin your vacation by dragging you into my traveling carnival of a family." He tugged at the hair and sighed. "This all seemed much simpler last night."

Beth leaned forward, just inches from Matt. "Listen. You'd be doing me a favor by letting me tag along with your family. I'm traveling alone and would love to have the company."

He leaned back and looked at her like she just said she'd enjoy spending time with a pack of rabid hyenas. "You don't know what you're saying."

"I spend months with college interns in the jungles of South America, I think I can handle your family for two weeks," she said with assurance.

She'd agreed to meet for a late lunch. That gave her plenty of time to shower in the fitness center—because her bathroom was still out of commission—and run back to her room to put together her best "meet the parents" outfit.

Or at least that was her plan. What should have been at most an hour of prep, turned into a frantic, pull everything out of the closet, full on freak out.

She couldn't stop thinking about the time she'd met Robert's parents. They had hated her, and made sure she knew it. Not that she was dating Matt. She was just pretend dating him, she tried to assure herself.

But since that was the only experience she had to pull from, she couldn't suppress the butterflies in her stomach. Silly as it seemed, after the sweet way he'd held her hand on the plane, she didn't want to disappoint Matt. Hell, if she was going to be a pretend girlfriend, Beth was determined to be the coolest pretend girlfriend he could hope for.

Unfortunately, she had no idea where to start. At first she went for the casual look: her favorite faded jeans and a fitted Ramons Tee-shirt with a braided leather belt she'd picked up in Rio slung low on her waist. Even though she knew it looked great, it wasn't exactly meet the parents material.

So she went for a more sophisticated look. The black, just above the knee skirt and blood red silk top was her next choice. It was elegant and sexy. But as much as the casual look said she wasn't trying, this new outfit made it look like she was trying way too hard.

The more she scrutinized her outfits, the more freaked out she became. Nothing was working out. Beth was on her eighth wardrobe change by the time Matt knocked on the door.

When she opened the door, Matt gave her an assessing look. God, she was gorgeous. Matt wished he was picking her up for a real date.

"Wow," he said by way of greeting, but evidently she wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"I can't do this," she blurted.

He knew this was a long shot, but it still felt like a kick to the gut. He looked away and ran a hand through his hair, hoping she didn't see his disappointment. "I understand. I'll just go."

"Christ. Don't get your panties in a bunch." Beth yanked him into the room and waved to the clothes piled on every surface. He wouldn't have believed it possible, but the room was a bigger disaster than last night. "You've got to help me," she insisted. "I have no idea what to wear."

He tried hard not to laugh. She had to be kidding. She wore a pair of jeans that looked like they were painted on and sexy gold top that was unbuttoned just low enough to show off the swell of her ample bust. The gold played of her dark olive skin and made her eyes turn a molten chocolate color. She was beautiful.

"What you have on is fine."

"I don't want it to be fine. So help me. I've lost all ability to judge," she said and pulled out a cream sundress. "Would this be good for a lunch?" She tossed it aside and picked up a short sleeve sweater. "Or what about this with the jeans?"

He watched as she took off her top and yanked on the sweater; her boldness didn't even faze him this time.

"Well? What do you think?"

He'd liked the gold top, but the baby blue turtleneck sweater she had on now hugged her curves. It was perfect on her, sexy and innocent all rolled into to one. Blue was his new favorite color.

"I like that," he said, trying to be supportive. "It's just lunch."

"It needs to be right, Matt. You asked me to help. How can I help if everyone at the table is wondering how you ended up with someone like me?" She sorted through the clothes again. "But you're right. It's lunch. I need to stick to casual. Do you think I should try this with a pair of shorts? No, that's tacky. I think the jeans and the silk shirt." She picked up a red shirt from the bed and held it up. "What do you think?"

Matt took the shirt from her hands and set it back on the bed. He grabbed both her hands and looked her straight in the eye. "You look fantastic," he said, bringing her left hand up to his mouth and kissing the back. "You have nothing to worry about. Everyone at the table will wonder how I, a nerdy computer geek, ended up with a knockout like you." He brought her other hand to his lips and kissed it, too. "It will be okay. Just breathe."

Some of the crazy when out of her eyes and her shoulders relaxed.

"Okay," she said on a deep exhale. After a few more breaths she shot him a lopsided grin. "If you haven't picked it up yet, I over-react sometimes."

"I kinda noticed," he said, and let go of her hands before he did something crazy like kiss her again. He wanted to ask about it, because he knew there was more to her melt down than just clothes, but they really didn't have time. "Are you sure you're still up for this? If you've changed your mind, I'll understand."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "So we're back to this? I'm up for it. I promise. Please don't let my panic attack fool you. I'm looking forward to adding a little adventure to my vacation." Beth closed the distance between them, and whispered in his ear. "If you're up for that?"

If the way his cock had sprung to attention was any indication, Matt had a pretty good idea what he was up for.

"Up for what exactly?" he tried to clarify.

"Last night wasn't a bad place to start," she said.

Eyes half lidded, Beth pressed up against him, but when Matt caught sight of the clock behind her, he pulled back. He wasn't about to start anything he couldn't finish. Not again. "We're late. But I'd like to continue this later."

"Count on it," she said with a smirk and headed for the door.

All eyes were on them when they entered the dining room. As they got closer to the table, Beth slipped her hand in his as if she'd been doing it for months, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Gone was the frightened girl. In her place was the bold woman he was coming to enjoy. The one who rescued small boys and grown men.

"It will be okay. Just breathe," she said in a low voice, echoing his words from earlier.

"Sorry we're late. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Beth." Matt went around the table and made introductions. He noticed that while the men of the family seemed thrilled to meet her, the women weren't as pleased. That is, except for his mother.

"You two come sit by me," she said, pushing on his dad's arm to get him to move. "I feel terrible that Matt didn't tell anyone you were coming. Honestly, I thought I did a better job in raising my boys. You know you're welcome to join us anytime."

"Thank you, Mrs. Carver," Beth said.

"Please call me Martha," she said and patted the vacant seat next to her. "I'm so glad we finally get you meet you."

"Please don't blame Matt for this. Like I tried to explain to Jason last night, Matt and I don't see each other often because of my job, so when I got the time off, I decided to surprise him. He didn't even know I was here until last night."

Everyone else at the table was uncharacteristically quiet. With his family that was never good sign. Even the twins seemed to pick up on the tension. After Beth sat down, the interrogation began.

"Matt hasn't told us much about you," his mom continued, glaring at him with her terror inducing Mom Scowl that always made Matt feel six years old. "The only thing he did mention was that you live in Chicago and you travel with your work. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

Beth was a trooper. She launched into her life story, and she had a lot to tell. Outside of her extensive travels in South America, Beth had spent a large chunk of her childhood in Africa.

Everyone, including Matt, had been transfixed by her stories. She had a real passion for traveling. Matt could see it in the way her eyes got all shiny and she'd let out an involuntary sigh after she was done talking.

And even though he'd been enamored the first day they'd met, Matt was still surprised by how fast Beth won over his parents and uncle. He couldn't have picked a better girl to meet his family even if he tried.

What didn't surprise him was the way Bridget and Kitty glared at her from the end of the table. Bridget wasn't shy about showing her displeasure. She took every opportunity to make a snide comment in her passive aggressive way.

"Wow, your work in Haiti sounds amazing," Bridget said with a saccharine sweet smile. "I don't think I would have been able to live with three men in those horrible conditions. It doesn't sound like there was a lot of privacy."