Finding Fortune's Secret
Author
Allison Leigh
Reads
18,8K
Chapters
16
Prologue
Thank goodness for sunglasses.
Justine Maloney adjusted hers as she left the shady interior for brilliant sunlight. Despite the dark lenses, she still winced. Sunshine compounded by an enormous, glittering pool.
Not helpful to a hangover.
It was New Year’s Day. Miami was twenty degrees warmer than it was back in Texas. The luxurious hotel was a dream and the only thing she’d needed to pay for was her flight to get there.
Yes, she’d had to raid her savings to afford that plane fare, but that was a drop in the bucket compared to what the long holiday weekend had to be costing.
Staying buried in her huge bed in the over-the-top suite bemoaning her actions the night before would have been ungrateful. Nearly criminal.
So here she was. Teeth brushed. Cutoff shorts. Tankini top. Wishing that her sunglasses could do a better job of protecting the throbbing inside her head.
She scanned the people sprawled on the lounges surrounding the pool, finally spotting Garland and Debbie. There was no sign of Anika though, and she was the whole reason they were there in Florida at all.
Anika was soon to marry a Miami businessman who could afford hotel suites like theirs. She’d never have to worry again about saving her precious dimes.
Instead, Anika’s fiancé, Victor, was treating them to one last hurrah before he swept Anika off for their wedding on a private island in the Bahamas.
Every step Justine took sent pain ricocheting inside her skull. By the time she dumped her book bag on the empty lounge chair next to her friends, she’d promised life and the universe that she would never drink again.
Debbie squinted over the top of her own sunglasses. “Damn, Jus.”
“Surprised you’re upright,” Garland added. Along with her sunglasses, she wore a wide-brimmed hat that was a lot more about fashion than function. “Since you spent half the night on the bathroom floor.”
“Happy New Year to you, too.” Justine gingerly sat next to her book bag. “Nice how you make a girl feel good about herself.”
Debbie snickered. “Last I saw of you at the party, you were dancing with Tall, Dark and Do Him. From the looks of you, I’m guessing there was no do.”
Mortification burned inside her.
Pretty hard to seduce someone when you were puking into a bush while your intended quarry held back your hair.
It was a wonder she hadn’t been kicked out of the hotel.
Garland rolled onto her stomach. “Still poor virginal Justine.”
This was the problem with getting together with her old dorm-mates. They knew all her secrets.
“It’s only when I’m around all of you that I even think about that,” she complained. “I should’ve lied. Told you I’d met someone and done the deed. None of you would’ve known differently.” She was twenty-three years old. She couldn’t possibly be the last virgin on earth, even if it sometimes felt that way.
“You could’ve tried lying,” Debbie said with a snort. “Except you’re the worst liar on the planet. Always have been.”
Garland’s laugh sounded muffled against her folded arms. “Unlike Anika. Can you believe she convinced Victor that she graduated top of our class?”
Much better to think about their missing fourth than to think about Stefan of the night before. Rather than run for the nearest exit when Justine tore out of his arms to race for the nearest bush, he’d been solicitous personified. Which made it even more embarrassing. Every other guy on the planet would have left her slinking back to her room in anonymous shame.
Stefan hadn’t been satisfied until he’d escorted her right to her hotel room door.
Actions have consequences, Justine. How often have I told you that?
Add her mother’s voice to the misery that was her throbbing head.
She squinted at the palm trees surrounding the infinity-edge pool. “Where is Anika, anyway?”
“Lunching on caviar and champagne in the presidential suite with Victor, no doubt.” Debbie’s tone was acidic. “Even though this trip was supposed to be about the four of us.”
“She met us all at the airport,” Justine reminded. They’d all come in at different times from varied locations. “Until Victor showed up last night at the party, it’s been like old times.”
Garland laughed and raised an arm, rubbing her fingers against her thumb. “But with dinero.”
“Yeah, well, money isn’t everything, is it? I’m not one for caviar but I am getting hungry. I’m ordering something from the pool bar.” Debbie pushed off her lounge and walked away, her caftan fluttering behind her.
Justine chewed the inside of her cheek. “She’s not really mad at Anika, is she?”
“Nah.” Garland flicked open the back of her bikini top. “It just annoys her that she and Todd won’t get down the aisle before Anika does.”
“At least when Deb and Todd get married we won’t have to worry about not making the cut for a destination wedding,” Justine said without heat. The private island that Victor had rented out could only accommodate two-dozen people. With his and Anika’s large families, the guests had been kept strictly to their immediate relations.
Thus his gift to Anika of bringing in her girlfriends for the holiday weekend instead.
“Deb and Todd’ll get married in their Minnesota barn and we’ll be escorted by cows,” Garland predicted with a visible shudder. She’d been raised in Dallas and was a city girl, through and through. Now, she worked in Chicago with a corporate events planner and lived in an apartment she claimed was even smaller than the Houston dorm room the four of them had once shared. She reached out and pushed her knuckles against Justine’s shin. “Sorry it didn’t work out with Stefan. You looked like you were really interested in him.”
Justine lifted her shoulder, which set off another wave of throbbing inside her skull. “I had my chance with a gorgeous guy and I blew it. I’ll survive.” She moved her squashy hat over her face, hoping to end the topic.
Garland ignored the hint. “Don’t be so defeatist.”
She pulled aside the hat again. “Stefan wouldn’t have given me the time of day if it hadn’t been for you and Deb.” Between the dress that Garland loaned her and the makeup and hair that Deb had helped with, Justine hadn’t looked anything like herself when the four of them had walked into the lavish party the previous evening. Add a lot of wine and a lot of nudging from her friends, and somewhere she’d found the nerve to ask Stefan to dance when he’d shown up with Victor.
When Stefan had guided her out to the poolside palm grove to dance beneath the stars, she’d been giddy. He was tall. Handsome. He danced like a dream and in his arms, dusty little Chatelaine, Texas, had felt a million miles away. She wasn’t studious, virginal Justine who lived with her mama because she couldn’t afford anything else.
She was Cinderella and he was the totally hot prince.
It was only now in the cold light of hangover and sunshine that she realized he’d treated her more like an indulgent uncle than a prospective lover.
Not that she had an uncle.
But she could imagine.
“It wasn’t the dress or the makeup. You’ve never given yourself enough credit,” Garland said.
Justine gave Garland the stink eye. “You’re the siren. Anika’s the ingenue, and Debbie’s the earth mother. What was my role? Giving guys advice on how to get the attention of one of you three, that’s what.”
Garland laughed heartily and Justine pinched the pain inside her forehead. “How is it that you’re not suffering? Anika’s the only one who didn’t drink.”
“Clean living,” Garland said facetiously. Holding her bikini in place, she flipped over again, and her long hair streamed over the side of the chaise.
“Here.” Debbie returned with a tall bottle of water that probably cost as much as the used textbook in Justine’s bag. “Hydrate.”
Justine took the bottle and twisted off the fancy silver cap. “Thanks.” She guzzled down a third of it, and the fact that it didn’t want to come right back up was a good sign.
When the waiter arrived with a platter of fish tacos, though, she shuddered and closed her eyes.
By the time Anika appeared a few hours later and snuggled onto the lounge next to Justine, she felt somewhat better.
“You and Stefan looked really cozy last night,” Anika said. Her eyes danced. “So, did you do the deed?”
Justine groaned and slouched further down the chaise lounge. “Don’t ask.”
“She’ll forever be the unforgettable woman to him,” Garland said with a laugh.
Justine grimaced. “Very funny.”
“Oh.” Anika pouted slightly. “I thought the two of you looked meant to be.”
“Like you and Victor, I suppose,” Debbie said dryly.
“We are meant to be.” Anika smiled beatifically. “I can’t wait to be his wife. To have his babies.”
Garland made a choking sound. “What decade is this? What about a career?”
Anika waved a dismissive hand. “Victor’s not getting any younger and having babies is the only thing I’ve ever really wanted to do. Life’s short. We’ve got to love hard.” She bumped her shoulder against Justine’s. “What about you? Don’t you want kids?”
“Eventually, maybe. But only after I finish my graduate degree. After I’m fully established in my career. That’s when I’ll start thinking about relationships and family.”
Anika’s smile widened. “You’ll meet the right guy, just like I met Victor, and suddenly your plans will feel a lot less important.”
Justine laughed at that. “Only you would end up with a man like Victor, sweetie. The stars just align themselves for you. Me? I’m the one who loses her lunch when Mr. Perfect comes around.”
“Mr. Perfect, huh?” a deep voice said behind her.
Butterflies filled her stomach and no amount of regret for the night before could overcome a thrilling stab as she looked over her shoulder.
The night before, Stefan’s boldly patterned black-and-white shirt had kept his suit from looking too formal. Today, he was all sorts of casual. Collarless, untucked shirt. Linen pants that were just the right amount of slouchy.
His olive-toned skin was tanned; his thick hair was as dark as obsidian, and his distinctively mossy green eyes were just as magnetic as she’d remembered.
And he wasn’t looking at her as if she’d totally blown her chances at all...
