Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
And then he did.
10
Katherine
We landed in Puerto Rico a few hours later. Gone was the New York bitter cold, and in its place was beautiful eighty-degree weather and ocean as far as the eye could see. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the sunshine until we landed in a tropical paradise. I shucked off the jacket I’d been wearing inside the cabin and exited the plane in a sundress and Tory Burch sandals, leaving my Louboutins in my oversized bag. I might be an ice princess, but I thawed in the summer with the best of them.
Camden was still in a suit as he followed me down the stairs and onto the runway. A car service waited for us nearby. I headed toward it while our bags were delivered to the trunk.
Our driver opened the door to the backseat. “Welcome to Puerto Rico.”
“Thank you,” I said and slipped into the interior.
Camden followed a minute later, stowing his phone in his pocket. “Jesus, it’s a thousand degrees outside.”
“Isn’t it great?” I said with a rare smile.
He tugged at his suit collar. “Not exactly.”
“I told you to change out of that thing. You have a spare pair of clothes.”
He opened his mouth, clearly to argue with me, but then just shrugged. “Oh well. I’ll do it when we get there.”
A thrill hit me in the stomach. He was actually serious. He was going to have a real truce here. No arguing, like we did every second of every day. I was excited and nervous and wondering what the hell was going to come from this. Would we leave this island better or worse for it? Only one way to find out.
Camden tugged his phone back out and returned to work. I knew that he didn’t mind that he had to work while he was on this trip, but I felt a little bad for him. I didn’t know how he’d managed to get the time off for our honeymoon. I hadn’t realized quite how impossible it must have been for him to be without his work while gone… and how freeing.
My eyes fell on the landscape as we drove inland toward the resort. Everything was green and lush and vibrant. So different than a New York winter. It was almost easy to believe that I could leave all my problems back in the city. That Camden and I could be a happy married couple here in this world. It was probably a lie, but sometimes, it was easier to believe a lie.
We pulled up in front of St. Vincent’s Resort, which was a gorgeous sprawling complex of buildings surrounding eight enormous pools with swim-up bars and poolside restaurants. From what Lark had explained, the resort had two dozen private, beachside villas. Our party had taken up eight of them before they were offered to other high-end clientele. Unofficially, the property had opened for family, friends, and business associates of St. Vincent’s Enterprise just after Thanksgiving. But the resort itself wouldn’t open up to the general public until after the New Year. So, the entire place was only other people in high enough positions to gain this kind of access. It was an Upper East Side dream come true.
We had virtually checked in to the resort on our flight, and a gentleman was waiting for us as the car pulled up to the resort. He was probably in his early thirties with sunbaked brown skin and floppy brown hair. He seemed particularly effusive.
“Hello, and welcome to St. Vincent’s Resort: Puerto Rico, Mr. and Mrs. Percy. I am Paulo, your personal guide for the remainder of your stay. Should you need anything, I will assist you.”
Camden shook Paulo’s hand but flashed me a look, as if waiting for me to correct him. I hadn’t changed my name from Van Pelt and had no interest in doing so. Camden had never seemed to care. Normally, I hated when someone called me Mrs. Percy and quickly corrected them. In the interest of not arguing, I let it pass.
“Hello,” I said genially and shook Paulo’s hand.
“We’re thrilled to have you on our wonderful island and hope that we can show you everything that we have to offer—from original food, a unique cultural experience, the beautiful rainforest, and bioluminescent bays to our incredible nightlife and alcohol selections.” His smile only widened. “Allow me to escort you to your private villa. Right this way.”
It was a short walk to our villa, which was an enormous one-bedroom suite, complete with a private pool with in-water beach chairs and a hot tub. The inside was sleek and modern and stunning. An enormous king-size bed took up much of the space with a desk against one wall and a mounted eighty-inch television. A bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket next to a plate of fresh strawberries.