By Invitation Only by Lori Wilde, Wendy Etherington, Jillian Burns Read Free Book Online

you.”
     
     
    Y OU ACTED LIKE A BIG JERK . Nick scolded himself. Olivia didn’t say a word that wasn’t true, then you kissed her for no damned good reason and stormed off like a sensitive tit.
    Which wasn’t like him at all—insults usually rolled right off his back—but when Olivia spoke the truth, it hurt. Not because he hadn’t finished college. He could go back anytime he wanted. No, what stung was Olivia’s disregard because he hadn’t followed the traditional channels. He hated that she didn’t take him seriously.
    Come on, can you really blame her? You work hard at getting people not to take you seriously. Even the name of your blog, Man About Texas, is all tongue-in-cheek. She’s taking you at face value. Why are you so upset?
    Yeah? Why was he letting her get to him? Who the heck was Olivia Carmichael?
    Just the heir apparent to one of the most respected families in journalism, that’s all.
    Annoying, that’s what she was. Never mind that things had been going well between them until he’d gotten all defensive. She’d even apologized, and he sensed that was not something Olivia did lightly.
    “Hey, Nick!” J. D. Maynard called to him from a group of guys playing beach volleyball. “We’re about to leave for the bachelor party. Wanna ride with me on my last night of freedom?”
    “Absolutely.” Nick had to agree with Olivia. Things did seem to fall into his lap. Take this whole situation for instance. He’d lucked into an all-expenses-paid vacation that stood to net him a book contract.
    Half an hour later, J.D., Nick, a half dozen of his buddies and a couple of muscle-bound bodyguards jammed into the limo that took them to an entertainment compound in the middle of Rapture Island. Nightclubs and bars and restaurants ringed a big open-air pavilion packed with wealthy vacationers in festive clothing.
    The air smelled of coconut, fried fish and buttered rum. Lantern lights strung from wires, winked on in the gathering dusk. Along a man-made lake, tiki torches were being lit. A cacophony of various musical venues clashed in a berserk duel of sound—reggae, calypso, zydeco, Latin rhythm.
    J.D. led the way through the throng, headed for a gentleman’s club situated in the back corner of the compound.
    Ah, the ubiquitous strip joint. Just once, Nick would like to attend a bachelor party that wasn’t in a strip club. He’d been going to a lot of them lately as one by one his friends had gotten hitched.
    He realized he was the lone holdout among his group of friends. He was thirty now and everyone he hung with was engaged or married. When and how had that happened?
    “So.” Nick asked J.D. the question he’d been dying to ask him as they clambered up onto the boardwalk leading to the strip club. “How did you know, out of all the women in the world, that Holly was the one?”
    J.D., who’d clearly already had a couple of beers during the volleyball game, wrapped an arm around Nick’s shoulder and pulled him close as if they were best buddies from kindergarten. “Honestly, man, I love her like I’ve never loved another.”
    “Really? Never? But you’ve been with so many women and you could have any of them you wanted. Why Holly? How do you know she’s really The One?”
    And then J.D. shrugged, grinned and said the words Nick loathed hearing. “C’mon, you’re in love. You just know. ”

5
     
    H OLLY TOOK O LIVIA AND HER five other bridesmaids to a private luau where they were escorted through a big open-air pavilion surrounded by clubs and restaurants to a secluded beach area ringed with flaming tiki torches. Swarthy young men handed them mai tais, placed flower leis around their necks and kissed their cheeks. Olivia took a sip from her drink and puckered her mouth at the sweet potency. The bartender had been very liberal with the rum. The scent of roasted meats mingled with the fresh aroma of pineapple and plumeria blossoms. A trio of bongo players sat beneath palm trees pounding