Holiday Games (A Play-By-Play Novella) by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

brow. “Designated driver?”
    She laughed. “No. Just not in the mood for a cocktail yet.”
    The cabana was gorgeous, the sun warm, which made Liz glad for the shade since she’d burn to a crisp without it. Jenna and Tara made a beeline for the water and the waiter brought their drinks. Liz settled against the back of the chaise with her orange juice.
    “I think I’m going to swim,” Savannah said. “It looks so good.”
    “I’ll join you,” Alicia said, getting up from the chair. She looked over to Liz. “Are you coming?”
    “No. I’m going to sit here and stare at the sea and bask for a while. You two go ahead.”
    Alicia grinned. “Okay.”
    After they left, Liz closed her eyes and soaked in the heat, suddenly aware of how much she missed Gavin already.
    Ugh. Love was such an all-consuming thing. She’d never wanted to fall in love, had never thought she would. Unfortunately, she’d been in love with Gavin for what seemed like forever. She’d thought marrying him would settle her feelings, make them a little less . . . intense.
    She’d been wrong. They’d only grown more, the yearnings she felt for him intensifying the more time they spent together. He was everything to her—kind and generous and fun and playful. He was a generous lover, and even when they argued, which was rarely, it was still with a fiery passion. And their arguments tended to fizzle out quickly, because they communicated so well.
    She’d found the man of her dreams and she considered herself so lucky.
    She should be wholly content. And she was. Except she wanted to have his baby, and Mother Nature or some cosmic force in the universe refused to grant her this one wish. Maybe it was because she was so exceptionally happy in all other facets of her relationship. Maybe this just wasn’t meant to be, and she was going to have to learn to accept it.
    They had already talked adoption, and she certainly wasn’t opposed to that. She’d love a child they could raise together, no matter where that child came from. She was going to give it another six months to a year. If they weren’t pregnant by then, they were going to start seriously pursuing adoption. By then she’d have figured for sure that pregnancy wasn’t an option for her.
    The women all came back, dripping wet.
    “How was it?” she asked.
    “Fantastic,” Jenna said. “The water is warm and perfect. You should have joined us.”
    “I will the next go-round. My fair skin can only handle so much of that sun. Besides, I sat back and enjoyed the quiet, something I don’t get a lot of with the fast pace of my job.”
    Savannah grabbed a towel and patted herself down. “I understand that. It’s always run here, run there, grab a flight and run somewhere else.” She took a seat in the chaise and let out a breath. “It’s nice to just . . . sit and take a breath.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    Jenna stretched her legs out. “And here I am running you all ragged for my wedding.”
    Tara squeezed her hand. “Honey, this is paradise. It’s hardly what I would call running us ragged.”
    “I just don’t want to exhaust all of you. I know you live busy lives.”
    “And you don’t?” Liz asked. “You have the club to run, and I know that despite the fact you turned over Riley’s bar to a new manager, you still have your thumbprint all over that place.”
    “I do not. Dave’s doing a great job managing the bar. He doesn’t need me meddling.”
    “But it’s still a family-owned business, which means someone in the family has to watch over it, right?” Alicia asked.
    Jenna shrugged. “I might look in every now and then. So does Dad.”
    Liz shot her a look. “Dad is happy being retired and stopping in the bar every now and then to visit with his old friends. Not check on liquor stock, personnel, and accounting.”
    Jenna sighed and cast a pleading gaze toward Savannah.
    “Don’t look at me,” Savannah said. “I agree with them. I think you have your hands full