We’d just run out of marshmallows.
When a crewmember came over and whispered in Lovejoy’s ear, the fraud packed up her guitar and stood.
“Good news, everyone. The crew has finished preparing your sleeping accommodations for this evening,” she announced with her signature serene smile. “So I’ll bid you all good night now.”
“Accommodations?” Fletcher frowned, unwrapping his arm from around Candace and setting down his drink. “Aren’t we staying on the yacht?”
“No, no.” Lovejoy’s smile kicked up a notch. “As this is our only overnight on the island, I’ve carefully designed special love nests for each couple. They’ve been spaced out on the beach for privacy.”
She winked and swept her arm toward a path of lit tiki torches in the sand. I could just make out a dark tent partway down the beach.
Love nests.
Great.
“How charming!” Madison beamed. “Get up, Harry. Let’s go find ours.”
“I love it,” Piper agreed, standing and brushing off her bikini bottoms. “It’s just like your videos say. The smaller the space, the bigger your opportunity to connect.”
“Yes, spot on!” Lovejoy praised, while I swallowed hard to stop from gagging. “Enjoy your evenings. We’ll reconvene here tomorrow morning for a trust building exercise.”
The others went off to find their tents, and Lovejoy headed toward the main building, leaving Ellie and me alone with the crackling fire.
“A love nest,” Ellie echoed with a snicker, shifting on our log. “That’s…unexpected.”
I scowled. “We’re not sleeping in it. After the rest of them fall asleep, we can sneak back onto the yacht.”
In fact, I was surprised I hadn’t already thought about sneaking onto the yacht to work earlier.
A soft gasp escaped Ellie.
“Holy macaroni. Look how clear the stars are. And there’s so many!” She stared up at the sky, mesmerized, and tilted her head so far back she almost tipped off the log. “I was so distracted by the s’mores, I didn’t even notice them.”
I followed her gaze to the mass of twinkling lights. Part of me didn’t feel like I was actually here—roasting marshmallows at a campfire with a blue-haired stranger I was pretending to be engaged to. I should be working on the Tokyo deal, but that usual itch to check my emails had been absent all day.
Ellie hummed under her breath. “I’m tempted to sleep right here on the log if it means I can keep looking at them.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening.
“I’m not sleeping on a log.” I got to my feet. “Wait here.”
The trail of tiki torches led to four inviting tents scattered along the beach, higher than the tide had a chance of reaching. Rustling and other noises came from the first three tents, which I tuned out and kept walking.
“Love nests” was an apt description. The moment I opened the flap of the fourth tent, roses assaulted my nostrils. Dozens of candles illuminated a mattress piled with more pillows than anyone would need in their life.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I grumbled, taking in the black silk lingerie set framed by hundreds of red rose petals on the bed.
I put out all the candles—damn fire hazards—before clearing the petals and flinging the lingerie aside.
We wouldn’t need that.
We only needed two pillows, so I tucked them with some blankets under one arm and heaved the mattress up with the other. The silk sheets didn’t make it any easier to carry.
When I reached Ellie back at the campfire, I dropped the mattress onto the sand next to her and tossed the pillows and blankets on top. “Come on. If we’re doing this, we might as well be comfortable.”
She blinked at the mattress before leaning down to pluck a rogue rose petal off a pillow.
“Wow.” Ellie rubbed it between her fingers, eyes sparkling playfully. “Looks like someone was feeling romantic.”