Navy Seal Captive. Elle James
in a restaurant. But she didn’t want to hold Carly back from having fun. “I don’t mind at all. I was thinking of splurging, like you said, and ordering room service and soaking in that incredible hot tub.”
“Mmm.” Carly grinned. “Sounds great. And I’ll definitely want to be out of the room when you do it. That’s one disadvantage to having the bridal suite. It was meant to be shared with your lover, not your girlfriend.” She winked. “You should order champagne and do it right.”
“Why? It’s not like I’m celebrating.”
“Yes, you are.” Carly hooked her arm and marched her toward the concierge. “You’re celebrating your liberation from marrying the wrong guy.” She stopped and faced the concierge. “We’d like to order a lovely bottle of champagne delivered to the bridal suite.”
“No, really.” Jenna’s face heated. “It’s not necessary.”
The man behind the counter stared from Carly to Jenna and back. “Which is it to be?”
Carly shook her head. “Champagne to the bridal suite within the next twenty minutes.” She named a brand that Jenna hoped was on the cheaper end of the wine list. “Thank you.” She grabbed Jenna’s hand and tugged her toward the elevator. “Come on. You have some hot-tubbing to do.”
Jenna dug her feet into the tile floor. “I will, but I need to check on my missing luggage.”
Carly let go of her hand and nodded. “That’s right. And I was headed for the shower and a date.” She saluted. “I’ll see you in the suite. I hope your bag came in.” Her overwhelmingly cheerful friend spun away and disappeared into the elevator.
Jenna waited at the bellman’s stand next to the registration desk. A rush of young people converged on the desk, tying up the bellmen and the clerks. A gentleman stood close to the bellman’s stand, tapping his toe impatiently as he checked into the hotel.
Jenna could see everyone was busy and figured it would take time for anyone to free up and help her. Prepared to return later, she spotted her hard-sided gray case between the registration counter and the bellman’s desk.
Excited that her suitcase had finally arrived, she scooped it up and headed for the elevator, saving the bellman one more person to deal with. Glad to have the case with her dinner clothes inside it, now she could relax and enjoy the rest of her “honeymoon.”
As she stepped into the elevator, she thought of Carly and the man she’d just met at the zip-line excursion. Was her friend brave or foolish to go out with a man she knew nothing about?
Deep down, Jenna wished the man called Sawyer had asked for her number or asked to take her out on a date while in Cancún. She and Carly could have double-dated with the two men.
Perhaps she was being silly, but she’d thought she’d felt a connection with him. The warmth of his body at her back, the security of his arm around her waist.
Was she so desperate to be with a man, she had started reading into things? Hadn’t she learned with Tyler that men weren’t attracted to women like her? Or at least not for long. She was too boring, afraid to take risks, stuck in her ways.
Jenna tugged the rubber band out of her hair and shook her unruly curls loose. Well, maybe it was time to be more daring. She’d ask Carly to get the number for her date’s friend.
In the meantime, Jenna had a date with a bottle of champagne and a hot tub.
Funny thing was...she didn’t even like champagne.
No sooner had she entered her room than Carly stepped out of the shower. “I’m done if you want to rinse off,” she called out. The door to the bathroom stood wide-open. Carly leaned against the counter, applying makeup, her slim, athletic body wrapped in a towel.
“No, I’ll wait for the hot tub,” Jenna said and set her case on the floor.
“The champagne beat you here. Help yourself. I already poured a glass.” She turned and raised her glass, then drank a sip of the sparkling liquid.
Jenna figured that since it was paid for, she might as well try to enjoy it and poured a glass. She carried it to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean. The sun was still up, shining over the water. People crowded the beach, some swimming, others soaking up the sun. Families corralled children, and lovers lay entwined on towels, smooching as if they were the only ones on the beach.
Sighing, Jenna downed a long gulp of the bubbly liquid. This would have been her and Tyler’s honeymoon had he gone through with the marriage.
Now, two months after the horrible embarrassment of being jilted at the altar, she was glad she hadn’t married Tyler. They might already have been divorced or had the wedding annulled. Jenna would never have been happy with him. They were too different. She wanted a man who could be faithful. He wasn’t.
The ping of a cell phone sounded from the bathroom.
“Whoops.” Carly raced out of the bathroom, fluffing her short, dark, damp hair. She threw on a powder-blue sundress and strappy stilettoes and grabbed her purse. “Quentin is waiting for me downstairs.”
“Isn’t it early to go to dinner?” Jenna stared out at the beach.
“He wants to take me driving around first. Then we’re going to walk on the beach. After that, we’ll do dinner and dancing.” She smiled. “He wants to get to know me.” Carly hugged Jenna and bussed her cheek. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t, and enjoy your hot tub and champagne.”
“I will.” Jenna sighed as Carly hurried out, the door closing automatically behind her.
As soon as the door closed, Jenna cursed. She’d meant to ask Carly to get the phone number for Quentin’s friend.
She teetered on the balls of her feet, tempted to run after her friend, but didn’t. For a long moment Jenna stared at that door as if it were a barrier to her self-esteem.
Why was she staying in her room, soaking in a tub, when she could be out, enjoying the sunshine and salty air? Wasn’t she there to be adventurous? What better way than to go outside and experience life?
Scrapping the idea of a long soak in the hot tub, she stripped down to her underwear and slung her case up on the bed. She refused to hide in the honeymoon suite when she could be out having fun. With a determined flip of her hair, she flicked the latches. They didn’t open. Funny. She hadn’t locked them, knowing airport security would want to inspect for illegal or potentially dangerous items. Hell, she hadn’t thought to bring the key. And yet somehow, the locks had engaged.
She fished in her purse for her metal file and went to work jimmying the locks one at a time until finally they each sprang open. Jenna straightened triumphantly. One more hurdle overcome. She could do anything when she set her mind to it. “Boring... Ha!”
Jenna flung open the case, ready to pull out her sexy black dress.
For a moment, she stared into the case, her mind slow to realize this wasn’t her case at all.
“Oh no.” On top was a layer of clothing. Dark trousers, dark, long-sleeved T-shirts, a black ski mask. Things she would expect to see in a case bound for the ski slopes or a really cold climate, not the tropics.
Jenna closed the case and stared down at it, wondering what to do with it. There was no luggage tag on the outside identifying the owner should the case be lost.
Feeling guilty already about forcing the case open, she lifted the lid and glanced inside again. Maybe there was some form of identification buried inside.
Carefully lifting the clothes, she set them aside on the bed. Beneath the clothing was nothing. Strangely, the case still seemed heavy, and it was deeper on the outside than the inside. Was there a false bottom? She ran her hand around the inside of the case, searching for a lever or button to push. Finally she found it, sliding the device to the left. The divider popped up enough that she could slip her fingers beneath