Free Don't Bite the Bridesmaid by Tiffany Allee

his.
    “Guess so,” Alice replied.
    “You know how competitive Brent is. He’ll have a big head about it the entire week if he wins.” Cindy waved her fork around as she spoke, and Alice caught sight of her pancakes. Her mouth watered. While they were playing volleyball, she could enjoy the cruise ship’s excellent breakfast menu. She wiggled in her shorts. Yes, she still had room. The gym would be waiting when she got home.
    “Nonsense,” Noah cut in. “Of course we’ll play.”
    “But your allergy—”
    “I’ll be fine, Alice.”
    “Great!” Cindy said. “We need to head over there soon. I only have the courts booked for a couple of hours.” She glanced at Alice. “You guys should eat something. Maybe grab a banana to go.”
    Alice glared at her sister and Cindy got up from the table, an innocent look plastered on her face. Cindy knew exactly how she felt about healthy breakfasts on vacation.
    “Oh, and don’t forget to stop by your room and change,” her sister added.
    “Change?” Alice tugged at her shorts. “Is this some sort of weird, dressy volleyball?”
    Cindy laughed. “Don’t be silly. It’s pool volleyball.”
    If looks could have killed, Cindy would have been rolling around the floor in agony. But they couldn’t, so Alice simply glared. Noah was quiet on the way back to the room and seemed resigned to his fate. Alice changed quickly in the bathroom, wishing she’d spent a few more hours a week at the gym.
    The sexy bikini had seemed like such a good idea in the store—a way to show Brent exactly what he was missing. But now she’d kill for a one-piece. She wrapped a poolside-robe around herself in the bathroom. Maybe she could toss it at a chair as she flung herself into the pool.
    The volleyball courts were outside in one of the pools, but the temperature was still quite nice, and the water made diving for the ball a real possibility, if one didn’t mind a face full of water. Cindy had booked two courts, and created brackets for all of the couples who played.
    Alice watched the first sets of couples play and clutched at her robe self-consciously. One set was Robert’s cousin, Tom, and his wife versus two of Alice’s cousins. Unlike Cindy’s soon-to-be husband, Tom was slight, and it became obvious very quickly the match wouldn’t be going their way. On the other court, her mother and Jake played a couple Alice didn’t recognize.
    Jake was actually pretty good, and what her mother lacked in volleyball skill, she made up for in enthusiasm.
    Alice cheered her family on, but wasn’t feeling as into the game as she should have. Noah enveloped her thoughts. His touch, his spicy scent, the obvious desire on his face when she’d broken their kiss.
    Not to mention how he looked in his swimming trunks.
    The well-defined muscles that were only hinted at under his clothing flexed as he moved. And it took every bit of her self-control not to stare. It helped that his eyes were firmly averted from her. She sniffed. She wasn’t unpleasant to look at in a bathing suit; she was self-aware enough to know that, even if she didn’t feel totally comfortable in the two-piece. If he didn’t care for a peek, it was his loss. Besides, she was still wearing the short robe.
    The crowd had pulled away from them, getting closer to the games to call out of play balls and cheer on the competitors. She and Noah were alone, or at least as alone as they were likely to be until they retired for the night.
    “Hey,” she said, and he turned to face her. God, his eyes were so blue. So striking. And for a brief second before his expression closed to her, they were expressive. “You’re enjoying yourself,” she said, shocked.
    “Why shouldn’t I?” he asked, and the last bit of enjoyment was squashed from his face by his normal, guarded expression.
    “Sorry, that’s not what I was going to say.”
    “What were you going to say?”
    “You’re allowed to enjoy yourself. I didn’t mean that how it