Free The Trouble With Paradise by Jill Shalvis Page A

snorkeling wouldn’t be their only first.
    In response, Dorie’s tongue twitched. Panicked, she looked at Cadence.
    Cadence shook her head. “Sorry, but I have a fear of putting my face in the water. Totally and ridiculously juvenile, I know, but snorkeling is not happening for me. You’re on your own.”
    Andy smiled at Dorie. “No problem. We go in pairs anyway. How about we partner up?”
    “She’d love to,” Cadence said for her.
    Andy lightly tugged on a strand of Dorie’s hair. “Don’t worry, you’ll be in good hands.”
    Dorie looked at his handsome face, and thought of him in a bathing suit. “Fun,” she agreed.
    He smiled the smile of a man charmed. A man who knew he was on his way to getting lucky.
    She just had to decide if that was going to be true. And if she could sleep with him without swallowing her own tongue.
    Night One—No cabana boy yet but still working on it.
    Dorie slept in soft, lush bedding that wasn’t from Shop-Mart and woke to the sound of the wind whipping at sails. From her window she could see an incredible blue sky, so bright she needed sunglasses to look at it. She showered and winced anew at her unreachable splinter, but it didn’t look infected so she wasn’t going to worry about it.
    Much.
    Her ankle felt better and was no longer swollen. She pulled on the bathing suit she’d designed when she’d promised herself to lose ten pounds, which had never happened because barbeque chips had gone on sale at the store and she’d bought an entire carton. Not a single bag, but a carton . Now the suit was a little tight, but the top gave her breasts a nice lift, which was a fun bonus. Unfortunately, the shorty bottoms exposed more than they covered.
    Damn BBQ chips.
    She pulled out a wraparound skirt, tied it on, and called it good.
    Up on deck, she was momentarily staggered by the huge, yawning sky and even huger, yawning ocean, both in that brilliant blue, with only the occasional whitecap to break it up. The air was warm, with a soft breeze that felt like heaven. Far above, the sails soared and cracked in the wind like fireworks.
    “An amazing way to wake up, isn’t it?”
    She turned and smiled at Cadence, who sat on a lounge. “Beats the L.A. smog, that’s for sure.” Despite the warm air, Cadence had her sweatshirt zipped up to her chin, and Dorie gestured to it. “You cold?”
    “No. My bathing suit is all screwed up. I think it shrank.” She grimaced. “Okay, that’s a lie. It didn’t shrink, I got bigger.”
    “Let me see.”
    Cadence looked around carefully for other eyes, then unzipped her sweatshirt. Dorie took in the bikini top, which was so tight it had Cadence’s barely size B breasts looking like C-pluses.
    “It’s hopeless.”
    “I can fix it.” She pulled Cadence off the lounge and around the corner, to the relatively secluded corner of the boat where she’d stood yesterday having her fantasy Titanic moment. “Take it off.”
    “Here?”
    “Trust me. A designer, remember?” Which felt incredibly good to say. She wished she could always say that instead of “Shop-Mart sales clerk.” “Take it off and turn it upside down.” Dorie showed her what she meant, and then retied the strings.
    Cadence looked down at her breasts, which now fit into the material, still snugly, but not X-rated-ly. “That’s amazing.”
    “Just a little trick. Hungry?”
    In marvel, Cadence cupped her breasts, adjusted. Smiled. “Starved.”
    “I bet Ethan cooked something good.”
    “I don’t know. He was busy busting Bobby for being a lazy shithead. A direct quote.”
    They entered the galley. Busy bickering or not, Ethan had cooked something good, and they ate a breakfast spread fit for kings, served with a scowl by Bobby under the supervision of Ethan, who was wearing spotless, wrinkle-free trousers and an immaculate white shirt.
    Dorie took a bite of her food and moaned. Ethan might look like a pretend chef but there was nothing pretend about the fabulous