Page 6 of Her Wedding Night

“Oh,” I say.

He gives me a look that clearly says he'd like to see me in it, a look that sends a violent feeling through my core.

“I…”

“Don't worry,” he says. “That will be underneath.”

I frown and touch the billowy, transparent material. I’m not sure it’ll actually disguise much.

“It's beautiful,” I say, trying to find the right words to sayI'm not sure what's going on.

“You are beautiful,” he says solemnly.

“I don’t understand. Why would you buy me this outfit?”

And how did he organize it so quickly?

“I’ve wanted you to come to one of these parties for months. I wasn’t sure how to ask you.” His gaze softens. “I knew it was right to wait. I'll let you get dressed in privacy.”

Great. It’ll just be after I put on a bikini that I’lll be paraded in front of his friends. As he goes to leave the cabin, I stop him. “Ethan…”

He looks at me expectantly.

“I don't want to lead you on. I’m not like Alyssa and Gracie. You know, I've never done anything.”

His expression turns almost proud. “I know. You're a virgin. You're a good girl. That's okay, Lucy. That's what I love about you.”

Shock ripples through me.

Before I can respond to that, he turns and leaves the cabin, the door clicking shut behind him.

Oh my God.

Lucy Martin, what have you done?

And are we too far out to sea now to swim for shore? Maybe I should have rolled the dice with the stalked dude.

But now I’ve clearly told Ethan that I’m not going to do anything tonight. And his weird crush aside, he seems to understand that. So there's no harm in trying to fit in.

I haven’t had to play this part so far this year at Ridge College, but I had some wild rebellious moments in high school.

When you have been alone your entire life, any attention is good attention.

And I know. Iknowthat's a trap. I'm smarter than that. But yet here I am, soaking up the twinkling lights and the fancy drinks and the hungry eyes, in the same way I went to house parties in high school.

Because I’m tired of being alone.

But for all their stupid games and expensive gifts, this is the exact same as a dorm or house party. It just smells better.

You aren’t alone tonight, Lucy.

CHAPTER 4

GABRIEL

I love rich people. They buy a lot of easy-to-use shit that makes spying on them a breeze. I’m in the engine room, familiarizing myself with the security system on board. I’ll do a physical room by room sweep next, but there are enough cameras wired into the servers here that I’ve already done a complete digital sweep and I’m pretty sure there’s only one crew person on board—the captain.

The galley is completely clean and quiet. There’s nobody down here on the crew level.