Clarice walked back towards the roaring patio party, shoes in one hand, ring box in the other, trying to comprehend what had just happened to her. Part of her wanted desperately to look back and see if Harrison was still watching her, standing on the beach like a handsome ghost, waiting for the night to swallow him back up. It was like a scene from a movie she should be watching all by herself in her apartment back in New York, instead of living it out here, sand between her toes, moonlight on her shoulders. But she didn't want to give Harrison any false hope by turning back to look at him. She had no idea what she was going to do.

Still shoeless, she wandered back through the cacophony of eating and dancing people towards the table where the girls waited. The food had been served and the three had wasted no time in digging into the spicy prawn dish. Trudy spotted Clarice coming through the crowd, and immediately she perked up and stared as her friend returned.

All the girls stared at her silently as she pulled out her chair and sat down, waiting for her to say something.

"So?!" said Liz finally with a mouthful of food. "What the h.e.l.l was that? Did he just want to show you his Long John Silver or what?"

Stressed as she was at the moment, Clarice couldn't help but laugh at that, and neither could the others. "Something like that, I guess?"

"Well spill it, for h.e.l.l's sake!" said Sophie. "You can't just take a walk with the owner of this place and expect us to..."

Clarice sighed and shook her head. She wanted to keep this from the girls-at least from Liz and Sophie, who just didn't keep secrets like Trudy-but the weight of her talk with Harrison was far too much to carry on her own. She needed advice and help from her friends.

So she simply opened the ring box and plopped it in the middle of the table, Harrison's business card tucked underneath, without a word.

All the girls froze, Sophie with a forkful of food raised half-way to her open mouth. Their eyes slowly widened as they absorbed the view of the huge carat diamond ring glittering under the light of the dancing tiki torches that surrounded the patio.

"Um," said Liz.

"What. The h.e.l.l. Is that," said Trudy, pointing her finger hard at the ring.

"I've never seen a ring that big..." said Sophie in a breathless, envious whisper.

Clarice folded her arms and enjoyed the sight of all three of them being shocked and near speechless at the same time. It was almost worth the ha.s.sle of whatever dumb mistakes she was about to make because of the proposal. "So now that we're all caught up, what say you help me with this little pickle?"

"All caught up? G.o.d I hate you sometimes," said Trudy with only a hint of a smile. "Spill it, sister."

"Did he give this to you?" asked Sophie. She was finally too overcome to help herself from scooping up the ring box and giving the jewelry a hard inspection.

"I knew you guys dragging me to this place was going to turn out weird," protested Clarice. "There's your proof," she nodded toward the ring.

"What happened?" asked Liz.

"Harrison and I met this morning when I couldn't find my way back to the suites, and he was... ridiculously charming," said Clarice with a big breath. "So handsome. Anyway I had almost forgotten about it when he came over tonight. He took me out to the beach and pulled out this ring and asked me if I would marry him."

The girls fell silent once again, until Sophie kicked Clarice's shin under the table. "Shut your mouth."

Clarice put up her hands. "Hey, s.h.i.t, I surrender! It's not like that, we barely know each other. He was just being a dramatic idiot. He needs my help and this is part of it."

"Part of what?" asked Trudy.

"He wants me to pretend to be his fiancee for the week while his parents are visiting from out of town," said Clarice. "He said he'll pay me, and I can keep the ring."

The girls exchanged glances with each other, heavy with as much excitement as there was worry.

Trudy leaned across the table. "Seriously? This guy needs to pretend to have a wife? What's his deal, is he gay and hasn't told them yet?"

"Uh, no," said Clarice with a laugh. "He is definitely into women. But he's not the marrying type and his parents want him to be, so..."

"So he's fooling them with an elaborate ruse, and you're helping him?" asked Trudy.

Clarice felt a little redness flush across her cheeks. "Well, s.h.i.t, when you say it like that, it sounds really stupid."

"It is stupid," said Liz. "This is definitely going to backfire."

"But you get to keep the ring?" said Sophie, still twirling the box in her hands.

"Backfire how?" Clarice began to scoop herself up some of the dinner before it got too cold. "I'm leaving for New York as planned either way, and it's not like they're my parents. I'm never going to have to see them again."

"Backfire for him, at least," said Trudy.

"Again - so?" said Clarice with a shrug. "It's his life to wreck."

"Give me a break," said Trudy with an eye roll. "Don't try to act all hard and cold now like you're some grift-master taking one last job before you quit. What's going on, really?"

"I really told you," said Clarice, but she was feeling the heat of her best friend's interrogation, realizing maybe the tough act wasn't for her girls but for herself. "He asked for my help, so I'm going to help him. I don't really have anything to lose, do I?"

"It's just so... not like you lately," said Liz.

"Lately," repeated Clarice with a pointed finger. "So not that strange."

"Still strange enough," said Trudy.

Clarice took a big breath and let it out slowly as she stirred the meal around her plate. "Look, I don't want you guys to feel bad, because you put so much work into this trip and into trying to make me feel better, but this place, what it's about, I'm just not into it. Maybe I will be or would have been when I felt better, but I tried to meet up with a random guy here and it was just uncomfortable."

Trudy's face fell in such a way that Clarice felt her own heart crack under the weight of guilt.

"I'm happy to be here, don't get me wrong," she amended, "but Harrison noticed earlier that I wasn't comfortable. So he wanted to offer me this job to help both me and himself, to give me something else to do while I'm here that will still be a fun adventure. Just not the same kind of fun you guys will be having. And I'm seriously considering taking it."

The girls were quiet, and the noise of the party filled in the empty s.p.a.ce. Everyone was getting drunker by the minute, and already plenty of people were making out and sitting in each other's laps without a care of who was looking on to watch. From the grill came the loud sound of sizzling meats, and smoke plumed into the air, carrying its scent across the patio and onto the beach.

"This is a little bit crazy," said Trudy finally.

"Yeah, so is this whole place," replied Clarice with a smile. "You guys are the ones who wanted me to do something different, right? Try something to break me out of my rut and help me go home a new, adventurous woman?"

"Well yeah, but we thought that would just be a lot of good d.i.c.k," said Liz. "Not... not these romantic comedy shenanigans. What if you end up getting hurt?"

Clarice frowned. "Getting hurt how?"

Liz shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not a psychic, but since when do plans ever go the way they're supposed to? We've only been here like one day and look, already, at how our plans have exploded."

"She's not wrong," agreed Trudy.

Clarice sighed. "C'mon you guys, when I'm worried you push me hard to keep going but when I want to keep going, you guys. .h.i.t the brakes and try to pull me back. I'm not made of gla.s.s, you know. I know s.h.i.t's been rough for me the last few months-"

"Last few years..." added Trudy matter-of-factly.

Clarice ignored her. "But you're all right, I do need to crack out of this sh.e.l.l I've been in. I'm trying to do that, that's all. I know it's not the way you intended, but can you at least trust me enough to let me try this if I decide it's what I want?"

The girls exchanged looks with each other, Sophie finally pulling her gaze away from the ring.

"Are you really going to do it?" she whispered with bright eyes.

"I'm not really sure," said Clarice. "I have to decide by tomorrow and I just need to know you guys will back me up no matter what happens."

"Of course we will," said Trudy with no hesitation. "That was never in question, hun. Backing you up is exactly why we're here."

"Do you know what helps you make big decisions? More G.o.dd.a.m.n alcohol," said Liz, as she stood halfway up from her chair to wave over the waiter.

Clarice laughed. "Don't mention that to Harrison, he would not be amused."

9.

Harrison

Harrison slept fitfully and only for a few quiet hours in the deep night. After he and Clarice parted on the beach, he returned to his office in a hurried haze to try and gather more back-up names for his plan. Inside, he had a dreadful feeling of doom that warned him Clarice wouldn't be coming through for him, and he wasn't the kind of man not to have a plan B.

He stumbled back to his penthouse at one in the morning and tried to sleep, but it was nearly useless. He gave up around five-thirty and instead showered, shaved, and got ready for his day. His father would be arriving in the early to late afternoon sometime, and no matter what Clarice said, Harrison would have to face him. He just wished he knew what would happen when he finally did.

He had no texts or messages waiting when he woke up, and anxiety shot through his veins at the sight of the empty phone screen. He left his suite and headed down for the lobby to do a check-in on the night staff, but more because he was desperate to see if she had left a message for him there. Of course she hadn't.

Harrison's nerves were alight. He desperately needed to hear from Clarice or he would be swinging in the wind when his father arrived. He and Bruce had arranged a bit of a back-up plan, as well, but it was nothing more than pure desperation - something Bruce had called a "Hail Mary" - and it involved a lot of bulls.h.i.t excuses about why Harrison's fiancee was absent despite his earlier a.s.surances she was on the island. He might be able to pull it off, but he was fairly certain his father would see right through it.

The elder Moore would be instantly suspicious after a long history of Harrison trying to wiggle around the strict expectations of his upper crust upbringing. That wasn't even considering the inherent intelligence in a man like George Moore, t.i.tan of industry. He wouldn't need to call Harrison a liar to his face to still know something was amiss, and that was all it would take for him to decide his son was really just trying to con him. Yet despite what he had told Clarice, if his father really did feel like Harrison was trying to con him, his eventual inheritance could actually be in jeopardy.

Clarice was his only real hope, and she was a complete stranger with no reason to help him at all. His heart was pounding as he realized that this might be one of the stupidest things he'd ever done, and the compet.i.tion for that honor was fairly lengthy.

It was still early, but Harrison's nerves were so ragged that all he could think about was having a shot or two to take the edge off. Before he could round the corner from the lobby to head down to the Neptune Bar, he heard the sound of the lifts arriving on the floor, and instinctively glanced over to see who was coming downstairs.

The doors split open to reveal Clarice, fresh-faced, beautiful, and smiling. She wore a white dress that made her look purely angelic. Her black hair shone in the morning sunlight, soft and just a bit wavy from the heavy humid Balinese air.

"Clarice," he said with a breath. He headed towards her as she exited the lift.

"Hi, Harrison," she said. "Sorry, I feel like an idiot, but I lost your stupid business card. I was coming down to find you."

Relief washed over his muscles. "You were? With good news, I hope?"

She held up her left hand with an awkward but charming smile. The ring gleamed on her delicate finger, a nearly perfect fit. "At least the girls can't tell me I didn't try something new and adventurous on the trip this way," she said. "And I don't know why I would turn down a shower of luxury. I guess what I'm saying is, I'm in."

Harrison smiled. "Clarice, you are a f.u.c.king lifesaver! Thank you!" Without thinking, Harrison scooped her pet.i.te form up in his arms and swung her around off her feet as she squealed and held onto his muscles. Harrison couldn't help himself; he leaned down and kissed her full lips in a pa.s.sionate but closed-mouth motion.

Clarice turned red, her eyes wide when he pulled away from her.

"I'm... sorry," said Harrison, setting her down and running a hand through his hair. He gave an awkward laugh and felt his own cheeks warming. "I'm just so relieved, is all."

"Well, we're going to have to do more of that anyway to pull this off, right?" she shrugged. The way her face was glowing told Harrison she didn't mind that part of the deal one bit.

And neither did he. Not at all.

10.

Clarice

"Ho...ly....s.h.i.t...."

Clarice couldn't stop herself. She stood in the doorway of the suite that was three times the size of the one she had already been staying in. A private bedroom with its own patio branched off to one side, connected to a ma.s.sive bathroom with both a claw-foot tub, and an enormous gla.s.s-encased shower. The living room was fully furnished and full of lavish, cream-colored fabrics with baby blue accents. Fresh flowers had been placed in vases throughout the room. The place was basically an apartment on the beach that happened to be connected to the resort, and it was by far the most lavish place Clarice had ever stayed.

Once she had accepted his offer, Harrison had a whole list of things she needed to do to get ready for the impending arrival of her pretend father-in-law. First and foremost was upgrading her room to a bigger suite-a shared suite, something fitting for their status as a couple. Clarice had thought it was a silly detail, but she didn't feel like arguing that point anymore, not once she saw the room.

"This is like a one-percenter's wet dream," she said to herself as she maneuvered around, smelling the fresh flowers and peeking into closet doors. The bellhops had already moved her luggage and re-hung her delicate clothes in the huge bedroom closet.

As she wondered whether or not she should bother unpacking, Harrison arrived, looking fresh-faced and positively sunny. He made a happy noise and blew her a kiss with both hands when he came into the bedroom to find her rummaging through her luggage.

"h.e.l.lo, darling," he said. "Is the room alright?"

"You can't seriously be asking that question," laughed Clarice. "I can't imagine this place has a nicer suite than this."

"We do, but that's the one father will be staying in."

"Oh, well, naturally." She made a glance behind her, towards the king-sized four poster bed draped with silky purple fabrics. "I hope you don't think sharing this bed is automatically part of the bargain."

Clarice had a feeling he had practiced looking not disappointed in the mirror a few times before he got here, because there was something rehea.r.s.ed about the way he threw his hands up. "Oh, give me a little credit. I hope you really don't find me so ungentlemanly, of course not. The couches in these suites are almost as comfortable as the bed, and if I get really desperate, I'm sure I can sneak back out to my actual room for a quick nod."