“Daddy, I still think you’re crazy for bringing us,” she said, and leaned in as if she had a secret to tell. “But I’m really glad you did.”

“Me, too,” I whispered back.

Besides, it would still be a honeymoon. That’s what DO NOT DISTURB signs are for.

Chapter 111

OUR VILLA WAS the pièce de résistance. Just like in the movies, as they say. There was a full wall of sliding louvered doors that opened up to a private terrace and infinity pool, with stairs leading down to the beach. The staff had placed fresh flowers everywhere, inside and out, and the mahogany California king bed alone probably cost a year’s salary.

“Yeah, this will do,” I said, closing the door to the outside world behind us. “Good enough for Double Oh Seven, and all that.”

“Oh, James, James,” Bree joked some more, pulling me down onto the bed. “Ravish me, James, as only you can.”

And that’s what I did. One thing very quickly led to another, and our immediate beach plans got moved to sometime in the future. Still, we did manage to work up an appetite. By the time we were on our feet again, the sun was dipping down and we were both ready for a great meal.

I’m not sure which was better that evening — the French-Caribbean food at Dune, the amazing bottle of Pinot Noir we ordered, or just the feeling of having nowhere else I needed to be for a change, nowhere else I wanted to be either.

We made a full night of it, too, and stopped at the casino at the Atlantis Resort after dinner for some blackjack. Bree was up for a while, then I was, but we left around midnight a few dollars in the hole. And who cared? Not us.

We walked back to our place the long way, holding hands along the beach.

“Happy?” I said to Bree.

“Married,” she said. “Happily married. It doesn’t even feel real yet. This is the real world, though, isn’t it? I’m not dreaming this, am I, Alex?”

I stopped to put my arms around her, and we stood watching the moon’s reflection bouncing off the ocean.

“You know, we still haven’t been in that blue, blue water yet,” I said. My fingers started in on the top buttons of her shirt. “Up for a night swim, Mrs. Cross?”

Bree looked around. “Is that a dare?”

“Just an invitation,” I said. “But I’d feel a little silly, all naked and alone out there.” She was already working on my pants.