Jules wasn’t a prude, but she was a virgin. She’d dated guys here and there, and she’d fooled around, running the bases, before realizing that most guys were simply unremarkable. She’d never felt the type of explosive chemistry and unstoppable lust their older sisters talked about to make her want to go all the way. Until Grant came back to the island and set her hormones on overdrive. What no one else knew, including Bellamy, was that every time they were in close proximity, sparks flew and she had an unrelenting desire to touch and be touched by him. It didn’t matter that the ex–covert operations specialist was eight years her senior and one of her brothers’ best friends, that he’d been injured last year, resulting in a below-the-knee amputation of his left leg, or that he’d only begrudgingly returned to the island over the summer. She’d known Grant all her life, she liked and trusted him, and he was the only man who had ever lit her body on fire and caused scorching-hot dreams like the ones that had become her nightly companion.

In fact, sparks had flown between them when he’d been home before leaving for his last mission, and that attraction had been simmering inside Jules for almost two years. But while she still felt the heat between them, he’d been gruff, distant, and reclusive since coming home, which she completely understood after all he’d been through. That didn’t change the fact that given the chance, she’d gladly crawl between the sheets with the handsome beast and spend an entire weekend exploring every inch of his glorious body, letting him make all of her dirtiest fantasies come true.

But she kept those steamy thoughts to herself, because she had bigger fish to fry and she didn’t need to make things uncomfortable with Bellamy.

The first few beats of “Thriller” came on, and the girls squealed excitedly. One of Jules’s favorite movies was 13 Going on 30. They’d watched it dozens of times and had practiced the “Thriller” dance for weeks until they knew it by heart.

Tara put down her camera and the candy she’d stolen from Jules, and they fell into line doing the “Thriller” dance. They threw their arms up, swinging them in the same direction as their hips, dancing across the patio. The crowd formed a circle around them. Their family and friends clapped and sang as the girls danced. Jules’s brother Levi, her sister Leni’s twin, took pictures, and her sisters made fun of her for singing the wrong lyrics. It didn’t matter how hard Jules tried; she never got the words to any songs right. But she didn’t care. She loved music, and she loved times like these, when her family and friends were together and happy.

When the song came to an end, the crowd applauded. The girls bowed and hugged each other, giggling as everyone else went back to partying.

“We nailed it!” Jules exclaimed.

“It’s our seventh-grade talent show all over again!” Tara agreed.

“And Grant missed it again.” Bellamy rolled her eyes.

Jules hated that Grant’s unhappiness was tearing apart his family the way Jock and Archer’s rift had torn apart hers.

“Remember how he used to get right in the middle of us when we danced?” Tara asked. “He’d do all the wrong moves and laugh the whole time.”

“I know he’s gone through a lot, and I hate saying this, but it’s like when they amputated his leg, they took the best parts of his personality, too,” Bellamy said sadly.

“They didn’t, Belly,” Jules said adamantly.

She knew Grant would probably never be the life of the party again. Nobody could go through what he had and not come out the other side a changed person. But she also knew he wasn’t destined to be an outsider, either, which was why she’d been trying to get him out of the house to spend time with friends and family. She knew how quickly a life could be taken away, and she wasn’t about to let a man who used to be charming and eager for everything that came at him throw away the future he’d been blessed with. He just needed to find his new happy place, and she was the perfect person to help him.

“Everyone thought Archer would be spiteful and angry forever. Remember?” Jules said. “And look how happy he is now.”

They looked across the courtyard at Archer laughing with his friends and eyeing their sister Leni’s friend Indi.

“If Archer could let go of his anger after all those years,” Jules said, “we can help Grant deal with and move past his struggles, too.”

Tara and Bellamy exchanged a disbelieving glance.

“I know you mean well, and you’ve tried really hard to help Grant,” Bellamy said. “But you know how he is, Jules. He grunts at me more than he talks to me these days. I don’t think he’s going to let any of us help him with anything.”

“I know exactly how he is, keeping himself locked away in the Remingtons’ run-down beach bungalow like a recluse. He’s blocking everyone out of his life like we don’t exist, and you know what? I’m done letting him do that to us and to himself. He needs to see that we care about him. He will be happy again. He just doesn’t realize it yet.” Jules put her hand on her hip. “You know what? I’m going to drag his surly butt to this party and remind him of all the things he loves about this island and everyone on it. But first I need to get Indi’s makeup case.” She headed for Indi, a professional makeup artist who lived in New York like Jules’s sisters Leni and Sutton and had come to the island with them to do their family’s makeup for the party. They were leaving in the morning, as were Levi and his daughter, Joey.

“Makeup?” Bellamy called after her.

Jules spun around. “It’s a Halloween party, and you know Grant won’t have a costume!”

“But you have the haunted walk soon!” Bellamy hollered.

Jules gave Bellamy a thumbs-up and made a beeline for Indi. She’d spent ten years holding her family together when Jock and Archer weren’t getting along. She was not afraid of a challenge, and Grant Silver just might be her biggest challenge yet. She was a woman on a mission, and nobody was going to stop her until that broody bad boy was on his way to being happy again—ideally with her.

 

 

   

 

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