"Trust me! My relatives will be watching out for that! And they would know if it didn't happen within the next few months!"

"In the next few months you would get your act together. You could always say something more interesting and a little bit less risky came up."

I stared at him and realized how brilliant his plan was. "You really have the answer to everything, don't you?"

He laughed. "Just years of talking to a lot of people."

I realized that Ryder is smart. And being a bartender in a classy bar like Oil Rig exposed him to a whole lot of different people. He seemed like the person who likes to listen to people's stories. And he's quite a charmer. I felt confident that we would be able to pull this off. And I have the feeling that even Geena will hyperventilate at the sight of him. Bryan will be practically salivating with envy! That is... if John's right and he still has feelings for me.

We chatted, polished our plan and then I must have fallen asleep for a couple of minutes. It was at least an hour drive to the resort.

We arrived at the hotel with perfect timing. A bridal car parked in front of us.

"That's them?" He asked.

"Unless there's another wedding happening here tonight." I replied nervously.

Ryder took off his shades and placed them on top of his head.

"So, now, we're officially together." He said to me.

I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest.

He smiled gently. I could drown in the deep green of his eyes.

"Permission to become your boyfriend, Ma'am." He asked politely and I couldn't help smiling.

"Permission granted, Sir." I said, giggling.

He stared at me deeply in the eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I watch him lean forward and brush his lips against mine. It was a soft, gentle kiss. When he pulled away, I thought he took my heart with him.

"Do... do I need to start getting used to that too?" I asked, stuttering slightly. I felt completely dazzled by this man.

He raised a brow and grinned at me. "Oh no, love." He replied and just before we went out of the car, he said, "Not just that!" And he gave me a rakish wink.

My heart pounded as I watch him exit the car and go around to open the door for me. I saw that Bryan and Geena just got out of the bridal car in front of us. Before I got out, I caught a glimpse of Bryan looking at Ryder's car with lust.

I felt a thrill creep through my veins. Operation Revenge is starting to work exactly as planned.

"Come, love." Ryder said, holding his hand out.

I took it and slowly stepped out of the car.

Ryder took my hand and pulled me towards him. He leaned closer to my ear and said, "I forgot to tell you. You look breathtakingly beautiful. I'm the luckiest man on earth today!"

And because I couldn't say anything to that, I just laughed. He pulled me towards him and gave me a kiss on the forehead as his arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

He tossed his key to the valet. "We have bags in the back. Take it to our suite." He said and gave him our suite number.

Then, with him wrapped all around me, he led me towards the hotel. As we walked past Bryan and Geena, with some of their bridesmaids, Ryder kissed me on the lips.

We didn't look up at them, I didn't know whether they were looking at us or not. It was like Ryder and I only had eyes for each other.

When we entered the hotel, Ryder took a glance back, while I buried my face on his chest.

"Is that your ex?" He asked.

I nodded. "Are they looking?"

"Yeah. Bride, groom and entourage." He replied chuckling.

Hearing that, I stopped and faced Ryder. Then I stood up on my toes and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. As I pulled away, he leaned forward and recaptured my parted lips, deepening the kiss. I could barely support my weight on the tips of my feet, my stance became shaky and I gripped Ryder's shoulders for balance. I was glad when his arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

When I broke the kiss I could not bear to open my eyes. It's been a while since I've been kissed like that. In fact, I can't remember ever being kissed like that... Like I was the center of someone's world. The kiss was sensual and enticing, but also reverently gentle.

He leaned his forehead against mine and sucked in a deep breath.

"Even if you didn't pay me... your kisses are worth it all." He said.

Staring up at him with his gorgeous green eyes, I laughed for the simple joy of the moment.

He took my hand in his and led me towards the lobby. I saw a familiar face there. Nicole was dressed in an understated cream, silk gown. She had a headset on and I couldn't help sighing.

"You miss it that much, huh." Ryder said.

I nodded. "I was fired by my boss because I lost faith in ever afters."

He reached forward and touched my cheek softly.

"You, of all people deserve an ever after, love." He said to me. "Even if you don't believe in it, it still believes in you. And someday, it will find you."

I almost cried when he said that but my thoughts were interrupted by Nicole.

"Astrid!" She beamed. She came over to me and gave me a hug. "Wow, you look like a goddess!" Then her eyes drifted on to my date and I could tell she fought hard to keep herself from drooling over Ryder, whether it was for my benefit or hers, I don't know.

"Nicole, this is Ryder. Ryder, Nicole. My best friend."

"Oh, it's so very nice to meet you, Ryder." Nicole said, shaking Ryder's hand. "I must say, you do not look last minute at all."

I had to glare at Nicole for that. But Ryder simply laughed. "Sometimes, the choices you don't prepare for are the best choices you'll ever make."

"So true!" Nicole said. "Okay, I see the bride and groom arriving. I'll see you later. Go and kick some butt."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Nicole." Ryder said.

When Ryder took my hand to lead me towards the terraces, I stole a glance back at Nicole. She was staring at me.

"WOW!" She mouthed and gave me two thumbs up. I couldn't help smiling , I was proud of myself for the perfect choice I made.

"Shall we go to the party now?" I asked him.

"Depends on you." He said. "Are you too anxious to go in?"

"No. Not really. If they followed my program too, there'll be a first dance after they are introduced as formally Mr. and Mrs. I don't want to be there for that!" I said, shaking my head and wrinkling my nose.

"Come, let's go watch the sunset while we have some drinks."

He led me to an open-air restaurant facing the beach. He ordered light beer and I ordered a margarita.

"Isn't it too early to be drinking?" I asked.

"You might need a little help pulling this off." He teased.

"I do not!"

"Sure you do. You tremble so much when I kiss you. Like... you're new at this or something."

"God, I hope that's not your ego talking!" I groaned. "Didn't it occur to you that maybe I haven't been kissing for a while? I need a little time to get used to it again."

"Really? You didn't attempt to date after you broke up with him?"

I shook my head. "To... to tell you the truth, I'm still in the stage of accepting how my life suddenly turned a three-sixty." I said sadly. "I was mostly mad at my cousin. She was the lucky one, you know. She was always the beautiful one, Barbie doll in the flesh. She was popular, rich, and had a loving father who gave her everything. I was the one who followed her around like an avid fan. She was always the center of attention and I didn't mind that. I didn't care. I had Bryan. He was my best friend before he became my boyfriend. And I was... comfortable with him. I thought myself lucky to have found him."

"He didn't kiss you much, did he?"

I raised a brow at Ryder. He had a teasing grin on his face.

I sighed and shook my head. "I guess I didn't know how much kissing two people needed to do. I didn't mind when I was with him. We were comfortable sitting together, just cuddling and being close to one another. I felt safe with him. Like I belonged. That was all that mattered to me."

"But that's not all that matters." Ryder said. "You have to have passion. Like when you walk into the room, your scent fills his senses. No one else is more divine or more beautiful. No one else can capture his attention. I mean, comfort is good. Comfort is what you get from knowing that the other person can't feel that kind of passion for anyone else but you."

For a guy who looked like a model, I was surprised to hear these words from Ryder. He spoke like he really did believe in happily ever afters.

"You're a romantic, aren't you?"

He snorted. "I'm a bartender remember? I'm the shrink behind the counter filled with liquor."