Mistakenly Married

The Aegean Sea glittered like crushed sapphires beneath the cliffside terrace, but Lily Rodriguez barely noticed. She was too busy adjusting her camera settings, trying to capture the exact moment the sunset turned the white-washed buildings of Santorini into something that looked Photoshopped but wasn't.

"Lily! Put the camera down and drink with us!" Her best friend Mara waved a glass of champagne from across the terrace, her white rehearsal dinner dress billowing in the evening breeze.

Lily grinned and held up one finger. "One more shot!"

"That's what you said twenty minutes ago," called a male voice, deep and amused.

She glanced up to find a man leaning against the stone balustrade, watching her with dark eyes that seemed to catalog everything. Tall, probably six-two, with the kind of sharp jawline that belonged on a cologne ad. His crisp white shirt was rolled to the elbows, and he held a glass of whiskey with the casual confidence of someone who never questioned whether he belonged somewhere.

Jasper Sterling. The groom's older brother. Mara had mentioned him-hotel empire, workaholic, "emotionally unavailable but devastatingly hot," in her exact words.

"If you're going to lurk, at least be useful," Lily said, surprising herself with her boldness. Maybe it was the Greek sunset. Maybe it was the three glasses of wine she'd already consumed. "Stand over there by that bougainvillea."

One dark eyebrow lifted. "I don't take direction well."

"Shocking." She lowered her camera. "Let me guess-CEO? Hedge fund manager? Professional brood-er?"

His mouth quirked. "Hotel developer. And I don't brood."

"You're literally standing in shadows right now."

"The sun is setting. Everything's in shadow."

"Semantics." She took the shot anyway, without him in it, then finally set her camera down. The terrace was filling with wedding guests-Mara's family, Josh's college friends, various glamorous people who probably summered in places Lily only visited for blog content.

Jasper moved closer, and she caught the scent of expensive cologne mixed with sea air. "You're the travel blogger."

"Lily Rodriguez, professional wanderer." She offered her hand. His grip was firm, warm, and lasted a half-second longer than necessary.

"Jasper Sterling, professional... what did you call it? Brood-er?"

Despite herself, she laughed. "I thought you didn't brood."

"I'm making an exception for destination weddings." He took a sip of his whiskey. "Too much forced joy. Too many speeches about soulmates."

"Cynical."

"Realistic." His gaze held hers. "You don't believe in soulmates?"

Lily thought of her father-the man who'd promised her mother forever, then disappeared two months before Lily was born. She thought of her mother's double shifts, her tired eyes, her warnings: *Never depend on a man, mija. They leave.*

"I believe in spectacular sunsets and good wine," she said lightly. "Everything else is temporary."

Something flickered in Jasper's expression-recognition, maybe. Understanding.

"Now that," he said, raising his glass, "I can drink to."

---

Four hours later, Lily was pleasantly drunk and dancing barefoot on the terrace. The DJ was playing something with a hypnotic beat, and the stars had emerged like diamonds scattered across black velvet.

She'd lost track of Jasper after dinner, but suddenly he was there again, not dancing, just watching her with those dark, unreadable eyes.

"You really don't know how to have fun, do you?" she called over the music.

He moved closer, his voice low near her ear. "I'm having fun."