Page 100 of That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss

“I’m an Abieville transplant.” I hitch my shoulders, squinting out at a couple of speedboats ahead of us. One’s dragging a wakeboarder, the other has a tube of teenagers trailing behind it. “But I fell for the small-town life the minute I got here. I tried leaving for a while. Lived in the city. Did the investment banking thing. But what can I say? This town kept calling to me.”

“Literally,” Brady says again. “The owners basically begged Hudson to come back and manage the place so they could step down.” He arches a brow. “You know the boomer generation. They’re all about that soft life.”

Sam chuckles, ducking his head. “The soft life doesn’t sound too bad to me, honestly.”

“Me either,” Link says. “In fact, I’m thinking about hopping out of the spotlight in the next few years myself. Producing this series with you is my first step toward getting behind the camera instead of in front of it.”

“Good for you, man.” Brady’s mouth goes crooked. “As long as you’re still going to play me in the movies.”

“Heh.” Link coughs out a laugh. “I’m not playing you. I’ll be playing your main character. The detective.”

Brady scoffs good-naturedly. “Well, who do you think I based the guy on?”

This gets all of us chuckling, and Olivia casts her eyes up toward the front of the boat. I tip my head and offer her a smile. She counters with a lip quirk, then gets back to her own conversation.

“Speaking of which.” Link lifts his bottle and takes a swig before addressing Brady. “I’m sure your lawyers will have plenty of input on the contract. So I was thinking we could either meet with them over Zoom tomorrow, or let them scrutinize everything on their own time and get back to my team with any tweaks they want to suggest. Either way, I’ve got a good feeling about this project. I trust my gut. It’s never steered me wrong before.”

“I feel the same way,” Brady says, a satisfied grin stretching across his face. “And I’m in no rush,” he adds. “Whatever’s easiest works for me.”

“I like your style.” Link flashes his teeth.

“You can blame my style on Abieville.” Brady sticks his bottle out toward Link and Sam for a toast. “And my wife.” They all clink, and Brady glances at the back of the boat where Natalie’s huddled with Hadley and Liv. “Nat’s got me so laid back and happy these days, it’s a wonder I get any books written at all.”

“I hear that.” Sam nods in agreement. “The love of a woman is a powerful thing.”

“Yeah.” Link tips his head. “When I think of how close I came to not having Hadley …” He stops himself, his smile ticking up a notch. “Well, I try not to think about it.”

My chest feels suddenly tight, and I sneak another peek at Liv from behind my sunglasses.

“Same here,” Brady says. “For a while there, Nat and I were convinced there was just no way we could be together. We let stupid stuff like distance and family dynamics get in the way of what we both felt was right. It was a gut thing, like you were saying, Link. But I was too stupid to listen. Luckily my grandmother knew better than we did. She called us out—at The Beachfront, actually—and told everyone we were in love, right in the middle of my cousin’s wedding rehearsal.”

“Another cousin?” Link shakes his head. “You’ve sure got a lot of ’em.”

“He really does,” I interject. “Their whole family’s a force to be reckoned with.”

“Yeah. I sort of gathered that.” Link snickers. “And I’d love to hear the story about your grandma.”

While Brady tells Link and Sam all about Big Mama blowing up his secret love for Natalie, I let my thoughts drift back to Liv. We’ve got our own set of obstacles even though my instincts say she’s the one for me. Still, we keep stumbling toward each other, waking up ghosts just to rock them back to sleep. If we could only step off the merry-go-round, maybe we’d find some common ground.

Instead we keep on riding, going in circles.

Where’s Big Mama when I need her?

Chapter Forty

Olivia

“So, Hudson’s awfully cute, huh?” Hadley arches a perfectly shaped brow in my direction. We’re seated around a small table at the back of the boat, and skipping across the water so fast, I’ve been splashed by rogue wakes a couple of times.

“My grandmother thinks he looks like Link,” I say, huffing out a laugh, and fighting a blush. “But she’s in her nineties, so take that comparison with a grain of salt.”

“I guess I can see the resemblance.” Hadley’s shoulders hitch as she glances at the men at the front of the boat. “They’ve both got that tall, dark, and handsome thing going for them.” She bobs her head. “So how long have you and Hudson been a thing?”

Gah!

I swipe at my cheek, then dry my hand on my cardigan. Here I thought I’d been doing an excellent job of hiding my feelings. “Who?” I gulp. “What thing?”

“You and Hudson,” Hadley says. Then she nudges Natalie. “It’s obvious there’s something going on between them, right?”

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