Page 110 of That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss

“This is Abieville,” I say. “You may have found someone in the city who’d make the three-hour drive here for the right price. But you won’t find a cab or ride share anywhere near here willing to take you back.”

“Oh. How silly of me.” Her face crumples again. Another crack in the shell of her armor. “I guess I didn’t think that part through.”

I almost tell her that’s probably because she’s so used to getting her way. But a soft voice in my head says, Kindness costs nothing. And the voice sounds a whole lot like Olivia.

Speaking of which, Liv turns to me. “She can spend the night, right? We have room.” She says this under her breath, but her eyes are wide. Compassionate. Even in this awkward moment, Olivia’s spirit of generosity takes over.

Kindness costs nothing.

I nod. “Sure she can.”

Liv smiles at me, then addresses Jacqueline. “Hudson’s friend is on his way with his girlfriend, so we were already expecting guests tonight. You should just stay. They’ll be here any minute, in fact.”

Jacqueline darts her eyes at me. “Who?”

“Teller and Winnie,” I say.

“Ah.” Jacqueline sniffs. “I’m not exactly Teller’s favorite person. He always seemed so … jealous of our relationship.”

“Heh. I don’t think that was his problem.” My lip twitches. “But be honest, Jaqueline. Did you ever really like Teller?”

“I suppose not.” She rolls her lips together. “But that’s only because he didn’t like me first.”

“Well, now he thinks you had a thing going with Slade Kramer.”

“Because that’s what you told him,” she protests.

I lift my palms the way she did earlier. “Guilty as charged.”

Jaqueline pulls down her brow, and shifts her focus to Liv. “I appreciate your offer,” she says. “But spending the night here still won’t get me back to the city.”

“I’m heading to the airport in the morning,” Liv tells her. “It’ll be early, but I can take you to a rental place so you can get a car. If you want.”

“Wow.” Jacqueline takes a beat, and her whole expression softens. “You’re a very nice person, Olivia.”

Liv sends her a small shrug. “You’re right. I am nice. But I’m going in that direction anyway.”

Jaqueline nods, almost shyly. “So where are you flying to?”

“It’s a long story,” I interject. I’m nervous enough about Olivia going to Aspen without having to hear the details again. Besides. Jacqueline doesn’t need to know more about our relationship than she’s already witnessed. But it doesn’t matter, because the blare of a car horn interrupts us. We all turn toward the sound. More honks follow in a classic door-knock pattern.

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep … beep-beeeeeep!

It’s Teller. Of course it’s Teller. He may be an adult, but he hasn’t quite grown up yet. He’s driving through the parking lot down by the docks. Winnie rolls down the passenger side window and waves at us.

“We’re here,” she hollers, hanging out the open window. “And I’m engaged!” She flaps her arms wildly, wagging her fingers. “I’m going to be Mrs. Teller Bartholomew Sinclair!”

Chapter Forty-Four

Olivia

So, who knew any men in our generation had the middle name Bartholomew? And who had toasting to Winnie and Teller’s impending nuptials in the as-yet-to-be-renamed pub with Hudson’s ex-girlfriend on their bingo card?

Not me.

In her defense, Jacqueline told us she’d head straight to her room and leave the four of us to our celebration, but I’m the one who ultimately convinced her to stay. I figured inviting her to stick around was the kind thing to do, and I wanted her to know that even though she showed up unannounced tonight—maybe even with the intention of winning Hudson back—I had no hard feelings.

At least not too hard.

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