Page 68 of That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss

“Ha. Well. Too bad you weren’t around then to be my friend for real.”

Yeah, I think. Too bad.

“Anyway, after that, a lot of boys started asking me out. Which sounds like a not-so-bad problem to have. I mean, nobody cries a river for that girl. Except most of these boys weren’t really interested in dating me. They just wanted to say they’d been with the prettiest McCoy.” She clears her throat. “If you know what I mean.”

My fists are at my side now, so she can’t see me clenching them under the table. “Unfortunately, I do.”

“I’m lucky my parents wouldn’t let me date at that age, or things could’ve gotten a whole lot worse. Still, the fact that I always said ‘no’ when anybody asked me out made some of the boys want me even more. I was like some prize to win or something.”

“I’ll bet.” My chest constricts remembering all too well what immature guys want from girls.

“In high school, I tried out for head cheerleader and ran for the homecoming court. But any victories felt hollow. Plus rumors kept floating around about what Olivia McCoy would or wouldn’t do on prom night. I never felt like I’d earned a thing. I faked my way to popularity, and risked the real me in the process.”

“I’m sorry. That must’ve been hard.”

She blinks, not like she’s about to cry, more like she’s disappointed in herself. “The worst part is, I’m still living life on the surface. Even now, my job is to promote some idealized reality to a very specific target. And that’s not what I started out to do, you know? I’d always hoped for a career where I could help people. I just had no idea how. So I kept drifting back to the superficial stuff. It’s just so easy for me.”

I shift my jaw, considering what she’s saying. “But you’re providing a service for others. And you’re excellent at it.”

She crinkles her nose, like she wants to believe what I’m saying, but she’s not sure she can. “The truth is”—she sighs—“I’d take it all back and start again if there was such thing as a do-over. But since I have no idea what I’d study instead—not to mention no one’s invented a time machine yet—all I can do is try to be a better person in the future than I was in the past.”

“Maybe that should be your next job.” I crook my brow.

“What?”

“Inventing a time machine.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” A small smile plays on her lips, and I find myself grateful to be able to make that happen for her.

“And for the record,” I add, “I like the person you are now.”

She cocks her head. “That’s a good start, I guess.”

A flock of red-winged blackbirds fly by overhead in a V formation. On the table, my ice cream is slowly turning to a puddle in the heat. “So.” I say. “How come you never told your sisters about that second survey?”

As soon as the words are out, I regret them. I’m probably overstepping, asking her something so personal. But Olivia just stares at me, her green irises big under thick lashes. “To be honest, I’m shocked I just told you,” she says. A certain artificial breeziness has hijacked her voice. “Then again, you have seen my underwear. Twice. And two weeks from now, I’ll be long gone, so it won’t matter that my former boss knows my deepest, darkest secret.”

My chest constricts at the words “former boss.”

Don’t forget that’s who you are to her.

And if you know what’s good for you, that’s all you should ever hope to be.

“So.” A smile stretches across her face. “Just don’t blackmail me between now and then, okay?”

Without waiting for my reply, she begins to wipe down the table with her napkin, essentially shutting down the conversation. I can understand why. She just admitted something to me she’s never shared with anyone else, and I pushed for even more information.

“I’m glad you told me,” I say. “I think it was really brave.”

“Or it was the second biggest mistake in my life.” Her voice catches, and I feel an ache behind my ribs. I don’t want Olivia to regret being vulnerable with me. Or to question whether or not I’m a man she can trust with her truths. So I push my bowl to the side and lean over the table.

“What if I tell you about something I’ve never shared with anyone else, either?”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Olivia

“Tempting offer,” I say, even as my brow dips. “But this is a kind of quid pro quo deal because you feel sorry for me, right?”

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