Page 57 of Hooked on a Feeling

Starr: Hey there, Mr. CEO. How was the first day on the job?

John: It was pretty damn good.

It took her a second to respond, but when she did, it was with a picture of herself. Lying in her bed wearing frilly lingerie. He zoomed in on the image. See-through lingerie.

John: Why are you so naughty?

Starr: Because you love it.

John: I’m coming over.

Starr: About time. It’s taken you long enough already.

Chapter Twenty

The week was flying by, and she hadn’t packed as much of the cottage as she’d have liked to at this point considering it was already Wednesday and she’d been here for two and a half weeks. Her cell phone rang. Talking to her father right now wasn’t something Starr wanted to do, but she answered anyway. “Hello?” Best to get it over with. Since she was packing away a bunch of kitchen items, it was harmless to chat. Briefly.

“How’s our property going?” Her dad’s indifference to the marina set her on edge.

“It’s fine. In a few days, you can do what you want with it.” She’d managed to rent two additional boat slips, but the marina was still barely breaking even. Her chest had a physical ache that didn’t go away. Even when she was with John—and she was the happiest she’d been since she could remember—the pain of losing something so near and dear had become a permanent part of her.

“Your ma and I talked, and for you being such a big help and staying down there for all this time, you know, helping us, we wanted to do something to thank you.”

Starr didn’t get her hopes up that it would involve the marina. “Oh yeah? What would that be?”

“Well, we thought we’d take a road trip to Emerald Port to surprise you. Take you out to dinner while we’re there.”

“You’re coming here? Why?” She stopped wrapping a large glass bowl that had been her grandmother’s favorite dish. “Now?”

“Oh no, not now. We thought we’d give it until the trust was done. That way we’d officially have our hands on the property. How is the stuff going with the real estate agent? Any big bites yet? A bidding war? That would be killer.”

Starr panicked, unsure of how to answer. “Yeah. Okay. Everything is going fine. We’ve had a few showings. No bidding wars yet.”

“What kind of Realtor did you pick? The marina is a prime location. Who in the hell wouldn’t want it?”

“Dad? Are you there? Hello? I think you’re breaking up. I can’t hear you. I’ll call you back when I get more bars.” Starr pressed the end-call button and dropped her phone on the table. No way. But somehow she had to make sure they didn’t drive down here before the week was up.

This called for major sister enforcement.

She dialed Summer.

“Hello?”

“I need your help,” Starr said.

Summer didn’t even ask what she was talking about. “I assume you heard about Mom and Dad’s crazy plan to drive down to Florida? It doesn’t even make sense since you’ll come home once this is over.”

Yes, she should be thinking of heading home. Not staying here… “You cannot let them. Go slash the tires on the VW. Do whatever it takes.”

“Relax. You know how they are. Full of talk. Besides, the VW has been having engine trouble. I’ve had to take Mom to the store twice this past week because they can’t get it started. There’s no way they’d make it to Emerald Port. Thank God Grandpa didn’t give them the ability to sell the marina right away.”

Starr let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

“At least not yet, but all he did was prolong the inevitable. Not sure why, but… Wait a minute. What’s the big secret you’re keeping down there?” Her sister laughed. “Or who?”

“Well, there is a who, but that’s not the issue. I haven’t—”

“Whoa, whoa. I don’t care about anything else. Who is the who?”

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