Page 123 of Resorting to Romance

“About Kai?”

“No, about Ryan Reynolds. Yes. Kai.”

“I’m … so in love.” I cover my face. Then I let out this groan of frustration. “Chloe, I love him so much it actually hurts.” I peek through my fingers at my bestie.

“I know you do.”

I just nod at her. Of course she knows. She knows everything about me. We could be twins but with polar opposite personalities.

“What’s keeping you from crossing the line? This whole faking thing made sense at one point, but I don’t see the rationale anymore. I think it hit its expiration date a while ago and you two have kept it going out of some subconscious desire to have an excuse to touch and kiss without risking sharing your real feelings for one another. But what do I know? I’m just the wife of a pilot. I don’t even remember what it was like to fall for Davis. We just sort of rolled into our relationship and never looked back.”

“And you’re so good for one another.”

“We are. Until he has to retire. He’ll drive me nuts then. But maybe I’ll start my world travels in my sixties, in earnest. We’re great together, but we need these breaks. It just works for us.”

“You’ll manage when he’s here all the time. We just have to find him a hobby.”

“More like seven hobbies. One for each day of the week. But we aren’t here for my life planning. Stop shifting the topic. We’re talking about you and the hot Hawaiian.”

“Stop it!”

“What, he’s incredibly good looking and you know it.”

“He is.” I groan again. “And he kisses just like you’d hope he would.”

Chloe rubs her hands together. “The good stuff. Finally!”

“Nope. That’s all I’m saying. Just … gah. His kisses.”

She cracks up. “You know, you never raved about Brad’s kisses.”

“I never had anything to rave about. They were good. You know. Pretty good kisses. Not horrible. It’s not like he slobbered or made weird noises or breathed funny. His breath smelled nice.”

“What a Yelp review that is!” Chloe bursts into laughter. “Would possibly kiss again. Not horrible. No slobbering, weird noises or bad breath. Three out of five stars.”

I cackle. Chloe laughs at her own joke.

When we stop laughing, I say, “As if. No one is leaving Yelp reviews for kisses, you dork.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you could tolerate your husband’s C+ kisses. Davis is an amazing kisser if you want to know.”

“I don’t.”

“K, then. Back to you and the hot Hawaiian.”

“Stop calling him that.” I smile over at Chloe. She won’t stop, especially now that she knows it bugs me.

“Seriously, Mila. What’s the real reason you’re hesitating to reach out to Kai and share your honest feelings for him? You’d be hard pressed to find someone who cares for you more than that man does. He’s going to handle your feelings with such kid gloves. Even if he’s not in love with you—which I’d bet this house that he is—he’ll be so careful. That man would die if he was ever the source of your pain. You know that right?”

THIRTY-FIVE

Mila

Of all forms of caution,

caution in love is perhaps the most fatal

to true happiness.

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