Page 45 of Resorting to Romance

“Totally. I’m one hundred percent sure. We’ll just take each situation as it comes.”

“Okay! That was great!” Ben’s voice booms from inside theshack. “Noah’s going to come out to interrupt thatconversationnow.”

Mila and I look at one another and burst into laughter.

Ben. There’s only one Ben. Thank goodness. I don’t know if I could handle more than one.

Noah comes bounding out of the shack with Ben on his heels.

Ben pats Noah on the shoulder. “Proud of you, kiddo. Next time, I want to be out there with you.”

“You can! We might go next Saturday. Right, Mom?”

“We’ll see,” Mila says softly.

“That always means yes. Usually,” Noah says with unbridled confidence.

“Good deal.” Ben raises a fist and Noah bumps it with his.

Ben turns to Mila. “Kai told me about your development. I’m so happy to hear about it. I should tell you, my boss has been smiling a lot more these days.”

“Hey, boss man,” I say to Noah, intentionally cutting Ben off. “Let’s look at the break right now before you take off with your mom. You can point to a wave and tell me when you’d pop up. It’s a game I used to play with my dad when I was learning to ride.”

“Okay!” Noah heads for the end of the dock before I say another word—and more importantly, before Ben does.

I hear Ben from behind me as I follow behind Noah.

He’s saying, “Don’t worry, Mila. I’m keeping everything between you and Kai zipped up tight.”

I glance over just in time to see Ben make that ridiculous zipping motion in front of his lips.

Oh, yeah. He’s a vault alright.

FOURTEEN

Mila

There is nothing I would not do

for those who are really my friends.

I have no notion of loving people by halves;

it is not my nature.

~ Jane Austen

Some people come in like a gentle rain, others like a squall. My best friend is the latter—rarely subtle, always making her presence known. She holds within her the capacity to be as fierce as she is fun.

And today, Chloe is on the warpath, or so it seems, as she storms through my front double doors, letting them fall shut with a bang behind her.

“Mila Rose Mitchell, what on earth?!” Her voice echoes off the old wood paneling and high ceilings in the main room

“Calm down,” I whisper hoarsely, even though it’s midafternoon. “You’ll upset the guests.”

“Upset the guests? Upset the guests?” Chloe pops her hands on her hips and stares at me, hereyes narrowed.

“What is going on?” I walk around from behind the reception desk and approach her like I’m nearing one of the wild monkeys that inhabit our island.

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