Page 101 of Resorting to Romance

“Well, we would have been.”

“We would?” I nearly swallow my tongue the way Kai looks at me after saying we would have been kissing.

“Sure. I’d be stopping by the inn, sometimes bringing you flowers. Then I’d stay for a meal. I’d evenbring the meal on nights you were burnt out on cooking. We’d clean up together. And after Noah was asleep, I’d sit with you on the porch swing. We’d talk. It’s not all about the kissing for us.”

“It’s not?”

“Not at all.” He smiles at me like he’s not painting a picture like the ones you want to step right into once you’ve seen them hanging on a gallery wall. “We have a friendship as a foundation. A strong one. We care about one another.”

“We do,” I agree.

“So we’d chat in the evenings on the porch swing. We’d laugh about something funny Noah said. Maybe you’d ask me for input on a situation at the inn. Maybe I’d tell you some crazy story about Ben. But then, we’d fall into a peaceful quiet with one another.”

“We would?”

I gulp and hope the sound isn’t noticeable. It must not be because Kai keeps spinning the images of us in a committed relationship.

“Yeah. We’d get quiet, and I’d hold you. And we’d sit in that comfortable silence we always share.”

“It is comfortable,” I agree, even though my stomach feels like it’s on a roller coaster with every single word out of Kai’s mouth. Dipping, falling, rising, twisting.

“It is. It’s one of my favorite times—when we’re just quiet together. That kind of thing is underestimated, if you ask me. Anyway, I was saying, we’d sit like that, and you’d put your head on my shoulder, and I’d kiss the top of your head, and then you’d tilt your face up and smile at me the way you do, and … well, then we’d kiss.”

“Every night?”

“If you wanted. Though, some nights I’d take you out to dinner instead of you cooking at the inn. I’d get Chloe or Phyllis to watch Noah and cover the needs of the guests. And then I’d make reservations. And we’d dress up and I’d take you dancing orout to eat. On our way home, I’d kiss you on the beach, or on the porch of the inn at the end of the night.”

“You would?”

“If this were real, Mila? Yeah. That’s how it would be. So, you see my point.”

“Your point?”

I seem to be only capable of two word answers right now. My mouth is too dry for a full sentence.

“My point is, we should appear to have that life—the life where I’m kissing you daily.”

“So our kisses should appear more boring. Like you’re used to me.”

“I would never be used to you. And believe me, our kisses would not be boring.”

“In this fantasy of yours.”

“Sure. Yes. In my fantasy. But it’s our reality right now. The one we’re presenting.”

“So we need to look more … practiced?”

“That’s what I think. But that’s just my take on it. You have to tell me. Maybe we’ll never have to kiss in front of anyone ever again. After all, you did attack me at the hardware store.” He winks.

I cover my face again. I’ll never live down the fact.

“Mila.” Kai nudges me. “I’m teasing. That was us. Not you. We kissed one another. And it was a good move. Brad got the message loud and clear. That’s what we want. We don’t want a yellow light that he thinks he can run. We want it to be very blatantly red.”

Yeah.Brad. That’s what this is all about. We need to show Brad we’re a couple.

Somehow, our objective no longer matters. It’s irrelevant, because that picture Kai just painted is everything I’ve ever dreamed of.

And it’s just a fantasy.

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