Page 44 of Two Tickets to Paradise

She rolled her eyes. "I don't think he'd say that right about now, but I'm hoping things will even out between us before long."

He reached out his hand and she felt his fingertip gently stroke the skin between her eyebrows. "Don't worry so much, I'm sure it'll even out, especially before the end of Thanksgiving dinner."

She grinned at him. "Until I beat his butt at bowling."

"You're competitive?"

She shook with laughter, and he did, too. "You know it. Especially with Cam. He's always been competitive with me. Neither one of us let each other winanything."

"Oh, boy. I'm going to have some fun on Thursday."

A moment of silence fell between them, and she couldn't help but feel like things were getting off to a great start.

"We should get up and give Buck a call. I can't wait to see some of Hawaii with you."

He nodded and sighed. "Let's go."

A few hours later,they were enjoying the beach park in Kailua when a little bit of a commotion started in the parking lot.

Cora turned over on her towel and looked over in that direction. "Huh..."

Beside her on his own towel, Vince sat up and looked in the same direction. "Looks like a food truck."

Almost on cue, her stomach growled... loudly.

"Oh boy," she groaned, "I can't believe I just did that."

Vince chuckled softly. "Don't feel bad about it. You can't control your stomach. It's not like you had a lot to eat this morning."

"I was still working off the food from last night, but yeah, the food we grabbed at McDonald's was enough to tide me over, but-"

"But now, you're really hungry."

She grinned. "Guilty."

Reaching under the edge of his towel, Vince pulled out his wallet. "I'll go grab us something to eat."

Cora tried to scramble to her feet, but he waved her off.

"My treat."

"Vince-"

"Any food allergies or foods you really don't like?"

She shook her head. "I have a stomach like Cam. I can eat pretty much anything. I like pretty much anything, too. I haven't met a meal I don't like."

Vince dusted some sand off of his legs and she tried not to stare.

The man had a gorgeous body, and she could tell that he worked out a lot.

She hadn't been in the habit of working out all the time since she was living on her own. It was different when Cam was around, and they'd go running together. Still, Vince had admired the way she'd looked in her suit earlier. She wasn't all that vain about her body, but who didn't care about their looks when they were spending time with a hot guy who definitely caught their interest?

As Vince walked away across the grassy sand, she had a chance to admire him without worrying that he'd see her staring.

She wasn't the only one looking at him either.

A couple of ladies who were washing off the sand at a free-standing shower stopped their conversation to take a long look at him as he walked by.

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