Page 40 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

I moved to follow, but Chase’s hand gripped mine and he leaned in close, sending delightful tingles down my skin. “Let everyone else go first.”

How did the man smell so good this late in the day?

The group shuffled along, chattering excitedly to one another. A young boy gave the boardwalk a few test jumps as he held his father’s hand. “Are we going to see tigers, Daddy?”

The father laughed. “I certainly hope not. Maybe crocodiles though.”

“Will they eat us?”

“Not if we stay on the boardwalk.”

I expected to see fear on the boy’s face at that, but his grin only widened. Then the group behind them cut them off from view.

“We don’t see enough kids here,” Chase murmured. “They’re far more fun than the parents.”

I elbowed him in the side. “Youarea softie. I knew it.”

He only grunted.

“A sloth tour?” a familiar voice snapped. “What am I, six?”

I turned to see Ty and Veronica step onto the boardwalk. She wore a swimsuit beneath a cover-up too sheer to deserve the word and a wide, floppy hat shading her thick sunglasses.

Ty’s face was burgundy as he faced her down. “You said you wanted to explore the island.”

“The beach, Ty,” she moaned. “I wanted to explore the beach, not some rainforest full of mosquitos and snakes. Besides, we don’t have time for this. Don’t you realize how much there is to do in the next few days?”

I’d forgotten—today was Wednesday and the wedding would take place this weekend. A clump of nerves sat at the pit of my stomach. I had to get Ty alone somehow, to see how he really felt before it was too late. That wasn’t likely to happen today, though. With Chase using me to avoid Veronica and the simple fact that Veronica would be everywhere Ty was, I hadn’t exactly thought this whole fake dating thing through.

Ty finally saw us staring at him and cleared his throat. “Hey, guys.”

Veronica’s eyes found Chase. In less than a second, her entire countenance changed from dark to light. Her voice practically jumped an octave. “Chase. Fancy meeting you here.”

Chase stiffened. “You too, Veronica. I thought you didn’t like animals.”

The tone of his voice, tight and a bit too strained, pulled my gaze to him. He stared at Ty and Veronica with an expression that I couldn’t read behind his dark sunglasses. Unfortunate, because Ireallywanted to know what he was thinking right now. What did this man see when he looked at Veronica? A dodged bullet, or the one who got away?

A new thought practically took my breath away. Could Chase be having the same thoughts about Veronica that I was having about Ty?

“Daphne, on the other hand,” Chase said, pulling me closer and making me realize I’d stepped away, “is looking forward to this, and I won’t allow her to miss it. If you could excuse us.” He slid his fingers down my arm, found my palm, and cupped my hand in his as if it had been designed to hold mine. I felt the trail of his fingers like a volcanic river running down my arm.

Sometimes Chase made it really hard to focus.

“Go back to the hotel, then,” Ty muttered to Veronica. “I’m not missing this either.”

I spared a quick glance backward in time to catch two very important things.

First, Ty had begun to follow us. He glowered at our backs, although his altercation with his fiancée explained that.

Second, Veronica stared after him, her face full of suspicion. Ty hadn’t tried very hard to convince her to come along, especially for a man who would be marrying her in a matter of days.

For a moment, the only sound was our feet on the boardwalk and the chirping of birds around us.

At the last second, Veronica groaned. “Fine! Let’s get it over with.”

And our not-so-pleasant foursome began.

I saw not one, but three sloths.

---