Page 47 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

“Every day.”

He nodded, not seeming surprised. “New York is pretty far away. When was the last time you visited?”

I exhaled, suddenly feeling vulnerable and not loving it. “It’s been a long time, and it will be a long while yet. My parents and I don’t exactly see eye-to-eye.”

He didn’t press the issue. Instead, he said, “Which do you like better, New York or the farm?”

I cocked my head, considering his question. A year ago, I would have said New York without hesitation. But there was something about this island that made me miss home.

“There’s a tall tree on the south end of our farm,” I told him. “I hate letting my fear of heights control me, so as a teenager, I’d ride Rosie out there and let her graze while I challenged myself to see how high I could climb. On my eighteenth birthday, I finally made it to the top. We didn’t have any tall buildings out there, obviously, and it’s completely flat. So I’d never seen that view before. I still remember how it felt to see everything from above for the first time.”

He studied my face. “Then you moved to New York, where looking down on the streets from the fortieth floor is commonplace.”

“A little easier than climbing a two-hundred-year-old tree, I’ll admit.”

“Not quite the same, though, is it?”

The expression on his face made me shift in my chair. Being seen like this, examined and questioned, made me want to sprint toward the beach and hide in the waves. “No, it’s not. Even now, I’d choose that tree over the Empire State Building any day.”

He stood and offered a hand to help me up. My hand reached up of its own accord. He grasped it, yanked me clean off the couch, and gently pried the remote from my other hand to turn off the TV. Then, still holding my hand, he leaned over to whisper softly in my ear. “I have a favorite tree too, here on the island. I’d love to show it to you sometime if you’ll allow me.”

His breath against my ear sent all kinds of weird sensations through my body. Ty had touched me yesterday and whispered like this. Had I felt anything at all? I couldn’t even remember.

I checked my watch. “We have thirty minutes before I need to start helping in the kitchens. Is that enough time?”

It was the right answer. Chase looked pleased. “If it isn’t, I’ll have Agwe take your place for a bit. I don’t think anyone will miss us.”

TWENTY-ONE

Ridingin Chase’s sporty black car, we took the main street for a few miles and then pulled off into a winding road behind a few older buildings and a farm, gradually easing downward until we reached the thick of the rainforest. He parked in a gravel area that barely looked habitable and led me to the beginning of a path scarcely wide enough for two people. Chase stepped onto it confidently, as if he’d been here a hundred times. He probably had.

I put my focus into trying not to trip on the occasional tree root or loose stone. The last thing I needed was another trip to the doctor.

After a few minutes, I noticed the rainforest around us looking darker than before with the exception of bright patterns on the forest floor from the sun. The patchwork of light and shadow almost felt like art—a painting that only adventurers and wildlife got to enjoy.

Soon the darkness lifted and the light returned. Ahead, the sky looked bright and welcoming, but also a little…pinkish?

“Pink Sand Beach,” Chase said. “My favorite tree overlooks it.”

I gasped. “There’s a pink sand beach too? This is the coolest island ever.”

Chase smiled while I hurried on ahead, eager to see what he was talking about. The sand did indeed have a pinkish hue to it. Or rather, it was the tiny pink shells glittering in the sand. I knelt to scoop up a handful and examined it from different angles.

“Beautiful,” I told him.

“I agree.”

Chase leaned against a monstrous palm tree that seemed larger than the rest, his arms folded as he watched me. The position made his biceps fill his shirt sleeves in a way that begged to be touched. My heart flipped just a bit.

I dumped the sand, stood, and walked over to him. We faced each other now, just like at the dance the other night. Only this time, the music that surrounded us was the scattered song of birds and the calls of an animal I couldn’t identify. Chase’s eyes, for once uncovered by his sunglasses and vulnerable, searched mine. For what, I couldn’t begin to imagine.

I began listing off the reasons I shouldn’t care for this man. First, he was my boss and I his employee. The list should have ended there, but even worse than that, I meant to betray him and steal someone else’s groom. I’d come here to rob the man I now stood here gaping at. So why did it feel like none of that mattered anymore?

“I know you’re tempted,” Chase said, “but I have to tell you no.”

I blinked. What was that supposed to mean?

His stern expression softened into a grin, and his hands slid around my waist. He pulled me closer and looked down at me. “You can’t climb the tree,” he whispered.

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