Page 24 of Two Weeks in Tahoe

“No, I didn’t…it was a good job. It was flexible. Suzanne in accounting was really lovely…” I trail off.

“Hated it,” he states again. So confident.

My shoulders slump as I let out a sigh. “Fine. Yes, I absolutely hated it. That’s why I quit. I would rather spend my day watching Jackson’s favorite movie ten times in a row than do that job. Are you happy now, sir?” I joke.

He laughs. “I think I can arrange that. I know a guy.”

“Perfect. Sign me up.”

“You know, it’s actually not so bad,” Liam says.

“The movie?”

“Yeah. The movie.”

“Right. I’ll take your word for it.”

“You better be careful. Jackson has taken a liking to you. Your next invitation that he manages to weasel you into might just be movie night.”

I pause, and our eyes lock. “Doesn’t sound so bad.”

“No, it doesn’t.” He smirks, and my body warms.

He then proceeds to tell me more details about the software he created, and I try to follow along as best I can, but he must notice how lost I am by the look on my face.

“I’m boring you, I’m sorry,” he laughs, not looking offended at all.

“No, you’re not! I’m just not great with technology. I’m quite bad at it, actually,” I admit.

“It’s really okay. Most people don’t know what I’m talking about when I go off about it. Thank you for pretending to follow along anyway,” he grins.

“Anytime,” I reply with a smile.

“Liam! You sneaky little shit!” a man’s voice sounds from behind me, growing louder.

Liam looks past me, then rolls his eyes and tilts his head back. His exposed neck and jaw look entirely too sexy when he does it. I need to keep it together.

“What are you doing here?” Liam asks the man who is now standing over us in front of our table, hands on his hips.

“I own this place!” The man yells, but there’s a massive smile plastered on his face, like he’s in on some joke that I’m not.

“I know that. You said you weren’t going to be here tonight.” Liam replies. Why would he not want the owner—who he said is his friend—to be here when he brought me?

“Well, I decided to come anyway. What are you gonna do? Try to fight me like that one year in fifth grade? When I whooped you?”

“First of all, I did not try to fight you. A rogue basketball hit the back of your head, and you thought I did it on purpose. Huge misunderstanding. Second, you did not whoop me, we wrestled in the grass for five seconds before you tapped out.”

“That’s not what happened at all,” the guy says, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at him.

“Well, we can argue about it next time. I’m kind of busy at the moment,” Liam gestures over to me. “This is Layla.”

His friend looks at me, a huge grin returning to his face once again. “Layla!” he says with delight. “I’m Dex.”

Dex. Wasn’t that the name of Liam’s friend that night, all those years ago? It’s been so long, I can’t fully recall his face. But he does look very familiar. My mind focused so much on the memory of Liam afterward that the memory of his friends faded. But this must be him. The guy standing in front of me looks like he could kill someone with a single punch. His muscles, deeply tan skin, and the unique style of tattoos make him look like he came straight from some beautiful island paradise, even though he apparently grew up here.

“Nice to meet you…Dex,” I say slowly, my thoughts churning. Liam watches me for a moment, then stands up and puts his large hand on Dex’s back, looking at him like he’s a dad about to scold his child in private.

“Layla, I’ll be right back. I need to talk to my friend here for a quick second. I’m sorry,” and then he nudges Dex away as Dex smiles at me and waves.

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