Page 55 of Beached Wedding

“Still spitting seawater, but he’ll be right. He bought a house thinking he could surf straight out his front door. Didn’t ask any locals about rip currents or other hazards.”

“Kook.” I didn’t know everything about surf culture, but I knew what the idiots who failed to recognize their own limits were called, especially when they wrecked everyone else’s fun.

The purse of disgust on Fox’s mouth agreed.

“I said I’d take him to the clinic and drive him home.” Fox’s gaze struck mine for a split-second before he looked away again. “Do you mind taking the shuttle back? Will you be okay going to the villa alone?”

“Of course.” I didn’t want to believe he was volunteering in order to avoid me, but that’s what it felt like, leaving my heart feeling stretched thin.

“He offered me a private heli-tour tomorrow as a thank you.”

“Oh. That’s nice. He’s either really grateful or he’s sizing you up for a kidney.”

“At least he’s being a gentleman and buying me breakfast first.”

I smiled, but it trembled. I couldn’t think of anything witty to add. I couldn’t stop thinking about our kiss.Oh, shoot, I recalledwith a thud in my heart. I had to tell him about the photo and the video.

I opened my mouth, but Fox said, “He, uh, saw us...” His flinty gaze touched my cheek and ear. “You’re invited. On the heli-tour.”

My insides did a lift and swoop as if we’d crested a particularly rough wave, even though we were moving very slowly in the sheltered waters of the marina.

Whatever he read in my eyes made his expression turn cautious.

Keep it casual, I reminded myself with mild panic.Friends.

“Do I want a free aerial view of the island? Who wouldn’t?” Hard to get into too much trouble wearing seatbelts and shouting over the drumming noise of a helicopter. “Unless you’d rather go alone. Is he the pilot? Because…”

“No.” The corners of his mouth deepened. “He owns the chopper, though. Sounds like he has one of everything.”

“How is he so rich?” I glanced over my shoulder, but the surfer was still below. “Is he famous? Why didn’t anyone recognize him?”

“He sold an app,” Fox said dryly.

“How is that still a thing? Was it an app for making apps? Because I feel like everything else has been invented by now. And is that what buys you a mansion with a private beach? You and I have to put on our thinking caps sowecan buy a house on a beach.”

It was our usual, garden-variety banter, but it landed like a fart in an elevator when he said, “I have one.”

“Right. Forgot.” I was forgetting a lot of things, most especially that I’d been engaged his best friend, the man who owned that house with him. That’s why I wasn’t supposed to suck Fox’s face.

My stomach cramped and I stared blindly at the boats we were passing as we closed in on the slip.

“Ash—”

“There’s a picture,” I blurted while keeping my voice low.

“Of?” he asked with dread.

“Us. And a video.”

“Fair dinkum?” He pivoted to face me, saying in a quiet hiss, “It lasted five seconds.”

Definitely wasn’t happy about our kiss. I held up a hand and he swung back to the rail. His jaw muscle pulsed and his biceps flexed.

“There’s no video of that. Margorie, the older lady, took a snap of us—” I glanced over my shoulder. “Hugging.”

It wasn’t a hug. It looked like the cover of a romance novel, him shirtless and dappled with beads of water, me clutching at him, hair windswept, my expression all limpid and smoldering as I looked up at him.

“I don’t know if she’ll post it.” Margorie had promised to send it to me, though. “The mom with her hair in a bun? She filmed the rescue. That’s definitely getting uploaded. She was already trying to do it, but we were out of range. I thought about saying T&B might pay her for it, but if she knew she might get more traction by tagging Shane...” It had been a tough call. “I got her details.”

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