Page 148 of His Secret Gift

He’s relaxing back with his hands behind him while I’m hugging my knees in and resting my chin on one of them.

“With Molly. Do we just let them meet organically and hope a spark flies from there?”

He then looks over at his friend. “Oh. Good point. I guess, right?” I push my lower lip out. “I mean, we don’t want toforceanything. Trust me, Molly will catch onto that and absolutely hate it. In fact, she’ll probably buck against it.”

“Hmm. And what we want her bucking against is Bryant.”

I shove his shoulder. “Gross!”

“Well, isn’t it?” He sits up straight and slaps his hands together to get the sand off them.

“I wouldn’t put it so graphically.”

He laughs. “I’m sorry. I just feel bad for the guy. It’s been a long time since he’s been with a woman.”

I raise my head up and feel the wind blow my hair, which I have taken down, around. “And you know that for sure?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Interesting.” I rest back down against my knees.

He leans closer to me. “Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. I thought guys didn’t talk about those kinds of things.”

Jack then chuckles. “Maybe not all. But when you’re stuck on a small vessel with someone for long periods of time… things just have a way of coming out.”

I nod. “I guess that makes sense.”

However, when I check my watch, I see that it’s almost lunch time.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your meeting with Yannis?” Saying his name makes goosebumps form on my skin.

He winces and then looks at me out of the corner of his eyes. “As if I’m going to take a meeting with that asshole now.”

My heart sinks. “Are you serious?” It never occurred to me he would cancel just because of me.

After checking that the others weren’t looking, he tucks some hair behind my ear and explains in a low tone, “I have morals, Kayla. And I don’t work with people who I believe do not.”

So, now I not only ruined his night, but I also made him waste god knows how much money to come all this way for nothing.

“I’m—I’m so sorry.” I don’t know how I’ll ever make up for what I’ve done.

“Kayla. Please stop apologizing.Hedid this. Not you.”

I face away from him. “But it was my fault for ever agreeing to go to his place.”

Jack sucks air through his teeth. “While I may not agree with your choice to do that, I know you only did it because you wanted to help me by getting a good word in with him.”

I turn to him again. “Exactly. He said he liked working with people who employed people with good taste. Well, I already liked his stuff, so I figured I’d love whatever he came up with next. Ugh. It sounds so stupid.”

“Stop beating yourself up about it. Plus, I’ve found another author on the island that I want to talk to.”

That surprises me. “Seriously? How?”

He gives me a smug smile. “I have my people.”

“Well, who is it? The author, I mean.”

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