Page 128 of On The Rocks

Still confused, I met the distance between us and took her hand.

Richard nodded to me. “Nice to meet you, Mr. St. James.” Then he waved and walked away from us.

I waited for him to leave, then I turned her to me. “Are you sure?”

“I can see the potential in all of this. But as I was walking through, I didn’t feel the spark. The bar was amazing, but the rest of this is just too...” She shrugged. “The only word I have isslick.”

“Well, it does have a bit ofMiami Viceset to it.” I winced. “Sorry, forget I said that.”

She laughed. “I know whatMiami Viceis.”

“Please don’t say the one with Jamie Foxx.”

“God, no. I mean, he and Colin Farrell are fine as hell, but they’re no Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas.”

“Damn right.” I slung my arm around her shoulders. “Thank God for streaming,” I muttered.

“We can watch it when we go home.”

“Back to the hotel?”

“No.” She pressed a hand to my chest. “Well, we can enjoy the hotel for one more night but then let’s go back to the orchard.”

“Are you sure?” I glanced around at the deck then through the doors to the massive club inside. “You’d kill in this kind of place,” I said, even as my gut saidabsolutely not.

“I would, but I wouldn’t be happy. This isn’t Daphne’s.”

I had to agree with her. Daphne’s felt more intimate as she said. “We’ll find the one that it should be.”

“I kind of like the sound of that.” She lightly trailed her nails through my beard. I lowered my mouth to hers. “Griffin?”

I paused before kissing her. “Yeah?”

“I’m afraid I’m falling in love with you.”

My chest tightened and I straightened. Relief and hope hit me hard. “I think it’s too late for me.”

She pressed her lips together, her gorgeous dark eyes growing shiny.

I cupped the back of her head. “It’s okay. We’ve got time to figure it out.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I hauled her in close until I could feel her heartbeat against mine. “Want to get out of here?”

“Definitely.”

“And Lenny?”

She pushed away from me with an eye roll. “Yeah?”

“We need some real food.”

“That, I can handle.” She took my hand, and we zipped out of there and back to the convertible. “This time, I drive.”

“Have at it.” I unlocked the car, and she hurried around to the driver’s side.

“Now I’m going to show you my Miami.” She revved the engine, and we took off, the mood a ton lighter than it had been when we arrived.

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