Page 29 of Vacation with the Ice Queen

Nanise, the villa caretaker, was in the middle of recounting a story about a celebrity guest who had thrown a fit over finding a gecko in her bathroom. Her impression of the panicked socialite had everyone howling with laughter.

"—and then she says, 'I'm not paying sixteen thousand dollars a night to share my shower with wildlife!'" Nanise pitched her voice into a perfect imitation of entitled outrage.

"What did you tell her?" one of the younger staff members asked.

"That the gecko was actually paying eighteen thousand and had complained about her first." Nanise's deadpan delivery sent a fresh wave of laughter around the circle.

Lila felt the day's tension easing from her shoulders as she ate and laughed with her friends. This was the side of Solara tourists rarely saw—the authentic community that kept the resort running, people from around the world who had found connection on this remote island.

"So," Marcus said during a lull in the conversation, his voice lowered for her ears only. "You never actually answered my question earlier. How's it really going with Serena?"

Lila took a swig of her beer, buying time. "It's going fine. Professional boundaries stayed intact."

"That wasn't what I asked." He nudged her with his elbow. "You've got that look."

"What look?"

"The 'fascinated by damaged brilliance' look. I've seen it before."

Lila sighed, watching the flames dance before them. "She's... not what I expected."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning there's more beneath the surface than just corporate ambition and control issues." Lila poked at the fire with a stick, sending sparks spiraling into the night sky. "She had this moment today... this tiny crack in her perfect mask. Just for a second, but it was real."

Marcus studied her face in the firelight. "And that tiny crack has you hooked."

"I'm not hooked," Lila protested, though the defensiveness in her voice undermined her words. "I'm professionally intrigued."

"Right." Marcus drew out the word skeptically. "Just like you were 'professionally intrigued' by Dr. Montgomery last season?"

Heat that had nothing to do with the fire rushed to Lila's cheeks. "That was different."

"Was it though?" Marcus's teasing tone softened with genuine concern. "Look, I'm not judging. God knows you've listened to enough of my romantic disasters. I just worry that you keep getting drawn to the same type—brilliant women with walls so high you need oxygen to scale them."

"Serena is a client," Lila reminded him, and herself. "Nothing more."

"Now, maybe." Marcus stretched his long legs toward the fire. "But she won't be a client forever. And when that professional boundary disappears..."

"Then she'll go back to Manhattan and her billion-dollar company, and I'll stay here doing what I always do." Lila tried to keep her tone light, though the thought carried an unexpected sting.

"Unless..."

"Unless nothing." Lila tossed her stick into the fire with more force than necessary. "Can we talk about something else? Literally anything else?"

Marcus raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine. But just so you know, you're not nearly as unreadable as you think you are."

Before Lila could respond, Kai dropped onto the sand beside them, dramatically throwing his arm over his forehead. "If I have to lead one more 'mindful paddleboard excursion' for tech bros who check their watches every three minutes, I'm swimming to the mainland."

The conversation mercifully shifted to Kai's complaints, then to island gossip, then to plans for the upcoming full moon celebration. Lila let herself be drawn into the friendly chatter, grateful for the distraction from her own mixed-up thoughts.

Later, as the fire burned down to glowing embers and staff members began drifting back to their quarters, Lila found herself alone at the edge of the water. The moon cast a silver path across the gentle waves, and stars crowded the velvet sky with impossible brightness.

She kicked off her sandals, letting the cool water lap at her ankles as she breathed in the night air. The ocean stretched before her, a vastness that always put her own concerns into perspective.

"Penny for your thoughts," came a voice behind her. Lila turned to find Tomasi, the resort's elder groundskeeper, his weathered face kind in the moonlight.

"Not sure they're worth that much," Lila replied with a smile.

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