Page 61 of Give Me a Reason

“Frederick.” Bethany sounded out of breath from running across the beach.

Tessa skidded to a stop beside her and parroted, “Frederick.”

“I need to borrow your pockets,” they said at the same time.

He got to his feet and frowned. Anne’s hand was getting full, and she would need his pockets soon. “Uh…”

“Is that why you ran all the way here?” Aiden joined them and pointed his hands at his cargo pants. “You should’ve asked me. I’ve got pockets aplenty.”

“Oh, goodie.” Tessa rolled her eyes but held out her rocks to Aiden. “I’m going to count them when we get back to the villa, so don’t try to steal any of them.”

“What? I would never.” His mischievous grin belied his words. “But the shiny black one looks so much like a licorice jelly bean. I might be tempted to swipe it.”

“Eww.” Tessa crinkled her nose. “Who eats licorice jelly beans? Unless you’re an alien from Planet Licorice.”

Aiden burst out laughing so hard that he folded in on himself, and Tessa joined him. Frederick glanced at Anne and found her studying her sister and Aiden with a contemplative look on her face. He cocked his head to the side and wondered if she was onto something. They might have a new romance blooming. The corners of his lips turned down as envy pinched his insides.Seriously?He’d hit rock bottom.

“Frederick, will you hang on to mine?” Bethany held out her stones.

“Yeah… sure,” he said with another glance at Anne’s hand. He took the rocks from Bethany and poured them into his jacket pocket. Luckily, he was able to fit them all into one, leaving his other pocket free for Anne’s stones.

“Do you want me to hold yours, Anne?” Aiden asked. “Pick a pocket. Any pocket.”

“I…” Anne bit her lip and looked at Frederick from beneath her lashes. She wanted him, too. He halted his thoughts with a record screech. She didn’t wanthim. She just wanted his pocket.

Even so, Frederick offered his hand to help Anne to her feet with a smug smirk at Aiden. “Stop bragging about your abundant pockets.”

But he forgot what he had been smug about when she placed her soft, warm hand in his. He forgoteverythingbut the feel of her.

Electric currents running up his arm, he pulled her to her feet harder than he’d meant, and she stumbled into his chest. He instinctively steadied her, splaying his free hand on her back and pressing her flush against him. His fingers flexed and dug into her skin, as her heady scent filled his nostrils.

She took a hurried step back, a rosy blush staining her cheeks. Aware they had an audience, he reluctantly released her, but neither of them looked away. He would gladly drown in her wide eyes. Taking an unsteady breath, he cupped his hand under hers and tipped the stones into his open palm.

“I’ll hold on to these,” he said in a husky rasp. She nodded as though words were lost to her. Dangerously close to grabbing her, he spun toward Aiden. “You just want to steal the stones that look like jelly beans for one of your pranks at school.”

“It would’ve been so good, too.” Aiden sighed. “Can you imagine one of my classmates stealing a jelly bean from my jar and biting into a rock instead?”

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll choke?” Bethany looked aghast.

“They’re too small to be a real choking hazard.” Aiden grinned. “Besides, they’ll have plenty of doctors around in case of emergency.”

“Wannabedoctors,” Tessa clarified with a raised finger. “You guys are far from being actual doctors.”

“You forget our professors areactualdoctors,” Aiden rallied.

“That’s good enough for me.” Tessa smirked, an evil gleam entering her eyes. “I’ll help you find enough stone beans to fill a mason jar.”

“A mason jar?” Aiden raised his eyebrows at her.

She looked at him as though he’d lost all his brain cells. “Everything looks tastier in a mason jar.”

“I like the way you think.” Aiden chuckled and pointed down the beach. “Let’s go over there to carry out our dastardly scheme. That patch looks especially dark and gloomy.”

“Did you just use the worddastardly?” Tessa allowed Aiden to lead her to the dark side.

“Yes, because I’m a scoundrel,” he said gleefully.

Tessa groaned, but it looked like she was fighting a smile. “Stop before I stuff some stones in my ears.”

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