Page 58 of The Rehoboth Retreat
The comments were… well, flattering:
@SpiceRackSue:I swear you live in a Crate & Barrel catalog, and I am HERE for it.
@DapperDan:Adopt me, please. I’ll sleep in the pantry.
@ChefCarlosDC:That swordfish was pornographic. I showed my husband. We fought.
@OrderlyObsession:This retreat is my Roman Empire.
I chuckled into my iced coffee, letting the cool bitterness pull me back into focus. That’s when I saw it—buried among brand partnerships and fan messages—a new DM notification.
From@HudsonKnight_Official.
I blinked twice.
Hudson Knight. Two-point-four million followers. Hollywood’s favorite wild card. And here I was, still manually tagging local cheese shops and color-coding my spice rack on IG Reels.
I tapped the message.
@HudsonKnight_Official:
Hey. I know last night was… well, unexpected. But I wanted to say thanks for the walk. And the conversation. You’re kind of annoyingly refreshing, you know that?Also… sorry if the kiss was too much. If you never want to talk to me again, I get it.But if you do, I’d love to see you again—maybe when I’m not limping like a wounded gazelle? On a different note, I’m kind of starving right now. Not usually a breakfast kind of guy, but I have an itch for some today. Any recommendations on places to go in town?
I stared at the message, heart quietly thudding.
He mentioned the kiss. Heapologizedfor the kiss.
I didn’t even know what shocked me more—his honesty or the fact that it read like something genuine, not the PR-polished fluff celebrities usually pump out. I sat back in my chair, iced coffee forgotten for a moment as Topper curled up at my feet.
I thought about playing it safe. Recommending Egg or Somewhere. Both are popular breakfast and brunch spots in town. Maybe even Rise Up if he was feeling hipster enough for locally roasted beans and vegan banana bread.
But the words that came out were braver than I felt.
@MilesInOrder:
Egg and Somewhere are great, but honestly… nothing beats the breakfast I cook. I was just about to start whipping something up. If you’re interested in joining, the offer’s open.
I paused. Reread it.
And chose not to mention the kiss. Best to… pretend it never happened, for both of our sakes.
Still, I hovered over the send button for a full five seconds before I tapped it.
Sent.
I exhaled. He probably wouldn’t even see it for hours. He was famous. He had people. He—
A notification buzzed.
@HudsonKnight_Official:
That sounds awesome. I can be over whenever.
Wait… what?
I quickly typed back.
@MilesInOrder:
