Page 63 of The Mistakes I've Made
I wasn’t sure if she was referring to her hotel or me, but either way, my stomach flip-flopped like a freaking teenager hoping to get to second base. I continued to wait around as the two women made small talk until Leilani had several swimsuits picked out and headed into the changing room.
The effort it took not to picture her stripping down naked was monumental.
“So, what’s the deal between you two?” Millie asked, her voice barely a whisper as she joined me at the wooden counter. She pretended to be interested in organizing several displays of jewelry, but really, she was just being nosy.
“What do you mean, what’s the deal?”
She shook her head, smiling. “I mean, are you playing nice, still hoping to sabotage her plans—”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head as they jerked to the changing room across the store. “Dude!”
Her smile only deepened. “Or are you really into this woman?”
Before I had a chance to answer that question, Leilani peeked her head out of the dressing room, and I felt my mouth fall to the floor.
“Do you think you could grab a larger top for me in this one? I’m always a size larger up here,” she asked Millie, showing her the mini red bikini top that barely covered her breasts.
Fuck. Me.
I didn’t even try not to stare. I mean, what man could?
If anything, I was just training myself for the torture I’d endure later on in the day.
The beach?
What the hell had I been thinking?
“Sure,” Millie said, giving me an amused grin before she ran to the racks. She handed Leilani the top she needed.
By the time she returned, I was pretty sure there was drool forming around the corners of my mouth.
“Oh, man. You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”
“We’re just friends,” I answered immediately.
She laughed. “Okay.”
“What? I can be friends with a female,” I demanded. “We’re friends. And we were platonic friends way before you met Aiden.”
“Yeah, but you never looked at me like that,” she said quietly, giving a head nod in the direction of the changing room where Leilani was currently trying on a plethora of teeny, tiny bikinis.
So much for not picturing her naked.
“That’s because you’re my friend,” I said the words before I even realized they were coming out of my mouth.
A satisfied grin spread across Millie’s face. “Exactly.”
“See? I told you,” I boasted as we pulled back onto Highway 12, having just spent an ample amount of time watching the once-wild ponies of Ocracoke.
I caught a warm smile from the passenger seat.
“Yes, you were the perfect gentleman. And I even got another history lesson.”
“Well, I couldn’t take you to see the infamous Banker ponies and not tell you the legends of how they got their name.”
She laughed. “I swear, you must know everything about this island,” she said.
I shrugged. “It’s my home. Tell me you don’t know a ton of random facts about Hawaii.”
