Page 75 of Dr. CEO (The Doctors)

“What?” I ask. “Did you learn this at Cambridge?”

Kate shrugs. “My grandma taught me.”

“You have to be kidding me,” Sutton says. “Those flames are hot.”

“Just don’t knock the bowl by accident. We don’t actually want to cause a fire.”

“I’m not putting my hand in that bowl. I’ve seen burn injuries from doing shit like this,” Jacob says.

Kate shrugs. “I’ll go first.” Without hesitation, she reaches over the bowl and takes a raisin, the flames licking around her hand. She pulls it out quickly and puts it in her mouth. “There.”

She looks up at me and grins, and I bend down to press a kiss to her lips. “You are…surprising.”

She laughs. “Is that a compliment?”

“Absolutely,” I reply. “I love seeing you like this. You’re so happy.”

“I’m always happy. Or most of the time anyway. Especially if I’m with you.”

I can’t think of a better compliment. And I feel exactly the same.

Everything feels right. Like Kate fits here. Like I fit here.

“Back at you.” I kiss her again, pointedly ignoring the whispered speculation and gossip buzzing from my cousins. All I know is that I’m happier than I’ve been for as long as I can remember. And that’s good. I think.

Happiness can’t be a bad thing. It’s what people spend their lives chasing.

Except I never have.

THIRTY

Kate

I’ve tried to persuade Vincent to take off his shoes, but he isn’t having any of it. I’m not wasting the opportunity. I’ve never even seen the sea before, so while I’m here, I want to know what the sand feels like between my toes. It’s soft and silky and warm from the sun. I could stay here for hours, sinking my toes under the grains of million-year-old rocks and shells and then lifting them out, watching as my feet appear like a whale breaching the waves. It’s like magic.

I glance back. Vincent’s leaning against the sea wall, watching me, his sunglasses making him look cooler than usual—which is pretty hard, given Vincent’s at the top of the cool tree on a normal day.

“It feels wonderful,” I call.

He stands and takes off his glasses, squinting in the sunlight as he gazes more intently at me. Then he pulls off his trainers and socks and stalks toward me.

But he doesn’t stop when he gets to me. He scoops up my hand and pulls me out toward the waves.

“You changed your mind,” I say.

“You’ve never walked on a beach before.”

It’s not a question. We’re trading facts.

“We should go paddle,” he says.

I can’t help but smirk. Vincent Cove doesn’t strike me as a paddler.

“You paddle?” I ask. “I can’t imagine you doing much that’s just for fun.”

He raises his eyebrows, giving me a meaningful look. “You know that’s not true.”

“Well, apart from the sex stuff.”

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