Page 14 of Seaside Cowboy's Marriage of Convenience

She laughed, feeling as breezy as the air movement that touched her face. When was the last time she’d felt breezy? Never. That was when.

The ocean in front of them might be spectacular, but what was even more spectacular was what was happening inside her now.

They talked about their values in life, their families, then their favorite movies, shows, books, sports, and even ice-cream flavors. To her surprise, many of them overlapped. Except for music. He was a country fan, while she loved classical, but she could live with that. She barely noticed how the sun kissed the ocean and spilled bright orange juice into it or how her plate had become empty. Including the delectable fries. Should she order more?

Then he pushed his neglected fries to her. “Please help yourself.”

“Thank you. You don’t like them, do you?” She helped herself to a handful, indeed.

He grinned as he lifted the glass. “Ilovethem. But I’d love even more for you to have them.”

Strangely enough, at that moment, she decided she’d go forward with the most important question of the evening and quite possibly of her life. “What would you think of marrying me?”

His eyes went huge, and the cup slipped from his hands and hit the deck. At least, it was plastic, so it didn’t break. He leaned to pick it up—after staring at her for a few long moments, but somehow as he bent, he swept his plate onto the floor to join the cup’s contents.

That activated some sort of instinct in the dog who’d been peacefully sitting under the table three tables away. Apparently, pets understood that food on the tables was off-limits, but if it hit the floor, it was fair game. Now, the dog darted toward them, joyfully barking.

“No!” Austin shouted, but the dog took that as encouragement. The cat hissed in dismay at the dog’s bad manners but didn’t stake a claim on the spilled food.

The dog’s owner ran after her pet but not soon enough. Austin stepped forward as if trying to shield Kennedy from the dog for some reason.

Okay, she wasn’t getting an answer to her proposal any time soon.

Chapter Four

KENNEDY HAD ALWAYSmanaged to put up a good front in a business setting, but in her personal life, she was cautious around people. Another difference between her and her socialite parents.

So when Marina suggested inviting Skylar to their small outings, Kennedy had been reluctant. But she didn’t want to risk her budding friendship with Marina. It had taken her years to find someone who wasn’t friends with her just because of all the things Kennedy could do for them.

So far, Skylar had turned out as sweet and fun as Marina had described her to be and had befriended Kennedy with much more eagerness than Kennedy had surrendered her guard.

Now the three of them sat on Kennedy’s spacious balcony, overlooking the cobalt mirror of the ocean shining in the afternoon sun. They’d been sipping mango juice and munching on the cheeses and cold cuts from a charcuterie board, as well as strawberries dipped in chocolate, almonds and hazelnuts regretfullynotcoated in chocolate, and grapes.

Skylar talked about her honeymoon and newlywed life, and Kennedy and Marina gave encouraging sounds and nodded. Wistfulness put a bitter taste in Kennedy’s mouth, so she popped a chocolate-dressed strawberry in to sweeten the taste. She didn’t have the right to be envious. She had so much more than others could even dream of.

So why did she have to remind herself of that? Maybe because she wanted someone to love her the way Dallas loved Skylar or Kai loved Marina. And when she imagined that someone, Austin’s image appeared in front of her eyes. Ironic, how one often wanted something unattainable and didn’t know how to appreciate the things one had.

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