“Shh.” Kendra lifted her finger to her lips, looking around. “Don’t speak so loudly. Mr. White has such good aim that he could probably throw a pebble right into your ear from there if they overheard us talking about them. And Mrs. White could definitely beat us in a footrace, before you ask.”
Lucas chuckled. “Okay, two can play this game.” He scanned the crowd, his eyes landing on a young couple on the far side of the pool area. “Do you see Princess Elizabeth and Prince Benjamin over there?” he asked.
“No.” Kendra shook her head. “I only see Eloise and Claude Bennoit, notable French poets and co-founders of the Flaky Croissant Society.”
“Hey.” Lucas nudged her with his shoulder. “I was going to make up a story.”
“Clearly — whereasI’mtelling the truth.” She winked again.
“You have an excellent imagination.”
“No. I just have a great memory for names and faces.” She tapped the side of her head with one finger. “That’s how I know celebrities like the Whites and the Bennoits.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t recognizeme, then.” Lucas paused, and she turned to face him.
“Oh.” She nodded sagely. “You’re the archduke of Devonshire. You’re right. I should have recognized you.”
It would have been the perfect time to explain who he actually was, but Lucas simply nodded. “Exactly.” Part of him wanted to be honest with her, but a stronger part held back. They still didn’t know each other that well, and there was no reason to ruin the fun they were sharing with the truth.
As they joked around about other couples, Lucas realized that he wasn’t even tempted to go back to the room to check his phone. Kendra was able to distract him from the biggest, most stressful thing in his life — his work — by joking around and being herusual magnetic self. Despite himself, Lucas was starting to feel something for this funny, creative, romantic woman.
If they’d been in LA, he would have pulled away and buried himself in work until any unexpected feelings passed. But they weren’t in LA. They were in a resort in Cabo, and Lucas couldn’t, for the life of him, pull away from her. Nor did he want to. So, why not enjoy this time? He could allow himself to feel, for a little while, like Kendra really was special to him.
CHAPTER 14
KENDRA
Kendra bent her knees, concentrating all her energy on keeping her balance. Her arms windmilled, but only once, before she steadied herself. Carefully, she adjusted her front foot on the board before finally lifting her gaze to the horizon, as the instructor had told her to. She saw the beach rushing toward her, the resort in the distance, and the blue sky overhead. She saw the board beneath her bare feet and the wave she was riding on. And, to the left, she saw Lucas toppling headfirst into the ocean.
Kendra twisted her head to check on him, but even the small movement was enough that she lost her balance and fell into the water too. When she popped up, she and Lucas were only a few feet apart.
“How are you doing that?” Lucas called to her over the sound of the surf.
“Doing what?” Kendra asked, grinning.
“Not falling off right away! No matter what I do, I can’t stay up on the board for more than ten seconds.”
“Maybe you should try kneeling again,” Kendra suggested. “Like the little kids do. Come on, let’s swim back out.”
She was having so much fun that she could hardly believe it. She climbed back onto her board and paddled out. Lucas followed on his own board, muttering something under his breath about useless sports.
Today’s honeymoon fun included a surfing lesson. Kendra had expected it to be as frustrating as the kayaking, but she hadn’t expected to enjoy feeling the wind whoosh by or the focus of balancing. She actually enjoyed surfing a lot. She should have tried it sooner.
They reached the right spot in the ocean and turned around to try another wave. They’d had two hours of instruction previously, but the instructor was now on the beach with the next couple while they played around and tested their skills.
“I knew you were a California surfer girl,” Lucas said as he positioned his board. “Are you sure this is the first time you’ve done this?”
“I’m sure!” Kendra looked over her shoulder to try to find her next wave. “I swam a lot, but I honestly never tried surfing.”
“I think this whole thing was an elaborate con to show me up in a water sport after the kayaking fiasco,” Lucas joked.
“You caught me!” Kendra spotted the next wave and began paddling. As it caught her board, she managed to pop up onto her feet. This time, she was able to stand up without windmilling her arms, even once. Her breath caught as she almost slipped, but she stayed up. A quick glance back showed that Lucas hadn’t managed to catch this wave.
Kendra rode the wave almost all the way to shore before a surge knocked her down. She came up in the shallows, grinning, and paddled back toward Lucas. He’d managed to catch a wave in her absence, but the moment he popped up, his arms windmilled, and he slipped backward and fell back into the wave with a splash. Kendra paddled over.
“Are you all right?” she asked when his head reappeared above the water.
“Yes, but I think I’m done.” He smiled at her, shaking his wet hair. “This is harder than kayaking for me.”
