Zoey shakes her head. “Not a chance.”
“Liam was worse, but I was a handful too.”
“Liam sounds like quite the character,” Zoey says.
“He’s not as bad as Oliver makes him out to be,” Lulu tells Zoey.
“Yes, he is. You just haven’t spent enough time with him,” I reply.
“You haven’t spent enough time with our cousins. We have some doozies,” Zoey tells me.
“Everyone’s been so nice,” I say.
“They’re on their best behavior around you. You’ll see. They’ll show their true colors soon enough.”
“I look forward to it,” I say to them, hoping to stick around long enough to know them as well as I know my own family.
21
LULU
Six MonthsLater
The waves lap against the sand as the sun moves lower in the sky, hovering above the horizon. “This is paradise,” I say, closing my eyes to feel the warmth of the last rays of the day.
“I can’t imagine every day being like this,” Oliver says on the blanket next to me.
“We can come down here whenever we want. It’s one of the perks of having family here.”
“Maybe we should become snowbirds.”
I turn my head, letting my gaze linger on his tanned skin for far too long. “You want to get a place here?”
He pushes his sunglasses onto his head as he sits up, resting his weight on his elbows. “Something small, maybe.”
“I like that idea, but are you sure? Winter is big business for you in Chicago.”
“Liam’s there, and we can hire someone to take my place when I’m out of town.”
My smile widens because maybe we can pull this off. I’ve changed how I run my business since the incident with Mark.
I hired two employees and always have one of them with me when I’m working. No one is ever alone, so there’s no chance of something like that happening again. Well, not no chance, but it wouldn’t be as easy with another person in tow.
“The girls can handle the work while I’m gone too. Maybe we don’t stay all winter, but we can pop down here for a few weeks at a time to warm our bones.”
“I’m getting too old for the cold,” Oliver says.
I roll onto my side and push myself up to straddle him. His hands find my thighs as I settle on top of him, pressing my middle to his. “You’re not old, baby. You’re well seasoned.”
He chuckles, the vibration sending a spark through my body. “You like the splashes of gray, don’t you?”
My fingers find the white hairs in his beard, toying with the strands. “It’s distinguished.”
“My girl,” he whispers, his rough fingertips skating over my skin, sending goose bumps across my skin,which should be impossible in the oppressive Florida heat.
“I’m her.”
“Mine. Only mine,” he says as he pushes himself up to sitting, taking me with him.
