“I think we both scared them off.” He grins at me. “You want to change, and then we’ll go into the water?”
“That sounds great.” I beam at him, trying not to laugh. “No more wet or hard talk.”
I give him a look, and he just wiggles his eyebrows.
“Let me go and get …” My voice trails off as his phone beeps.
He hands me the tote bag. He frowns as he stares down at the screen. “Shit,” he mutters under his breath.
My heart stills. I already know what’s coming.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.” He stares at me for a couple of seconds, and I can see him doing some mental calculations in his brain. “Do you mind if I join you in the water in thirty minutes?”
“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“I have to take a call. It’s for work.”
“It’s—let me guess. It’s really important.”
“But I promise it will be thirty minutes, an hour at most.” He nods.
“How did you just go from thirty minutes to an hour? This is the middle of the day, Luke. I’m working as well. I can’t just take off endless amounts of time. Juniper would not be happy about that.”
“Well, I’m in the middle of a really big deal, Mia. It requires my focus.”
“You’re always in the middle of a really big deal.”
“Not big like this.”
“Whatever. Whatever you have to do. I’ll just find some cute surfer who wants to swim with me instead.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He frowns, and I watch as he puts his phone in his back pocket. He takes a couple of steps toward me. “What are you saying, Mia?”
“What am I saying? What do you think?”
“You’re going to find a really hot surfer to swim with?” His lips thin. “Really?”
“Well, maybe a hot surfer on the beach will have time for me and my itty-bitty white bikini with the pineapples on them.”
“It’s a cute bikini. I want to see you in it as well.”
“Maybe you will. Maybe you won’t. Guess it depends on how long your phone call is.”
“Mia, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go and flirt with some random surfer. I’m sorry that I have to take this call, but it will be quick.”
“Rex and Andi have gone to taste wedding cakes today,” I say, “so it’s not like they’re going to see me on the beach. You’re safe. Our cover won’t be blown.”
“I don’t give a fuck about our cover,” he says. “I think it’s highly inappropriate for you to go looking for some hot surfer to flirt with.”
“Why is it highly inappropriate? Why do you care, Luke? It’s not like any of this is real.”
He stares at me for a couple of seconds and just shakes his head. I watch as he pulls his phone out of his back pocket and walks away.
“I’m going to work. Enjoy your swim, Mia.”
“Fuck you,” I whisper under my breath as I stand there, watching him leave me.
