Page 8 of Here & Now

“How?”

“Well, I don’t really know her, but I met her.”

“Do tell.”

“She’s staying in the cottage next door to me.”

“And you kept this from me?”

“I…” Zane broke off again when he spotted Callie and Gina coming toward them. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Marco nodded and stood as the women rejoined them. The sound of his chair scraping back must have caught Bree’s attention, as she looked right at them.

Zane locked eyes with her and gave her a brief smile. She nodded and quickly averted her attention to the menu.

“So, what’s good here?” Callie asked.

“You can’t go wrong with the fish and chips,” he said distractedly.

“The fried shrimp is good too,” Marco added.

While they perused the menu, Zane occasionally glanced at Bree. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, and a few loose strands fluttered in the breeze. She was also wearing a sundress, but hers was looser and more subtle than Callie’s and Gina’s. Still, he noticed her fair skin and the freckles on her shoulders.

I hope she’s wearing sunscreen, he thought. Wait, what? Why should I care?

Tessa returned to their table, and he tore his attention away from Bree. “Have you decided?”

They gave her their orders, and then she took their menus and went to Bree’s table. Marco, Gina, and Callie gazed out at the ocean, where a parasailing boat was going by with a rider trailing behind it.

While their attention was diverted, he watched Bree talk to Tessa and then smile and hand the menu back to her. After Tessa walked away, he caught Bree’s eyes again, but she quickly looked away.

He was out with two beautiful women, yet his gaze kept returning to his new neighbor. What was it about her that drew his attention? She was pretty in a soft, unassuming way, and she’d looked hot in her bikini the other day, but that wasn’t it. There was something else about her, a shyness or vulnerability, that intrigued him. In any case, she was different than most of the women he’d met on the island.

He shook his head, and when he looked up, Callie was staring at him with a disgruntled expression. He wasn’t the best company, unlike Marco, who was regaling Gina with stories about his parasailing adventures.

He smiled at Callie and vowed to get his head back in the game. After all, this would probably be the first and last time he’d see her. Just like all the other women he dated, she was just passing through.

While he’d been preoccupied, their drinks had arrived, and he raised his glass. “How about a toast?”

The women nodded enthusiastically.

“To a beautiful night and two beautiful ladies.”

“I second that,” said Marco.

He clinked glasses with the others and drank, determined to ignore his pretty new neighbor.