Resorting to Romance

by Franky A Brown

  “He thinks we’re just friends.” Josie ran a hand through her hair. “He just got out of a toxic relationship, and he’s not likely to be interested in mixing love and business again.”

  “You do love him.” Samantha pointed at Josie and bounced up and down on her toes.

  Josie sighed, hating how her emotions were so difficult to hide. “How obvious is it?”

  Samantha giggled. “You are not as complicated as you think you are, sis.” Samantha walked through the boxes to stand in front of Josie. “I know I’m the younger sister, and I normally do more listening than advice giving.”

  Samantha read far too many self-help books. Josie folded her arms, dreading what was next. “I liked the listening better, if I’m being honest.”

  “Too bad. I love you, and I want to tell you something. You have more than enough reason to be slow to trust any man again. I get it. Cameron didn’t deserve the dirt under your shoe. But whether or not you want this advice, it’s coming.”

  Josie braced herself. “Okay, get it over with.”

  “You should be cautious in business, Josie. It’s smart. But be reckless in love.”

  The word gave her a jolt. “Reckless?”

  “List the ways Luke reminds you of Cameron.”

  “He’s nothing like Cameron. I should have clued in long before that Cameron was terrified of commitment. We dated for so long I was the one who proposed.”

  “I’m not saying rush out and get engaged. Only that, in the absence of any warning signs, you should give love a chance. You’re in love with this guy. And I’m not convinced he isn’t in love with you too. Harness some of that courage you whipped out for telling off Victoria.”

  The muscles in Josie’s throat were constricting at the thought of confronting him with her feelings. “Sam…”

  “Yes?”

  “Let’s get back to work.”

  “Fine.” Samantha shook her head and slapped tape on another box. “I said my peace.”

  As much as Josie didn’t want to admit it to Samantha, she was right. She had to tell him. They wouldn’t be working together for much longer.

  The house had gone from looking like a skeleton inside to gradually becoming what they envisioned.

  No, it was even better.

  As they toured around the freshly painted house, Josie’s heart swelled with pride. The new floors were perfect with the cabinets they’d chosen. The countertops were everything she wanted them to be, and the installed bathroom tiles they’d worked on together were incredible.

  “We did it, Josie.” He sent her a smile that softened her knees.

  “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  He waved the thought away. “You’re a natural at this.”

  Only one thing could make this moment better. The problem was, it could also make things worse. Their work was virtually done. The house was ready to list.

  “Luke, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” Her insides quivered and she thought she saw spots in front of her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.” She glanced down at her hands but inhaled deeply and forced herself to meet his gaze. “There’s something I need to tell you—”

  Her mouth was desert dry and she thought her heart may stop.

  “You can tell me anything, Josie.” His eyes were reassuring.

  Can I really tell you?

  “Luke, I—”

  The front door opened and Lia poked her head in. “I hate to interrupt, but if we go to the restaurant now, we’ll beat the worst of the traffic.”

  Joselyn’s gaze traveled from Lia back to Luke. “Restaurant?”

  “We have reservations tonight,” Lia answered for him as she slowly turned, surveying the house. “It looks awesome in here! Last I saw it there was a wall there.” She pointed to the open space where a large island now sat. “Oh, but seriously, Luke, we’d better go. You know how the rush-hour traffic is.”

  “Oh, sure. We’re just finishing up.” He turned back to her and she choked.

  It was like the wind died as soon as the sails opened. Luke was going out with Lia?

  “Go ahead. I don’t want you two to be late.”

  “I can call you after dinner if you want to talk. We need to plan a day for the aquarium.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I, uh, I’ve got to go. You two have fun.” It was definitely not going to be any easier to tell him over the phone, but what else was there to say before he went out to dinner with someone else?

  “Thanks, but—”

  Lia called out from the doorway again with another complaint about traffic.

  “I’ll call you,” Luke said to Josie as he followed Lia out the door.

  Her stomach could have hit the floor. How had she not seen this coming? Luke took calls from Lia on a regular basis, but she thought it was always business related. Now she had no idea what was going on between them.

  I’m an idiot!

  Josie drove home, her chest heavy and mind jumbled with possibilities.

  Two amazing kisses at the beach and so many mixed messages from Joselyn, of course he’d moved on. The magic of the ocean paradise was gone. They were back in reality. A mountainous bowl of chocolate to drown her sorrows was calling her name. The prospect of getting over Luke ripped into her heart.

  Josie sat in her driveway, staring at the garage door, unsure if she wanted to click the fob to open it. She’d been careful in business, and now their work together was essentially finished. The only thing left was paperwork and a house sale. If she wanted to be reckless in love, how would that work?

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lia slid over the next paper for him to sign and he scribbled his name on the appropriate lines.

  “I’ll get these papers back to the office, and everything is all set for that house.” She slid the paperwork into a folder by her plate. “It sold even faster than I thought it would.”

  “I’m not surprised. It looks amazing. Now here’s hoping the second one sells this fast. The listing went live a few hours ago.”

  Lia smiled and sipped her drink. “I scheduled it to be staged with the company you suggested, and if you and Josie set up an open house, I bet we’ll see multiple offers the same day.”

  “I’ll ask Josie about the open house this evening. She wanted to talk to me about something anyway.”

  “I’m sorry I interrupted you two. I tend to go overboard with sticking to my schedule.” Lia’s forehead wrinkled in concern. “But did she mention what it was about?”

  “No, she only said it was something she’d been thinking about for a while.”

  “Are you two dating?”

  Luke wiped a hand over his mouth and released a short laugh. “Nope. We’re friends, and temporary partners in this project.”

  “Hmm, I thought there must be something more going on there. Watching the two of you work together is something else.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Lia smiled. “You’re an excellent team in making decisions, and I’m impressed the two of you laid all the tiles in the master bath.”

  “We had fun with that.”

  “The way you two joke around and look at each other is really telling.” Lia spoke with such confidence; it threw him off guard.

  Luke gulped. What was it telling her?

  “I’m just saying,” Lia said with a shrug, “if Josie said she was trying to tell you she’s in love with you, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  “What?” Luke’s heart leaped. “Could that be what…”

  Luke whipped his phone out and checked for messages. Nothing.

  If Josie had been trying to tell him how she felt about him, he’d practically been dragged out the door in the middle of it. His blood froze as he considered. Lia had barged in, talking about being late for dinner.

  “We didn’t happen to mention to her that we were meeting tonight for a business dinner, did we?”

  Lia lif
ted her glass to her lips. “I don’t think so. Should we have?”

  Luke leaned his elbows on the table and buried his head in his hands. For all Josie knew, he was out on a date with Lia. He’d been wondering if there was anything he could do to convince Josie not to be afraid of starting a new relationship with him. This wouldn’t help.

  He glanced at the time, then sent Josie a quick text: Wanna meet somewhere so we can talk?

  Seconds later an auto-response came to inform him she was driving.

  “She’s driving right now.” Luke stared at the words, his body feeling heavy.

  “Are you okay, Luke?” Lia eyed him with concern in her eyes. “Do you think she really was about to tell you her feelings?”

  He sat up straight and slipped his phone in his pocket. She was probably running an errand around town, but fear crept through his body. Even if she’d gotten in the car and drove out of his life forever, he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

  “Luke?” Lia leaned forward, her eyebrows knitting together. “You look pale.”

  He scooted his chair away from the table and stood. “I need to go.”

  Though he had no idea what, if he didn’t try something, he’d always regret it.

  Josie picked up Chinese takeout for dinner, but when she got home, she set the bag on the breakfast bar and snatched up a pen and notebook that lay nearby.

  She scribbled out ideas of what to say to Luke, but nothing sounded right.

  She shoved the pen and paper out of the way and groaned under her breath as she took out her food. Once she’d eaten and tossed the boxes into the trash, she snatched a carton of ice cream from the freezer and grabbed a spoon. Not bothering to put it in a bowl first, she ate it out of the half-gallon container while she lounged on the couch.

  She’d been mulling over Luke’s text since she checked her phone in the parking lot of the Chinese restaurant. She did want to meet him, but she had no idea what to say. She’d come so close to telling him how she felt, and now she wasn’t sure if it would matter if she did.

  Once she’d eaten half of the container, she knew she really had to stop. Enough was enough. The bandage needed to come off once and for all. If Luke wasn’t interested in her, she needed to hear it from him directly or she wouldn’t be able to move on.

  She put the ice cream away and replied to his message. The possibility of having Luke permanently a part of her life won out over her fears that he would turn her down.

  Do you want to meet at the aquarium tomorrow?

  Almost immediately, he answered:

  I was about to ask you the same thing.

  With a rapid heartbeat, she typed:

  Meet me by the shark tunnel at 11.

  Josie paid the aquarium admission with shaky hands. She’d spent half the morning on her makeup, hair, and figuring out what to wear. She had finally settled on jeans and a loose floral top. It had been a while since she’d been to the Georgia Aquarium, so she took the map she was offered and headed straight for the tunnel. A moving walkway took visitors slowly into a glass tunnel that traveled underneath a massive aquarium filled with sharks, rays, and what seemed like endless varieties of fish. The tunnel offered spectacular views above and all around.

  At the head of the tunnel, she stood frozen, clinging to her paper map like a life raft as she watched people enter. Other windows filled with sea creatures were on both sides of her, lit from inside the tanks. The lighting for the people in the facility was dim, giving all the focus to the aquatic displays.

  “Josie?” The map slipped from her hands and she spun around, heart doubling in speed.

  “Luke, I—” Before she could speak another word, he stepped closer to her until there was only about a foot between them.

  “I’m sorry about last night, Josie. Lia and I had dinner together to go over paperwork for the first house we flipped.” He breathed in deeply, his eyes locked with hers. “I shouldn’t have left like that when you were trying to talk to me about something.”

  “Oh, it’s okay.” Relief washed over her. It was a business meeting with paperwork and everything. Words flitted through her mind, polite conversation such as “How did it go?” Her tongue seemed to be losing its ability to speak as her vision tunneled on his face.

  “Working with you has been amazing,” Luke continued. “I wanted to give you space, and be professional, thought I know it didn’t always work out quite that way.” He folded his arms. “I’m sorry, I’m talking too much when you wanted to tell me something.”

  What she’d come to say was a little distracted with the word he’d used. Professional. Josie covered her mouth to stop a short, loud laugh. “Trying to convince me you could eat twenty hot dogs was very professional. Wasn’t it?”

  “Hey, I got pretty close.” He raised a finger in the air to add emphasis to his point. “But that’s beside the point. I didn’t want to mix business with personal relationships anymore, and I didn’t think you wanted that either. But now that the house is finished, I thought you might have come last night to ask me…” He leaned his head to the side. “Well, I hoped you’d come to ask me—”

  “Yes.” Josie hugged herself tightly and rubbed her hands up and down on her upper arms. She may have waited too long, but she was done waiting. “I came to ask to be more than business partners.”

  Luke came closer, a smile spreading across his lips. “And this is the moment I remember I was in such a rush to get in here I left the flowers I brought in the car. The red roses in particular wanted us to talk about moving beyond business-only.”

  Josie’s stomach fluttered. “I didn’t know flowers had so much to say, but I think they’re right.” She clasped his elbows in her trembling hands. Their faces were inches apart in the dim light.

  “I also wanted to tell you yesterday,” she managed to say with a breathless voice, “I’m in love with you.”

  He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her. His face leaned closer to hers and he traced a finger along her jawline. Her heart beat frantically as she slipped her hand around the back of his neck and nudged his face toward hers. Their lips met and tingles shot through her.

  Several bliss-filled moments later, he ran his fingers along her jaw and broke the kiss. “We can take this as slow as you want to. I love you, Josie.”

  “I was hoping you would say that,” she whispered, then kissed him again. He held her tighter, determined not to let her go again.

  He held her close to his chest and it seemed so natural. She’d never felt so safe. His kiss was tender and slow.

  Yes, she thought, slow is good.

  Epilogue

  Luke breathed in the sweet, salty air as he stood on the boardwalk facing the beach. It was surreal being back at Serenity Shores. The weather was still warm, though not as hot as it was midsummer. Now Atlanta was feeling the beginnings of fall, but here it was a comfortable eighty degrees and sunny as ever. A couple dragged a kayak out to the ocean and he chuckled to himself. Fortunately for that couple with the kayak, there was a white flag up on the beach. He now knew all the flag colors by heart.

  “Hey, Luke.” The voice behind him made his skin crawl.

  “Gina.” Luke turned around to see her. She was dressed for the beach in a swim suit with a large straw hat. “How are you?”

  There was nothing else he could think to say.

  “I didn’t expect to see you back here.” She adjusted her oversized sunglasses as a dark-haired man in a red Speedo came over and wrapped a muscular arm around her shoulders.

  “Luke, this is Carlos.” Gina snuggled him closer to her side.

  “Nice to meet you.” Luke cleared his throat. “I’m Luke Callaway.”

  Carlos started to say something but Gina spoke first. “We’re getting married this weekend.” She closed her eyes and sighed, clutching her hands to her chest. “I still can’t believe it.” She showed him the large square diamond on her left hand.

  Luke nodded politely at the sparkli
ng ring on her finger. “Congratulations. I’m happy for you.”

  “Thanks, Luke.” She dropped her hands and patted his arm. “I wish you and Joselyn the best.”

  Gina gave him a small, beauty pageant-style wave; then she and Carlos headed down to the water.

  Luke stood there a moment in shock. He couldn’t believe he’d run into her again, but he was genuinely happy that she’d moved on and found love. She deserved someone that really loved her, and he hoped it was Carlos.

  “Was that Gina?” Josie wrapped her hands around his arm and watched Gina and Carlos walk farther down the beach along the waterline.

  “Yes, and that’s her fiancé.”

  “Wow, good for her. But what are the odds we’d run into her again right here?”

  Luke shrugged and turned to face her. “Serenity Shores is a memorable place.”

  Josie grinned. “Yeah, our very last memory here wasn’t the best one, getting fired and all.”

  “But falling for you here is all I want to remember.” Luke leaned over and kissed her cheek. His kiss spread a smile across her face.

  “Me too.” Josie’s cheeks were rosy in the bright sunlight. “I love that we can come here to visit Samantha now.”

  “I am too. She does amazing things in her kitchen.” Luke rubbed a hand over his belly, remembering the delicious dinner they’d had the night before.

  Luke and Josie had been dating for a year now and had come back down where it all started for a very specific reason that Josie thought was only a vacation after finishing another house.

  Since the last time they’d been at Serenity Shores, they’d formed a successful business and flipped five houses together. They’d begun slowly, being careful not to mix finances in the beginning, but as things between them continued to go well, their business and their love for each other only grew. Now they were full partners in their own company. Luke was beginning to think things couldn’t get any better.

  “I found a foreclosure that looks promising, especially with the comparable properties in this area. The house is dated and in need of repairs, but…” She slipped her phone out of the pocket of her bathing suit cover and held out the screen to show him. “I love these windows.”