Page 61 of Just One Kiss

Jaden must’ve come down from his room in the span of the last ten seconds without Carly noticing. His words tugged Josh’s attention, and he moved past Carly, who inadvertently inhaled his familiar scent as he walked by.

Get it together, Carly.

She reminded herself she was angry with him. She reminded herself that this was a man who would not stick. She reminded herself, but her self didn’t much want the reminder, it seemed, because when she entered the kitchen and found Josh and Jaden dishing up lo mein, the only thing she could think of was how very much she liked seeing them together.

And that defied all logic.

She shook the thoughts aside. She was just emotional with everything going on. Her head knew the truth.

“What did you do today?” Carly asked as Josh plunked an egg roll on his plate.

He licked some sauce from the end of his finger and glanced up at her. Her eyes dipped to his lips and she turned away.

“I went house hunting,” he said.

Her eyes darted back to his.

“Yeah?” Jaden asked. “You moving here?”

Her heart did a two-step. Josh would never move back here—according to Jaden, his life in the city was impressive to say the least. He wouldn’t trade an office in a high rise and a professionally decorated loft apartment for a quaint cottage in Harbor Pointe, Michigan. And he’d never consider moving back to the same town where his parents lived, no matter who else lived there.

Would he?

Josh took his plate and set it on the table with a shrug. “Nah, just looking for something temporary.”

Her pulse started to slow.Thank goodness.

Disappointment nagged at her innermost edges. What was that all about? She pushed it aside.

“Any luck?” Carly spooned fried rice onto her plate as Jaden sat down next to Josh.

“No, unfortunately. Everything is pretty booked. Seems like Harbor Pointe is the place to be in the summer.”

“Yeah, lots of tourists nowadays.”

The town hadn’t always been so desirable for vacationers. Sure, they had their share of visitors, but Josh hadn’t been around to experience a truly busy Harbor Pointe summer. They weren’t simply being visited anymore—they were being overrun.

Lots of the locals griped about all the extras—extra traffic, extra congestion, extra people on the beaches—but most could appreciate those extras for the good they brought.

Extra revenue being the trump card.

Carly added an egg roll to her plate, then turned around to find both Josh and Jaden sitting at the table, not eating. “What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you,” Josh said simply.

She glanced at the plate of food in her hand as a blush crept up the back of her neck. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I tried to start,” Jaden said. “He made me wait.”

“It’s the polite thing to do,” Josh said.

She looked at the empty spot at the table, directly across from Josh, and it occurred to her how intimate a simple meal could feel—not because they were alone but because they weren’t. Jaden’s presence made them feel like a family, and that was the notion she couldn’t shake.

“You must be tired.” Josh stood, took her plate and set it on the table. He pulled out her chair and looked at her. “Sit.”

Robotically, she did as she was told, refusing to make eye contact with either one of them.

Josh walked over to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of lemonade, pulled three glasses down from the cupboard and filled them with the tangy drink.

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