Page 14 of One Happy Summer

“No problem.”

“I’ll figure out a way to get it back to you.”

He shakes his head. “Keep it. I don’t need it back.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. Think of it as payment for dumping iced coffee all over you.”

I bob my head from side to side. “I think that covers a bit of it.”

The corner of his mouth ticks up. “If you think of another way for me to even the score, let me know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, giving him a grin.

I turn and walk toward the front door of the apartment, Briggs following behind me. He opens the door for me, and I walk out onto the threshold. I turn around before going down the stairs.

“Thanks again.”

“No problem. Maybe I’ll see you around?” He looks at me, his eyes behind his glasses bright and focused.

How I wish I could tell him that yes, I’ll be back at the bookstore, back for more conversation with this charming man who has no idea how adorable he is. I think that’s the best part about Briggs Dalton. At least, from what I can gather about him.

“Maybe,” I say, knowing it probably won’t happen. I’ve got to stay in my resort prison now. No more real world for me. Even if it does come with pretty green eyes and a handsome face.

I give him a little wave and he gives me one back, then I head down the stairs, hearing the click of the door shutting just as I reach the bottom.

A sort of sadness lands in my gut. I’m not sure why. Probably because Briggs was a real person who actually talked to me. He expected nothing of me, didn’t want me to act a certain way or give off a certain vibe. I could just be myself. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a genuine conversation where no one wants something from me.

I walk out into the humid air, resigned to go back to the resort and keep myself secluded—now more than ever, with word getting around the island. If there are no more sightings of me, the rumor will go unfed, and maybe it will die.

At least I’ve got some books to keep me company now.

The books! Crap. I think I left them in the bathroom. I look around me like they might magically appear, before turning back toward Briggs’s apartment, going inside and up the stairs.

I knock on the blue door of his apartment, feeling little butterflies dance around in my stomach, wondering how I can be so elated that my visit with Briggs isn’t quite over yet. Is it him? Or is it just the fact that I need human interaction so badly?

“Just a second,” I hear him say through the door.

“Oh, hello,” he says as he opens it and sees me standing there. He’s smiling like he’s happy to see me, which makes my stomach do a little dipping thing. It has to be the human interaction thing, right? I’m just starving for it, that’s all.

“I forgot my books,” I tell him. “I think they’re in the bathroom.”

“Sure, of course. Do you . . . want me to grab them?” His eyebrows peek out above his glasses.

“I can do it,” I say, walking inside the apartment.

“Hopefully they’re still there and Tinker Bell hasn’t sprinkled them with pixie dust and sent them off to Neverland,” he says. Then he closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

I smile because he’s all kinds of adorable right now as he’s running a hand through his hair, and suddenly I know the excitement and the butterflies in my belly are because of him and not just because I’ve missed being around people. It’s all just Briggs. A man I barely even know. Strange.

“I better go see if they’re still there, then.” I play along, heading toward the bathroom.

It dawns on me, as I grab the bag of books off the yellow-and-white checkered tile floor and walk back into the princess living room, that this interaction with Briggs reminds me of something.

“Have you seen the movieNotting Hill?” I ask Briggs.

He shakes his head. “I haven’t.”

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