Page 31 of Cole

When Dawn and Andrew chuckled, Cole figured that they knew what he was referencing.

“There’s always a first time,” Annie said. “I have no desire to have fish nibbling on my toes.”

“But think of the money you’d save on pedicures,” Dawn told her, leaning over to bump her shoulder against Annie’s.

Cole was a bit surprised Andrew hadn’t joined them in the water. He looked like he was dressed for a swim with loose, brightly colored shorts. He also wore a button-up shirt open overwhat looked like a tank top. Dawn was dressed similarly, though she had a pair of denim shorts on. She didn’t look as ready to swim as Andrew did.

Andrew kept glancing out at where the teens were swimming, though occasionally, he scanned the water around them.

“Are you a cop, Andrew?” Cole asked.

“Previously,” Andrew said. “I’m in security now.”

“Do you find it hard to leave the job behind?”

The corner of Andrew’s mouth lifted in a sheepish smile. “Yeah. You could say that.”

Cole moved his gaze to Annie’s friend. “What do you do, Dawn?”

“Actually, Andrew and I work together. It’s how we met.”

“Love on the job, huh?” Hudson said. “That sounds familiar.”

“Is that how you two met?” Dawn asked.

“Something like that,” Kayleigh said. “Hudson came from the head office when the resort was having some problems. I’m the manager, so we had to deal with each other.”

“And fell in love in the process,” Hudson added.

“Did they give you any issues about working together and being in a relationship?”

“No,” Hudson said with a grin. “My boss is my dad, who also happens to be the owner of the company. Another point in our favor was that my dad really liked Kayleigh.”

“Is it okay for you two to be in a relationship while working together?” Kayleigh asked.

Cole sensed Annie tense beside him as Dawn and Andrew exchanged looks. When he glanced at her, he saw that her gaze was on the couple.

“Our boss isn’t a huge fan of relationships between employees,” Andrew said. “So we try to keep it on the down-low.”

“That must be challenging,” Kayleigh said with a frown.

“It can be,” Dawn admitted. “But it’s worth the hassle. Right, babe?”

Andrew nodded, his mouth quirking up once again. “Definitely, sweetheart.”

Cole sensed there was something weird going on, but he didn’t press for answers. They were Annie’s friends, and they didn’t owe him their life stories. Especially since he wasn’t going to be in the area to continue to cultivate a friendship with them. For some reason, he didn’t think that they’d be interested in the type of friendship he was currently building with Annie.

Soon, the teens returned to the boat to ask Cole to pull them.

“Is that safe?” Annie asked.

“We did it the last time we came out here,” Benji said. “Nobody got hurt.”

Annie looked at Cole, then at Andrew and Dawn. After a moment, Andrew nodded. “He’ll be fine.”

“We wear life jackets,” Amelia said. “Uncle Cole wouldn’t let us on the tubes without them.”

Annie’s gaze returned to Cole, her brow still furrowed. But finally, her shoulders slumped, the fight going out of her. She turned to Benji. “You promise to be careful?”

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