Page 64 of Last Ticket to Paradise

The sun was beginning to set as Georgette waited in front of the resort for Jake to bring around his Jeep.

Her teeth sawed at her lower lip. She’d had a close call with the Bonnaire brothers, but it had been worth it. When Jake hadn’t seen her at the pool later, he’d figured she’d gone off by herself to talk with Mrs. Bonnaire. He’d rescued her just in time.

She crossed her arms, cupping her elbows. She didn’t know if Johnny had planned to stop his brother or join in—and she was glad she didn’t find out.

“Georgette, where have you been all day?”

Sighing, Georgette turned to face Brice bearing down on her, cell phone in one hand, binoculars hanging around his neck. Her lip curled on one side as she thought about Brice traipsing after the bird-watching groups.

“I’ve been busy, Brice. Go home. There’s nothing for you here—not even Jamie.”

He snorted. “As if I want her. It’s you I want, Georgette. It’s always been you. I was a fool.”

Jake roared up in his Jeep, left it idling, and jumped out of the driver’s seat. “Is Brice bothering you again, Georgette?”

Brice spluttered. “Bothering my fiancée? I hardly think so.”

“Yes, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“She’s not your fiancée. You threw her away.” Jake leveled a finger at Brice. “And if you don’t leave her alone, I’ll forcibly eject you from my resort.”

“Just a minute here.” Brice grabbed his binoculars and took a step toward Jake.

For a second, Georgette feared that Jake would land a punch on Brice, just as he had with Bones. Instead, Jake curled one arm around her waist, one around her shoulders and dipped her for a long, hot kiss.

When he’d stolen all her breath, he righted her and opened the passenger door of his Jeep. “Ready?”

“I am.” She flicked her fingers in the direction of Brice, whose mouth was hanging open.

When Jake peeled away from the curb, Georgette threw her hands in the air and laughed. “That felt good.”

“Nothing wrong with a little revenge.” Jake took the next turn a little too fast, and the tires squealed. “Just as long as there’s more to this than revenge or a rebound. I’ve been the rebound man before, and I’m not going down that road again.”

“You’ve been a rebound guy?” She narrowed her eyes and studied the prime example of manhood next to her, from his tangled hair blowing in the wind to his pumped-up arms, strong hands gripping the steering wheel, and the bunching muscles of his thighs as he worked the clutch on his old Jeep. “The woman who used you as a rebound must’ve been an idiot.”

“In love with someone else.” He lifted a shoulder. “But I’m serious. Do you plan to go back to Brice when this...fling is over?”

“Not. A. Chance.” She stuffed her hands beneath her thighs as her knees bounced up and down. A fling? Is that what this was? It had to be. He lived here, and she lived in North Dakota—had a home there with her mother, had the bookshop, had responsibilities.

Jake squeezed her knee. “Good. He doesn’t deserve you.”

She slid a sideways glance at his profile. Was he preparing her for a breakup line?I don’t deserve you, Georgette. She bit the inside of her cheek. Did it have to be a line? He had his life here, and she had hers at home. She could enjoy a few more days with Jake and then smoosh all those feelings into a little ball to take back with her to North Dakota. She could even take the ball out once in a while on a cold night and remember all the warmth and sunshine and kisses. That would have to be enough.

Georgette cleared her throat. “What do you think is in the locker?”

“Maybe nothing. Maybe there is no locker. This could all be a wild-goose chase based on an argument Mrs. Bonnaire overheard between her daughter and son-in-law and a few scribbled numbers on a couple of postcards.” He used on hand to smooth the hair back from her face. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

“But there are lockers at the airport. How do they work?”

“I think you rent a locker, pay in advance, the airport clears the digital combination, which you can then set with your own, and then it’s cleared again when your rental runs out.”

“Oh.” Georgette slumped in her seat. “So, this particular locker, if there is one, could already be rented out to someone else and have a different combination.”

“That’s right.” He pinched her chin. “Like I said, don’t get too excited about this.”

“How are we even going to know which locker was Hallie’s or Jamie’s or Jean-Claude’s?” Georgette tapped her forehead with the heel of her hand. “We can’t exactly make our way down a bank of lockers, trying out the combination on each one. We don’t even have the last number.”

Jake raised one eyebrow. “Haven’t I told you I practically own this island?”

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