Page 98 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“But I thought we weren’t getting married.”

She almost laughed at the disappointed look on his face. “We’re not, but I have a plan. I’ll fill you in later. Can you and your mom meet me at La Dolce Vita at ten? If my plan doesn’t work, we’ll figure out how we’re going to deal with everything then.”

“Yeah, sure. We’ll be there.”

She opened the door. “And David, you should rehire Sam.”

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and gave her a self-conscious smile. “I, uh, didn’t fire her.”

She smiled. “I’ll see you later.”

“Lila.”

She stuck her head back inside the room. “Yeah?”

“I like Luke. He seems like a great guy.”

“He is, but that’s not why—”

He shrugged. “I know.”

Lila was heading past the dining room when she spotted Sam setting out water glasses on a table. Sam noticed her at the same time and gave her a weak smile, looking as disappointed as David had a few minutes before.

Lila ran over. “We canceled the wedding.”

Sam looked stricken. “Lila, I promise, we didn’t do anything. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Trust me, it didn’t have anything to do with you.” She hugged her. “I’ve gotta go. And Sam,” she said as she ran for the door, “be good to him or I’ll kick yourculo.”

Lila smiled as Sam’s laughter followed her out the door. She ran down to the beach. As she was running past the pier, a familiar deep voice yelled, “Admiral!”

Lila turned in time to brace herself before Admiral jumped up and put his paws on her shoulders.

Luke jogged over. “I don’t know what it is with you and my dog.” He fit his fingers under Admiral’s collar and dragged him off her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m great. David and I canceled our wedding.”

His gray gaze roamed her face. “It didn’t have anything to do with what I said to you when I dropped you off at the beach house that night, did it? I wouldn’t want—”

She felt a small twinge of disappointment at his reaction but ignored it and shook her head. “No. We realized we were getting married for the wrong reason. It’s a lot of pressure to put on a baby to keep their parents’ marriage together, don’t you think?”

“I do.” He gave her a smile that she’d been waiting a long time to see. “So, any chance you want to take a walk with me on the beach tonight?”

“I’d love to.”

He stepped closer. “How about a bike ride to the dunes on Sunday?”

She smiled and nodded. “It’s a date.”

“Yeah, it is. One of many, I hope,” he said, sliding his hands down her arms to her waist.

“Me too.” She rose up on her toes to kiss him. She’d meant for it to be only a quick kiss, but Luke had other ideas, and then she did too. She’d always wondered what it would be like to kiss Luke Hollingsworth—a real kiss, not like the one they’d shared on the bridge—and he blew her expectations out of the water. She might’ve kept kissing him if Admiral hadn’t stuck his nose between them and given them his goofy dog grin.

“I’d better go,” Luke said, gently shoving Admiral off them. “I’ve got a fishing charter at seven.”

“Yeah, and I have a wedding to arrange.” She told him about her plan.

“Good luck,” he said, and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. Which ended up with the same result as when she’d tried giving him one. This time it wasn’t Admiral who ended their kiss, it was a woman yelling, “Bear!”

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