Page 14 of Love on the Run

The door opened, and Hadley slipped into his office holding a cup of coffee. She greeted Olivia with a huge grin on her face. “I knew I’d find you here!”

“Tell him it’s a good idea,” Olivia said with a jerk of her head toward him.

“It’s a great idea. Anna won’t be worried about traveling on her own, and you’ll get to do all kinds of stuff she’s already booked.”

“No, thanks,” Beau said, thinking about the kind of things people did on their honeymoon. He tugged on his hair until his scalp hurt. Why couldn’t they leave him alone?

Hadley set the mug on the desk next to the group of circles that stained the wood. “I brought you a peace offering.”

Olivia rounded the desk and dropped to her knees beside his chair. Clasping her hands to her chest, she pleaded, “Please. Beau, this is my best friend we’re talking about. I’m worried about her, and I don’t want her to let that jerk’s actions ruin her self-esteem. She needs some joy in her life after spending so much time with that troll.”

“Amen,” Hadley said.

“And you think I’m the key to happiness?” Beau asked. “Yeah, I think you need to try again.”

Olivia looked at him and sighed. “I will love you forever if you do this for me.”

Beau shook his head. Good grief, why was she laying it on so thick? He’d done plenty of things for her before. Why did she think he was even a good option?

He’d been thinking about a vacation, but his work was his life. Every time he thought about taking time off, the list of things he wanted to do was inconveniently blank. “I want a vacation, but I have no desire to take romantic walks on the beach.”

Olivia perked up with wide eyes. “Good, because I know for a fact she’s planned to go snowboarding.”

“What? Does she even know how to snowboard?” Beau asked. Snowboarding was incredibly dangerous if she didn’t know what she was doing.

“No, but that’s the point. She planned a bunch of things she’s never done before because she wants to be adventurous. I bet you could even convince her to go ice fishing.”

He could get on board with ice fishing. Snowboarding was fun, and he could think of a few more winter activities he’d enjoy.

“What kind of romantic things does she have planned? I don’t have to do those, right?”

Olivia shrugged. “Probably not, but I’m guessing it would include reservations at awesome restaurants. I know you like to eat, right?”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Beau counted backward from ten. It was a stupid idea.

“Come on, Beau. You could save the day and have fun. Win, win,” Hadley said.

Letting his hand fall to the desk, he asked, “How much is this going to cost me?”

“What if you let her cover the activities she’s already pre-paid and you pay for the meals and extras?”

“Paying for meals makes it seem like dates,” Beau added.

“But we all know they’re not dates. You’re both just on an adventure together. Who cares what anyone else thinks?” Hadley asked.

There were dozens of reasons he kept his distance from Anna, and this was the absolute worsttime to get involved. “Is her mom going to slash my tires while we’re gone?”

A wicked smile grew on Hadley’s lips. What had he just done?

“No! I promise to keep an eye on her,” Olivia said as she scrambled to her feet. “I’ll take care of all the wedding mess, keep her mom distracted, and I’ll clean your apartment for a month.”

Two knocks sounded at the door before Gage walked in with a navy tie hung around his shoulders. “What’s up?”

Hadley pointed an accusing finger at Beau. “We’re trying to convince him to go with Anna on her honeymoon.”

Gage’s wide eyes jerked to Beau. A floating light bulb might as well have turned on above his head. “That would be awesome.”

“Nobody asked you,” Beau said, leveling Gage with his signature “tread carefully” frown.

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