Page 45 of One Night in Hawaii

I shrugged. “So.”

“So, what gives?” he asked and flopped down on one of the seats. “What happened that night? You’ve been hiding out and not talking to me and apparently not talking to her.”

“It’s nothing. I have work to do. It’s not like we were best friends.”

“Bullshit,” he said. “What happened with you and Archer? Do I need to kick his ass?”

“No. It’s not a big deal.”

He studied me for several seconds. “Are you okay?”

I blew out a breath. “No.”

“What the hell?” he asked. “What is going on?”

I debated how much I wanted to tell him, but then figured it didn’t matter now. “Penelope was going to pay me thirty grand to be their personal tour guide.”

“Holy shit!”

“Yeah, exactly. I thought the money was worth it. It would give me plenty of money to fund my trip next year. I only met Penelope. She told me her brother was sulking and she wanted to get him out of the house. I agreed without knowing who he was.”

“Why does it matter who he is?”

“Not who, but him. I’m not going to lie, I found him to be very attractive. We flirted and kissed and things got a little carried away the other night. Then his fiancée called. He’s going home and he’s going to get married. I thought—well, I don’t know what I thought.”

“You like him,” he said.

“I do. I don’t know why. He’s nothing like anyone I’ve ever dated or even been interested in. He’s this rich, yuppie guy. We’re polar opposites.”

“And he’s crazy about you,” Ryder said quietly. “Don’t try and deny it. You two have chemistry. It sizzles.”

“Sexual chemistry is not real chemistry. He’s going to marry some rich socialite with blue blood running through her veins. That’s not me. I don’t know what I was thinking letting myself fall for him. It was stupid.”

“It’s not stupid to fall in love,” he argued. “In all the years I’ve known you, you have never taken a chance on anyone. You’ve never let yourself fall in love. Max was the closest thing to a relationship you’ve had and that was not a relationship. That was a pit stop to scratch an itch.”

“My job and lifestyle don’t really allow me to have relationships.”

“Bullshit,” he said, snorting. “You’re scared.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re afraid you’re going to get your heart broken,” he said. “You’re holding back because you don’t want to get dumped. You’re never going to find love if you don’t let yourself look for it.”

“Who said I was looking?”

“You don’t look for love, it finds you,” he said. “And I think it found you.”

“Ryder, he’s engaged to be married. He is going back to New York to marry a woman. Even if he wasn’t, he lives there. His life is there and mine is here. It was stupid to even get tangled up with him. It was never going to go anywhere. It’s better it’s done. It was stupid.”

“You’re wrong. I saw the two of you together. You liked him, like really liked him. You’re a happy person in general, but you were different with him. I only got to see a glimpse of it, but I liked what I saw. And he was really into you. Penelope told me she’s never seen him so happy. Back in New York, the guy is a real stick in the mud. You changed him. When you meet someone that changes your life in a positive way, that’s special. That’s a big deal. Don’t you think it’s kind of weird that you guys met?”

“No. I meet people all day every day.”

“You meet fish,” he said, scoffing.

“When I’m in town, I meet people all the time,” I said. “I make people smile. They make me smile.”

“I think it’s fate,” he said. “You met Penelope by chance and she immediately saw you were the perfect person to help Archer get through a rough time.”

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