Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

“Now you girls just holler if you need anything. Anything.” Lisa sat behind the counter with a cup of coffee. Sasha informed me that the surf shop opened early every morning of spring break, eager to catch any break-of-dawn surfer customers.

My new friend pulled a purple sun hat from the wall. “I could tell the other night at the bonfire. You two had that look.”

“What look is that?” I pulled the dress away from my body.

“That we’re-going-to-devour-each-other look.” Sasha laughed.

Shit. It was that obvious?

“I’ve known Cole since he moved back.”

I turned toward her. I felt a little pit of jealousy starting to form. “Oh. Were you a couple or something?” I was praying her answer was no.

“Cole and me? No. He’s more like an older brother. A hot older brother.” She giggled.

I felt a pit in my stomach. “Ok. So I need to confess something.”

“What is it?”

“He’s actually my older brother’s best friend.” I cringed.

“What?” Sasha stared at me. “You two know each other?

I nodded. “Yeah, but he’d kill us.”

“You must really like him.” Sasha had switched from the purple hat to a purple pair of sunglasses.

“I don’t know what it is. But, yes. For the past ten years I’ve thought Cole Thomas was the hottest guy on the planet. I didn’t expect this.”

We were bonding over shopping, a common girl practice, but I didn’t think I could share with Sasha all of the little things Cole did that stole my breath. Like the way his eyes could change from stormy to sexy when he was trying to figure out how to fix something, or how he kissed the side of my neck and stirred the heat under my skin, or how he was so worried about me he followed me to Bottoms Up. I covered my mouth, realizing I had sighed audibly.

“Cole’s a good guy. He’s just hard to get to know sometimes. He can be sort of stubborn.”

“Tell me about it.” I thought about how many tries it took for me to convince him to let me help with the financials and how he held off giving in to the attraction between us.

“He’s a total sweetheart. However, he’s dealing with a lot right now. I think he just takes everything so seriously. It’s like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. To be honest, I haven’t seen him smile much since his grandfather died. It hit him really hard.”

I ducked into the dressing room with the dresses I had pulled from the racks. I thought about a world where Cole didn’t smile. That was an utterly depressing thought.

“Since your families are already close, I guess you’ve met Grayson?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not yet. But maybe soon.”

I didn’t know how that would work. I didn’t know how to bring up what his policy was with women and his son. And who was I? Uncle Ryan’s sister? Did that make me an honorary aunt? My head spun.

“You ok in there, Kaitlyn? You got really quiet.”

I still held the dress in my hands and realized I needed to try it on. The zipper opened on the side, I stepped in and shimmied it over my hips. I pulled back the curtain and flattened the fabric on the strapless black dress.

“Oh, you are definitely buying that one. Whatever is going on with you and Cole, he is going to love that on you.” Sasha raised her eyebrows. “Hottie.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Get that one. Are you about ready? I have to get back to the resort. I hate to leave you but reality calls.”

I was happy with the selections I had tried on. “Yep, I just need to check out.”

Sasha dropped me off in front of room twenty-three. Cal and Lance’s truck was missing, and in its place were two piles of freshly cut lumber. I wondered what construction project Cole had planned for the lumber.