Kissing Kendall

And she

had been since he first spotted her stealing her best friend’s pants. It was something he’d forgotten about in the always-on world of Hollywood. Even a day off wasn’t a day off because it was always about being seen in order to position himself in the best light for the next role. Shit, even this trip was just a fake. It wasn’t a vacation, it was work. But with Aubrey, it didn’t feel that way, everything felt right, and that wasn’t something he was ready to give up when they finally docked back in New York.

Standing in the ocean nearly elbow to elbow with the thirty members of a singles support group while wearing a snorkel mask did not seem like the best place to tell Carter about her thirst account. Still, not telling him while they were out having fun and he kept smiling at her was like walking around with pebbles in her shoes.

Straightening her shoulders, she tried to stand solid even as the current was tugging her this way and that on the sandy bottom. “Carter, I have to tell you something.”

He looked past her shoulder and grimaced. “Is it about that guy peeing off the rocks?”

“What?” She whipped around to look in the direction he’d motioned toward because he had to be joking.

Nope.

He was not.

A man in a T-shirt that said “Ride Me All The Way Home” had a coconut shell with a polka dotted tropical drink umbrella in one hand and his dick in the other. The spray was as strong as one of those Cupid fountains if the water had been turned on full blast. It was both appalling and impressive at the same time.

“He must have been holding that for a while,” Carter said.

“I’m not feeling the snorkel thing anymore.” Yeah, there was no getting past the fact that she was standing in that same ocean the dude was peeing into. “You wanna grab some food instead?”

“Sure.”

They held hands as they wound their way through the tightly packed maze of chaise lounges toward the buffet under a pavilion. There were about a million different kinds of food all brought from the ship’s kitchens. They each grabbed a plate and started down the line.

“Going home after this is going to wreck me,” Aubrey said as she filled her plate. Comfort eating? Her? Absolutely. “There’s no way microwaved seafood lasagna will ever taste the same as the fresh stuff.”

“You don’t cook?”

“Not unless forced.” She followed Carter to a table where there were two open seats at an otherwise crowded table. “Believe me I was the last person anyone ever expected to take over gran’s bakery.”

“Who does the cooking there?”

“Ben, but he’d rather eat his own toes than deal with anything business or front-of-the-house related.” People were definitely not Ben’s thing. Leave him alone to create magic in the kitchen and all was good. Force him to talk to someone and it was like the man forgot every single bit of the manners his mama had taught him. Surly didn’t even begin to cover it.

Carter’s jaw tensed. “So you two make a good team.”

“We make it work.”

“What else is your life like back home?” He reached out, tangling his fingers in hers. “Tell me about Salvation.”

Her senses going all jittery under his touch, it was hard to remember a damn thing about the town where she’d lived almost her entire life.

Pull it together, Aubrey!

“Well it’s a small town but we’re located in a sweet spot close to the cities for visitors yet far enough away that rent isn’t out of reach.” Oh yeah, way to really sell it. “We have the Sweet Salvation Brewery that’s won all sorts of awards, a fantasy baseball camp every summer, and the world’s best pecan pie.”

He smoothed the tension off his face and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “I’ll have to visit.”

She laughed loud enough to gain the attention of everyone at their table and immediately regretted it. Dropping her volume, she leaned in close. “Uh-huh, sure. It seems just the kind of vacation a guy like you would take.” When every other single option in the world had been exhausted.

Carter cocked his head to the side. “A guy like me?”

“Yep, hot, single, and looking for a small town where there is exactly one honky tonk to grab a beer. It’s very exciting.” If it was Opposite Day.

“I hear the woman who runs the shuffleboard table at that bar has a great ass.” He kissed the tips of her fingers one by one. “Anyway, maybe I can sweet talk her into giving me lessons.”

“Oh my Lord, you two,” said the woman next to them who had three empty coconut shells in front of her and the remains of three shredded drink umbrellas surrounding them. “I’m about to melt over here. I don’t suppose you’re looking for a third?”