PROLOGUE
“Would you like another drink?”
Nora Jones glanced at her nearly empty espresso martini, arched a brow, and forced a smile. “Sure.”
The first sip of the cocktail that people with better posture and stronger confidence ordered hadn’t been nearly as bad as she’d expected. Might as well get another.
Around her, the casino bar hummed. Less chaotic than the slot machines she’d just abandoned. One night out. Some fun. A little pretending to be the version of herself she’d always wanted to be before she met up with her father tomorrow.
She needed this. Needed the boost. Needed to prove to herself she wasn’t the fuckup he’d always hinted she was. The overweight, quiet, daydreaming kid he’d told to “try harder,” to “get serious,” to “be more like everyone else.”
At twenty-nine, she was done trying to earn his approval. Done letting his voice echo in her head. With her mother living in Canada with her new husband, and her circle of friends shrinking, she wasn’t about to let loneliness win.
Her father wanting to make amends could be another thing she was setting herself up for, but it wasn’t as if she had much else left in Vermont.
When the next drink landed in front of her, she drained the last of the first and leaned back, letting the muted lights and soft din of laughter wash over her.
Mid-April on Amore Island had always felt a little magical. Maybe that was nostalgia talking. Funny, considering not much more was all that wonderful in her childhood until she moved at twelve after her parents’ divorce.
“Hi.”
She turned her head and hoped to hell she could pull it together. “Hi.”
“I’m Ethan.”
Yeah, she knew. Did he recognize her?
Ethan Bond. Youngest child of Mitchell Bond. Her father’s boss.
“Nora,” she said.
He put his hand out to shake. Didn’t seem he recognized her. Why would he?
The last time he’d seen her, she’d been a kid, ten, maybe eleven.
Didn’t really matter. What he’d remember would be a girl with round cheeks, the oversized glasses that always slipped down her nose, and the hair she never bothered to tame. She spoke only when spoken to, quiet in a way that made her almost disappear, hoping to not catch any more criticism.
If she’d ever wished to be more outgoing, it hadn’t happened back then. Not in her teens either. But somewhere in the last few years, she’d changed.
The woman standing in front of him now had taken control of her life. Finally!
“First time to the island?” he asked.
She could lie, but why bother? “No. I was here as a kid multiple times.”
“The same,” he said. Which was funny considering his brother owned the casino they were in. Actually, since her father rose the ranks of Bond Enterprises, she knew Ethan owned a small stake in the casino also.
Guess he didn’t want anyone to know who he was. Ironic in a way and she swallowed the bubble of laughter that threatened to escape.
“It’s a lot busier here than I thought it’d be.”
“For a small island, they get good business. The ferry ride over isn’t long and worth the trip from Boston.”
“It was,” she said.
“So you’re visiting from Boston?”
“Just moved there,” she said.
