“Promise?”
Kayla had intended it to be teasing, but once the word formed on her lips, it turned real. Real, raw, and suddenly terrifying. What if she failed? What if she pushed too hard and ruined everything? She would go home empty-handed. Well, not empty-handed. As long as Mack was there, she could do anything.
“You know it,” Mack said.
And just like that, everything was right with the world. “Well, I offer the same service.”
“Hmm?”
“Saving you from yourself.” Kayla pulled out of Mack’s arms and gave her a wink. “No lounging poolside for you today. You’ll just end up diving into some work-related spreadsheet.”
Mack laughed her throaty, musical laugh. “Probably. What did you have in mind?”
“You. Me. Swim-up bar. Drink of the day.”
Mack kissed the top of her head before turning toward an open chair to deposit her bag. “Sounds perfect.” As they pulled off their cover-ups, Mack asked, “So how did that couple mix-up happen exactly?”
“Bribery.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Of course not. It was a major point in the Plan of Seduction. Don’t you remember?”
Mack said, “I didn’t read it cover to cover. How much did it set you back?”
“Too much. I tried stripping seductively, and she didn’t even look over once.”
Mack jerked upright. “You did what?”
Kayla whipped around at the loud splash behind her. Mack was quicker, however, hustling over to the poolside to help the waitress she’d startled collect a full tray of liquor bottles out of the pool. Mack was bumbling and apologetic, but the waitress was just blushing. Kayla couldn’t help shaking her head as she watched Mack gain yet another admirer.
“What?” Mack asked as she returned to their chair.
“You can’t help it can you?”
“Help what?” Kayla nodded her chin toward the waitress, who seemed in real danger of dropping her bottles again since she walked by with her eyes glued to Mack. “She’s scared of me now, isn’t she? I really need to work on my outbursts.”
Kayla laughed. Was it really possible she was this oblivious? “Not scared. She looks willing to help you with an outburst, though. Everyone you meet falls in love with you.”
Mack rolled her eyes again, but this time she was smiling. “I don’t know where you get these wacky notions.”
Kayla was going to tease her more, but Mack surprised her by snatching her up off the pool deck and sprinting to the water’s edge. All Kayla could do was giggle and shriek, her arms wrapped tight around Mack’s neck as she leaped into the water.
Sputtering and shaking water out of her eyes, Kayla said, “Now who’s the one with wacky notions?”
“You’re the one who said we should go to the swim-up bar, and here we are.”
The bartender slid something multicolored and frozen to a nearby customer and turned to them. “What can I get for you?”
Mack hoisted Kayla up to get a better grip and smiled down at her. “What do you say, LaLa? Something frozen? Fruity? Boozy?”
“All of the above.”
Mack turned back to the bartender. “Two frozen, fruity, boozy drinks, please.”
Apparently, he was used to vague orders like this. He nodded and started grabbing bottles. Mack didn’t seem interested in putting her down, so Kayla leaned in. After all, it was ridiculously comfortable being carried around by Mack like a bride crossing the threshold. Unfortunately, she noticed her favorite floppy straw hat slowly sinking into the chlorinated depths over Mack’s shoulder.
“Oh no, my hat.”
