Page 40 of Just One Chance

Kennedy took a large bite of her taco, the lettuce falling onto her wrapper. She chewed and swallowed. "These are delicious."

I wiped my mouth with the napkin provided. "I thought you'd be more of a fancy-dinner kind of woman."

She laughed softly. "You've made a lot of assumptions about me. I love taco trucks. They're all over the place in Florida."

"I shouldn't make assumptions then," I said, vowing to be more careful when it came to Kennedy.

"I'm sure I've done the same with you. A man who's good with his hands and prefers hiding out in his workshop rather than being with people."

I took a swig of my water. "That's all true though. What you see is what you get."

She nodded. "Maybe. Or you're deeper than what you show to others."

Beck and Clara stopped by our table.

Beck looked from me to Kennedy. "What are you two doing here?"

I gestured at our food. "Eating dinner."

"We went ice skating first," Kennedy added.

"I love that they added the rink. It's perfect for this time of the year when holiday shopping season is over," Clara said.

"Boone mentioned that you own a shop here in town?" Kennedy asked.

"I own the Christmas Shop. It's just over there." She pointed to the sign on the corner. "I sell ornaments and holiday decor."

"I'll have to check it out."

Clara smiled. "We have options for beach themes too. In case that's what you have in Florida."

"I don't think I'll put up a tree next year. I don't want to block the view." She pulled out her phone and showed us the image from her condo windows. From what I could see, it was a wall of glass with the ocean in the distance.

"You must miss it," Clara said.

Kennedy set her phone on the table. "It's nice to see something different too."

"I guess we should let you get back to dinner since you're—" Beck waggled his brows as if he was insinuating that we were on a date.

"Showing Kennedy around town like Mom and Dad asked," I said wryly.

"Right," Beck drew out the word. "I'll let you get back to it. Behave yourselves."

"We always do," I grumbled, even though I was definitely breaking the rules with Kennedy. Beck knew more than anyone about our true relationship. But we hadn't discussed it again. He probably assumed we were still hooking up, and he'd be right. What he didn't know was that I was falling a little more for Kennedy every day.

"Why does it seem like he knows something's going on?" Kennedy asked carefully.

"I might have talked to him about us. His relationship with Clara started with a one-night stand. Then he showed up at family dinner and discovered she was our sister. He was in town to help with the brewery. They thought it was wrong but still continued their relationship in secret."

She was quiet as my voice trailed off.

"I was freaked out when I realized who you were and was worried about my business. I wanted to make sure I hadn't ruined everything." I didn't want her to think I wanted what Clara and Beck did. I wasn't looking for a relationship, and if I was, a woman from Miami who was only in town for a short period of time wouldn't be at the top of my list.

"And what did he say?"

I huffed out a breath. "Not much that was helpful. Obviously, he started dating Clara and fell in love with her. That's not our situation."

She looked away. "Right. We're just having fun."