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“No, you haven’t.”
“You’re brilliant.”
“Thank you, and you’re handsome.”
“That’s new. Do tell...”
“You know it’s true.”
He smirks because he does. “And you’re beautiful, smart, and the hottest?—”
My cheeks heat a degree with each compliment.
They don’t return to their normal shade until lunch because we work non-stop under the blazing sun as we remove the remaining debris from the front area and start on the kitchen of the ice cream shop.
Standing by the dock, and deciding whether to make sandwiches or go to the next Key over for something to eat, Ryan says, “Love can sneak up on you, be somewhere you least expect it, or have been right in front of you all along.”
His gaze locks on me, loaded with meaning.
I’m about to deny it again when a stream of water erupts like a geyser, splashing us.
Drenched, I look around, wondering if Ryan pranked me again, or if a speed boat disobeyed the no-wake zone.
Ryan is also soaking wet, ruling out the prank possibility because he probably wouldn’t have sacrificed himself in the name of me being hosed down. No boats at the dock either. Only a few bubbles pop on the surface of the water below.
Then a flipper emerges from the water as if claiming the prank.
“Lola?” I ask. “Lola the Sassy Sea Cow? I told you years ago, that only one of us can wear the Miss Manatee crown.”
Ryan laughs as I shake the water out of my hair.
“Looks like Lola got you good,” Lally says, appearing from Beans & Books. Robyn must still be on the solo honeymoon trip.
“It’s not the first time,” I mutter.
“Harley here was crowned Miss Manatee one year and while standing at the top of the dock, receiving her ribbon and prizes, a splash of water came out of nowhere. Somehow, it only got her wet, not the other people on the dock.”
“I still think it was you.”
Ryan holds his hands up, the picture of innocence. “It wasLola. You looked beautiful that day. No way would I have wanted to ruin that.”
“I looked beautiful?” I ask, incredulous.
Ryan smooths my hair again, but this time his fingers stick. “I’ll keep telling you that until you believe me.”
The driver of a truck honks and then pulls to the side of the road. “I come with two new dogs and acai bowls,” Magnus says then does a double take. “Why are you two all wet?”
“Lola,” Ryan and I say at the same time.
“So, you admit it was her?”
“Yeah, she just flippered us.”
“And you admit it was her during the Miss Manatee ceremony.”
“Until I get her verbal confession, no.”
Ryan shakes his head in aWhat am I going to do with youkind of way.
