Chapter 11

Ash, Ash, Ash.

Her name echoed in his head as he kissed her.

True, he had not kissed a woman in quite a long time. And the first time had been a complete disaster. But Burke seemed to have remembered what to do, where to put his hands, how to move his mouth, to make this kiss one of the most memorable he’d ever had.

Somewhere beyond him and Ash, the music ended and a cheer went up. He knew enough to pull away then, because the floodlights would switch on at any moment. The last thing he needed was to be caught by Leo—by anyone—kissing Ash.

She rested her forehead against his collarbone, and he wondered if she could feel the rapid-fire beat of his pulse. He didn’t care if she could. He’d said it all with the kiss anyway—and he liked Ash.

They breathed in together, something they’d perfected while they ran down the beach, and Burke really liked this version a whole lot better. Around them, people moved even in the dark, but he held very still, holding her close for as long as he dared.

He moved, and she slipped easily away from him, the white lights flooding the beach a few moments later. He stood and collected the blanket, as well as Ash’s empty popcorn container.

She helped her niece and nephew clean up their blankets, picked up trash on the beach, and shouldered her purse. After slipping her feet into her flip flops, she put her hand in his and they made their way through the garden gate along with everyone else.

Somehow Leo and Genevieve got separated from them, and Burke didn’t see his parents either. It was all fine. It meant he didn’t have to worry about anyone watching him, trying to work out if he was being genuine with Ash or not.

He was.

He liked her. The adrenaline and excitement still racing through him proved that. He simply wasn’t sure how far he was willing to take things. His dad wanted an engagement. A ring on her finger. An heir.

But his feelings for Ash were very, very new. Could he take the time he needed to make sure the relationship was right for both of them? Or would his father demand a diamond sooner rather than later?

Burke wished he didn’t worry so much about things. But the non-worrying genes seemed to have gone to Kayla and Krista, who approached him as he and Ash entered the parking lot.

“There you are,” Kayla said. “I didn’t see you all night.”

“Not hard to find,” he said. “We barely moved on the beach.” He glanced at Ash. “You guys know Ash.”

Krista, just as blonde as Burke and almost identical to Kayla except for her slightly more upturned nose, turned to Ash and said, “Of course.” She hugged Ash and added, “I think it’s sweet you two are finally together.”

“Finally?” Burke asked at the same time Kayla said, “We thought for a while you guys would get together, and then you never did.” She shrugged and looked at her twin.

“But you are now.” Krista beamed at them like she’d personally set Burke up with Ash. He had no idea why his sisters were acting so weird.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Kayla said innocently, which raised all kinds of red flags in Burke’s mind.

“Right,” he said. “I don’t believe you.”

“Dad said you’re engaged,” Krista said.

“But we know you just started dating,” Kayla said.

“Not months ago,” Krista added.

“We would’ve known.” Kayla nodded, glancing back and forth between Burke and Ash. Every word they said sent more ice into Burke’s bloodstream.

“It’s none of your business,” Burke said, digging in his shorts pocket for his keys.

“I mean, we know you go over to her place a lot.” Krista exchanged a glance with Kayla, and they did that strange twin non-verbal communication he hated.

“You do?” Ash asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Kayla said, this tag-teaming getting extremely boring. And annoying. “I mean, he tries to act like he’s out all night partying, but he’s really just at your place.”

“So maybe you have been dating longer than we thought.” Krista looked at them, her bright blue eyes harboring hope.

“No,” Ash said, when Burke wished she wouldn’t say anything. He’d have to teach her how to deal with his sisters. Engaging with them never helped. “It’s new.”

“Ha.” Kayla nudged her sister. “How new?”

“This interrogation is over,” Burke said, finally getting his keys out and unlocking the car. “Come on, Ash. You don’t have to answer their questions.”

“Just give me something,” Krista said. “I need a new pair of shoes. There’s these cute wedges at Sandoval’s.”

Ash paused as she went around the front of the car. “Do you have a bet on this or something?”

“Just with each other,” the twins said together, which caused Burke to roll his eyes.

“Ash,” he said. “Don’t.”

“Seventy-nine days,” Ash said, and she continued to her door and got in.

Burke closed the door behind her and glared at Krista and Kayla as he came back to the driver’s side door. “You two are impossible.”

“You really like her,” Krista said, cocking her head and making her ponytail swing.

“Of course I do,” Burke said. “What do you think this is?” He would never, ever tell anyone that the relationship had started under false pretenses. No one needed to know that. And it wasn’t seventy-nine days ago anyway.

He pulled open the door and got behind the wheel, effectively shutting out his sisters. “Sorry about that,” he said.

“Oh, they’re harmless.” Ash had already buckled her seatbelt. “Leo seemed to back off pretty easily too.”

“Yeah.” Burke wondered what that was about and if he’d have to deal with Leo on his own later. Probably. “Just back to your place?”

“Yes, please. I have a meeting in the morning with an out-of-town bride. They have a plane to catch, so it’s at eight o’clock.”

“Wow,” he said. “That’s terrible.”

She laughed. “Oh, please. You’ll be sitting on your bench by four a.m.”

He chuckled and couldn’t deny it. “Probably, yeah.”

“No probably about it,” Ash said, reaching over and taking his hand in hers. “That was a much better kiss, by the way.”

Burke burst into laughter, glad when Ash’s higher pitched giggles joined in. “I’m glad. I was worried I’d forgotten how there for a while.”

She made a happy little sigh and snuggled into the seat while he drove her home. He pulled up to her house, something he’d done countless times before. “What was with the seventy-nine days,” he asked.

She turned toward him, her eyes like magnets pulling at him, urging him closer. “That’s how long I’ve had my little crush.”

Burke absorbed the statement. “I don’t think it’s a crush anymore, Ash,” he said, the power behind his words soft and fragile.

A smile crossed her face, enhancing her beauty and making him grin too. “No, probably not.”

He leaned over the console, and she met him halfway, and Burke shared another kiss with her he wouldn’t soon forget.

Burke rode the Fourth of July high for days. Even getting up in the morning was easier. Breathing was easier. Everything was easier with Ash in his life.

Then he’d stop and pause, realizing that Ash had always been in his life, and that it was something else making his smile appear so readily and the sun seem so bright.

Probably the fact that you get to kiss her, he thought as he stretched out his right calf. The leg had been bothering him lately, and he’d been paying extra attention to it during his warmup and cool down.

Ash was late, and Burke turned toward the stretch of sand where she always appeared. “Where is she, Dolly?” Today, the golden retriever had already flopped in the sand, her tongue out like she’d already run around the bay.

His phone chimed, and he unzipped his pocket to retrieve it. Won’t make it. Something’s come up with my mom.

Alarm sang through Burke. His first thought was to skip his own morning run and go find out how he could help Ash. That was a very boyfriendly thing to do, right?

And exactly what he would’ve done for Bridgette. “Maybe that was what had tied her down,” he muttered. He gripped his phone too tight, hating that he was second-guessing everything about his behavior now.

What would he have done a month ago if he’d gotten this same text? His brain hurt, because it was hard to think through a situation that didn’t exist, especially when it was colored with new feelings and unknown expectations.

He thought of that notebook she’d first written in. The agreement she’d wanted to make when their relationship was fake. He really wished he had one now, some sort of code he knew to follow.

He touched the phone icon near her name at the top of the text and lifted his device to his ear as the line rang.

“Burke?” she answered, a definite note of surprise in her voice.

“Do you need any help?” he asked, bypassing the typical greeting. “With your mom. I can skip running this morning.”

“No, it’s fine.” She sounded annoyed, and a car horn honked, filling the line. Burke pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment.

“Ash,” he said. “Are you lying to me?” It was much harder to tell on the phone, without being able to see her eyes.

“No,” she said. “I’m just in this early-morning traffic, and I don’t really know what’s wrong with Mom. I just had a feeling I should call her this morning, and she didn’t answer. So I’m going to go check on her.”

“So you’ll call me once you know.”

“Sure,” she said.

“All right.” Burke normally would’ve hung up, stretched his legs again, and started down the beach with just Dolly. But he stayed on the line for another moment, long enough for Ash to say, “Come on. The light is green.”

He chuckled and said, “Talk to you later,” before hanging up. He then stretched, ran, and returned to his condo to shower before he returned to the flower farm. He’d already gone through the morning routine with his father, but he went into his dad’s office when he arrived back at the building anyway.

“Morning, Dad.”

“Burke, there you are,” he said, rising as if he’d been looking all over for Burke. As if he didn’t know Burke went running every single morning, and on which beaches. Of course, he knew all of that.

“Here I am.”

“Our website guy had a great idea.” He clapped Burke on the shoulder as he passed him. “Come with me.”

Burke had spent a fair bit of time with the public relations department, which employed a couple of publicists, writers, and a man who kept their website running and up to date. Computers didn’t interest Burke all that much, unless there was a particularly addicting video game. Even then, he usually only played for a few hours before getting bored.

“Matai,” his dad said upon arriving in the man’s office. “Here he is.”

“Good, good,” the shorter man said in an accented voice. “Let me get Linnie.”

“Linnie?” Burke asked, twisting as the man rushed past him and out of his office. “Dad? What’s going on?”

“They’re going to do a story on your engagement. For the website.” He beamed at Burke like this was the best possible news on the planet. But Burke’s blood turned to ice, and he sucked in a breath as if he’d just been doused with similarly cold water.

“Dad, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” Some of the happiness left his father’s face, and in its place, suspicion mingled with confusion.

“It’s just that Ash is really private,” Burke said. “It’s not like the whole island doesn’t already know about us.” As he spoke, Burke realized how true he’d spoken. Sure, there were a lot of tourists in Getaway Bay, but the locals on the island were a pretty tight-knit group. And word did spread like wildfire sometimes.

“This is more than the island,” his dad said. “This is an announcement of my retirement and how I’m passing the operation onto you on January first.”

“Dad.” Burke couldn’t say much more than that. There was so much wrong with what was happening. He wasn’t even sure how much he liked Ash. He wanted to go slow and make sure he was being his authentic self and not who he thought she wanted him to be. And getting married by the end of the year?

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Have you bought her a ring yet?” His dad pressed his lips together as Matai and Linnie entered the office.

Burke shook his head, knowing he needed to explain further, but not wanting to do it in front of their chief writer and website developer.

His father turned to Matai. “I’m sorry, we’ve had something come up. Can we come back later today?”

“Sure, sure,” Matai said, and Burke’s father led the way out of the office. He left a heavy wake of electricity behind him, and Burke simply walked through it.

As soon as the elevator doors sealed them into some semblance of privacy, Burke said, “Dad, I just don’t think Ash and I will be married by then. We’re taking things slow.”

His dad snorted. “You started dating a few months ago and you’re already engaged.”

“Sort of,” Burke hedged. “No ring, remember?” He should just tell him the whole truth—that he and Ash had literally started dating a few days ago. Days. That he’d fibbed earlier so his father wouldn’t consider giving the farm to Krista or Kayla.

The elevator doors opened before Burke could say anything, and both of his sisters stood there with armfuls of flowers. “Happy anniversary, Daddy,” they said together, saving Burke from having to explain further.