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While walking along the shore, she didn’t find the clarity she was in search of. Usually, she liked being alone, but this time, it felt empty, like something was missing.
She turned. Maybe she needed to head back to the condo and scroll on social media. Or she could try reading again. Anything to get her mind off this worry that she had somehow messed this up with Daniel.
As she got back, she saw him sitting at a table near the pool. Her eyes caught on him, and he looked up right as she walked toward him.
But she didn’t see his facial expression. She saw his hair. It was free from its prison of styling, and it flew wild in the windy air. She’d seen this yesterday when they were in the water, but it was another story when dry and windswept.
“Hey,” he said. “I hoped you liked your coffee. I took another guess.”
“Your hair,” she managed to say.
“Oh, this. Yeah, I had an off morning, so I didn’t style it. If it looks bad, I’ll go inside and—”
“No,” she said. “It looks fantastic. You should wear it like that more often.”
“Really?” He reached up to touch it. “It can get a little frizzy, but it’s so much easier to have it like this.”
His cheeks were red, and Amelia stopped herself from blurting out anything else about how damn perfect he looked.
She took a deep breath, trying to get her heart to calm down. “Thank you. For the coffee, I mean. I loved what you got me. You guessed my usual order.”
“Really?”
“It was spot-on. Nice work. But I think it was too caffeinated. Now I’m all jittery.” And it definitely didn’t have anything to do with how one curl had landed on his forehead. Nope. Not at all. “And sometimes when I’m jittery, it feels like the world is about to end or something.”
It didn’t make sense, and she didn’t expect Daniel to take it seriously.
But his hand rested on her arm. “It’s okay. Everything is fine.” His eyes shot up toward the balconies for a split-second. Then his eyes fell back to hers. “Come here.”
Pulling her close, he pressed his lips to her forehead. Her face exploded in heat, yet her heart calmed down. How was he doing this?
It seemed impossible, but she didn’t want to leave the warm cocoon of his arms. Her body leaned into his as the last of her tension escaped her muscles.
“That’s it,” he said. “Everything is okay.”
“Thank you.”
“Just in time for your mom to come out on the balcony too.”
Amelia looked up, realizing that it had all been for show again. “Oh, good call.”
Her mom waved and Amelia did the same, forcing a smile on her face. She should’ve been happy about this. He was doing exactly what he was supposed to.
And yet, she wished it had been only for them.
“John mentioned that he doesn’t date. Is your mom as hard on him as she is you?”
“Not really,” she said. “Which is weird now that you mention it. Why do I have to fake date someone in order to get her off my back?”
“It’s a good question.”
“I’ll ask her once we stage our breakup in a few weeks.” Because that was coming, even if she was beginning to dread it.
“After our breakup. Of course.”
She could have sworn she caught a hint of disappointment in his voice, but maybe she was projecting her own feelings.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “We could go get breakfast.”
