Page 58 of Just My Luck

When she pulled her phone from the bag, something else tumbled out along with it—a round tin of mango lip balm. Zara stared at it. Hadn’t Mia decided to switch to another type of lip balm because this one didn’t hold up to the ocean salt?

“What’s in the tin?” she asked, casually, although her heart rate was picking up.

Mia picked it up and shook it. “It’s that weird shell I found at the resort. I think I might toss it. It’s the worst good luck charm ever. Everything’s been going wrong since I picked it up.” She raised her arm in the air to aim for the garbage can a few yards away.

Zara grabbed her forearm. “No! Don’t do that!”

“Why not? Zara, it’s a reverse good luck charm. I need to get rid of it.”

Zara held out her hand for the tin. “You…uh…you should never throw out a good luck charm, even a bad one. It might try to get revenge.”

Mia squinted at her. “You’re being weird.”

“Yes. I’m very weird. Give it to me, I’ll deal with it.”

“I don’t want you to have bad luck either.” She wrapped her hand more tightly around the tin and held it out of Zara’s reach.

“It’s much too late for that,” said Zara. “Maybe I have such bad luck that a bad luck charm will work better for me. Like a double negative.”

“Will you buy me another mocha latte if I give you this charm?”

Zara wanted to say yes, but she also wanted to be a good surrogate parent. “Will you accept decaf since you’ve already had your caffeine quota for the week?”

“Fine. With a shot of peppermint syrup.” Mia handed her the tin of lip gloss. As soon as she went to order her drink, Zara eased off the lid.

Sure enough, there was the mysterious chip. Glimmering, iridescent, with a hint of rosy pink. Was this little piece of whatever-it-was really worth all this drama? Japanese crime lords, security teams, billionaires in disguise, all after this tiny bit of mysterious technology?

Someone loomed behind her, casting a shadow over the tin. She quickly snapped the lid back on and closed her hand around it. She turned, half expecting to see a Japanese guy in black sunglasses, but it was just a tourist trying to elbow past her.

She tucked the little tin into the pocket of her hoodie and went to pay for Mia’s drink. As she did so, a flash caught her eye. Camera? Looking to the side, she saw an influencer setting up for a selfie, posing with heart-shaped sunglasses and a grande iced latte with foam.

Don’t be so paranoid, she scolded herself. You’re being ridiculous.

Then again, everything that had happened since she’d met Lincoln had been so surreal and absurd. Was the concept of paranoia even relevant anymore?

Inside, she found Mia at the head of the line, ignoring the cashier as she chattered to Amy on FaceTime.

“No, I’m sorry,” she was saying. “I shouldn’t have said that shit about Brandon.”

“But you were right!” wailed Amy. “I shouldn’t have got so mad. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.”

Zara rolled her eyes and paid the server for the iced mocha. “Extra tip for the teenage drama,” she told the woman as she dropped a dollar into the tip jar.

As she did so, another flash caught her eye. She whirled around, but saw nothing but the sun glancing through the fronds of the palm tree out front.

Mia tugged away from the counter. “My sister is being a freak,” she told Amy. “I guess it’s genetic.”

“I’m soooo sorry I said all that! Can you come over tonight? My mom’s making tacos.”

Without being asked, Zara nodded. She wasn’t ready to tell Mia that their father was out of prison. With everything else going on, her little sister would probably be safer at her friend’s house.

And with both Eddie and Mia away for the night, and Lucky Lou back in his own house, maybe she and Lincoln could sneak back to his suite at the Seaside Paradise and finish what they’d started. Her skin tingled just thinking about it.

28

“So you’re the nanny?” Lucky Lou scanned Lincoln up and down. “How’d you get into that line of work?”