Page 196 of No Headlines Please

She eyed him like he was nuts. "No. Absolutely not. I'm dating someone else, remember?"

"Oh, come on," he whined. "Are you gonna let that stop you?"

She looked beyond disgusted. "Yes, actually. And even if I had nobody, I'd still say no." She made a little fluttering motion with her hands. "Now will you please get up?"

He didn't. Instead, he changed position, getting on two knees instead of one. To Maisie's obvious horror, he shuffled closer and said, "Not 'til you say yes."

I edged forward to stare down at him. "Well, then I hope you've got good knees, because it'll be hard for you to get on the bus if you keep refusing to stand."

His head snapped in my direction. "The bus?" His expression soured like I'd just handed him a mop and bucket. "I don't take the bus."

"Fine," I said. "Then try knee-shuffling through airport security." I lowered my voice. "I hope you like cavity searches."

He glared up at me. "Just admit it. You hated me from the start."

I gave it some thought. "Not from the start-start. But yeah. Pretty soon after that."

It was true. And honestly, I couldn't help it. He'd been a weasel from day two, when I'd caught him ogling another girl's ass while his arm had been draped around Maisie. And then, there was the time he'd introduced Maisie as a "good friend" during a party at his frat house.

Now, here in the bike shop, Maisie turned and looked toward the store's front window. "Hey, is that Sierra?"

Devon jumped to his feet so fast you'd think the floor had caught fire.

As for myself, I didn't even turn to look. I knew Maisie. She was obviously bluffing. But Devon? He didn't know her at all.

He was still looking panicked.

I spoke up. "I bet if you run, you can still catch her."

Devon looked from the window to Maisie. "Fine," he told her. "I guess it's your loss." And with that, he hustled past me and out the front door in search of Sierra – assuming she was even on the island.

Or hey, maybe he'd be proposing to somebody else.

I mean, he already had the ring, so anything was possible.

As for Maisie, she looked happy as heck to have him gone. "Do you know, that's the second time he's fallen for that?"

I moved closer to stand by her side. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. But the last time was months ago, so…maybe he forgot?" She grimaced. "I'm just glad I was here alone. If you think you were mean to him, just imagine Griff."

"Hey, I wasn't that mean. And even if I was, he totally deserved it."

She sighed. "Maybe."

"Screw maybe." I gave her an exasperated look. "Do you remember how many times you cried over him in college? Even before you broke up?"

"Too many," she admitted.

"Exactly!"

She gave me a wry smile. "You know…you and Tessa are a lot alike."

My jaw dropped. "You're joking, right?" I wasn't insulted. Given Tessa's near perfection, it was actually a compliment. But I still wasn't buying it.

Maisie laughed. "Don't look so surprised. You are sisters."

"Yeah, but we're so different."