Felicity stretched out on the beach towel she’d spread out over the sand. It was a cloudy day, but every once in a while, the clouds parted and the sun peeked through. The sound of the ocean waves relaxed her and she slipped off her swimsuit cover and closed her eyes. At least she’d get a little use out of her swimsuit. It was brand new, purchased at the end of the season last year for eighty percent off. It was the nicest one-piece she’d ever had, blue with white stripes. It looked good on her, if she did say so herself.

Aiden’s face popped into her mind and she tried to shove it away. He was over an hour late now. So typical. How could he always make her feel so low? So unwanted?

A shadow crossed her face and her eyes flicked open. She sucked in a breath to chew Aiden out for being so late, but then she realized it wasn’t Aiden. A man she didn’t recognize stood beside her wearing long shorts and flip flops, a lounge chair tucked under one arm.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” The man took an awkward step back. “If you want privacy, I’ll go to the other side of the beach. I just thought I might as well introduce myself to my neighbor, if that’s okay.”

Felicity stared up at the man. He looked harmless. He reminded her of those guys at the Geek Squad, all gangly arms and legs. Thick glasses adorned his face. She motioned. “It’s fine. Have a seat.”

He set his chair down and sat. “Thanks. I’m Harold.”

“Felicity.”

“Where are you from?”

“Texas. And you?”

Harold brushed a patch of sand off his chair. His dark hair was thick and curly. He looked to be in his late-twenties. His skin was pale, like it hadn’t seen the sun in a long time. “Arkansas. Near the border, actually, so I’m not far from Texas.”

She squinted at him. “Huh. Small world. I live a few miles outside of Dallas. What brings you here?”

“Nothing too exciting. I was about to lose my vacation time if I didn’t take it, so I tossed a dart on the map and it landed on Belize. I’ve never been, so here I am.”

Wow. A man who could stop working and take some time off. She tried not to throw her hands up in the air and shout hallelujah. Instead, she said a very subdued, “Good for you.”

“I assume you’re here on vacation as well. You here alone?”

“Actually, I was hired to take pictures of the resort. Since it’s kind of in shambles right now, I’m just relaxing a bit.” She ignored the question about being alone. Harold seemed nice, but she wasn’t looking for a relationship, and certainly not a vacation fling. Plus, things were too weird with Aiden there at the resort.

Not that she was considering getting back together with Aiden. Sure, he made her insides melt, but she’d gone down that road before and look how that had turned out. She shifted on her towel. Maybe she shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Harold.

“Oh, so you’re a photographer?” he asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

“Yes.”

“And they paid your way here?” His eyebrows rose high on his forehead.

Felicity tried not to snort. Right. If he thought all photographers got gigs like this, he was delusional. She should have known something was up when she was hired. “Yes.”

“Well, that’s quite the setup.”

That explained it exactly. A setup. Felicity turned the conversation around on him. “What is it you do?”

Harold’s lounge chair squeaked as he moved. “I’m a systems analyst. I know, it sounds glamorous, but it’s not really. I pretty much work with computers all day.” He grinned at her.

He was funny, in his own nerdy way. She smiled back. “It probably pays well.”

“Not too bad. At least I can afford a vacation like this every once in a while. I’d love to work for myself someday. I know what these companies pay for me to go in and fix their issues. It’s way more than I get paid.”

“That’s a great idea. You should go for it.”

Harold shrugged. “I would, but then I have to worry about all kinds of other things. To be honest, I’m not sure how to market a business like that or where I would get health insurance. Stupid stuff like that.”

Felicity sized him up. “I think you’d figure it out.”

He shot her a grin. “Yeah?”

“Give yourself some credit. You look quite intelligent.”

Harold seemed pleased that she’d complemented him. “Thanks.” He ran his hand through the sand. “That was quite the storm last night, wasn’t it?”

Felicity inwardly shuddered. “It blew something through my kitchen window.”

“Seriously? It broke through the glass?”

“Yes. I think it was a signpost.” Maybe even the one Aiden had walked into. He probably loosened it. The thought made Felicity smile, but then she felt stupid smiling that a signpost went through her window, so she dropped it.

“That’s insane. I don’t think there was any damage to my villa. But the wind was sure blowing stuff around.” He glanced back at the resort. “I heard a ton of shingles blew off the restaurant roof. I wonder how hard it is to get something like that fixed around here? This is pretty remote.”

Maybe that’s what Aiden was helping with. Repairing the damage to the roof. She realized she was grinding her teeth and made a conscious effort to stop. “I don’t know.”

Harold seemed fidgety. He continued to play with the sand. “What do you like to do in your spare time? Oh, wait. Let me guess.” He studied her. “You’re a big gamer, aren’t you? RPG? Cosplay?”

Felicity wrinkled her nose. “I don’t even know what that means.”

“Ah, well, a guy can dream, can’t he?”

What was she supposed to say to that? “Uh, sure?”

He laughed and looked out, scanning the shoreline. He tapped his knee absentmindedly. “You busy tonight?”

Felicity stiffened. She should have known he was going to go there. What else was he doing, sitting next to a woman on the beach? But she wasn’t sure how to answer him. She glanced up at her villa. Aiden still hadn’t come. What was she going to do? Wait around all day for him? The thought that Aiden would expect her to made her angry. Suddenly she did want to go out with this guy.

Harold winced. “You’re not here by yourself, are you? Man, I just stepped in it big time, I can tell.”

“No,” she hurried to say, turning back to Harold. “I’m alone. And I’m not doing anything tonight.” There. She’d said it. She was an adult and could make plans with a man if she wanted to. Aiden was off doing who knows what. He stood her up. It would serve him right if he were to come over tonight and she had already made plans.

Harold’s face lit up. “Great. Want to have dinner with me?”

“Sure.”

His grin stretched wide. “All right.” He leaned back. “Fantastic.”

Felicity hid a smile. He was kind of a funny man. Maybe dinner with Harold wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It would take her mind off Aiden, who’d left her hanging once again. It’s what he did. What he would always do.

The sun peeked through the clouds and she shielded her eyes with her hand. “Have you lived in Arkansas your whole life?”

“Nah. I grew up in California. Most of the guys in my class were beach bums. I know it’s surprising that I wasn’t in with the surfer crowd, given my physique.” He motioned to his skinny chest and thin legs, and Felicity smiled.

“You were president of the chess club, weren’t you?”

Harold threw his head back and laughed. “Mathletes, actually.”

“Mathletes? That’s hilarious.”

He huffed on his knuckles and rubbed his imaginary shirt. “Yeah, we were the cool kids. Everyone wanted to come cheer us on during our competitions.”

“My ex was really into math.” The words were out before she could stop them.

He eyed her. “Yeah?”

“He actually owns this place.” What was wrong with her? Why was she talking about Aiden?

He squinted at her. “Wait, your ex-boyfriend owns this resort? And he hired you to come take pictures?”

She wanted to stuff a fistful of sand in her mouth to stop herself from talking anymore. But now that she’d started, she couldn’t just ignore his question. “His grandmother actually hired me. I think she’s trying to push us back together. But it won’t work. He’s a workaholic. The reason I left him was because his work was always more important than me. And here I am, sitting alone on the beach because he’s out working on the resort.”

She could see the wheels turning in Harold’s head. He brushed sand off his hands. “You know, if you and your ex are in the middle of something, I don’t want to get in the way.”

Now she’d done it. “No,” she quickly said. “We’re not in the middle of anything. Believe me. That’s long past. In fact, it would be good for me to go out with you. Get my mind off him.”

He seemed to study her, then a smile crept onto his face. “I think I could help you out there.”

She held back a laugh. Harold was funny and a bit charming, even if he was a total geek.

He reached down and picked up a seashell. “How long did you date this guy?”

“Five years.”

“That’s some history.”

Felicity didn’t want to tell him how involved their history had been. They’d almost married. And even now, her heart longed for what they used to have. But that was stupid, and she had to get her thoughts away from Aiden. Plus, Harold didn’t need to know any of that, so she changed the subject. “How long will you be here?”

“Just until Sunday.”

“Me too.” Why did the thought of leaving depress Felicity? She shook it off.

A tone sounded and Harold pulled his phone out of his pocket. Felicity reached to check hers and realized it wasn’t sitting on the towel like she’d thought. She must have left it up in her villa. Oh, no. What if Aiden had been trying to call?

Felicity mentally smacked herself. What was wrong with her? Why was she insisting on torturing herself over Aiden? She needed to stop. He was always going to be the same guy. Nothing would change. A sudden restlessness came over her.

She looked up at Harold, who had put his phone away. “Want to take a walk on the beach? I think I need to stretch my legs.”

His eyebrows rose. “Sure.”

She pulled on her lacy cover up and stood, slipping into her sandals. “Hopefully we won’t get another storm like last night.”

“No kidding,” he said as he folded up his lounge chair. “I think we’ll be fine. I checked the weather this morning and it looks good.” He pointed up to his villa. “Do you mind if I put this away?”

Felicity folded her towel. “That’s fine. I’ll walk with you.”

The clouds parted and the sun shone as they walked up the path to Harold’s deck. He set the chair down. “If you want to leave your towel here, you can.”

“Thanks.” Felicity draped the towel over the railing. She followed him out along the beach. Her sandals sank into the powdery sand as they walked.

“Did you grow up in a large family?” Harold asked.

“No. I’m an only child. Mom died when I was a kid, so it was Dad and me growing up.”

“Sounds lonely. I’m the first of five kids, so there was never any isolation at my house. That’s probably why I’m fine coming on a vacation by myself.” He gave her a wide grin.

“Five? That’s a lot of kids.”

“All boys. My parents always joked that they weren’t going to stop until we had a full basketball team.”

Felicity laughed. “I bet it was crazy at your house.”

“Yeah. I’d say. There were never any shortages of fart jokes around. But we all got along well. For the most part. We had our own D&D tournaments.” Harold went into talking about his brothers and their gaming. Most of it went over Felicity’s head.

A small whimpering sound caught Felicity’s attention and she stopped. “Do you hear that?”

Harold stood silent and cocked his head. “Yeah. Where is it coming from?”

Felicity walked toward the trees that lined the beach. “Somewhere in there.”

A scratching noise sounded, and then a bark. Harold pointed. “There.”

A piece of wood stuck up from the sand. Harold grabbed onto it and tugged. It was a large piece of plywood that had been covered in sand. As soon as he lifted it, a little Maltese dog ran out from under it.

The poor thing looked ragged, and Felicity bent to pick her up. “Mabel? Is that you?”

“You know this dog?”

Mabel barked and then panted while Felicity held her close. “Yeah. She’s Aiden’s dog.”