Had he really just said that? Aiden couldn’t believe he had flirted with Felicity. What an idiot he was. He needed to get home and stay locked up in his villa until Felicity left on Sunday. She was walking around, looking like a goddess and making him do stupid things.

He waited until Felicity had packed up her tripod and had gone ahead of him to start the group back down the trail. As Felicity walked, her hair swayed with the movement of her hips. He tried not to look at her hips. Or the way her legs were perfectly shaped.

Gah. Walking behind Felicity was not what he wanted to do for the next hour, but he had no choice. He supposed he could have gone on ahead of her and let her trail behind the group, but that seemed kind of mean. And he didn’t want to be mean to her.

But being nice to her yesterday had gotten him all confused about things. And when she showed up with Harold, it just proved that he needed to stay away from her.

He needed to take a vacation. Would Grams kill him if he took off tonight? Went to Mexico or something? The thought made him laugh. Who takes a vacation when they own a resort in Belize?

Felicity turned around. “What’s so funny?”

Oh, crud. He hadn’t realized he was laughing out loud. “Nothing.”

She fell into step beside him. “Come on. What is it?”

“It’s stupid.”

An eyeroll answered him. “You know you’re making me want to know even more now.”

“Haven’t you ever had a dumb thought, then chuckled about it?”

“Just tell me.” She nudged him with her elbow. “It must be something good if you’re too embarrassed to say it.”

Heat tinged his neck. Fine. He had to tell her now. Maybe he could withhold a little information and be fine. “I was just thinking I needed a vacation. Then it occurred to me how silly that was, taking a vacation from a great vacation spot.”

He expected Felicity to laugh, but she just looked at him sideways. “You want a vacation?”

“Well, you know. It just popped into my head. That’s all. It was nothing.” Would she give up on this now? He desperately hoped she’d move on to something else. He hooked his thumbs into his pockets.

“I never thought I’d hear the words, ‘I need a vacation’ come out of your mouth.”

He stared at her, not understanding. “Why?”

She looked down at the dirt path and shrugged. “You’re always working.”

Aiden stiffened. This again. She was wrong about him. He wasn’t always working. Couldn’t she see he was living on a resort in Belize? It was a freaking paradise.

Then images of himself as he worked on growing the resort came to his mind. If he were being truthful, he wasn’t just sitting on the beach enjoying life. He had thrown himself into his work at the resort as hard as he’d been working on his business before. Was there some truth to what she was saying? He sighed and checked behind them to make sure the group was caught up. He didn’t really know what to say to her, so he didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry,” she said when the silence stretched out. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable.” Lie. He was totally uncomfortable. He’d always thought she was exaggerating when she called him a workaholic. Sure, he was kind of obsessed with his drone when he was building it, but he knew his ideas were going to take him somewhere. He knew it would be something he could profit from.

And the resort...well, he knew once he got it updated and put in the time, he could make it profitable as well. And he had. But he still was spending most of his days working around the place. Aiden drew in a breath. Felicity was right. He was not the kind of guy to take off on a vacation.

He didn’t like that thought.

“I’ve upset you.” Felicity was looking at him, her eyebrows pulled together.

“No. I’m fine. I’m just thinking about...stuff.”

“I’m thinking about shrimp.” As if to punctuate her statement, Aiden heard her stomach growl. Her cheeks colored as she looked down at her middle.

“You should order the Mango Shrimp Ceviche. It’s to die for.”

“I will.”

She held a small smile, and he wondered if it was because of the shrimp or because she was going to eat dinner with Harold. He suddenly wanted to change the subject. “Grams will be happy with the pictures you took today.”

“It wasn’t hard to get great pictures with scenery like this. You’re lucky to live in such a beautiful place. I enjoyed the hike. My muscles needed it.”

“That is one nice thing about leading these excursions. I don’t have to worry about getting flabby.”

Her smile stretched wide. “Flabby? You?” She reached out and pinched his abdomen. “Sorry, I’m not buying it. You could always eat anything you wanted and not gain an ounce.”

He checked the group behind them again before responding with, “I’m not twenty-one anymore.”

She snorted. “Yeah, you’re such a geezer.”

“Did you just snort?” He laughed.

“You’re so mean. I wouldn’t call attention to it if you snorted.”

Aiden patted her shoulder. “It was cute.”

She gave him a look he couldn’t quite interpret. “What do you think Grams has planned for tonight? I’m kind of worried about Harold’s food.”

Why did she have to bring him up again? He tried not to clench his teeth. “I said I’d keep her distracted.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Well, it better involve a lock and key because she’s been downright devious.”

He squinted at the look on Felicity’s face. “You’re enjoying her antics, aren’t you?”

“You have to admit, she’s clever.”

“She’s been terrible.”

Felicity laughed. “You’d better give poor Harold another free excursion. He seemed excited about the jungle hike.”

“You’re right. I’ll give him several excursion tickets if he doesn’t go badmouthing the resort after what Grams did.”

“That’s a good idea.”

***

THE HIKE BACK TO THE van seemed to take a much shorter time, and Felicity found herself disappointed when the trail ended, which was stupid. She and Aiden were not good together. If she started to like him that way again, she would only get hurt in the end, so it was really dumb to enjoy the time spent with him.

She had to keep reminding herself she was just biding her time until she left. Grams was well-meaning, but she didn’t realize how incompatible she was with Aiden. It would never work.

Aiden opened the passenger door for Felicity and helped her climb in. Blast those butterflies in her stomach at his touch. Why didn’t they get the memo that she and Aiden were not a thing?

On the drive home, one of the women who had been walking behind them leaned forward in her seat. “You two make such a cute couple. How long have you been married?”

Felicity froze as the word ‘married’ hung in the air. What was Aiden going to say to that?

Aiden chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re not married.”

“Oh, really? How long have you been dating?”

Red crept up his neck and Felicity had to hide a smile. He was cute when he was embarrassed.

“We’re not...together.”

“You’re kidding,” the woman said, leaning forward a bit more.

The man beside her nudged her arm. “Trisha, leave them alone.”

“I’m not bothering them. They seem like a couple though.” She turned back to Aiden. “You should ask her out.”

Aiden swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He gave Felicity a quick glance before answering. “We’re just good friends.”

Trisha huffed and sat back in her seat. “That’s not what it looked like to me. I’ve been around good friends, and you guys have something more going on.”

“Hush, now, can’t you see you’re embarrassing him?” the man said.

Felicity held back a giggle.

“I am not. I’m just stating a fact. They should be a couple. You can see the attraction written all over their faces.” The woman looked personally offended that Felicity wasn’t involved with him.

Aiden’s cheeks were now pink, and he stared forward as he drove, obviously trying to ignore them now that they were talking amongst themselves.

“That’s none of your business,” the man hissed.

“You’re always saying that. Maybe it is my business. How do you know? You don’t know everything.”

They continued to argue until Trisha finally got mad and sat silently the rest of the way to the resort. By the time Aiden had stopped the bus, his face was almost back to his normal color.

“Thank you, everyone, for joining me on this excursion. If you wouldn’t mind leaving a comment on the website about how you enjoyed it, that would be wonderful. And if you didn’t enjoy it, we don’t mind if you don’t leave a comment.”

A few chuckles came from the group as they dispersed. Felicity checked her watch. “Guess I’d better go get ready for my date. Thank you again for keeping Grams occupied.”

Aiden nodded, his mouth turning down a bit. “Of course. Have fun.”

She took a step away then hesitated and turned back to him. “The jungle hike was nice.”

He stopped, his gaze almost looking through her. “It’s a good excursion.”

“No, I mean, it was nice talking to you today.” Felicity bit her lip. Why was she standing there, acting like an idiot? She had to remember what he did to her just this morning. He stood her up. She was such a sucker.

He took a step toward her. “I enjoyed it too.”

The sun hung low in the sky, casting a soft orange glow on Aiden’s light hair. He stared down at her, and she became aware of her heart stuttering. Had he grown more handsome in the last few minutes? And why was she thinking that? What was wrong with her?

She took a step back. “See you later.”

“Right.” He blew out a breath and turned away from her.

Felicity walked to her villa, her heart stuck in her throat. Why was she so attracted to Aiden? Why couldn’t she get it through her thick head that he would never love her like she needed? Like a woman should expect her husband to?

She took in a deep breath and unlocked her door. Aiden wasn’t her soul mate. But he was out there somewhere, she was sure of it. She’d find him and have a happy life.

Flipping through clothes in her closet, she realized she didn’t have very many outfits. She hadn’t expected to be dating. She changed into a simple blouse and slacks.

A knock came on her door and she rushed to open it. Maybe it was Aiden, coming to tell her Harold had left. Maybe Grams had given him tickets to the caves, farther inland. Maybe—

She interrupted her own thoughts as she opened the door and peered at Harold. Why was she disappointed? She wanted to go out with Harold tonight, right? Felicity forced a smile. He looked nice, with a blue dress shirt and tie. “Hi.”

“How was the jungle hike?” He pushed up his glasses with one finger.

“It was good. I think Aiden is going to get you free tickets for later on in the week. He felt bad you missed it.”

Harold stepped aside so she could join him. “It wasn’t his fault. That would be generous of him to do that.”

Yeah, right. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him what Grams had done, but she bit the words back. What good would that do? She decided it would be best to change the subject. “What did you do this afternoon?”

“I camped out on the beach and read a book.”

“Oh? What book?”

He gave her a sheepish grin. “Ready Player One. I know, it’s one of those high-brow kind of books, but what can I say? I like literary fiction.”

Felicity laughed. She’d never read the book but knew enough about it from the movie commercials to know it wasn’t literary fiction. It was some video game that people went into, or something like that. Harold really was a video game nerd. “I like that you’re yourself.”

He gave her a funny look as he fiddled with the knot on his tie. “Who else would I be?”

She giggled again. “You’re comfortable in your own skin. I like that.”

“Good. I don’t really want to wear anyone else’s skin.”

They entered the restaurant and waited until they were seated. Felicity opened her menu, even though she knew what she wanted. She was going to try the dish Aiden suggested.

Why was she thinking about Aiden? Man, couldn’t she step away from him for the evening? Give her brain a rest? And if she were being honest with herself, give her heart a rest too?

Her phone made a noise and she glanced down at the incoming text.

Where are you?

It was from a number she didn’t recognize. Maybe it was Grams? She typed in a quick response. Who is this?

When the next text came in, she did a double take. This is Brittany.

What? Why was Brittany asking where she was? She knew Felicity was in Belize. How odd. She set her phone down and ignored it.

“What are you going to order?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe a hamburger. I’m not really a fish person.”

Felicity gave him a weird look. “Okay.”

Her phone chimed again and she picked it up to silence it, but the words on the screen made her freeze.

I made it to the resort. Is that you in the restaurant?

Confusion clouded her brain. Brittany was in Belize? Felicity turned around and about fell out of her chair. Brittany was walking toward her, her arm extended and waving erratically. “Felicity!”

She blinked, hoping the vision would disappear. Nope. It wasn’t her imagination. Brittany had come to Aiden’s resort.