It was Thursday afternoon. We had two days until the luau, and only one until the guests started to arrive. I loaded the cleaning cart with towels, and began the process of checking each room for linens. Cole had given me the towel count. Each room was allowed four bath towels, four hand towels, and four washcloths. I had convinced him that three towels in a double room were not going to cut it.

I pulled a freshly washed stack from the cart and started folding the fabric so that the edges touched and draped over the towel bar in a perfect symmetrical rectangle. I stood back to admire my towel presentation. I might not know how to make fancy towel fans, but these looked quite crisp.

It was only last Friday when I was having daydreams of fluffy white spa robes and pina coladas by the resort pool. Today, I was a full-service motel operator serving fluffy towels to motel guests.

“Now, if only I could find one of those French maid costumes, this would be perfect.” Cole stood in the doorway.

“Ha-ha, mister funny. I’m only on the third room. How are you doing?”

“Believe it or not, I only have a few left. This is actually going to happen. The rooms are going to be ready for tomorrow.”

“That’s awesome.” I folded one of the washcloths and placed it on the shelf. “Where’s Grayson?”

He nodded outside. “I have an eye on him. He’s riding a scooter on the sidewalk. I think he’d do that for hours.”

“Probably.” I grinned.

“So, I had an idea.” Cole strolled a few more feet into the room and watched me work.

“Really?” I pulled another towel from the cart. “Something you want to add to the party?”

“No. It’s a thank you.”

“A thank you?” I abandoned sorting the linens and turned to face him.

“Did you bring your passport?” he asked. Cole was smiling.

“I did. Just in case I got to go to Mexico. Wait. Are we going to Mexico?” I walked toward him.

“Maybe.” Cole leaned toward me and grazed my lips with his mouth.

I inhaled the warmth of the kiss, and pushed against him. “Tell me. What is it? I’m not good with surprises.”

“What about a dress? Did Lisa set you up with a pretty dress?”

I didn’t know where or when I was going to wear the strapless black dress when I bought it, but I was certain this was what it was meant for.

“Yes. I have a dress.” I smiled.

“Ok. Be ready tonight at six, in your pretty dress.”

“Wait. What about Grayson?”

“Don’t worry. I have a sitter. It’s all taken care of.” He walked backward out of the room and threw me a wink before closing the door behind him.

I pushed the butterflies down and sat on the edge of the bed. We were going on a real date—perhaps something we should have done before sleeping together. It didn’t really matter now. Cole was taking me out in my new black dress.

* * *

It was almost six o’clock. The corners of my eyes were lined with a smoky charcoal eyeliner I picked up at Tassels Surf Shop. I puckered my lips a bit to smooth on a pale lip gloss. I hadn’t spent as much time as I thought I would in the sun, but it didn’t take much on South Padre to pick up a tan. My shoulders were already sun-kissed. I tossed my new makeup in a bag and straightened my lotion bottles around the sink. Tomorrow, we were moving into the beach house next door.

I didn’t know what it meant, other than Grayson needed a real house and I needed to turn this room over so Cole could make more money. I’d be lying if I

Once the vacationers arrived, our time alone at the Dune Scape would be over. Tonight, I wanted to make the most of every second we had together.

I grabbed the clutch Sasha convinced me to buy and walked out of my room. Cole was standing in the corridor holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Wow. I don’t even know how to tell you how gorgeous you look.” Cole looked awestruck.

“Thanks. I think you just did.” I took the flowers. “I thought you weren’t the wine and roses guy.”

“Technically, these aren’t roses, so I’m still good.” He laughed. “You look so hot in that dress, I’m having second thoughts about taking you anywhere.” He leaned down to kiss my neck.

“You look pretty amazing too.” He was wearing dark jeans, and a white fitted button-up shirt. The sleeves were rolled to his elbows. I looked at the ground and noticed his boots.

“Ah-ha! You are a cowboy. I knew it.”

“Everybody in Texas has boots. True fact.”

“Really or are you trying to cover up your cowboy side?” I teased.

He slid his hand into mine and led me to his truck.

“You two have fun.”

I spun to see Lisa waving wildly from Cole’s room.

“She’s the sitter?”

“Yeah. Come on. Grayson is fine.”

He opened the door for me. Cole pushed the buttons on the radio until it landed on a song that he liked.

As he steered the truck over the bridge and toward the sunset, it felt strange I hadn’t left the island all week. Everything I needed and wanted was on that one little stretch of beach.

Cole drove through flat dry stretches of land for almost an hour before we reached the Mexican border. I noticed the line of cars into the foreign country wasn’t nearly as long as the line of cars on the other side trying to gain entry into the United States. My palms were sweaty at the sight of so many armed guards and search dogs.

“Is this safe?” I wanted to sound confident, but this was my first trip to a border town and I wasn’t prepared for the guns or angry-looking men eyeing the fence line.

“I wouldn’t take you somewhere if I thought we wouldn’t be ok. I come here all the time with my buddies. The key is to stick with me. You’ll be fine, darlin’. You know I’ll keep you safe.”

It wasn’t just the military background, Cole had always been protective. And it wasn’t until now that I realized what it felt like to have a man who wanted to make sure I was guarded and safe no matter what.

One of the border patrol officers waved us through the gate and into Mexico. I hadn’t meant to grab Cole’s hand, but I needed some extra reassurance.

“Kaitlyn, it’s going to be fine, but we don’t have to have dinner here. I can turn around and we can find another restaurant.” He eyed me across the truck.

My comfort level was being tested, and I was considering admitting that I had wimped out and needed the security of American soil under my cute black heels.

“But—if I turn around, you won’t get to see the surprise I have for you.” Cole smiled.

“What’s the surprise?” I was curious to see what the no-wine-and-roses guy had planned.

“You are just going to have to trust me. I promise I’ll take care of you. Besides, with your right hook you’re a one-woman combat machine.”

I giggled. The self-defense classes my father had bought for me last year had paid off.

“I want my surprise.” I settled into the seat.

“You sure?”

“Positive.” I knew I was safe with Cole.

“All right, then. We’re already here.” Cole parked the truck behind a ruddy red brick building.

The sun had dipped behind the buildings of the border town, but not before throwing an orange hue on everything around us. I waited while Cole jogged around the front of the truck to get my door.

I caught a hint of his cologne as he helped me step down from the truck. My stomach was instantly in butterfly knots when he smiled.

“Ready?” He offered his arm.

I nodded and tucked my hand through the crook of his arm.

Cole led me to a towering wooden fence. He knocked several times before an older woman cracked the gate enough to see us standing there. I kicked myself for not taking Spanish in high school or college. She and Cole were having an extensive conversation, and other than the words table and water, I couldn’t pick up much of the exchange. Why did I insist on learning German?

We walked into a courtyard. In the center was a bistro table, draped with a colorful tablecloth. Cole walked over and pulled out a chair.

“Is this for us?” I looked around at the mini-courtyard flanked with tropical plants.

“It is.” He stood by the chair, waiting for me to sit.

I looked up and saw lights strung across the table, forming an X overhead. The woman who had let us in returned to the table with a pitcher.

“Are you going to sit?” Cole asked, and nodded at the chair.

“Oh yeah, sorry.” I eased myself into the chair, and Cole walked to the other side of the table. “Everything is so beautiful. I feel like I’m in a movie. And I can’t believe I’m here with Cole Thomas.”

“Believe it.” He filled the empty glasses on the table from the pitcher and handed one to me. “This is the best Sangria you’ll ever have in Mexico.”

I sipped the fruity wine. “Wow. It’s good.”

Minutes later, our hostess walked in with a platter of nachos loaded with fresh avocados. I was used to mashed-up guacamole, but the slices were perfect. She nodded to Cole before exiting through the slatted swinging doors. I could tell by the sounds coming from the building’s entrance that beyond those doors there were other customers. It sounded like a restaurant.

“Ok, how did you pull all of this off?” I twirled an orange around in my glass. “We have our own private patio?”

“I wanted to do something special for you to say thank you. I never would have had the Dunes ready for tomorrow if you didn’t offer to help.”

“Thank you for the thank you, but you know I wanted to help. I didn’t expect anything in return.”

“I know you didn’t, but I wanted to do this. Besides, seeing you in that dress is worth it.”

I blushed. How could he do that to me so easily?

“You’re all booked up through the end of next month. I think the Dunes is going to do great once the word gets out that it’s open again and it has running water.” I laughed. “Plus, throwing an awesome party isn’t going to hurt your reputation with the grads. Everyone is going to love it.”

“I think Pops would be proud I pulled this off.”

“I wish I could have met your grandfather.”

“He was a character, but he gave me everything he had. The man never met a stranger, or at least he didn’t let people be strangers.” Cole paused. “I miss him.”

I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “He would definitely be proud of what you’ve done with the Dunes. Most people would have given up or sold it at the first offer that came along.”

“I guess I’m stubborn.” He sipped the sangria.

“Stubborn and loyal—those aren’t bad things.”

His eyes darted to the table. “Loyal. Right.”

“Cole, don’t do that. I know what you’re thinking.”

His blue eyes lifted. “And what’s that?”

“You’re thinking about Ryan. You are loyal to him. He’ll understand this.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about your brother tonight.”

“But we have to—”

“No.” His voice was firm.

I sighed.

“Ok. So the Dunes. Do you know what you’re going to do next? Will you finish your engineering program?”

“How do you know about that?” Cole withdrew his hand.

I wasn’t sure if I had touched on a nerve that was better left alone, but I wanted to know what his plans were. “Lots of little birds on the island told me you were in grad school. I want to hear more about it.”

He laughed. “If I go into all the engineering stuff, I think I’ll bore you to death.”

“Try me. I’m a good listener.” I wanted to know the kinds of things that appealed to Cole. He was naturally gifted in fixing things, but I could tell he didn’t like it.

His military career was over. And he was a single dad. He had to have a passion other than motel.

He leaned across the table. “Ok, my concentration is in composite material development.”

He might have well just started speaking in Spanish again. But, I prodded him to continue.

I sipped the sangria. “Composite materials? Ok.”

“I picked up a lot in the Corps. I was cross-trained. So when Amber had Grayson I knew I needed to get back to school. I couldn’t be hired sniper and I didn’t want any of the government contract jobs.”

“Why not?”

He shook his head. “Those guys are gone more than guys on deployment. It wasn’t worth it with a new baby.”

I tried to picture Cole holding an infant. It made him instantly hotter.

“Anyway, I signed up for a design class and one of the professors sort of took me under his wing and introduced me to composite material design. Basically, we try to find ways to use the best materials that create the most energy, cost the least, and work. I saw a lot of programs like that in the Middle East. Work the most out of the little you have.”

I smiled. “Sounds a lot like Dune Scape.”

“Yeah, but on a different level.”

I was impressed.

“It’s kind of like a puzzle. I like trying new materials together to see what happens.”

“Like what kind of things?” I asked, liking the way his eyes lit up when he talked about engineering.

“I’ve been focusing on the composite of wind turbines. There are some grants in the works to start a wind power program for the island. I thought I could stay in South Padre and work for the company who lands the grant. It would be the perfect fit.” He lifted the sangria. “I can run the Dunes on the side. I can Grayson in a preschool. I think it will work.”

“It does sound perfect for you.” I tried to imagine Cole concentrating on blueprints and windmill specs instead of busted shower parts. “It had to be hard to put something on hold that you’re so interested in to take care of your grandfather. That couldn’t have been easy.”

Cole exhaled. “No, but I wouldn’t change it. He needed me. I can work on that program anytime.”

I edged closer to the table. “But will you? Are you going to finish it?”

“You have lots of questions tonight. What about you? What are you going to do with all of those accounting skills? What happens now?”

If he had asked me a week ago, my answer would have been the standard cookie cutter one I gave everybody about applying for jobs in business and waiting a year or two before entering the MBA program. Tonight, staring into Cole’s eyes under the string of lights made, all the realities of life back home fade into the farthest parts of my mind.

I couldn’t imagine anything other than spending my life with him and Grayson.

“I—uh—I haven’t sorted it out yet.” I dodged his doubtful stare.

“I guess that makes two of us.” He finished his sangria.

The mariachi music from the restaurant filtered onto the patio. It was soft and slow. Cole stood from the table and walked toward me with his hand extended.

“Dance with me?”

“But you don’t dance.”

“Your dress has convinced me to make an exception.” He winked, pulling me from my seat and spinning me into his arms.

I gasped as my body collided with his, and he pressed his hand into the small of my back. He had been holding out on me—he could dance. I searched his face for an explanation, but he laughed and spun me again before aligning his frame against mine.

We swayed to the distant music. With every second that passed, our dance form diminished until we were so tightly wrapped around each other that I could feel Cole’s heart beating against my cheek.

“Cole?”

“Mmm-hmm?” He held on a little tighter.

“Can we stay here like this and forget everything else on the other side of the border?” I wasn’t being completely silly. Maybe I could live in a border town.

“For now we can, darlin’. For now.”

I closed my eyes and bit back the words that were on my tongue. I wanted tomorrow to be the farthest place from us. As long as Cole held me, maybe the rest of the world would stop turning.