Lawrence sat on the beach, a bottle of diet Dr. Pepper in his hand that was half-empty and almost too warm to swallow. He hated the beach. Well, he liked the look of it. The smell of the ocean. The beautiful horizon line.

But he didn’t like sand between his toes, or the smell of sunscreen, or wearing a hat for long periods of time. It was too windy today for an umbrella, and Lawrence didn’t own one anyway. He rarely sat on the beach, because he didn’t have the time nor inclination to do so.

But the wives of some of the other billionaires in the Nine-0 Club had some sort of women’s club that literally sat on the beach for hours on end, chatting. Families came to the beach everyday. Heck, people paid good money to come to Getaway Bay and the beaches here to vacation. Relax.

But Lawrence did not feel relaxed. He hadn’t since Maizee had told him she needed some time to figure out how to be alone.

He’d been alone for a long time, and it wasn’t that great. Like, right now, sitting there in the sun, in the sand, listening to the surf, and he wasn’t any happier than he would’ve been with her in her hammock. Or behind his desk, reading a report or researching a company and if he should invest in it.

The next day, he went sailing alone, about the bravest thing he knew how to do. He went to work, but he didn’t come face-to-face with Maizee. She’d either kept track of his arrival and departure times so she could schedule her trips to the restroom or over to Polly’s desk or out to lunch.

He wondered what she was doing on weekends, and if he might run into her if he decided to go hiking or biking or kayaking. Parasailing. Surfing. Ziplining. He could do all of it right here on Getaway Bay.

He’d started with the hike to Umauma Falls, but he’d never finished it. So after a few weekends sitting on his couch and watching four movies a day, he put on his hiking boots, filled a backpack with food, and even checked the weather before he left the penthouse.

The hike up the trail wasn’t that hard though Lawrence wasn’t exactly an athlete. He did climb a lot of stairs every day and the hike up to the falls wasn’t much harder than that. The trees were still in bloom though October had arrived, and the air held a nice crispness this early in the morning.

He’d half-hoped he’d run into Maizee on this trail, but at the same time, he didn’t want to see her quite yet. She’d said she needed time to be alone, and he wanted to give her that.

Her words for now circled in his head, giving him hope no matter how long the day was or how hopeless he felt. And so it was those words which propelled him up the trail to the falls, where a handful of other people had already arrived.

He found a rock to sit on to guzzle a bottle of water, and he pulled a couple of granola bars out of his pack. The falls made a wonderful roaring noise, and Lawrence felt a rush of pride for having hiked a couple of miles in the wilderness to this spot.

He’d done it. He’d done it without Maizee, and it did feel amazing to check something off his list that he’d been wanting to do for a while.

So it was that the next weekend found him standing on the dock, wearing a life jacket, and listening to a boy no older than sixteen talk about currents and riptides, wakes and waves, and how to navigate in the sea kayak.

While Lawrence had wanted to get these instructions from Maizee and follow her blonde head out into the ocean, she wasn’t around. He wondered what she was doing that morning, and if there was any possible way five weeks was long enough for her to figure anything out.

The wind snaked down his collar no matter how he tried to flip it up, but his oar moved through the water easily as he propelled himself out with the other people in the group. The tour guide pointed out landmarks along the shore, and even the form of a sea lion in the water.

Once again, Lawrence was reminded of Maizee and how much she would love to be that sixteen-year-old boy, giving sea kayaking lessons and then island shore tours.

When he got back to land, he decided to do one more brave thing that morning. He pulled out his phone and texted her.

Just went sea kayaking. You were right. It was amazing!

He read the words over and over and decided they were fine. He’d gone sea kayaking and had fun. They’d talked about it a lot, and he wanted to tell her. So he tapped the arrow on the screen to send the message, hoping with everything in him that she’d respond.

When a few seconds passed and she didn’t, he quickly tapped out They have tour guides who teach people about it and take them out. You should totally do that.

He wasn’t sure if she would resent him saying that, but she had told him that she’d like to be a tour guide, and she loved sea kayaking. It seemed like a match made in heaven—just like he’d thought the two of them were.

He pulled in a breath when he realized that he’d fallen in love with Maizee Phelps.

When had that happened?

Lawrence turned in a circle like the answer would be written right there on the dock somewhere. A couple who’d been in his group went by, smiles on their faces. “See, I told you you’d like it,” the man said to the woman. “And you didn’t die.”

They laughed together, and Lawrence wished Maizee stood next to him so they could joke and laugh too. His hand felt so empty, and the great experience he’d just had kayaking felt a little more hollow than it had a moment ago.

Then his phone buzzed, which was like a jolt of electricity straight to his heart. He almost didn’t dare check who’d messaged him—after all, he received dozens of calls, texts, and emails every day, weekend or not—in case it wasn’t Maizee.

But he was trying to be brave—wasn’t that why he’d hiked to the falls and buckled himself into a kayak?—so he lifted the phone so he could check it.

Good for you!

From Maizee. That was it. Nothing more. Nothing about the tour guide.

Didn’t matter. She’d responded, and happiness spread through Lawrence with the speed of the subway. Before, he had two words, and now he had three.

He tucked his phone back in his pocket and headed down the pier, thinking tacos sounded like a mighty fine lunch after a morning of sea kayaking and texting with his non-girlfriend.

“It’s been two months,” Jason said as he stuck the menu back in the holder on the table. He looked at Lawrence. “And you haven’t spoken to her?”

“We’ve texted a little,” Lawrence said, which wasn’t a complete lie. It wasn’t exactly true either, but he had messaged her and she had responded.

Jason ordered the pork nachos and the doughnut holes, got up and selected his club, and stepped over to the green. Lexie ordered colas and a BLT before the waiter turned to Lawrence. He got his drink as well as the poached eggs with ham before meeting Lexie’s eyes.

“I’m sorry about Maizee,” Lexie said.

“Me too,” Lawrence said, an idea occurring to him. “You guys…I mean, you didn’t get together right away.”

Jason turned, this conversation obviously better than trying to hit a golf ball into a target. “No, we didn’t,” he said. “Lexie wouldn’t allow it.” He grinned at her and returned to the table, leaning down to kiss her along the forehead.

“That’s not true,” Lexie said. “There were issues.”

“Every couple has them,” Jason said. “She’ll come back to you.”

“Maybe.” Lawrence didn’t know what else to do. It had been eight weeks since Maizee had said she needed time to be alone. The holidays were approaching, and Lawrence had spent plenty of them by himself and he didn’t want to do it again.

“You really like her?” Jason asked.

“Obviously,” Lexie said. “I mean, look at him.”

“Look at me?” Lawrence watched his friends. “What do I look like?”

“Like you’re in love with her,” Lexie said. “Which is fine, Lawrence. People fall in love. You don’t need to be embarrassed about it.”

“I’m not embarrassed about it.”

“Does she know?” Jason asked.

Lawrence shook his head. “No, I didn’t know until a couple of weeks ago.” He pushed out his breath, glad when the food arrived and the conversation stalled. He cleared his throat. “But the case at work was settled. Dismissed, actually. Closed.”

“That’s great.” Lexie smiled at him.

Lawrence nodded and said, “Yeah, it is. The branch manager in Lanai has been replaced, and the committee ruled that neither Maizee nor I did anything wrong. So that’s good.”

“Really good,” Jason agreed. “Look, man, you’ve just got to maybe go after what you want. You know? If you love this woman, go tell her.”

“What if it drives her away?” He looked to Lexie for the answer, because while she had a good head for money and finance too, she was also a woman and would likely speak from the heart.

“No woman I know minds when a handsome man shows up and says he loves her.” Lexie gave him an encouraging smile.

“You think he’s handsome?” Jason asked.

“Oh, come on.” Lexie laughed. “Look at him. He’s drop-dead gorgeous. Any woman with even one eye would drool over him.”

Lawrence gaped at Lexie. “I asked you out once. You said no.”

Lexie shrugged, a smile all the way up in her eyes. “I didn’t think you were my type.”

“A drop-dead gorgeous man isn’t your type?” Jason asked, his voice straying up into a different octave.

Lawrence laughed at the teasing glint in Lexie’s eyes. “Oh, come on, man. I knew why she rejected me. She was already in love with someone else.”

“Who?” they asked together, looking at one another.

“Duh,” Lawrence said, rolling his eyes and picking up his fork to start in on the eggs.

“It was me, right?” Jason asked, chuckling.

“Duh,” Lexie said before kissing him, and Lawrence usually didn’t mind when they showed how much they loved each other in front of him. But this time, all it did was remind him of how lonely he was. How empty his life had been these last eight weeks, though he’d attempted to fill it with adventures and anything but indoor activities.

And how all he had was a giant penthouse apartment to go home to.