he kept his chin lifted as he stared out ahead of himself.

Willow spent her days in the studio with men who dedicated their lives to molding their bodies and she firmly believed that male dancers were seriously underappreciated for having some of the most beautiful musculature of all the athletes in the world. At that point, she was willing to put Harry next to any of them and choose him hands down. Without realizing it, she found herself walking his way, running her hands through her ponytail to smooth back any fly-aways the wind had set free.

“Willow?” Harry slowed to a walk and squinted toward her. “What are you doing out here?”

“Same as you, it looks like.” She flared her hands and looked down at her sports bra and running shorts. “Gotta stay in shape, vacation or not.”

She watched his eyes travel her body, and noticed they lingered on her breasts and again on her thighs.

“Do you happen to know what time it is?” she asked, fighting a blush. “I have a hot date in a few hours I need to get ready for.”

A smile crinkled the corners of Harry’s eyes. “I imagine the guy preparing to hang out with the likes of you is feeling mighty nervous right about now. I mean, look at you. What could he possibly say to keep someone who looks like that—” he scanned her from head to toe again “—interested in him?”

“That’s funny, because I’m busy wondering how I can manage to keep him interested in me. He’s smart, and funny, and all kinds of hot. What’s he gonna see in boring old me?”

“Boring?! Ha!” Harry ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t imagine anyone calling you boring. Ever.”

With a head bob of agreement, she conceded the point. “This is true. I am pretty spectacular.”

“In all seriousness,” he said with a laugh. “Do you have anything in particular you’d like to do today?”

Willow wiped the sweat off her forehead as she pondered how easy it was to be around him. They fell into place like two pieces of a puzzle. “I was hoping you’d show me around Bliss. Maybe help me figure out what was wonderful enough about this place to steal my best friend from me.”

The sight of Harry with the ocean beyond his handsome face and bare torso gave Willow some idea of what might have gotten Juliet hooked on Bliss…

“I’m fairly sure you already met him, because I think you’re staying in his guestroom.” Harry winked, then put his hands on his hips and blew air out of his mouth, still trying to catch his breath. “I’ll definitely give you a tour, although that won’t take as much time as I’d like to spend with you. Maybe we could stop at Good Beginnings, Ellie and James’ cafe…? Get some coffee? Maybe some food?”

“That sounds wonderful!” An idea popped into Willow’s head. “Do you think there’ll be time to run some errands before Good Beginnings closes?”

Harry crinkled his forehead and shrugged. Apparently, errands didn’t rate high on his scale of acceptable date destinations. “They don’t close until three…?”

“I was thinking, if you don’t mind, maybe we could make some stops during my tour so I can put together a gift basket of morning sickness cures for Ellie. Unless that might be too weird. Getting a gift from a stranger.” She crossed her arms and chewed on her pinky nail as Harry beamed.

“I don’t think she’d find it weird at all. In fact, that’s super cool of you. If you still think you’ll be ready at one o’clock, we’ll have plenty of time to go shopping before the café closes.”

The prospect of doing something nice for someone had Willow extra excited about the afternoon and she hoped Harry felt the same. “And that brings us right back to our original question,” she said. “Do you happen to know what time it is?”

“No clue. But you should definitely turn back now. From what I hear, the guy you’re meeting is big on punctuality.”

“I get that about him. And I can totally respect it.”

With a little wave and a wide smile, Willow turned around and started the jog back to Juliet’s, the fatigue she’d been fighting moments before completely gone.

Chapter Ten

Willow

On the jog home, Willow might as well have been carried over the sand by fairies. By the time her feet thumped across the deck into Juliet’s house, her stomach gurgled hungrily. She’d be a fool to eat, though. Putting food into a stomach as excited as hers would spell certain disaster.

Instead, she took a quick shower, then chose a floor-length sundress and paired it with sandals and a light sweater to cover the camisole straps. Not fully satisfied with what she saw in the mirror, she added some chunky bracelets and long earrings. After a few minutes of indecision, she let her hair air dry to give it more body, then wandered downstairs around noon and found Juliet drinking coffee and studying papers strewn across the table, twirling a pen in her fingers.

“Oh man, is there any coffee left?” Willow’s stomach rumbled again, but if Harry was going to take her out to eat in an hour, then she’d need to conserve her calories. Who knew if there were healthy options on the menu at Good Beginnings?

“Just made a fresh pot.” Juliet gestured to the carafe on the counter. “Help yourself. There’s cream in fridge, all kinds of yummy flavors if you want, and sugar in the jar over there.”

“No, thanks. If I’m going to drink my calories, I’ll do that with wine tonight at dinner.”

Juliet tapped her pen against the table and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Willie. Calories don’t cross state lines. You know that.”

Willow widened her eyes in mock surprise. “For real? You mean this whole time I’ve been worrying about getting down to performance weight and it was all for nothing?” She poured herself a cup of coffee—black, of course—and took a seat next to Juliet.

“You look

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