Love in All the Right Places (Chick Lit bundle) by Chris Mariano, Agay Llanera, Chrissie Peria

second one as Yapak, but with a much wider shoreline than what he saw now. The third one was of White Beach; he could clearly identify the rocky outcropping on Balabag. All the drawings were signed by a C. Melchor, and all of them were dated. He took some pictures with his phone, vowing to check on them the first chance he got.
    “Genrose?” he asked tentatively. “Do you mind if I borrow these? I promise you, I will be very careful with them.”
    “I don’t know, Gio…” she hesitated.
    “I don’t have to take them now,” he assured her. “But I’d like to find out who this woman is. Having these sketches would certainly help. Just think it over and let me know, okay? I can come back for them some other time and I’ll make sure I have the proper container for that.”
    Genrose nodded, walking them to the banca . “I’ll give you a call.”
    “Thank you again for your hospitality,” Gio told her before they boarded.
    Min Hee surprised him by shaking both Genrose’s and her husband Ben’s hands. “ Salamat ,” she said, trying out the language. She turned to Gio. “Is that how you say it?”
    “Out here we say ‘ saeamat ,’” Gio said, shaping the diphthong slowly so she could follow.
    She gave a valiant effort, Gio noted. Some of his cousins from Manila who couldn’t speak the dialect had trouble with the sound. Arianne didn’t even want to try. It took Min Hee a few tries before she just laughed and gave up.  But then she slipped Genrose a folded table napkin.
    “It’s not much,” Min Hee said. “Just a sketch.”
    But the older woman looked delighted. “You didn’t have to! Thank you! Now I have my own sketch, like Lolo.” Genrose held up the napkin for the others to see.
    On it, Min Hee had caught Genrose in a smile, her eyes animated. It wasn’t like the cartoon doodle she had made of him. This was done realistically, with bold strokes that outlined her features and shaded them when she could. Min Hee was able to capture Genrose’s likeness in just a short amount of time, and even if he was no art expert, Gio was very impressed.
    “I will treasure this,” Genrose was saying.
    Min Hee didn’t say anything in reply, but her eyes were lit up. She waved to Genrose and Ben before boarding the banca . He wanted to ask her about the sketch. But when he climbed in after her, she slid her sunglasses over her eyes, hiding her expression from him.
    Every time Gio thought he had her figured out, she went and did something that would completely throw him. He liked knowing things. It was what he had studied most his life. He liked the order that it brought to him, peace in the predictability. But he had to admit that there was a strange part of him that was constantly fascinated by how one person—a stranger at that—could make him question so much about the life he thought he knew.
     

Chapter Seven
     
    “YOU KNOW, you can actually be pretty agreeable when you want to be,” he mused out loud, on their way back.
    “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Min Hee retorted. “Smart and charming. You must be such a hit with the ladies.”
    Gio tried to keep his expression serious. “I don’t know. Is that why you’re always around?”
    He turned just in time to see Min Hee open her mouth. But no words came out, only strange, strangled sounds. She opened and closed then opened it again. “You are infuriating,” she said finally, but she looked amused.
    “I’m also free,” Gio informed her.
    Min Hee pulled down her sunglasses to look at him with wide eyes. Gio belatedly replayed what he had just said. “I mean, I’m cheap. As a guide. You don’t have to pay me or anything. Not free like I’m single.”
    She just smirked.
    Gio had planned on ending the tour when the day ended. He remembered Min Hee mentioning that she had done this before so watching the sunset wasn’t new to her. But they were already on a boat in the middle of the sea anyway. It didn’t matter how many times