When It's Love by Bella Andre, Lucy Kevin Page B

looked like him, but who had been so thoughtful time and time again? Yet, she knew better than to let herself be tempted by not only this offer of dinner, but by all the other adventures that she could already sense he would want to take her on simply because that was who he was at his core.
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    The look he gave her as they set the kayak down was full of questions about why she continued to push him away when they clearly had such great chemistry. Questions she wasn't at all prepared to answer because she was afraid they would reveal far too much.
    But instead of asking her any of those questions, he simply said, “Soon, I hope, you will think it's a good idea.”
    Flustered by his clear message that he wasn't giving up on her, even if he was going to let her refusal of his dinner invitation go tonight, she tried not to let it show as she politely asked him, “Can I give you a ride back to my grandmother’s house?”
    “I need to chat with the crew for a bit, but thank you for coming out with me on the kayak today. It really helped.” He put his hand over hers. “And I really appreciate you taking a risk on me.”
    Even though she found she didn't like to imagine anyone else having fun with him out on the ocean, she said, “Hopefully, Morgan will be back on her feet by the time your next segment comes around.” It wasn't easy to pull her hand away from his, but she made herself do it. “Good-bye, Nicholas.”
    A few minutes later, when she got back to her car, the only reason Rachel didn’t leave tire tracks behind as she set off for home was because driving off at a high speed wouldn’t have been safe. Although right then, the truth was that nothing felt particularly safe anymore.
    Particularly the way she was feeling about the surfer with the sweet and sexy smile...

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    “We'll just add one last touch with the bow in the front of your dress,” Rachel said that evening as she tied the satin ribbon into place on Charlotte's pink party dress. “Gorgeous!”
    “Why do we need to look so pretty, Mommy?”
    “Tonight’s a very special night. All your aunts are going to be there, and Michael, Brian and Joel, and so are Grandpa Tres and Great-Grandma Ava.”
    Every year, the whole family met up for a big fall dinner, usually not long after Rachel’s father had returned from leading his educational tours through Europe and was back teaching at the high school. It was the one time you could guarantee that all of the Walkers would be in the same room at the same time, with Morgan coming in from New York when she had lived there and Hanna taking the ferry in from Seattle.
    Tonight, Rachel had decided they would walk to Grams' house as she wanted to have a glass or two of wine with her family and she wasn’t going to risk driving afterward.
    “Is Aunt Hanna's hair still pink?”
    “I'm sure it's some bright color,” Rachel said with a laugh. “In any case, we'll find out for sure soon.”
    “Can I have pink hair?”
    Rachel smiled at her daughter's question, one she'd known was coming. “I think your hair looks very pretty as it is.”
    “Will Nicholas be there?”
    He wasn’t family, but Grams always loved to include her houseguests in whatever events were happening while they were on the island. Still, Rachel said, “I don't know,” because she didn't want to get Charlotte's hopes up, especially when her daughter was clearly hoping that he would be at the party. But he'd been too busy partying to have dinner with her grandmother and sisters the previous night, hadn't he?
    They stopped for a few minutes to watch a butterfly, and by the time they arrived at Grams', Paige was at the door waiting for them. For once, she wasn’t wearing dance gear, although she was still dressed in the elegantly understated way she favored.
    “Rachel, Charlotte, there you are. The others just arrived, as well.”
    Charlotte rushed forward to hug her aunt. Before she’d