Page 23 of Just My Luck

“That’s a good school.”

The surprise in his voice had her raising an eyebrow. “You’re surprised?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Because I’m working at the resort?” She shrugged and sat down tailor-style in the armchair facing him. “You do what you gotta do. Anyway, I never graduated. Ran out of money, and I missed the island. Why are you working there?”

The sudden shift to him being on the hot seat startled him. “Apparently I’m not working there anymore. Got a message that I won’t be needed tomorrow, or ever.”

“I’m really sorry about that.” Her eyes, wide and slightly tilted, met his over the rim of her glass. Her eyes are full of dreams, he thought, nonsensically. As if she could see into another world.

Get a grip, he scolded himself. She’s a pretty girl, but that didn’t mean he had to make a fool of himself.

“I tried so hard to make him change his mind,” Zara went on. “I told him that you’d saved a little boy. I even tried blackmail because I happen to know that he’s cheating on his girlfriend. Unfortunately I’m behind on my gossip because it turned out they already broke up. I might have made things worse, and I’m on thin ice myself there. I’m sorry.”

He waved her off. “It really doesn’t matter. Don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m glad I was there for Eddie.”

Honestly, it had shocked him how good it made him feel. He’d never taken anyone to an emergency room before. It turned out that helping Eddie—with his gap-toothed smile and goofy chatter—had warmed his heart. How many other parts of life had he missed while he’d been focused on building his business empire?

“I’m glad, too, and it actually gave me an idea.” A light sparked in her eyes. He got the feeling that her family probably knew that look, the “I have an idea you’re either going to love or hate” look. “But first, I have some questions for you. Do you have kids of your own?”

“No.”

“A wife? A family?”

“Not at the moment.”

She raised one eyebrow.

“Two ex-wives,” he answered reluctantly. That sounded terrible, he knew. “One was right after high school, the other was an impulsive mistake that we fixed six weeks later.”

He wasn’t proud of that. But maybe he just wasn’t cut out for intimate relationships. A man had to be honest about his strengths and weaknesses.

“I wasn’t a good husband,” he told Zara now. Her eyes were getting wider with each word he spoke. “But for the record, I never cheated or did anything harmful. I just…didn’t pay enough attention.” He took refuge in a long sip of wine.

Not the best wine he’d ever tasted, but it was light and crisp, with an undertone of apple. And forevermore, it would remind him of sitting here in this casually messy living room with several brightly colored surfboards propped in one corner and a pile of DVDs stacked next to a bowl of fresh tangerines on the kitchen island. One wall was covered with swirls of purple paint. A set of “Go Fish” featuring the names of Hawaiian fish was strewn across the coffee table, which was made of carved koa wood.

“I’m not one to judge,” Zara was saying. “I’m lucky if I can make a relationship last six months. But for my purposes, it’s sort of convenient that you’re currently between marriages.”

He lifted an eyebrow at her. “How, exactly, is my marital history convenient for you?”

She laughed as she sipped her wine. “Wow, you sound so suspicious. Don’t worry, I’m not about to propose. Well, I am, actually, in a way. I have a proposal that might solve a problem for both of us.”

“I have a problem?”

“Didn’t you just lose your job?”

Oh, right. He should probably pretend to care more about that. “Yes. I am unemployed, that’s true. Employment-challenged.”

Another smile flitted across her face. “You know, I’ve been trying to figure you out. You’re not a typical resort gardener, are you?”

“Um…” Again he went for the wine, but she waited patiently while he swallowed. “Never believe in stereotypes.”

“The only stereotype I’m talking about is that most gardeners know about plants,” she said dryly. “They don’t have to borrow people’s phones to look up plumeria.”

Damn that Benito. He should never have trusted him. He took another big mouthful of wine.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe.” She waved her hand as if it was a magic wand making all his troubles disappear.