“That’s a great idea. You should go for it.”
Harold shrugged. “I would, but then I have to worry about all kinds of other things. To be honest, I’m not sure how to market a business like that or where I would get health insurance. Stupid stuff like that.”
Felicity sized him up. “I think you’d figure it out.”
He shot her a grin. “Yeah?”
“Give yourself some credit. You look quite intelligent.”
Harold seemed pleased that she’d complemented him. “Thanks.” He ran his hand through the sand. “That was quite the storm last night, wasn’t it?”
Felicity inwardly shuddered. “It blew something through my kitchen window.”
“Seriously? It broke through the glass?”
“Yes. I think it was a signpost.” Maybe even the one Aiden had walked into. He probably loosened it. The thought made Felicity smile, but then she felt stupid smiling that a signpost went through her window, so she dropped it.
“That’s insane. I don’t think there was any damage to my villa. But the wind was sure blowing stuff around.” He glanced back at the resort. “I heard a ton of shingles blew off the restaurant roof. I wonder how hard it is to get something like that fixed around here? This is pretty remote.”
Maybe that’s what Aiden was helping with. Repairing the damage to the roof. She realized she was grinding her teeth and made a conscious effort to stop. “I don’t know.”
Harold seemed fidgety. He continued to play with the sand. “What do you like to do in your spare time? Oh, wait. Let me guess.” He studied her. “You’re a big gamer, aren’t you? RPG? Cosplay?”
Felicity wrinkled her nose. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“Ah, well, a guy can dream, can’t he?”
What was she supposed to say to that? “Uh, sure?”
He laughed and looked out, scanning the shoreline. He tapped his knee absentmindedly. “You busy tonight?”
Felicity stiffened. She should have known he was going to go there. What else was he doing, sitting next to a woman on the beach? But she wasn’t sure how to answer him. She glanced up at her villa. Aiden still hadn’t come. What was she going to do? Wait around all day for him? The thought that Aiden would expect her to made her angry. Suddenly she did want to go out with this guy.
Harold winced. “You’re not here by yourself, are you? Man, I just stepped in it big time, I can tell.”
“No,” she hurried to say, turning back to Harold. “I’m alone. And I’m not doing anything tonight.” There. She’d said it. She was an adult and could make plans with a man if she wanted to. Aiden was off doing who knows what. He stood her up. It would serve him right if he were to come over tonight and she had already made plans.
Harold’s face lit up. “Great. Want to have dinner with me?”
“Sure.”
His grin stretched wide. “All right.” He leaned back. “Fantastic.”
Felicity hid a smile. He was kind of a funny man. Maybe dinner with Harold wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It would take her mind off Aiden, who’d left her hanging once again. It’s what he did. What he would always do.
The sun peeked through the clouds and she shielded her eyes with her hand. “Have you lived in Arkansas your whole life?”
“Nah. I grew up in California. Most of the guys in my class were beach bums. I know it’s surprising that I wasn’t in with the surfer crowd, given my physique.” He motioned to his skinny chest and thin legs, and Felicity smiled.
“You were president of the chess club, weren’t you?”
Harold threw his head back and laughed. “Mathletes, actually.”
“Mathletes? That’s hilarious.”
He huffed on his knuckles and rubbed his imaginary shirt. “Yeah, we were the cool kids. Everyone wanted to come cheer us on during our competitions.”
“My ex was really into math.” The words were out before she could stop them.
He eyed her. “Yeah?”
“He actually owns this place.” What was wrong with her? Why was she talking about Aiden?
He squinted at her. “Wait, your ex-boyfriend owns this resort? And he hired you to come take pictures?”
She wanted to stuff a fistful of sand in her mouth to stop herself from talking anymore. But now that she’d started, she couldn’t just ignore his question. “His grandmother actually hired me. I think she’s trying to push us back together. But it won’t work. He’s a workaholic. The reason I left him was because his work was always more important than me. And here I am, sitting alone on the beach because he’s out working on the resort.”
She could see the wheels turning in Harold’s head. He brushed sand off his hands. “You know, if you and your ex are in the middle of something, I don’t want to get in the way.”
Now she’d done it. “No,” she quickly said. “We’re not in the middle of anything. Believe me. That’s long past. In fact, it would be good for me to go out with you. Get my mind off him.”
He seemed to study her, then a smile crept onto his face. “I think I could help you out there.”
She held back a laugh. Harold was funny and a bit charming, even if he was a total geek.
He reached down and picked up a seashell. “How long did you date this guy?”
“Five years.”
“That’s some history.”
Felicity didn’t want to tell him how involved their history had been. They’d almost married. And even now, her heart longed for what they used to have. But that was stupid, and she had to get her thoughts away from Aiden. Plus, Harold didn’t need to know any of that, so she changed the subject. “How long will you be here?”
“Just until Sunday.”
“Me too.” Why did the thought of leaving depress Felicity? She shook it off.
A tone sounded and Harold pulled his phone out of his pocket. Felicity reached to check hers and realized it wasn’t sitting on the towel like she’d thought. She must have left it up in her villa. Oh, no. What if Aiden had been trying to call?
Felicity mentally smacked herself. What was wrong with her? Why was she insisting on torturing herself over Aiden? She needed to stop. He was always going to be the same guy. Nothing would change. A sudden restlessness came over her.
She looked up at Harold, who had put his phone away. “Want to take a walk on the beach? I think I need to stretch my legs.”
His eyebrows rose. “Sure.”
She pulled on her lacy cover up and stood, slipping into her sandals. “Hopefully we won’t get another storm like last night.”
“No kidding,” he said as he folded up his lounge chair. “I think we’ll be fine. I checked the weather this morning and it looks good.” He pointed up to his villa. “Do you mind if I put this away?”
Felicity folded her towel. “That’s fine. I’ll walk with you.”
The clouds parted and the sun shone as they walked up the path to Harold’s deck. He set the chair down. “If you want to leave your towel here, you can.”
“Thanks.” Felicity draped the towel over the railing. She followed him out along the beach. Her sandals sank into the powdery sand as they walked.
“Did you grow up in a large family?” Harold asked.
“No. I’m an only child. Mom died when I was a kid, so it was Dad and me growing up.”
“Sounds lonely. I’m the first of five kids, so there was never any isolation at my house. That’s probably why I’m fine coming on a vacation by myself.” He gave her a wide grin.
“Five? That’s a lot of kids.”
“All boys. My parents always joked that they weren’t going to stop until we had a full basketball team.”
Felicity laughed. “I bet it was crazy at your house.”
“Yeah. I’d say. There were never any shortages of fart jokes around. But we all got along well. For the most part. We had our own D&D tournaments.” Harold went into talking about his brothers and their gaming. Most of it went over Felicity’s head.
Harold stood silent and cocked his head. “Yeah. Where is it coming from?”
Felicity walked toward the trees that lined the beach. “Somewhere in there.”
A scratching noise sounded, and then a bark. Harold pointed. “There.”
A piece of wood stuck up from the sand. Harold grabbed onto it and tugged. It was a large piece of plywood that had been covered in sand. As soon as he lifted it, a little Maltese dog ran out from under it.
The poor thing looked ragged, and Felicity bent to pick her up. “Mabel? Is that you?”
“You know this dog?”
Mabel barked and then panted while Felicity held her close. “Yeah. She’s Aiden’s dog.”
Chapter 11
Aiden’s heart broke with every step back to his villa. Mabel was nowhere to be found. And with each broken tree branch or piece of siding he saw, he feared his dog had not survived the night.
As he approached the deck behind his villa, a vision of Mabel curled up on her favorite deck chair popped into his head and he sprinted up the wooden steps. Holding his breath, he walked toward the chair.
Empty.
He exhaled and sat, sure he was going to break down at any moment. A shuffling noise came onto the deck. Grams. She wore a long housedress and held a cup of something out to him. “No luck?”
He took the mug and sipped the steamy coffee. He shook his head, afraid of what his voice would sound like.
Grams dragged a chair next to him and joined him. “Have you talked to Felicity?”
“No. She didn’t answer her phone.”
“So, she doesn’t know?”
He shook his head again then let his shoulders fall. Another thing he’d screwed up today. Felicity probably hated him right now.
Grams patted his leg. “You’d better go talk to her.”
“I know.” He should have walked to her villa instead of going home. It’s just he had hoped Mabel would be—
A bark sounded and he shot out of his chair. “Mabel?” he called. He set his coffee mug on the glass table and ran to the railing. Felicity was walking toward his villa, Mabel in her arms. Relief poured over Aiden and he ran down the steps.
Felicity set the squirming Mabel down and she ran to him, barking and wagging her tail. Aiden bent down and picked her up. Mabel licked his face. He checked her over for any injuries but didn’t see any. “I can’t believe you found her. I was so worried.”
“Yeah, she was trapped under some plywood,” a man said.
Aiden realized for the first time that Felicity wasn’t alone, and a few things hit him at once. Felicity was wearing a swimsuit, a sexy cover-up, and had her hair pinned so she looked like a model. The man with her wore shorts, no shirt, and was standing too close to be a passerby. And suddenly he wanted to grab Felicity and pull her to him, but he pressed his lips together and tempered that thought. “Where did you find her?”
“She wasn’t too far down the beach from our villas.” Felicity motioned.
“Our villas?” Aiden gave the man another once over. What had happened this morning?
“This is Harold. He’s staying in the villa next to mine. Harold, this is Aiden...we went to the same high school.”
Ouch. He’d been downgraded from ex-fiancé to high school acquaintance. Felicity must be more than mad. She must be furious. Aiden stuck out his hand. He didn’t mean to squeeze so hard, but when Harold winced, he let go. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah. You too.” Harold shifted. “Well, we, uh...just wanted to bring your dog to you.”
Aiden gave Mabel one last pat on the head and set her on the ground. Mabel barked and ran up the deck stairs. “So, you two are...?” He let the question hang.
Felicity hesitated. “We were just taking a walk.”
Meaning, together. The two of them. Aiden tried not to grind his teeth. “I see.”
His relief over Mabel being okay was dwarfed by his annoyance that Felicity was at his villa with another man. What was going on? He was a couple of hours late so she decided to meet other men? Yes, he messed up this morning, but she could have called or come to check on what the emergency was. How could she just dump the plans they’d made?
This was yet another thing that proved to him he and Felicity were not meant to be. He couldn’t be with a woman who didn’t allow for anything to ever go wrong.
Grams came down the deck stairs, a smile on her face. “Well, hello, Felicity. So nice to see you again. And who’s your friend?”
Felicity accepted Gram’s hug. “This is Harold. Harold, this is Phoebe.”
He shook Phoebe’s hand. “We were just walking along the beach when we heard Mabel trying to dig her way out from under the plywood.”
“Oh, dear me.” Grams put her hand at the base of her neck. “I’m so glad you walked by at that moment. Aiden’s been worried sick, searching the whole resort all morning.”
Felicity stared at him. “You weren’t off working on the resort?”
“No. And I’m sorry. I know I was supposed to meet you at ten.” He didn’t like the way she was looking at him. Like he’d disappointed her yet again. In his defense, he added, “I did try to call though.”
Oops, wrong thing to say. Felicity’s gaze hardened. “I had my phone with me all morning. When you hadn’t bothered to show up or call by ten thirty, I went out to the beach. That’s where I met Harold.” She motioned to him.
Grams put her arm around Felicity. “Well, come inside, dear. I have some of your favorite cookies, fresh out of the oven.”
Grams had been baking? Of course. She knew Felicity couldn’t resist her recipe. And, as if on cue, Felicity raised her eyebrows and took a step toward the house. “You didn’t.”
“Yes. Extra chunky chocolate chip cookies.”
Felicity pulled Harold toward the stairs. “Come on, you have to try these.”
Grams opened the glass door and waved Felicity and Harold inside. Then she shot Aiden a frown. “You left her alone all morning? After spending the night at her place?” Grams hissed.
“Grams! It wasn’t like that.” Heat surged up his neck. What did his grandmother think?
“You’d better mend things between you,” she said before entering the house and plastering on a smile. She grabbed Felicity’s arm. “Come into the kitchen with me. You can help me serve them up.”
Aiden slid the patio door shut and stood there in the family room with Harold, who shifted his weight and fidgeted with the pockets on his shorts. He looked over at the painting hanging above the mantle. “Nice place you have here.”
“Thanks.”
“So...you and Felicity go way back.” Harold eyed him.
“Yes. We do.” Aiden folded his arms and took a closer look at Harold. He had this lovable geek look going for him. He suddenly hated geeks.
Harold swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Look, I don’t want to—.”
Felicity walked into the room carrying a tray of cookies. “Harold, you have to try these. You’ll love them.”
Grams followed her in, and when Harold wasn’t looking, she began wildly motioning with her hands, mouthing something Aiden couldn’t understand. He held up his hands in a surrender position. Felicity raised her head and Grams hid her motions by smoothing out her hair. “So, Harold, what brings you to Belize?”
“Just taking a vacation.” He bit into a cookie. “Man, these are great.”
“Thank you.” Grams gave Aiden a meaningful look, but he still didn’t know what she wanted so he shrugged in response. Grams tossed him a dirty look before turning back to Harold. “You know, Harold, I was just talking to Aiden and we have some extra excursion tickets for this afternoon. If you want to go on one, I think the jungle excursion leaves in a few minutes.”
Aiden inwardly groaned. He hadn’t told his grandmother about the plans he’d messed up.
Felicity’s head snappe
d up. “You mean the one Aiden was going to take me on?”
Grams seemed taken aback for a second, then she recovered. “Yes. I suppose that’s the one.”
“I need to take some pictures today. I’ll go with Harold on the excursion. Will it get back before dinner? We have plans.”
Nice. Grams really should keep to her own business. This was not what Aiden wanted. And yet, what did he think he wanted? To get back together with Felicity? He knew she would never forgive him for the past. Maybe it was best if she went out with Harold, fell in love, got married and had little geek babies. They could drive little smart cars and...he shook the thoughts from his head. He was getting carried away.
But if Felicity went out with Harold, maybe Grams would stop shoving him together with her. He could lie low the next few days until she was gone. That could work, right?
The more he thought about it, the more it appealed to him. “Yes, the bus will get back around six.”
“You know, I’d really like that,” Harold said. “What time does the bus leave? We need to change.”
Grams shot Aiden a desperate look.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. Grams couldn’t say anything because this was her fault. She’d just have to accept it. “I think they leave after lunch, so you should have some time.”
His grandmother glared at him while Harold nodded. He seemed thrilled to get an excursion for free.
Aiden took a step toward the back room. “I’ll go get you some tickets.”
He walked down the hallway to the office. The extra excursion tickets were in the top drawer. He pulled two out and wrote in the date and time. On his way back, he bumped into Grams.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
He shrugged. “If Felicity wants to date this yahoo, I’m not going to stand in her way.” He pushed his way past her and into the family room. He handed Harold the tickets. “Here you go.”
Harold grinned. “Thanks.”
Grams glided across the room. “It was nice meeting you, darling.” She swept Harold into a hug before doing the same to Felicity. She put her arms around the two of them as she guided them to the door. What was she up to? She was acting weird. She doted on them a few minutes before sliding open the glass door and practically shoving them out.
Her Big Fat Dreamy Billionaire Ex Page 7