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Colton raises an eyebrow at me, his eyes darkening. I hope he doesn’t think I’m about to run off with another guy, because I’m not. I want nothing more than to disappear with him and kiss him all over, until we’re so exhausted, we fall asleep.

Maggie introduces us to her friends. God knows where she meets all these people. It’s like she’s met every single soul in this town and then some.

“Colton, this is Kitty, we met at the gym,” Maggie says with a smile as she pushes her brother toward the slim brunette. “Kitty, this is Colton. He loves a good workout.”

“I can tell,” she says, eyeing his biceps as if his arms are made of donut dough and she’s in the mood for a bite. I expect her to start drooling any moment and I can’t even blame her. Colton looks like a tasty dish.

They share an awkward handshake.

“Nice to meet you,” Colton says. “You met my sister at the gym? I didn’t even know she worked out.”

“Yeah, Maggie and I reached for the last sports drink.”

He laughs. “Sounds like the start of a cheesy movie.”

Maggie rolls her eyes at him before introducing me to a tall guy. “Ryan here’s a really swell guy. He fixed my tire last week. You two will have so much to talk about.”

I frown. I don’t know anything about tires or cars, but I guess she means well. I give him a polite nod and we all sit down.

Maggie has set herself up with someone called Kevin, a colleague’s friend. It doesn’t take too long before the two of them are deep in conversation with each other, and Colton and I are left to fend for ourselves.

“So, Elle, right? What do you do for a living?” Ryan asks.

I open my mouth to answer, but he beats me to it. “Wait, let me guess. Model? Shampoo influencer? It’s got something to do with beautiful looks, right?”

I catch Colton’s eye. He can hardly stop himself from laughing.

“Shampoo influencer?” I ask. “Is that even a thing?”

“Of course,” Colton says, breaking a piece off a loaf of bread the waiter put on the table after taking our order. “Don’t you know Claire Oil?”

Kitty frowns. “Claire Oil? Never heard of her to be honest, and I follow all the major influencers online.”

I cough to suppress a laugh. “Oh, Claire Oil, yeah, I know her. She’s big in France.”

“That’s right,” Colton says. “Elle just got back from a couple of years in France.”

Kitty opens her phone and starts typing. “I can’t find her on social media. Maybe I’m spelling her name wrong?”

“Well, it’s French, so could be,” I lie. “But to answer your question, no, I’m not a model of any sort. I work at the local amusement park, with Colton.”

Ryan looks impressed. “I’m sure you’re the princess, am I right?”

I bite my lip. “Sort of. I’m the princess of hot dogs.”

“Hot dogs?”

“Yeah, I serve hot dogs.”

Kitty throws me a sympathetic look, even though I don’t need any sympathy from her. “Doesn’t that… bother you? Smelling like hot dogs every day?” She says the words as if I told her I spend my days serving dog poop with a cherry on top.

“Elle doesn’t smell like hot dogs,” Colton says.

“How do you know?” Kitty asks. “Is that a thing you do at the park? Smell your colleagues?” She crinkles her nose as if she can actually smell hot dog meat on me right now.

I shake my head to convince myself this is not a nightmare. “Can we stop talking about how I smell? Every job has its good and bad sides.” I turn to Ryan. “I’m sure you smell like motor oil.”

He grins and pats himself on the chest. Literally. “Yeah, I do. And let me tell you, the ladies love it.”