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And if he didn't? Well, his loss. I had muffins to bake and dances to perfect.

Chapter 6

Geri

By the time I finished my shift at the day spa, my shoulders were knotted with tension and my fake customer-service smile had been plastered on for so long my cheeks hurt. Six back-to-back appointments with Seabreeze Haven's wealthiest women had left me mentally drained and physically exhausted. All I wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep for about twelve hours straight.

Instead, I had a dinner shift at the Harborview to get through.

At least I had an hour break before I needed to be on the floor. Small mercies.

I trudged through the restaurant's back entrance, waving half-heartedly at Marco, the head chef, who was in the middle of what looked like an intense argument with one of the line cooks about the proper way to reduce a sauce.

James spotted me from across the kitchen and immediately abandoned whatever he was doing to intercept me before I could collapse at the small break table in the corner.

"You look like you've been through war," he said, steering me toward a stool. "Sit. I'm feeding you."

"I'm not hungry," I lied, just as my stomach betrayed me with an audible growl.

James raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. When's the last time you ate?"

I tried to remember. The cereal this morning? Had I actually finished it, or just pushed it around the bowl while checking my phone for messages that weren't there?

"That's what I thought," James said, interpreting my silence correctly. "Give me five minutes."

True to his word, he returned shortly with a plate that made my mouth water instantly. Baby octopus salad—my absolute favourite, and something that wasn't even on the menu. James had created it specifically for me after I'd mentioned once, in passing, how much I loved the dish at a restaurant in Sydney.

"You're too good to me," I said, already digging in.

"I know." He pulled up a stool across from me, watching with satisfaction as I devoured the food. "Someone has to make sure you don't waste away."

Between bites, I noticed he was scrolling through my phone. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Checking your social media presence," he said casually. "Which is, by the way, pathetically outdated. I was scrolling on my lunch break and noticed how sad your Facebook looked."

I rolled my eyes. "Some of us have actual jobs and don't have time to curate our online personas."

"Excuses, excuses." He turned the phone toward me. "Your bio still says you have a boyfriend, which you don't, and your location is still set to Sydney. Let's update this, baby, shall we? Let's reel in some men who decide to stalk you."

I laughed despite myself. "Update to what?"

"Well, for starters, let's delete this bio." He was already tapping away. "What should we put instead?"

"I don't know. 'Single woman seeks peace and quiet'?"

"Boring." He made a dismissive noise. "How about 'I like long walks on the beach'?"

"Generic."

"Fine. 'I like long walks on the beach and hiding in caves with big scary brown bears.'"

I nearly choked on a piece of octopus. "What?"

"Too much?" He grinned. "How about we add 'I hate the colour yellow and love to dance while wearing a tutu'?"

We went back and forth, suggesting increasingly ridiculous bio lines, each one more absurd than the last. By the time we settled on a final version, I was laughing so hard my sides hurt.

"There," James said triumphantly, showing me the result. "Perfect."