“Sorry, no can do.” Julia laughed, the sound he loved tickling his chest. She rolled over to face him, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. Clearly, their recent activity had the opposite effect on her. “There’s a full day planned.”

“Fine,” he grumbled in good-natured defeat. “As long as it’s not more karaoke, I’m up for anything.”

She smiled. “Your singing wasn’t that bad.”

“See?” He matched her smile. “You admit it was bad.”

“I am curious, though.” She fiddled with the blankets. “Why that song?”

Luke wasn’t sure he could tell her what he’d told his sister, didn’t know how to explain it to Julia in a way that didn’t make him sound like a lovesick fool …

Because that’s exactly what he was.

“The song is about finding the courage to tell someone you like how you feel,” he admitted. “What it’s like to be near that person.”

“Head over heels,” Julia said, not quite singing the words, “when toe-to-toe.”

“That’s how I felt, the first time we met on the beach. Standing toe-to-toe in the sand with you…” Luke paused, struggling to get the words out. “I think I fell then.”

“Yeah, you fell.” Her voice had taken on a playful quality. “Literally.”

Luke’s mouth twitched. He reached for her hand, needing to touch her. “Are you saying you didn’t fall for me too?”

“No, I fell on you,” she corrected, clearly relishing teasing him.

He grinned and decided to deliver some teasing of his own. “You’ve had your karaoke serenade, but did I ever tell you what I picked for my bonus activity?”

“Eating cookies in bed?” she suggested.

He shook his head, mouth quirking as he grabbed the nearest squishy weapon and held it aloft, priming for battle. “Pillow fight.”

CHAPTER 22

JULIA

Tempting as Luke’s suggestion had been, Julia couldn’t spend the day in bed with him. It was bad enough that she ended up missing breakfast and Friday morning’s scheduled activities. At lunch, she casually milked her table for details, grateful to Patrick and David for providing a play-by-play of the horseback riding excursion. Julia had thought riding a horse along the beach at sunrise was about as romantic as it could get, but their entertaining commentary painted a picture that was definitely more com than rom.

Afterward, she and her friends headed to the resort kitchen. Julia adjusted the floppy puff of a pastry chef hat, pushing it out of her face. “These make us look like we’re in that candy factory episode of I Love Lucy.”

“I wish,” Andie grumbled. “Then I could eat mountains of chocolate.”

“You’ll have to settle for a mountain of cookies instead,” Julia said, halfheartedly punching a ball of dough. “Remind me why we signed up for this?”