In his old job, Luke dealt with this sort of thing all the time—stockholders with unrealistic deadline expectations who demanded the product they’d funded be released for sale, whether it was ready or not. As long they kept paying him to fix the inevitable bugs, Luke didn’t care. He didn’t like it, and he certainly didn’t enjoy it, but it didn’t bother him.

This, however, bothered him. Luke needed the launch of this project to be perfect. Or at least as perfect as was possible when dealing with the incredibly unpredictable human element. He’d always found code much easier to work with than people, but now this reviewer was thrown into the mix. He’d have to find out who the person was so he could make sure they were having the best time possible, to ensure they would give the best review possible.

Closing his eyes, Luke imagined his problems as a row of dominoes. If he lined them up, he could control how they fell. One after another in a tidy procession. Click, click, click.

Eyes still closed, he kept walking. Over the past year, he’d been up and down this path hundreds upon hundreds of times. It was his favorite place on the whole resort. He could walk it blindfolded. Backward. In his sleep. He inhaled the fresh lake breeze, a little calmer now. The dominoes tumbled more slowly. Click. Click. Cli—

“Ouch!” A voice, surprised and feminine, collided with Luke’s thoughts as his shin made contact with something hard.

What the—

Mental dominoes scattered as Luke stumbled backward, a warm solid weight falling with him, landing on top of him in the sand.

“Oof.”

Had he made that sound? He opened his eyes, his view of the sky above marred by a tangle of bright hair. Not red, not blond, not brown either, but some mix of all three. The strangely colored locks blowing across his face smelled rich and inviting. Like that first breath of freshly brewed coffee when you step inside a café. And it was soft, so silky soft against his cheek.

These details skipped across the surface of his thoughts in rapid succession, like pebbles skipping across a lake, leaving ripples in their wake. Just as things began to settle down, an elbow caught him square in the ribs and sent his thoughts flying again.

“Oof!”

This time Luke was sure he’d been the one making that sound. The woman was struggling to get up, and as she tried to stand, she continued to poke and jab him in uncomfortable places. For someone who was so soft, she sure had a lot of sharp, pointy angles. Luke rolled sideways, depositing her in the sand next to him. He stood and offered her his hand.