“What? No,” Julia sputtered. She hadn’t been. But now that Andie mentioned it, Julia couldn’t resist scanning the room once more.

“You probably won’t recognize him with his shirt on,” Andie teased.

“He was wearing a shirt when I first saw him.”

“Was he now?” Andie purred. “Then how did his shirt come off?”

“Whose shirt is off?” Kat asked. “What are we talking about?”

“Julia’s meet-cute mystery man.”

“He’s not a mystery man. He said his name is Luke.”

“Is he part of this thing?” Kat studied the crowd. As if she’d be able to recognize someone she’d never seen before.

“I think so. He said he was staying at the resort.”

“Did he?” Andie challenged. “You asked, but I don’t recall him answering,”

“He walked back to the hotel with us.”

“Yeah, and then took off like a bat out of hell as soon as we got here.” Andie dropped her voice. “Maybe he’s a fugitive or something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Julia snorted. “Wrong movie genre.”

Andie leaned toward Kat, hand cupped over her mouth as she whispered in an exaggerated tone, “When I found them together, Jules looked like she was just about to kiss him.”

“I was not just about to kiss him.” Had I been about to kiss him? Julia replayed that moment on the beach, the way his gaze had drifted to her lips, gray eyes focused, so intense that a shiver had run down her spine. She swallowed. “Okay, maybe I was thinking about kissing him.”

“And I did mention he was half-naked, right?” Andie added.

“Oh my God, he wasn’t naked. He just had his shirt off,” Julia corrected, exasperated.

“Sounds very romantic to me,” Kat cooed. She placed her elbows on the bar, chin in her hands, lashes fluttering up at Julia in feigned flirtation.

“His shirt was off because a bird had just taken a crap on it.”

“Oh.” Kat wrinkled her nose and straightened. “That’s not so romantic.”

“It wasn’t romantic.” Julia pictured the moment with Luke on the beach. “It was funny, and a little strange.” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Though there was something sweet about it too,” she admitted.

“Aw!” Kat cooed. “Andie’s right. This really does sound like a meet-cute straight out of a movie.”

“Maybe he’s not a guest but one of the actors,” Andie suggested.

“That would make sense, I guess.” Julia digested the idea, heart sinking. It figures. For the first time in her life she had unexpectedly met someone in a weird but delightful way that felt exactly like she’d imagined it would in a romantic comedy, and it would be just her Murphy’s Law brand of bad luck if the whole thing turned out not to be real after all.