Free Summer on Lovers' Island by Donna Alward

Lizzie today when she’d done nothing to deserve it. All because she’d made a simple comment about his truck and he’d gotten all up in arms about her elitism.
    He was in the middle of a ladder golf game with his nephew, Matt, when she walked in with Dave and Charlie. Charlie looked refreshed—they’d likely gone home after the game to change—and Lizzie had dressed up as well, in a flowery sundress with a light sweater draped over her arm. She’d let her hair down, and soft curls touched her shoulders. Josh watched as Jess went over and said something to Lizzie and she smiled, popping a dimple he hadn’t realized she possessed.
    Because she hadn’t had much cause to smile at him, had she?
    â€œHey, Uncle Josh. It’s your turn. Quit staring at the girls.”
    He looked down at his nephew, who was grinning up at him cheekily. “What do you know about it, short stuff?” Josh looked at the ladder and noticed two of Matt’s throws had scored three points each. “Damn. No fair. I was distracted.”
    â€œToo bad, so sad,” Matt answered.
    When the game finished, Matt went off to meet up with a couple of his friends to play fetch with Rick’s dog and Josh wandered over to the snack table. His contribution to the day was chips and salsa, but he’d made an attempt to be festive and bought red, white, and blue corn tortilla chips. Apparently Sarah’s need to have every food group represented was quashed today, since the other offerings included chips and dip and pretzel twists.
    From the corner of his eye he saw Lizzie, holding a glass full of something that was a greenish yellow and looked very citrusy and refreshing. She put the straw to her lips and took a sip of her drink, not a hair or thread out of place.
    He’d had time to think about her on his way home from the game this afternoon, think about why she set him on edge so often. It was the two Cs: Competence and Class. Lizzie had them in abundance. Erin had them as well. And he’d spent a good part of his marriage feeling like he wasn’t good enough. Part of it was because of where Erin came from. The other part came from knowing that deep down his wife had really been in love with another man. Lizzie made him feel the same way. Like she was way out of his league. It was hard on a man’s ego.
    As if she felt him staring at her, she looked over and met his gaze. She smiled and gave a little wave before turning back to her conversation. To his surprise, she put her hand on Sarah’s arm and seemingly excused herself. His pulse sped up as he realized she was coming his way, his palms started to sweat, and he wondered why on earth it should matter at all. She was his coworker, for Pete’s sake. He was technically her boss. He shouldn’t feel this way … like the unpopular kid on the sidelines of the gym, wondering if the girl walking toward him was going to ask him to dance.
    â€œHey,” she said softly as she caught up with him.
    â€œHey yourself.” Why the hell was he so nervous? “You look nice.”
    She looked down for a moment. “Um, thanks. I wasn’t sure what the dress code was for this sort of thing.”
    He realized she was the only one wearing a dress. “Things tend to be casual around here. My mom hasn’t worn a dress since Jess’s wedding, I don’t think, and the girls…” He looked sideways, then back up at Lizzie. “Jess tells me that she hates dresses right now.”
    Lizzie took a sip of her drink. “Your sister is beautiful, Josh. Almost eight months pregnant and rockin’ the boyfriend jeans look. I don’t know another pregnant woman who could pull that off.”
    Boyfriend jeans? Before he could ask what that meant, he heard Lizzie apologizing.
    â€œJosh, I’m sorry about this afternoon. I didn’t mean to criticize.”
    He met her gaze evenly. “No, I should