“You’ll know it when you get there.”

She turned to face him. “Before Alex gets here, I want to apologize for earlier today.”

He frowned. “What about earlier today?”

“I was tired and cranky and bit your head off about some things.”

He stepped in closer and swept his hand over her hair. “I didn’t even notice. Don’t worry about it.”

She shivered at his touch. “Well, thanks for being kind about it, but I’m pretty good at knowing when I’m being a bitch.”

He laughed. “It’s a good trait to have, but honestly, it takes a lot to piss me off.”

“Also a good trait to have, Ben.”

“I think you live longer that way. How about we find you a drink and you can really relax?”

“That sounds like a great idea. Is Alex here?”

“I saw him around earlier with some of the other surfers. I’m sure we’ll run into him.”

He led her to the drink station—an entire bar set up under one of the tents.

“What would you like?”

“Something hard. I’m in the mood to drink tonight.”

He cocked his head to the side and gave her a grin. “My kind of woman. Two Jack Daniels—neat. And make them doubles.”

He handed her the glass.

She looked down at the amber liquid, then back at him. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“Maybe.” He clinked his glass against hers and downed his drink in one swallow.

She wouldn’t dare do that, though she was good at holding her liquor. After countless years having cocktails with team owners and athletes who outweighed her by hundreds of pounds, she had learned to either pace herself or drink with them. She took a couple of sips, letting the liquid burn its way down her throat.

Mmm, smooth. She finished the rest in two swallows, then asked the bartender for water.

Ben motioned to the bartender, who handed over a bottle of water, and two more shots.

Victoria turned to Ben. “You are trying to get me drunk.”

“Something tells me you can hold your own with a shot of whiskey.”

She smiled over the rim of the shot glass. “Maybe.”

She downed the drink. This one went down smoother than the first one. She handed the glass back to the bartender and opened her bottle of water to take a couple swallows, already feeling the warm mellowness of the whiskey making its way through her body.

It was getting crowded. The music had started up and everyone was headed toward the beach.

“Let’s go find Alex,” Ben said, sliding his hand into hers to guide her through the tight groups.

She liked his strong hand in hers, was still fascinated by the zing of attraction she felt for him. Her belly tumbled from the simple connection of their hands together. What was up with that? It certainly wasn’t lack of sex, because Alex was taking good care of her in that department.

Maybe it was because they were closer in age, or maybe it was because they had similar types of careers. She’d felt a kindred spirit in Ben. But she had no idea what the reason was and wasn’t about to take valuable vacation time dissecting it when this was her time to relax and enjoy herself.

He wound them through undulating bodies, where they found Alex talking to a couple girls. He turned to her and grinned.

“Hey, there you are.” He waved off the girls, then swept her into his arms and planted a hot kiss on her lips. “I’ve been wondering when you’d show up.”

“I’m starving,” Ben said. “Are you two up for some food?”

“I know I am,” Victoria said, looking at Alex.

“Sure. Let’s grab some grub and a table before all the food’s gone.”

They went to the tent where a feast of food had been set out. Victoria filled her plate and sat between Alex and Ben.

“You looked great out there today. Are you ready for tomorrow?” she asked Alex.

“Thanks. I’m stoked. I can’t wait for the competition to start. All this prep shit just makes me crazy. I want to get out there and score some points.”

“He always gets like this,” Ben said. “Nervous energy. A lot of the surfers hate the preliminaries. It’s the real competition that gets their juices flowing.”

Alex filled his mouth with a bite of chicken, and nodded, washing it down with a drink. “Fun is always in competition. You remember what it’s like, Ben.”

“Like it was yesterday.”

She loved listening to the two of them talk about surfing. They launched into a discussion about tomorrow’s event. She ate and listened while they went over the parameters of the competition. By the time she had emptied her plate, Ben had gotten up to talk to one of the judges, and Alex had finished off two plates.