Had she somehow caused Josh to nearly jump out a window? She didn’t even know him.
On the way back down the hall to her room, she stopped in the lobby to pick up a couple of books to read. The rooms didn’t have televisions—part of the rest and relaxation policy, she assumed—so she needed something to do. Chattering voices diverted her from the selection of books on the lending library shelf.
“I still can’t believe Josh Trenton is here on the island,” a boy’s voice called from the entry. “He’s like a legend!” Four teenage boys pushed into the door, each bearing a skateboard.
“Rekkus said he’d introduce us.” One of them flipped back his shaggy blond hair.
“Who is Josh Trenton?” she asked the group as they drew nearer.
“Where have you been?” the first asked. “He’s a skateboarding legend. X-Games champion. Cover of Sports Weekly .”
“Twice,” one of the others interjected.
“Makes really epic skateboards.” Another held up his board and pointed to the bright graphic of a wolf emblazoned upon it.
“Nearly killed himself a couple of months ago skating the loop,” came a voice behind them.
“Dude! It’s Josh Trenton!” The boys practically fell over themselves trying to get to him. “Dude, sign my shirt!”
“Sign my deck!”
“Dumbass, that’s not a Josh Trenton deck. You can’t ask him to sign the competition’s deck!”
Josh just laughed and offered to sign anything they brought to him. In a few minutes, the boys were showing off their signatures to each other.
“How about you? Can I sign anything for you?” Josh asked Adriana with a smile.
In addition to the bad boy race-car driver haircut and the incredible blue eyes, Josh also had the most amazing dimples. She smiled back at him. “That’s okay. Maybe later.”
“Hey, Josh, will you show us some stuff on the new videogame?” one boy asked.
“I’d rather show you something on the board. But give me some names first.”
“Telly.” Then the boy pointed around the circle. “Ben, John, and Joseph.”
Each boy gave Josh a cool nod as his name was called.
“And you are?” Josh turned toward Adriana and looked at her expectantly.
“Adriana. Adriana Velen.”
“Josh Trenton.” He held out his hand to her, but she pretended to be distracted by one of the boys.
“Show us some stuff? Please?” Ben flipped back his blond hair.
“Well, I can give you some pointers, but as you can see, I’m not really up to skating right now.” Josh followed the group down the steps outside, staying close to Adriana. “However, I have to say I feel better this morning than I have since I messed myself up.”
They headed out into the paved courtyard where Josh gave the boys tips on doing all kinds of tricks with all kinds of strange names. Before long, they were talking a different language around her—ollie, fakie, 180, kickflip. She’d never even been on a skateboard.
The boys began to practice their tricks as she and Josh sat on one of the many benches scattered around the grounds. She made certain to keep plenty of space between them, but even with the distance, a pull, like a magnetic force, drew her closer to him.
“So what do you do when you aren’t vacationing?” Josh stretched his injured leg out in front of him.
“I am a refugee from Silicon Valley.” She sighed. “I used to work for Tom Bridges before he died. I was his personal assistant.”
“Wow.” Josh’s eyes widened. “I met him once at the release of one my computer games. He was pretty intense.”
“He never quit.” Not until he died . “But I’m between jobs at the moment.”
“I know some people in the industry. Want me to call up a few contacts? See who’s got something?”
“That’s okay.”
He looked away briefly.
Had she said something wrong? “It’s just that my family has lots of connections. I know they’ll want to help me find something.”
He looked back at her and smiled with those incredible