Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,32
is up for negotiation.”
There was only one guy Charlie could ask to take him parasailing with Audra and not get a crap-ton of grief for his trouble—Evan. But only because Evan didn’t make it a habit to run his mouth, a quality in short supply when it came to his team. Fortunately, Charlie managed to squeeze in the request between Evan’s construction job and his evening plans with Rachel.
To Evan’s credit, he didn’t say a word when Charlie introduced him to Audra and her two sisters, whom he would have rather not invited along, but it would have been difficult to cut them out when Audra was on the island expressly to spend time with them. Plus Jace had so helpfully already pumped them up for the excursion.
Doing the right thing was Charlie’s default. And would likely be his downfall.
Carly and Hannah were interesting. Obviously a handful. They actually looked nothing like Isaac, despite being triplets—a surprise even though it shouldn’t have been. Of course, he hadn’t seen Isaac in two years. Maybe his hair had turned lighter, but he doubted it. Audra’s was still deep red.
The girls were noticeably disappointed to see Evan in the driver’s seat of the boat instead of Jace. But he was scarce for a reason, and not just because Charlie had given him the jailbait speech. The last thing he needed was Jace busting his chops if Charlie looked at Audra the wrong way, and his roommate, of all people, would clue in that there was something there.
What, he didn’t know. But Audra’s heartfelt plea designed to get him to admit he wanted to figure it out had shifted something inside. Somehow, it had made it okay to take the first step. No one was forcing him to take the second one. For now, they were just two people who liked parasailing who were having an adventure together. With Audra’s sisters.
He’d almost asked about Isaac twice, because he was a good kid and Charlie was curious why he hadn’t come down this time from Miami. Audra had always been closer to her brother, or at least that had been the case once. Maybe things had changed. Really, it was none of his business.
Though there was plenty of room for four parasailers in this boat, Audra had crammed in next to him, and strictly for balance, he’d stretched an arm behind her.
“Thanks,” Audra murmured in his ear, her breath warm on his neck in a way he’d be an idiot not to notice. She was definitely not in back-off mode. And when Audra was in come-hither mode, there was little Charlie could do to resist. Or rather, he had absolutely no plans to. He could see where things led and take it from there.
“For agreeing to take you parasailing in exchange for sexual favors?” He bowed, hands together subservient-style, and slid the arm back in place because he liked the feel of her bare skin against it. “It’s really no bother. I’m free tomorrow too.”
She laughed, her lips grazing his earlobe—one of many side benefits of not being in the driver’s seat. Also she smelled good. And laughing definitely worked for him.
Evan sped out into the parasailing lane the requisite distance from shore and throttled back to allow Charlie to strap Hannah to the parachute. He let Evan double-check all the lines for Audra’s benefit and let her sister fly. Carly went next, and both girls had a blast. Unlike their brother who had gone a little green at the thought of being suspended over the water with nothing but a parachute between him and death, the sisters both jumped into the thrill with enthusiasm. The same kind Audra had exhibited once for everything under the sun.
“Go tandem with me,” she suggested when Charlie held up the harness to let her thread her arms through.
“Really?” He’d never done that before. Parasailing had always been a spiritual adventure in his mind, best done solo. Of course, he and Audra had done just about everything else in the world that turned him on. Why not do this together too?
She nodded, her eyes bright. “The whole point of this is to share the experience. I haven’t been parasailing since we went that last time before you left.”
“That’s a shame.” And telling. For some reason, it pleased him to know she hadn’t been trading sexual favors with every parasailing operator in the Caribbean. This was a special experience that only the two of them had done. He liked that