Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,35
still…” Everything. “Gorgeous. There’s nothing wrong with having dinner. Right?”
Evan nodded. Again.
Charlie scowled. “I hate it when you do that.”
He lifted his hands. “Do what?”
“That thing where you let the silence stretch until I can’t stand it anymore and I babble until I hang myself.”
Evan laughed. “Dex complains about that too. Try not to have a guilty conscience next time we talk.”
A novel concept.
How did you ease your guilty conscience when it was eating at you, reminding you every second that no promises hadn’t stopped anyone from being hurt the first time around?
Charlie wasn’t any better at forgiving than he’d been at nineteen when Naomi had fallen at his feet, prostate with grief because he couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d screwed his father. She’d cried and begged him to forgive her mistake.
Mistake? That was when you accidentally transposed two numbers on a spreadsheet because you were managing your own books instead of paying an accountant an arm and a leg. A mistake was when you picked up smooth peanut butter instead of crunchy because one of the guys was yammering in your ear about the cute girl behind the register.
Getting naked with someone was a decision. Naomi and Audra had both made theirs. Just like he’d decided to save Audra from the crap he’d carried home from Iraq. Admitting that he wanted to start over didn’t change either of those decisions. But for some reason, everything felt different, and he was looking forward to dinner with a sense of anticipation he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Somehow Charlie managed to take a shower, get dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt, and make it back to the resort without running into anyone he’d shed blood with. A miracle none of the guys were hanging around, but he’d take it.
Audra waited for him outside the upscale restaurant that catered to resort guests. It overlooked the ocean and always provided spectacular views when the sun started to set. Of course he doubted his gaze would stray from his companion very much.
“Hi,” he murmured and kissed her cheek.
She leaned into it and smiled. “Hi. You still clean up well.”
“And I still prefer your clothes on my floor,” he countered instead of telling her how the sight of her in a dress ruffled all his nerve endings. The lines of tonight’s choice fit her angular body like a glove, and all he could think about was peeling the pale yellow fabric from her skin, then following that slow reveal with his mouth.
Maybe they wouldn’t get to the eating portion of the evening this time either.
Unlike the first time they’d dined here, however, they didn’t score a private table courtesy of the owner. Just as well. The less Anderson knew about Charlie and Audra reconnecting, the better.
“I’ve been thinking about what you mentioned to me yesterday,” Audra said once the waiter had handed them menus and discreetly melted away. “In my office.”
“Which part, when I listed all the things I was going to do to you?” Charlie put his menu down because he didn’t want to miss anything if the conversation was about to get dirty. “Or when I said your pleasure is my pleasure?”
She rolled her eyes with a smile. “Neither one. When you said you were thinking about adding an educational component to your excursions. I like it.”
His brows shot up involuntarily. First she admitted that she wanted to figure out where they were headed, then asked him go parasailing, and now this? “Enough to participate in the design of the program so I can get it past the injunction?”
“The whole point of my report was to protect the area so the dolphins would have an unspoiled area to live their lives. Raise their young.” She put her menu down too and folded her hands over it. “Snorkelers won’t bother them. Construction crews, resort guests and cruise ships would.”
That sounded like the stamp of professional approval to him. If only Rachel could convince the courts to think so as well, Aqueous Adventures would be back in business in no time.
But at what cost?
The waiter came by and took their orders, which Charlie threw out without glancing at the menu. He’d eaten at the resort often enough that he had the menu memorized. Audra didn’t complain, so she must have been okay with his choices. Or she’d wanted the waiter gone as much as he had.
“Are you saying you’ll help me?” he asked cautiously. Because she’d been singing a whole different tune when