thinks I’m blind.”
“We have ice cream to get,” Emma said. “Rachel is kindly forgoing anniversary sex for my benefit. I’m so sick to my stomach all the time, and the stupid pregnancy tests keep coming up negative. I don’t get it. As many times a day as my eggs are getting fertilized, I should be pregnant with a litter by now.”
“La, la, la.” Charlie stuck his fingers in his ears. “Talk about girl stuff later. I don’t want to hear about this.”
Emma laughed. “You can’t fool me. I know you nursed Dex through the worst of his hangover when he went out on that all-night bender after I first posed the idea of a baby. You listened to every word without judgment, and I appreciate your counsel.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m a saint.” Charlie waved it off. “He obviously didn’t tell you the part where I helped him see how great it would be to spend twenty-four seven trying to get his hot wife pregnant.”
“Standing right here.” Audra elbowed him good-naturedly. “That taste of my own medicine? Bitter. How about you find something else to stick in my mouth instead?”
“And that’s our cue to leave for real this time.” Rachel put a hand under Emma’s arm and steered her toward the dining hall.
“They’re good girls,” Charlie commented as they strolled toward the beach and threaded his fingers through hers without asking. She didn’t mind. His thumb absently stroked her knuckle and it was nice in a sweet way that they’d seldom indulged in.
Romance was a side benefit of the no-sex plea. One she hadn’t even considered. Not that she didn’t think of Charlie as romantic—but his idea of a romantic gesture was making her come four times before he allowed himself any relief.
“You seem fond of them. Some guys would hate losing their buddies to serious relationships.”
“Nah, they keep Dex and Evan in line. Very well. I owe them both a lot, especially Rachel.”
That sounded like a lead-in if she’d ever heard one. “Because she’s working the legal angles against Jared over Ilhota Rosa?”
Instantly a guard snapped into place over Charlie’s expression, as frustrating as it was sudden. “Yeah. She’s a big help. And we need all we can get, considering.”
Audra didn’t have to fill in the blanks. Jared had intruded on their evening once again, and she was powerless to chase away his presence when they were both so prickly about it. Somehow, they were going to have to exorcise this ghost between them. But how?
Audra worked on the answer to her Jared problem over the next couple of days as she spent time with her sisters. The anticipation stretched as she caught sight of Charlie across the resort as he strolled back from the dock, chatting with a knot of guests who’d just returned from parasailing. Sometimes he’d wave as she hung out by the pool while Hannah and Carly ignored her in favor of their near-telepathic communication or more earthbound texting.
Once, when she was on her way back to her room from breakfast—alone, because the girls were sleeping in—he’d snagged her by the hips as she passed and pulled her into one of the ice machine alcoves. The scorching kiss he’d laid on her kept her warm for a solid hour. The confusion over it lasted much longer than that.
They didn’t talk, not like she’d hoped. Charlie didn’t ask her to dinner again, and she didn’t finagle another boat ride because she felt bad taking his time from paying customers. If it weren’t for the kiss and the random drive-by smiles he shot in her direction, she’d think he’d changed his mind about any kind of do-over. Like she wasn’t worth the aggravation and he’d rather forget her name instead of Jared’s.
The distance between them was real and palpable, and she hated it. Had she screwed up by insisting on no sex? The physical pleasures had always been what was so thrilling between them, what had led to their unbelievable connection. If she truly wanted to start over, sex was an undeniable part of that.
Carly and Hannah went back to Miami Sunday night without any of the bonding Audra had intended. They were seventeen and difficult, she told herself. Eventually they might grow up a little, and then they’d find out she was a great big sister. Maybe. But would it have killed Hannah and Carly to get their heads out of their iPhones long enough to realize Audra was hurting? Pushing away that hurt got more and more