Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,59
in the arm as he caught the tail end of the conversation. “I was coming over here to give you first dibs on the bottle of wine I scared up from Stella’s cellar, and I hear you lying to your girl about that slack-ass Custer? I do all the work while he collects room keys, in case you missed that part.”
Audra grinned, not the slightest bit offended to be referred to as Charlie’s girl. It had a nice ring to it.
“Speak of the devil and he appears.”
Jace joined the party with an eyebrow waggle at Audra and leaned on the bar as if he owned it. He had so much natural confidence and charm, she could absolutely see why Stella liked having him around, even if it was just to look at.
As long as he wasn’t hitting on seventeen-year-olds, the man was very easy on the eyes in a way that any breathing female would appreciate.
“Oh, are you ready to do some actual work then?” Miles asked his fellow bartender with mock surprise, widening his piercing green eyes that were nothing to sneeze at. Where Jace had throw-your-underwear-on-the-stage swoon factor, Miles brought the sexy with a classically handsome face and biceps that bunched under the sleeve of his T-shirt.
Neither of them held a candle to Charlie, but there’d never been a contest in her mind.
Jace dismissed Miles with a flick of his fingers. “You must have missed the part where I get the ladies to open their wallets. Someone’s got to make the drinks. Sounds like an equal partnership to me.”
“Meanwhile,” Charlie interrupted with a sardonic twist of his lips. “Audra and I are without even a drop for our parched throats.”
Crossing his arms, Jace nodded at Miles. “You heard the man. Chop-chop.”
Miles shot Jace the finger and then glanced at Audra. “Sorry. My mama would slap me for being so rude in front of a lady. I haven’t had the pleasure yet. I’m Miles Lynch, by the way.”
In a show of ignoring the multitudes of paying customers who thronged the bar, he stuck out his hand and Audra shook it.
“Dr. Audra Reed.” Which was probably completely unnecessary to announce, but social conventions dictated that you said your name when someone told you theirs.
“You keeping the Saint in line?” He jerked his head at Charlie, who just shook his head in bemusement.
“Actually, I’m afraid I’ve been working on corrupting him,” she countered with a smile as both Miles and Jace applauded enthusiastically.
“Thank God someone can.” Jace rolled his eyes. “I get tired of always coming up short.”
“Stop being such a jackass all the time then.” Charlie suggested amiably as Stella lifted the pass-through on her way to investigate the complete stoppage of alcohol flow behind the bar.
Jace and Miles slunk off back to work, and Stella poured two glasses of wine for Charlie and Audra, chatted a bit about the weather, tourist season, and a pending regulation she’d heard about that might affect all Bahamian business owners. It was a sobering reminder that Charlie was one, just like Stella.
Audra had been pretending that she and Charlie were nothing more than a couple out on the town. Stella’s reminder that Aqueous Adventures still had big problems, which Audra was on point to resolve, threw a splash of cold water on the works.
She needed to talk to Jared about cancelling the injunction. But she could wait until he got home from Singapore, couldn’t she? Odds of that being a good long-distance conversation were slim. She almost had herself convinced Jared’s travel schedule was the issue and not her lack of confidence.
Finally alone, Audra glanced at Charlie and opted to go with the subject the least likely to prick holes in the balloon of their evening. “I like your friends.”
He nodded. “They’re my family. Life would be very different without them.”
All at once, she yearned to be a part of something so defined, to be counted as one of the people he depended on. This last week had shown her that Charlie wasn’t going anywhere. They were together, like he’d promised. His guys were pretty solid on the concept of his sainthood, likely because he had a habit of trying to do the right thing. They wouldn’t have given him that nickname otherwise.
What if everything she’d ever wanted was right here in her grasp, and she was holding back in anticipation of Charlie leaving her again when that might never happen?
Looked like she’d finally figured out what she wanted from this relationship—everything. But