balcony, and the only other room that had a view was the second penthouse on the other end of the beach. From what Shannon could tell, no one was in the room. Not surprising, considering the price.
“This is perfect.” Avery leaned her head back and floated toward the surface of the water.
“I’ve never skinny-dipped.”
Avery peeked at her with one eye open. “Doesn’t really count if there isn’t a guy around. This is more like girl time at the spa.”
Shannon shrugged and slipped out of her bikini. Like Avery, she let gravity float her body toward the sun once she was in the water.
The water soothed her warm skin and calmed her nerves. Strange how being naked in a public place had that effect.
“I think I need to swim naked more often.”
“We need to go back to the nude beach.”
“That place looked more like an orgy than a hippie colony.” Then again, those things sounded like the same thing.
“Those are the stories you tell your children about when they’re teenagers so they know you were cool once.”
“I don’t know if I wanna be that cool,” she said, laughing.
“I do. I’ll probably go without you.”
“You can’t do that.”
Avery looked at her. “I can’t?”
“No. I mean . . . of course you can, but what if someone comes on to you? What would Liam say?”
“My husband trusts me, and if anyone can fend for themselves, it’s me.”
Avery had been studying krav maga for over a year, and while Shannon hadn’t seen her in action, Liam had told her that Avery could put a man twice her size on the mat and make him cry.
“Of course it would be better if you came with me. Just in case I need someone to call my lesbian lover.”
“Parading around as a lesbian might not be the best way for me to find someone to father my baby.”
“A lot of men get turned on by that kind of thing.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to win this conversation?”
“Because you secretly want to display that goddess body and cut loose the ties society has bound you in. Personally, I think you’re more apt to find a stranger to sleep with if you shed all the proper bullshit you’ve been fed all your life.”
“Am I that pretentious?” Shannon truly thought she’d evolved in the last five years.
“Not pretentious, just not the kind of woman who sleeps with strangers. I’ve never seen you flirt. Do you even see the men who smile at you?”
“I don’t turn as many heads as you’d think.”
Avery ran her hand along the top of the water. “You turn twice as many. You just don’t see them. And you don’t see them because you don’t want to. The second you let that guard down, men will line up. If they’re eligible and single . . . and even if they’re not, you’re going to need me there to knock them away.”
Shannon couldn’t comment on the effect of dropping her walls, but she knew they were there. “I don’t know how to break out of this rut, Avery. I’ve been trying.”
“Here’s my advice, like it or not. Treat all the men like they’re not a threat. Look at Dylan and Erasmo. Two guys, nonthreatening on any level . . . you relaxed around them, laughed. I even saw some of that sass Victor said you had.”
Just hearing the man’s name made the hair on her neck stand up. “Victor riles me.”
“I noticed. He is a prime example of a man watching you and you don’t see it.”
“Oh, please. The man’s fiancée ran out on him three days ago, and he placed some of the blame on me. If he’s looking, it’s only to make sure I’m not sabotaging something else in his life.”
Avery smirked. “That man is a bee to your flower. Even more . . . you like him.”
“I do not—”
Avery held a hand in the air. “You don’t want to like him, you could even say it’s not right to be attracted, considering the circumstances. But you do.”
Shannon opened her mouth to dispute, only to have Avery cut her off.
“You argue with him. When he looks at you, you turn away if he catches you staring. The tension between you is there. Don’t mistake it as anger.”
“Ridiculous.”
“He’s an attractive man.”
“Looks aren’t everything. His social manners are that of a preschooler.”
“Why does that bother you?”
“Because he’s an adult. Established. He should know better. Victor has no idea how to treat a woman.”
“And he lost