center stage, belting out the lyrics to one of her latest singles. But even surrounded by her friends, listening to her favorite singer, with hundreds of people milling about, Carly couldn’t stop thinking about how Birdie’s passion for the business was vastly different from her own. Carly had never seen chocolatiering as her life’s dream, though she’d never seen it as a pit stop, either. It had been one of her saving graces.
But she no longer needed saving.
Her phone vibrated with another text from Zev, and her pulse quickened. We found a huge concretion. Hoping it’s a cannon. The size is right, but who knows. I’ve got a meeting tonight to coordinate equipment and schedules, but I’ll call you later. How was your day? Wish you were here.
She was reading it for a third time when Dare sat beside her on the grass.
“Hey,” he said, studying her face.
“Hi. How’d you guys do with your booth today?”
“Great. We had a lot of inquiries and collected a good number of donations.” He leaned into her side and said, “You okay, darlin’?”
“Why is everyone asking me that?”
“Maybe because you look like someone stole your favorite teddy bear.” He cocked a grin. “You miss him, huh?”
She nodded. “But I’m good.”
“Yeah, and I’m a virgin.” He leaned into her again and said, “It’s okay to be bummed when your old man is gone.”
“Is it okay to feel like my heart is in two places at once?”
“It’s better to have a full heart in two places than an empty heart with no place at all.” He pushed to his feet, pulling her up beside him. “Come on, dance with me and make all the ladies jealous.” As he led her down by the stage, he said, “We’ll take a selfie for you to send to your other half. Maybe he’ll come running back to stake his claim and try to kick my ass.”
“He trusts me, and I’m pretty sure he trusts you, too.”
Dare swept her into his arms and said, “How do you expect to keep a man if he’s not afraid of losing you?”
“Wanting your partner to be insecure isn’t healthy, Dare. I think you need a few sessions with your mom,” she teased.
“Says you and about half this county. You didn’t answer my question.”
“It was a dumb question.” She smiled at his scowl.
“Okay, new question. Want me to go drag his ass back here?”
She rested her cheek on his chest as they slow danced and said, “More than you can imagine.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ZEV SAT ON the deck of his boat admiring Carly over FaceTime as she gazed up at the sky from her perch at a table outside the café a few doors down from the chocolate shop. They’d watched the sunrise over Allure more than an hour ago. Birdie had already shown up to help prepare for their busy day, and Ford and Randi were expected to arrive soon, but neither Zev nor Carly were ready to end the call. It had been four treacherously long days since he’d held her in his arms, four excruciatingly lonely nights since he’d kissed her lips, held her hand, or made love to her. Four days since he’d felt her hair tickling his skin or caught the scent of her perfume. He had no idea how he’d made it through a day, much less all the years they’d lost. The miles between them had never felt so vast, despite their ongoing texts and video chats.
Zev had noticed a difference in Carly in the days they’d been apart, as if she were holding something back. He wondered if it was exhaustion, stress, or their lack of concrete plans already taking a toll. Although last night she’d surprised him when their video chat had gone from talking about how much they missed each other to volleying sexy innuendos, which had led to Carly teasing him with a sensual, hip-swaying, seductive striptease. She’d taunted him into joining her in a striptease of his own, and they’d ended up naked and sating their desires by their own hands. After, Carly had lain breathless and beautiful, gazing longingly at him, frustratingly untouchable, which had only made him miss her even more. In truth, he’d sensed a difference in himself, too. After salvaging more than two hundred manillas, they’d finally finished unearthing the enormous concretion they’d located Monday afternoon. Today they were going to lift it out of the seafloor with the crane and tow it back to shore. It appeared to be