Chapter 10
Casey watched Stephanie’s face in the pool lights and felt her chest tighten.
“You don’t have to figure it all out tonight.
” The words hung between them while her pulse hammered against her ribs.
She should have left it there. Let the moment settle.
Instead her mouth kept moving, driven by the restless need to push Stephanie back toward solid ground. Ground that did not include her.
“If you want, I can introduce you to a friend of mine.” The words tasted wrong the instant they left her tongue, but she forced them out anyway.
Her fingers tightened around the stem of her wineglass, the cool condensation slick against her palm.
“He runs an Italian restaurant a few blocks over. Nico. Doesn’t have to mean anything.
We could go have dinner there some night, and I’ll introduce you.
He’s always there. Turned forty a few months back.
Single. He’s a nice guy, and I know that he’s dating. ”
Her own voice sounded light, almost breezy, the way she spoke to nervous tourists before a first dive.
Inside, her stomach twisted hard. Casey could not stop noticing the delicate line of her collarbones, the way her long dark hair spilled over one shoulder.
This was exactly the kind of unavailable woman she had sworn off.
Straight. Recently divorced. Only here for six weeks.
And still Casey’s gaze kept drifting, hungry in a way that made her shoulders ache with the effort of staying relaxed.
Stephanie stood then, murmuring something about changing for the swim, and Casey’s breath stalled completely.
The cover-up slipped from Stephanie’s shoulders in one fluid motion, revealing the swimsuit underneath.
Navy. Cut high on the thigh and low across the back in a way that made Casey’s mouth go dry.
Whatever details she missed the other day, she was taking note of them now.
Stephanie lifted both arms, gathering that thick dark hair with practiced fingers.
She twisted it up into a messy bun, elbows framing her face, the motion pulling the one-piece tighter across her breasts.
A few strands escaped immediately, curling against the nape of her neck where the skin looked impossibly soft.
Casey couldn’t look away. She tracked the small details without meaning to.
The faint freckles across Stephanie’s shoulders.
The way her arms flexed with quiet strength earned from years of carrying an entire life on her own.
The soft exhale that escaped her as the bun settled.
Casey’s fingers itched to reach out, to tuck those loose strands behind Stephanie’s ear, to feel the warmth of her skin and the faint dampness at her hairline.
Heat pooled low in her belly, unmistakable and unwelcome.
Her rule screamed in her head. No more unavailable women.
Yet here she sat, mesmerized by a woman who had never once looked at another woman that way.
She forced her gaze to the dark surface of the pool, the water rippling gently from the filter’s low hum. The cool tile under her bare thighs grounded her somewhat, but her heart still beat too hard, too aware of every shift in the air between them.
This crush, if that was even the right word for the ache expanding in her chest, needed burying. Deep.
Stephanie was rebuilding her life after twenty years of marriage.
She deserved space to breathe, not the weight of Casey’s poorly timed attraction.
Setting her up with Nico might help. Might force Casey to watch the flirtation from a safe distance and remember why she had made the rule in the first place.
Nico was kind. The kind of man who would hold doors and ask thoughtful questions.
If Stephanie lit up around him, then Casey would have her answer.
The ache in her ribs would have to quiet.
Stephanie turned back toward her, finished with her hair, and Casey managed a smile that felt only half convincing. The messy bun made her look softer somehow. Casey’s throat worked around the sudden thickness there.
God, she was beautiful.
“You don’t have to decide right now,” Casey added, keeping her tone easy even as her mind spiraled.
She set her glass on the small iron table with a soft clink, the sound too loud in the quiet courtyard.
The strangler fig overhead rustled faintly, releasing its green, earthy scent that always reminded her of home.
“Just a suggestion. Safe way to test the waters if you’re curious about dating again. ”
Inside her chest the words scraped. She had never in her life offered to set up a woman she wanted.
In the past she would have tested the waters herself.
A lingering look. A casual brush of fingers.
The slow reveal that she was interested or at the very least, curious.
So many women Stephanie’s age turned out to be comp het, carrying years of compulsory straightness that cracked open the first time someone actually saw them.
Casey had walked that road enough times to recognize the signs.
Stephanie stepped to the edge of the pool, toes curling over the terracotta.
The underwater lights painted soft blue across her skin, highlighting the gentle curve of her hip, the faint tan lines from days spent exploring the island alone.
Casey’s stomach flipped again, a deep, involuntary pull that made her lungs feel too small.
“It’s a good idea,” Stephanie said, voice low and thoughtful, like she was testing the shape of the words. “I really don’t know what I want so I like the idea of something casual like that.”
The words landed like a soft wave against Casey’s chest, unexpected warmth spreading before she could brace. Stephanie actually sounded like she meant it. Curious, even. Casey swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry despite the wine still lingering on her tongue.
Part of her wanted to snatch the offer back, to say never mind, let’s just swim and pretend none of this complicated pull existed.
The rest of her catalogued every micro-shift in Stephanie’s posture, the subtle way her fingers brushed the edge of her swimsuit, the faint rise of color along her collarbones.
That color could mean anything. Or nothing.
Casey’s mind spun in tight circles. She had built her rule from real pain, from watching too many almost-lovers fold back into their old lives when the novelty wore off.
Yet here she sat, offering to hand Stephanie over to Nico like some kind of test she wasn’t sure she wanted to pass.
She forced a smile that felt only half real, the kind that reached her eyes because she had practiced it on nervous divers for years. “Yeah. It could be fun. Low pressure. Plus, you’ll get to try the best Italian food around.”
Stephanie’s lips curved, small but genuine, and Casey felt it ripple through her like the pool’s gentle current against her calves.
“Are you free tomorrow?” Stephanie asked, the question slipping out soft, almost hesitant, like she worried she might be overstepping.
The words hit Casey square in the sternum, knocking her breath shallow for a beat.
Tomorrow. So soon. Her mind raced ahead to clearing her afternoon schedule, texting Nico to hold a quiet corner table, imagining Stephanie across from her in candlelight while she played matchmaker.
The image twisted something sharp and unwelcome low in her gut.
She should feel relieved. This kept her rule intact, kept her from falling into the same pattern.
But relief stayed distant, overshadowed by the quiet thrill of more time with Stephanie, of watching her laugh over garlic bread and maybe, if Casey was very unlucky, seeing that spark catch somewhere else.
Casey nodded, keeping her voice steady even as her pulse hammered against her throat. “I’m free. I’ll text him tonight, make sure he saves us a good table.”
“Don’t say anything to Nico. That way there really is no pressure.”
Casey’s chest rose unevenly, the familiar ache blooming behind her ribs. “Yeah. Sure. I won’t say anything.”