947 A.M. #5
She got up, slid the patio door open, and rushed through the small air-conditioned room. When she opened the door, his eyebrows were furrowed and she wasn’t sure if he was mad or worried. She smiled up at him and moved aside so he could come in. “You don’t have to worry. I’m fine.”
He put his hands on her hips and stared at her. “You sure?”
“Yes, I drank too much and danced all night, but I’m good.”
“Should I feel jealous? I feel jealous.” Chuckling a little, he said, “It’s ridiculous, considering…”
Charlotte shook her head. “Pfft, no. Trust me, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“You sure? He’s a good-looking guy. A lot younger than me too.”
“If I wanted to be with a younger man, I would,” she answered, giving him a slow kiss on the lips. “But I want to be with you.”
“Mm, good answer,” he told her, pressing himself against her. “How about you be with me right now? Antonia’s upstairs by the pool.”
Her head pounded and the last thing on her mind was sex, even if it did feel good to be wanted. “I’m still a little hungover at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll be recovered by this evening.”
“Good, because I missed you like crazy last night.”
“I missed you too,” she said, which was sort of true. She really only missed him after things went sour with Oliver. “Promise you’ll sneak back here tonight?”
“Just try to keep me away,” he said, giving her a lingering kiss. He rested his forehead on hers. “Okay, I better go find Antonia so we can pretend to be the world’s happiest couple.”
She rolled her eyes at the thought. “Don’t you get sick of it all? Pretending day after day?”
He sighed. “I really do. Especially when I think about having a life with you. The whole thing. I’d do it all over with you—marriage, kids if you wanted. All of it. And I’d love every second of it.”
Charlotte felt warm and a little woozy at his words.
They’d never discussed the future. Not like this.
It was as if they both understood that it wasn’t in the cards.
There was no way to make that work and keep his reputation intact.
Besides, she didn’t actually want a future with him.
Did she? No, not really. She should find someone her own age.
But then again, maybe younger men weren’t all they were cracked up to be.
And here he was sounding as if he would give up everything for her. “Wow, what brought this on?”
“When I heard you went out with that guy last night, I just…I don’t know…
something snapped. The thought of you with someone else was unbearable, and I started thinking, what if we could make this work?
Like, really make it work.” He cupped her cheek with one hand, his eyes searching hers for the truth.
“Think about it, Char. We’re so perfect together. What if we found a way?”
“I…” She closed her mouth, then opened it again. “I’m shocked. I never thought…”
“Me either. Not really,” he said, his face lighting up.
“I just figured we’d keep doing what we’re doing until you wanted to end things, but honestly, that’s not enough for me.
Not anymore.” He kissed her again, pulling her to him, and she let out a little moan, not sure if it was because she was so hungry and parched and slightly dizzy from the heat, or if it was because of him.
When he stopped, he gazed at her. “I shouldn’t be here.
Not right now. I know it’s a lot to think about, Char.
But promise you’ll at least consider it. ”
She nodded, feeling totally confused. He slipped out the door and she stood alone in the cool room, her mind spinning.
Did she want this? He was old enough to be her father.
But then again, that had its perks. He was rich and manly and confident, and he seemed to know everything about everything.
She would never have to work again. No horrible first dates with losers who only wanted sex and nothing more.
No more fourteen-hour days at her computer.
Just fun and luxury. They’d travel the world.
He wanted to travel. She could see everything, go to every magical place on the planet that she’d always wanted to see—safaris in Kenya, nights out in Singapore, the turquoise waters of Bali.
It would be an easy life with him. Once they got past the horrible scandal and his kids hating her and the public branding her a homewrecker.
But maybe there was a way that it could work.
And maybe if it did, they could be blissfully happy together.
ANTONIA
Antonia lay stiffly on the chaise next to the swimming pool wondering how long she would have to pretend she was enjoying herself.
Half an hour? An hour? Five minutes? Ted had gone to shower and change.
Miguel and Winslow were with Travis, so she couldn’t undo the damage from the night before.
She had tried to go with Ted so they could talk in private, but Mercy had looped her arm through Antonia’s and led her up to the pool, insisting that she take advantage of the beautiful day at sea.
Now, I know you two probably can’t stand to be apart for more than a few minutes, but Ted’ll find you. You rest!
Mercy excused herself to go change into her swimsuit, with a promise of coming right back for some girl talk and a dip in the pool. Perfect. Because that’s what she needed right now. A bikini-clad raven-haired bombshell frolicking in the water.
She texted Charlotte to check on her and quickly received a reply.
Charlotte
Good, thanks. Just getting caught up on some work.
She stared at the reply. It was ‘dry’ as her kids would call it.
No emotion. Just the bare minimum. Her mind wandered back to the day she yelled at her.
She could still see Charlotte’s face when she said the words ‘incompetent little twit’ at her.
Antonia’s tone had been calm. It was always calm.
Controlled. Which somehow made it all so much worse—as if it had been a calculated thing (which it wasn’t) instead of a knee-jerk reaction (which it shouldn’t have been). She wrote back:
I’ll be at the pool on the top deck putting in some time with Mercy. Ted should be joining us soon. I hope you can join us to enjoy some sun!
Just please wear a nice roomy caftan.
Oh God, Antonia could barely stand herself. When had she gotten so insecure? She stared out at an island they were passing by, dotted with white houses covered by clay tile roofs.
When had she become so insecure? And what the hell was all that about anyway?
The truth was she was too busy to even know what was going on in her own head.
All these random thoughts popping up that she brushed aside without any introspection whatsoever.
Closing her eyes, she tried to think back to when she had started along the aging, bitter queen path, but she came up blank.
Probably because she was still a little fuzzy from the night before.
She would have to journal about it later and see if she could figure out the root cause of all these thoughts.
Nip it in the bud before she said something nasty again.
She opened her eyes just in time to see Ted spinning on his heel and starting back toward the stairs. “Ted, where are you going?”
He paused, then turned back to her. “I thought you were napping. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
No, he didn’t. He just didn’t want to be around her. “I was just…trying to figure something out, but I’m afraid I don’t have the mental bandwidth at the moment. Come and sit. I was hoping we could talk.”
He glanced out at the sea as if trying to decide, then sighed and walked over to her. Plunking himself in the chaise next to hers, he said, “I don’t have a lot of time. Travis wants some of the men to go out fishing in a few minutes.”
“This won’t take long.” Sitting up, she spun to face him, getting a whiff of his aftershave and taking in his damp salt and pepper hair. It was darker when it was wet, like it was when they were young. “I wanted to apologize for last night.”
“Yeah, you really might have done some damage. What were you thinking?”
She shook her head. “I just got caught up in the moment, and I’m really sorry about what I said.”
His jaw clenched and she knew he wasn’t about to make this easy for her, not that she could blame him. “That’s not something we can afford to have happen.”
“I know. As soon as I woke up, I felt sick about it. I was hoping to get a chance to talk to Miguel and Winslow and tell them I didn’t mean any of it. But that’s going to be a little harder to do now that our hosts have arrived.”
“Just leave it alone. They were both hammered. I’m sure they completely forgot what you said.”
She stiffened slightly at him giving her a directive, but since she was in the wrong, she wasn’t about to call him on it. “I still think I should try, if the right opportunity presents itself.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Don’t do it. It’ll show weakness. If it somehow comes back to bite us, we can always laugh it off. Make it sound like they misunderstood.”
She thought about that for a second. It was horribly manipulative, but it would likely work. Her chest felt heavy, but she knew he was right. “Okay. Listen, I really am sorry. And I’m not going to drink like that again for the rest of the trip.”
“Probably best that way.”
She stared at him for a second, then said, “Are we okay?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Of course. There’s nothing we can do about it now, so it’s best to carry on as if everything’s fine.”
She chewed her bottom lip, a leftover habit from when she was an overly anxious child.
“Chances are it will be. I doubt Oliver heard, and even if he did, he’s probably not going to go up to his boss and upset him.
And Miguel and Winslow have no reason to hurt us.
It’s not like we’re competing with them or something. ”
Nodding, he said, “Right now they need us more than we need them. Let’s just keep it that way.”