Free Four of Hearts by Roz Lee

the coconut ending all his worries and sat up. “No offense intended, but I don’t love Fallon. At least not, that way. I love her like. . . well, I was going to say a sister, but that isn’t right either. I’m sure I’d have no trouble having sex with her, but love her? No.” He shook his head to emphasize his point. “Not like I love Candace.”
    “I understand. No offense taken. I feel the same way about Candace.”
    “So what are we going to do? Ignore the wives? Neither one of them are the type to let something go.”
    “We could do it. All at once. Together. Maybe once would satisfy their curiosity and then we could go back to normal, whatever the hell normal is. How would Candace feel about you. . . you know. . . with Fallon?”
    “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Ryan took Richard’s silence as an affirmative. “You’d have sex with Candace? And you’d let me have sex with Fallon?”
    “I think so. I’m sure I could hold up my end of the bargain with your wife, but at this point, I can’t guarantee I won’t kill you for touching Fallon.”
    Ryan nodded. He hadn’t expected anything less. “Ditto. And I have no idea what Candace would think about me. . . ” he waved his hand in the air, “you know. . . with Fallon. I guess I’ll have to ask her about that.”
    They sat in silent contemplation for a long while. Finally, Richard spoke. “Next week? You two can come aboard when we stop at the island, that is, if Candace agrees to the plan. We’ll work out the details then, but I think we could get the deed done before we get to Miami. Then you and Candace can get off there.”
    “That sounds cold.”
    “What did you expect? I didn’t bring flowers and chocolates to seduce you with.”
    “I don’t know. I’ve never planned a wife swap before, so sue me if I find this approach a bit calculating.” He shook his head. It was all too fucking unbelievable to be real. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this. Look, let’s get this clear. This is a personal deal. It has nothing to do with us as business partners. No matter what happens, we can’t fuck up that relationship, too.”
    “Agreed.”
    The tide crept closer and they got to their feet and continued down the beach. “What else did you want to talk about?” Ryan asked.
    “I don’t know what this means, but Bree got an email from one of her friends at the FBI. It seems they’ve lost track of Vernon Cannon.”
    Ryan went on alert. Vernon Cannon was anything but stable. Ever since the Lothario’s maiden voyage, he’d been trying to get them to sell the ship to him, and he wasn’t subtle about it either. He’d hired arsonists and a computer hacker to do their worst, hoping he’d drive them to sell, and bring the price down at the same time. Nothing about this sounded good.
    “Lost? How do you lose an Oklahoma oil baron?”
    “I don’t know. He could be vacationing some place off the grid, or he could have gone underground for another reason. Until we know more, I thought you should know.”
    “Thanks. He’s never been one to do his own dirty work, but I’ll be extra vigilant, just in case.”
    “Wouldn’t hurt. Don’t say anything to Fallon about this. I don’t want her to worry.”
    “I won’t, which means I won’t be telling Candace. She has a direct pipeline to Fallon.”
    “Don’t I know it.”

Chapter Seven

    Fallon looked up from the decorator’s interior sketches of the new resort as Richard and Ryan returned from their walk. Ryan’s face was a blank mask and told her nothing. She let her eyes move to her husband, walking a pace behind Ryan through the patio door. He smiled, winked at her and held up four fingers low enough Candace probably wouldn’t notice. Fallon smiled back and ran to throw her arms around Richard.
    “Really?” she asked against his neck.
    “Uh huh,” he confirmed and pulled her outside with him for a thorough kiss. “Next week, if we all agree.”
    “No problem. Candace