wondering why him and why now? The man he'd become was equally curious. But this time he'd get some answers.
Ray hit the grinder's switch. The aroma of rich
Jamaican
Blue
Mountain
filled the kitchen air. The blades whirred and he kept an eye on the main room, watching as first Poe, then Kinsey began to stir. Jess and Doug followed, or at least managed to open their eyes. Neither one of them made an effort to get to their feet, instead sitting and watching the women stumble and stretch.
Maybe, Ray thought, he needed to take another tack. Maybe he'd take the pressure off Sydney and he'd be the one to find time for them to be alone together. Then he'd make sure he was tuned into her frequency.
The grinder's blades finished the job with a sudden high-pitched whir. Ray shut off the motor and measured the freshly ground beans into the filter basket. While he filled the reservoir with water, Poe came into the kitchen and found five mugs. She lined them up on the countertop.
"For coffee, I'll forgive the intrusion into my dreams. Ray, you are definitely a man after my own heart." Wearing the fire-engine-red terry cover-up she'd zipped over her bikini last night, Poe hopped up onto the counter and waited for the coffee to brew.
"Hey, dude," Jess called from where he still sat sprawled on the sectional, his jaw dark, the circles under his eyes even darker. "You still planning to hit the Jet Skis with us this morning?"
Ray had no idea when Sydney would make it downstairs. But it didn't really matter. Privacy wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He might as well pretend he was here on Coconut Caye for a vacation.
"You betcha ," he said, and wrapped his hand around the nearest mug and waited for the coffee to brew.
ANKLES CROSSED , Sydney sank onto the beach towel she'd spread out on the pier that jutted away from the front of the villa and into the sea. Lauren sat beside her, squinting at the rest of the group tearing up the waves on Jet Skis. Sydney handed Lauren the sunglasses she'd left on the kitchen counter.
"Thanks." Sliding the Oakleys into place, Lauren adjusted the left strap of her Brazilian-cut bikini, turquoise with big fuchsia circles. "That's better. This morning I'd probably have forgotten my head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders."
"That bad a night, huh?" Sydney was dying to ask more, especially to find out exactly where Lauren had spent the hours between
midnight
and two, but figured it was best to let her friend spill her guts at her own pace.
"Actually, I slept like a log." Lauren stretched her arms overhead and yawned.
Uh-huh, Sydney thought, wondering why, if Lauren had slept so soundly, she was yawning as if she hadn't slept a wink. "You weren't out on the downstairs veranda around
midnight
, by any chance, were you?"
"No. Why?"
"I thought it might've been you I heard moving around down there."
"Wasn't me. Anton and I talked for a while, then, believe it or not, we went to bed and to sleep. No funny business or footing around or anything." Lauren shook her head in disbelief. "I can count on my fingers the number of times we've gone to bed at the same time and done nothing but sleep."
"Really? Wow. Let's think about that. You were together about four hundred days, give or take." Sydney could hardly keep a straight face. "That's an awful lot of condoms, girlfriend."
"Ha-ha-ha." Lauren screwed up her face. "You know what I mean. We didn't always go to bed at the same time. But if we did—"
"Then you got lucky," Sydney finished, listening to the motors of the watercraft rev and catching the unmistakable whiff of burning fuel.
"Actually," Lauren amended, tilting her head to one side as she considered her reply, "I like to think of it as Anton getting lucky. That way it's easier to convince myself that he's miserable without me."
"Instead of you being miserable without him?" Sydney asked, knowing the question was totally redundant.
"It shows, doesn't it?" When Sydney nodded, Lauren buried her
Ray hit the grinder's switch. The aroma of rich
Jamaican
Blue
Mountain
filled the kitchen air. The blades whirred and he kept an eye on the main room, watching as first Poe, then Kinsey began to stir. Jess and Doug followed, or at least managed to open their eyes. Neither one of them made an effort to get to their feet, instead sitting and watching the women stumble and stretch.
Maybe, Ray thought, he needed to take another tack. Maybe he'd take the pressure off Sydney and he'd be the one to find time for them to be alone together. Then he'd make sure he was tuned into her frequency.
The grinder's blades finished the job with a sudden high-pitched whir. Ray shut off the motor and measured the freshly ground beans into the filter basket. While he filled the reservoir with water, Poe came into the kitchen and found five mugs. She lined them up on the countertop.
"For coffee, I'll forgive the intrusion into my dreams. Ray, you are definitely a man after my own heart." Wearing the fire-engine-red terry cover-up she'd zipped over her bikini last night, Poe hopped up onto the counter and waited for the coffee to brew.
"Hey, dude," Jess called from where he still sat sprawled on the sectional, his jaw dark, the circles under his eyes even darker. "You still planning to hit the Jet Skis with us this morning?"
Ray had no idea when Sydney would make it downstairs. But it didn't really matter. Privacy wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He might as well pretend he was here on Coconut Caye for a vacation.
"You betcha ," he said, and wrapped his hand around the nearest mug and waited for the coffee to brew.
ANKLES CROSSED , Sydney sank onto the beach towel she'd spread out on the pier that jutted away from the front of the villa and into the sea. Lauren sat beside her, squinting at the rest of the group tearing up the waves on Jet Skis. Sydney handed Lauren the sunglasses she'd left on the kitchen counter.
"Thanks." Sliding the Oakleys into place, Lauren adjusted the left strap of her Brazilian-cut bikini, turquoise with big fuchsia circles. "That's better. This morning I'd probably have forgotten my head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders."
"That bad a night, huh?" Sydney was dying to ask more, especially to find out exactly where Lauren had spent the hours between
midnight
and two, but figured it was best to let her friend spill her guts at her own pace.
"Actually, I slept like a log." Lauren stretched her arms overhead and yawned.
Uh-huh, Sydney thought, wondering why, if Lauren had slept so soundly, she was yawning as if she hadn't slept a wink. "You weren't out on the downstairs veranda around
midnight
, by any chance, were you?"
"No. Why?"
"I thought it might've been you I heard moving around down there."
"Wasn't me. Anton and I talked for a while, then, believe it or not, we went to bed and to sleep. No funny business or footing around or anything." Lauren shook her head in disbelief. "I can count on my fingers the number of times we've gone to bed at the same time and done nothing but sleep."
"Really? Wow. Let's think about that. You were together about four hundred days, give or take." Sydney could hardly keep a straight face. "That's an awful lot of condoms, girlfriend."
"Ha-ha-ha." Lauren screwed up her face. "You know what I mean. We didn't always go to bed at the same time. But if we did—"
"Then you got lucky," Sydney finished, listening to the motors of the watercraft rev and catching the unmistakable whiff of burning fuel.
"Actually," Lauren amended, tilting her head to one side as she considered her reply, "I like to think of it as Anton getting lucky. That way it's easier to convince myself that he's miserable without me."
"Instead of you being miserable without him?" Sydney asked, knowing the question was totally redundant.
"It shows, doesn't it?" When Sydney nodded, Lauren buried her
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