Free Love on the Boardwalk by Christi Barth

“What did she do to you?”
    His head lolled backward. Like the effort of holding it up under her scrutiny was just too great. “Nothing.”
    “Did she lose all her marbles and cheat on you?”
    Slowly, he straightened up to finally look at her. “Not...exactly.”
    God, this woman had to be dumber than sand. Why would anybody cheat on such an upstanding specimen as Brad? “I’ll pester you until you talk. So unless you
do
want to end up sleeping in this elephant, you might as well spill. Right now.”
    Brad hinged off the rail to pace the small, square confines of the platform. His sneakers squeaked across the linoleum. “Dana didn’t leave me for another man. She left me for her career. She said she valued money and promotions more than me. Opportunities kept arising to make money hand over fist. According to her, I was holding her back.”
    What? Seriously? This had to be the worst reason to break up ever. Or at least the weakest. The kind of excuse that showed Dana to be a shallow twerp of a woman. “How?”
    He stopped. White-knuckled the rail and stared out at the ocean. Brad’s entire body was stiffer than Lucy’s permanently raised trunk. “That whole package you just described? There are lots of rich, well-connected men even better looking than me. Plus, they actually have the whole package. Money. Networking skills. They know how to work a room, how to schmooze at a party. There were dinners, social stuff like the Hunt Cup where Dana needed me on her arm. Lots of times I couldn’t go if a case turned hot. Or if I did go, I disappointed her. The bottom line? Her job was more important than me. That’s what she loves.”
    Trina still couldn’t believe it. It might be grinding salt into the wound, but she had to triple check to be sure she didn’t misunderstand. “She left you...for a
job?
”
    Her question ended on a near-squeak of flabbergastedness.
    “Not just a job.” Brad made air quotes with his fingers. “A career with fast-track potential.”
    “Did you know that nowadays people change careers an average of four times in their life?” Trina shook her head. A ball of heat grew in her belly. Heat that she wanted to belch out right at Dana’s puffed-up, idiotic head. Instead, a torrent of words rushed out. “A career can’t keep your feet warm before the electric blanket kicks in during a snowstorm. A career doesn’t hold your hand when the heartwarming Christmas coffee commercials start to play. And when something goes monumentally wrong, as it always does, a career doesn’t pat you on the back and tell you that you’re still just as special. A career is fun. Money is nice. But love...love is everything.”
    Aaaand he was back to white-knuckling the railing. “Not to everyone. That, or she was never really in love with me. Either way, I wasn’t enough.”
    There it was. The half-scabbed wound. If nothing else, Trina could at least slap an emotional bandage on it. “You’re enough for me. Right here, right now.” She canted sideways to get right in his face. “Isn’t that what this week is supposed to be about for you—living in the moment? Living it up?”
    Suddenly his eyes sparkled more than that whole huge expanse of blue off to the side. “Yeah. Nothing serious. Just have fun.”
    “I’m fun.” Trina licked her lips. Mmm. Lemon lip balm. She was ready for action. “Wanna have me?”
    “You read my mind.”
    But instead of going for her mouth, Brad dipped his head to nip at her neck. Below the soft warmth of his lips, teeth scraped just hard enough to contrast. Opposites that worked so well together. A full-body goose bump broke out. Trina swayed backward. Sure enough, Brad’s arm was there to catch her. Still, she unhooked her feet from the rail and wrapped her legs around Brad’s waist. Purely for safety. Then fisted her hands in that thick hair and tugged his mouth up to meet hers.
    The warm sun beat onto her back. But all the heat in the world pressed against her