But what if we don’t?
Tutting, she picked up the file. Real life was calling. She had to enjoy the moment with Carter because that was all it would be. A moment in time. He was hardly husband material, heck, for her, he wasn’t even boyfriend material.
But what if he is?
She dropped into the chair facing the ocean. She had to face the truth. Their lives were about as compatible as fire and ice. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out.
She flicked open the file and forced her mind into attorney mode. Soon, she was scanning the evidence, picking through details, and checking and rechecking points that could win or lose the case.
She didn’t know how long she sat quietly studying, but eventually, she heard movement upstairs, the bathroom door close, and then the shower.
Sticking a few Post-it notes in various pages, she set the file aside just as Carter appeared wearing his jeans low on his hips.
“Mornin’, beautiful,” he said before yawning and wandering to the coffee pot while rubbing the ink covering his left biceps.
“Hey, you slept well.”
“Your demands exhausted me. Crazed sex beast, that’s what you are, babe.”
“Hey!”
He chuckled and reached for a mug. “Gotta say, it’s nice waking with the sound of the ocean, but I did wonder where you were.”
“I hadn’t gone far.” She nodded at the files. “I had work to do.”
“Damn shame to work on vacation.”
“It was always intended to be that way.”
He poured coffee. “You done now?”
“Mostly, for today anyway.”
“Good.” He rested his butt on the counter and looked at her over the rim of his cup. “’Cause we’re going out.”
“We are?”
“Yeah.” He glanced at her dress.
“To Tijuana again?”
“Nah, once a week is enough for that.” He sipped. “I was thinking pancakes.”
“I could do pancakes.”
“Good. We’ll go in ten, so go do whatever it is girls do before going out.”
“You have dictator tendencies, you know that?”
The right side of his mouth tilted. “Like I said, I know what I want, and I want to go for pancakes in ten.” He paused. “And you can’t deny it, I also know whatyouwant.” He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip. “Exactlywhat you want and need multiple times over.”
Why the hell did his cockiness turn her on so much? He was so damn confident. It was refreshing, exhilarating even, but also maddening.
She stood. “I’ll be ready in ten.”
His gaze followed her from the room, heating her ass cheeks and in turn her blood. But it was a good heat, it was the kind that made her want to rip her clothes off and his, forget the pancakes, and treat last night as if it were a rehearsal for the real thing.
It couldn’t have been any better. Ten out of ten couldn’t be beaten.