Tara made a face. “What are you doing until then?”
Other than breaking up a happy couple and winning back the love of my life? Not much.She swallowed down the throatful of guilt that had started to form every time she thought of hurting Amy by winning Skye back.“Hanging out by the pool.”
“Is it a good one?”
“Oh yeah. There’s a swim-up bar.”
“No shit? I’ll have to get out there myself.”
“I’ll bring you a brochure. Tell the boys I love them and I’ll be home soon.”
Tara waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about us. We’re having an amazing time.”
Lucy gave a sharp bark in the background. It sounded a lot like agreement. “Okay. I’ll try to call again in a couple days.”
Tara waved the assurance away and cut the call. Kayla tried not to be too deflated as she walked back to her lounger. As much as she missed her dogs, it was hard to be depressed in a place like this. They’d been able to snag a pair of loungers that had a perfect view of both the beach and the main hotel pool. Even though they’d arrived first thing in the morning, they hadn’t seen Skye or Amy anywhere, but with this lookout, they were bound to spot them. Besides, it was only day three. She had time.
When Kayla arrived at the chairs, she found Mack’s lounger empty. Her straw fedora and beach bag were still there, so she hadn’t abandoned Kayla just yet. Maybe she had gone to the bathroom?
Kayla settled down on her chair and arranged her body in as sexy a pose as she could manage. It wasn’t easy with the forest of scars around her right knee, but she’d learned how to angle her left leg to block the worst of it when in a bathing suit. And oh boy, was she in a bathing suit.
Phase one of the Plan of Seduction had been to buy the tiniest bathing suits she could find in all of Skye’s favorite colors. The one she’d chosen for today was a string bikini, the same emerald green as Skye’s hair. The “top”—if it could even be considered an article of clothing with so little cloth—consisted of two minuscule triangles that barely covered her nipples. The bottom would have been indecent if she didn’t adhere religiously to her Brazilian waxing routine. Audrey Hepburn-esque sunglasses and a wide, floppy hat completed the outfit. When she’d dressed this morning, she’d even turned herself on. Skye didn’t stand a chance.
After five minutes of peering over the top of her trashy romance novel in search of Skye’s distinctive form, she was starting to get irritated. Had she really gone to all this trouble for nothing? She’d already lost most of the previous day when Skye and Amy announced that they’d scheduled a snorkeling excursion. Now, they didn’t have the decency to turn up at the pool when Kayla had pulled out her most alluring bikini?
Kayla was distracted from her search by what could only be described as an indecent and unfair display of sexiness. Right in front of Kayla’s chair, a masc Amazon pushed herself out of the water to leap up onto the pool deck. Her shoulders were wide and positively rippling with muscle, and her abs were chiseled from marble. She flipped her head back, spraying water behindher and exposing a deliciously kissable neck. Then she put one foot on the pool deck and stood to an impressive height while water streamed down a tight, sports-bra style swim top and mid-thigh board shorts. Very familiar board shorts. With hibiscus flowers on a blue background.
Kayla sucked in a shocked breath and told herself to stop drooling. Was that Mack? Of course it was. Kayla had watched her walk out of their shared bathroom in that very swim set this morning. At the time, she’d worn a matching floral button up to cover that drool-worthy torso. No wonder other women fell all over themselves staring at Mack, but Kayla never had. She was just…Mack.
“How are the pups?” Mack asked as she snatched her towel off the lounger.
“Good.” Kayla dove behind her book to avoid ogling Mack as she toweled off. Just what the hell was going on with her libido these days?
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on.” Mack dropped onto her lounger, still breathing heavy. Had she been swimming laps? “Talk to me.”
She leaned closer as she spoke, and a little water dribbled onto Kayla’s elbow. She squirmed away, trying to keep her body in the seductive pose she’d been holding. “Hey, watch that.”
“What’s the matter? Don’t want me to get you wet?”
Mack’s eyebrows danced at the innuendo, and she looked so goofy—so much like the silly teenager she’d always been with Kayla—that the tension dissipated. What had she freaked out about anyway? Kayla was allowed to notice that Mack was hot. Objectively, anyone could see that. That didn’t change the fact that she was just Mack. That didn’t change the fact that Kayla wanted Skye.
Kayla laughed and dropped her romance novel onto the table between them. “I’m not the one you’re getting wet. Half the women here are drooling over you after that Aquaman stunt. I better not find you at the bar, flirting with some random stranger. I might get jealous.”
Mack leaned back, turning her face to the sun and closing her eyes. “Yeah, it would be awkward if both of us were flirting with other women on this honeymoon.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I promise not to be too obvious with my flirting. I don’t want to embarrass you.”
Mack rolled on the lounger to face her, propping her head on the heel of her hand. “Maybe that would help, though. You could catch me flirting, and we could stage a big fight. Then you could run off crying into Skye’s arms. Might help the Seduction Mission.”
“The Plan of Seduction,” Kayla said.
“Oh, right. Plan of Seduction.”
“Good instinct, but it wouldn’t work.”
