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He held me close afterward for a moment before putting me back on the towel so he could hoist himself out of the water. I smiled when he stretched out beside me and pulled me into his arms. We didn’t speak for a while. We simply basked in the after-sex bliss, in each other, and in the tropical warmth.
22
JAMIE
I could practically feel Charlotte’s eyes boring holes into the side of my face as we approached the resort’s entrance. We barely spoke all morning after we left the cabin. I think we were both disappointed about heading back to the real world after our few days of fantasy.
Does it have to stay a fantasy though? I glanced at her. Now she was the one staring straight ahead, so my gaze lingered on her as my mind raced with possibilities of a future. What if we could work something out? I could travel to Kohala more than once a year…
Before I could open my mouth to tell Charlotte what was on my mind, she said, “The welcome party awaits.”
I looked ahead and all thoughts about making arrangements to see each other again came to a screeching halt. Lincoln was the first one I saw. He broke away from the group and barreled toward us. The rest of my friends followed and then I saw a man who I’d glimpsed a few times before. He must be Mark, Charlotte’s supervisor.
No one looked too worried since Charlotte had kept her boss updated. However, Mark looked pissed. His scowl intensified the closer he got and his gaze narrowed on her. My first instinct was to protect her from whatever consequences might arise. Although, I didn’t see why there should be any consequences when she’d had the balls to brave a storm to save my ass.
However, as I prepared to tell Mark to back off, Lincoln swept in. He clapped me on the shoulder. “Jamie, it’s good to see you. You had us worried.”
“Thanks. Charlotte took good care of me out there.”
I could have bitten my tongue. Those words only sounded suspicious to me because I knew just how Charlotte took care of me. My gaze skated away from Lincoln’s smiling face to meet Charlotte’s. I looked away from her too so no one would notice if I happened to gaze at her with stars in my eyes.
However, I almost exploded when Lincoln swept Charlotte into a hug. My molars ground together from the force of the jealousy and irritation that sizzled through me. For one, he was too affectionate considering that they weren’t a couple. Plus, now that I knew Charlotte didn’t entertain thoughts of a rekindled romance with him, I was annoyed on her behalf.
Thirdly… Charlotte was mine dammit. I caught up on myself and realized that I was snarling at Lincoln. I quickly shook off my possessiveness and jealousy and relaxed my expression.
However, Alex must have caught on because as he tilted his head to study me, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.
When Lincoln finally put Charlotte down—he held on too long for my comfort—the others greeted her. They then turned their attention to me. Questions were fired at me, which I vaguely answered because my attention was split.
Mark had pulled Charlotte away, and I could tell from their body language that he was reprimanding her. His hands cut through the air in a series of angry gestures as he spoke, while Charlotte listened with a tight expression. She then nodded and turned to walk away and Mark followed.
“What do you think that was about?” I asked.
Everyone turned to watch the two disappear inside.
“He’s pissed that Charlotte took off to find you without notifying the necessary persons that you were missing,” Lincoln replied.
I sighed. “I’m not a fucking child.”
“Still, if anything had gone wrong, the resort would be in hot water,” Spencer reasoned. “You know how these things go…”
“Yeah, the smaller guys always suffer the consequences when the bigger guys want to cover their asses,” Michael said.
I frowned. How many times had we been involved in giving the smaller guys the shitty end of the stick without remorse? To get where we were, I was pretty sure we’d all had our ruthless moments. I wouldn’t allow anyone to use Charlotte as a scapegoat to cover their asses.
“Don’t worry about Charlotte, guys.” Alex raised his eyebrows at me. “Jamie is going to fix everything, I assume.”
I ignored the knowing look he gave me. “Damn right, I am.”
“It’s alright. I’ll talk to Charlotte’s supervisor?—”
“I’ll fix things for her,” I growled, cutting Lincoln off.
His eyebrows snapped together and he eyed me as if I’d gone insane. Spencer and Michael wore matching what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you looks. Alex just shook his head and smirked as if he knew exactly what had gotten into me.
“You dog,” Alex said as he barged into my suite. “You slept with Charlotte, didn’t you?”
Gawking at him and then at the open door, I hissed, “Keep it the fuck down, will you?”
