Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights Book 9) (14 page)

Rachel was waiting for her at the front of the restaurant Audra had named overlooking the Freeport marina.

“Thanks for taking the time, hon.” Rachel gave Audra a one-armed hug.

Mystified, Audra hugged her back. Was this something women did that she’d never been privy to because she’d never had female friends? If so, it was… nice. “Sure. I hope this is okay. It’s hard to find a local restaurant that’s not seafood in the Bahamas, and the chains are horrific.”

Smiling, Rachel linked arms with her as they followed the host through the crowd of tables populated by islanders. You could always tell the difference between tourists and locals in a heartbeat. An absence of large straw bags, cameras, and T-shirts with resort logos usually was a dead giveaway.

Rachel leaned forward the moment she plunked down on the wicker-backed wooden chair. “Tell me about you and Charlie.”

“Um, what?” Audra bobbled the menu, nearly letting the plastic-coated page slide to the floor.

“Come on. Don’t be stingy.” Rachel twirled a finger with a grin, her face animated, which seemed to be her natural expression. “It’s obvious he’s gaga over you. I’ve never seen him look at a woman the way he does you.”

“Does he not date?”
Smooth
. Why not just hold up a shame sign?
I pump other women for information about Charlie St. Croix because he won’t tell me why he dumped me.

Where was the waiter? A margarita was in order, stat, if this was the way the conversation was headed.

Rachel shook her head with a sad quirk of her lips. “Evan mentioned that he was seeing someone on and off a while back but Charlie never brought her around. She had a young daughter, and if I understand correctly, there was something about a pet rabbit someone passed off to her that put the whole thing in a tailspin.”

That sounded like a story that would likely go untold. The concept of “talking” before jumping into bed hadn’t gone over so well. But this was the kind of interaction she’d been looking for from Charlie. What happened to put them where they were now? Why couldn’t they just be honest with each other about stuff, forgive and find a way to be together like they’d planned?

She was willing to do so if he’d just engage. But she was afraid he’d checked out because he’d already figured out that sex was the only thing they had in common. The only thing that made sense when you put them together. Audra, on the other hand, was slow and stupid and had taken the one thing out of the equation that had the slightest potential to get her closer to where she wanted to be.

Intimacy had worked to bind them together before. And like an idiot, she’d taken it off the table. Maybe she should just call him and tell him how she felt instead of waiting for him to figure out what he wanted the next steps to be.

They ordered dinner, and Rachel immediately jumped back on the Charlie bandwagon. “So there
is
a thing. With you and Charlie and Jared. Right? That’s why this whole mess snowballed.”

Ugh. Not Rachel too with this subject. Audra would tell her to stick it where the sun didn’t shine, but the woman had only asked because she had a job to do and needed information.

“There’s a thing,” she admitted but only because she had a feeling Rachel had already sniffed it out. “But not enough of a thing that I was aware you’d spoken to Jared. When?”

“About six weeks ago. Right after I filed the petition to have Ilhota Rosa declared a wildlife sanctuary.” Rachel sipped her tea casually, her sharp gaze on Audra. “He informed me that you were going to file a report that said dolphins are migratory and thus my petition would be useless. Would it be too forward of me to say that I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you told Señor Pompous Ass that your report didn’t say that?”

Audra had to laugh. “It was a little spectacular.”

“I’ll bet.”

Waggling her brows, Rachel dug into the chips and salsa the waiter brought as Audra eyed it looking for evidence of its heat level. Spicy didn’t agree with her, which made eating in the Caribbean and Miami too, for that matter, a challenge.

She took a chance. The salsa was pretty mild, so she munched on a chip thoughtfully. “You think Jared is pompous?”

Rachel shrugged. “You don’t? I guess I should have asked what’s going on between you before I insulted him.”

She waved that off because nothing Rachel could say would change the truth. “If you’d said dangerous, that I would agree to. But pompous is too tame a word for Jared. It implies he’s got an inflated opinion of himself, but there’s no room for subjectivity when it comes to what he’s capable of. He’s smart and has no integrity. Watch out.”

As warnings went, it was ambiguous, but she literally had no clue what he planned to do next. He’d never confided in her in the first place, and she had every suspicion that she’d landed on his bad side right next to Charlie.

Rachel’s gaze narrowed. “You filed that report to piss him off. Why?”

God, she liked this woman. There might be a serious girl crush happening.

“Because I’m the one thing he can’t manipulate.” She showed her teeth. “And he needed the reminder.”

Plus he’d only hired her because he’d needed an excuse to talk to her after she’d broken up with him. She didn’t owe him anything. But she did owe it to herself to assert her independence whenever possible. Fake it till you make it.

Rachel’s return smile spoke volumes. “I’m a fan of your tactics. I’m just sorry I didn’t hook up with you sooner. We could have avoided some missteps. Tell me. Why is he bent on ruining Aqueous Adventures?”

Wasn’t that the million dollar question? Guilt soured her throat because she was pretty sure she knew the answer and it was not something she planned to share with anyone, least of all a woman who might blab to God and everyone about it. Audra had already made her share of colossal blunders, and admitting that she’d told Jared that Charlie was the only person that she’d ever felt like she could fall in love with would not endear her to anyone.

The irony of that pinged around in her bruised heart.

Besides, she didn’t know for
sure
that was the reason Jared had it out for Charlie. The timing could have been totally coincidental. But probably not.

What kind of glutton for punishment was she anyway? When she’d proposed starting over with Charlie, all she’d wanted was a chance to find out what could happen between them when they let go of all the crap. Whether the fledging feelings she’d nurtured over their Skype conversations might blossom when allowed free rein. Whether they could trust each other enough to let down their guards.

Looked like the answer wasn’t just no, but hell no. He kept so many things close to the vest, refusing to share with her. She had her own stuff she’d take to her grave. Both of them had taken the first step but then faltered. Maybe because sex was all they’d ever had. That was painful indeed.

“I don’t know,” she hedged. “Does it seem like this is personal? I think Jared just wants Ilhota Rosa. It’s a beautiful spot. Have you been there?”

Rachel nodded. “Lovely. And you’re lying. You do know. But I respect a woman’s right to bear her own albatross. We’ve all got them. The only thing I care about is making sure that my boys have enough weapons at their disposal to win. If you’re willing to help me stockpile, welcome aboard.”

For God knew what reason, Rachel’s grace tripped something inside and pricked her eyelids with unshed tears. Nodding, she blinked back the moisture before she revealed her entire hand and smiled.

It didn’t work.

Rachel’s keen gaze zeroed in on Audra’s face, and she was pretty sure the tears hadn’t escaped her notice. God, what was wrong with her? She was turning weakness into an art form, and displaying her soft underbelly around a woman who likely ate other people’s vulnerabilities for breakfast made her feel even worse. She cleared her throat.

“Charlie wants to add a dolphin-habitat-education spiel to the excursion. I’m in to help guide that. It fits with what I do at the aquatic center. The only problem is that I don’t know if it will be enough to counter the injunction. Have you had a chance to work through that? Legally?”

“No. I’m concerned too, frankly.” Rachel’s smile belied what should have been bad news. “But I’m working another angle at the moment. Here it is. Tell Jared to cancel the injunction. If he says no, talk him into it.”

The glass of water Audra had just picked up nearly slipped out of her hand. “What? What makes you think I have any influence over him?”

“Lucky guess.” Rachel sat back in her chair contemplating. “And my money is on Charlie being your motivation. Because you know you have a hand in the reason this whole thing got started and you want to make it right.”

That was so close to the truth it lodged in her throat and she couldn’t breathe all at once. What Rachel was suggesting was the very definition of being caught between a rock and a hard place. She probably
had
been the catalyst for Jared’s vendetta, whether she liked it or not. Just because he’d transformed the whole thing into some macho pissing contest that Charlie gladly jumped on didn’t absolve her part in it.

She owed it to Charlie and his former teammates to try Rachel’s suggestion. Rachel even had a personal stake since she was involved with Evan Silva. The reasons to do what she was asking were valid, but Audra didn’t like the idea of calling in a favor with Jared. Or what she might have to do in return, because there was no way he’d do it out of the goodness of his heart.

And yet… part of her wondered if success wouldn’t somehow be the magic spell that fixed things. If Jared lifted the injunction, maybe it would remove the wedge between her and Charlie.

Looked like Rachel had called it in one—Charlie
was
enough of a motivation for her to do it.

She put her head in her hands. “Okay. I’ll talk to him. But no promises.”

Rachel patted her shoulder. “You’ll figure it out.”

“Can you do me a favor and keep this between us for now?” Audra hated to ask for secrecy, but Jared was such a touchy subject, and the last thing she wanted to do was give Charlie yet another reason to cool his jets. “I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Plus, he’s out of town and I don’t know when he’ll be back. In the meantime, I’ll work on the materials for the habitat educational cycle and you work the injunction angle. Can we agree on that?”

They shook on it and dug into the conch salad and corn muffins. By the end of the meal, Audra felt like she’d made a friend. And it was only after they walked out of the restaurant that she realized how desperately she’d needed one.

“Let me walk you to the marina,” Audra suggested impulsively, loath to allow the evening to end when all she had ahead of her was a lonely apartment and another night spent clutching her phone in anticipation of a call she wouldn’t get.

If she wanted to see Charlie, she’d have to reach out. Again. And hope it was the right next step instead of a mistake that got her hand cut off.

“Sure.” Rachel linked arms with Audra like they’d done it a million times, and they walked along the path from the restaurant to the public marina where Evan had agreed to pick her up.

Car tires screeched behind them, and an engine revved. Audra glanced behind her and yelped. A car barreled down the lane between the marina and the row of shops—a strip meant for people, not vehicles, which told her the driver had probably indulged in one too many cocktails. 

The vehicle headed straight for her and Rachel.

Instinct took over. She yanked on Rachel’s elbow and leaped, falling heavily onto one of the docks two feet below the sidewalk. Rachel
oofed
as she landed on top of Audra, then rolled to her side, breathing heavily and cursing a blue streak.

But the car missed them, careening toward the other end of the marina.

“Maniac.” Rachel spit and blood came out with it. “Lucky I didn’t lose a tooth.”

Audra jumped to her feet and threw out a hand. Whoa. A wave of dizziness broke over her, and she wobbled to the edge of the dock to grab onto something solid. And then craned her neck as if she could actually spy the license plate of the maniac through her double vision.

The car had vanished. She extended a hand to help Rachel to her feet.

“That was close,” Rachel commented with a touch of venom as she adjusted her glasses, which had fortunately not fallen off.

“Stupid tourists. Can’t handle their alcohol and an unfamiliar rental at the same time.” Audra rubbed her hip and checked to be sure no blood seeped through her dress. It was ruined regardless, as was her nice evening with Rachel. Just peachy.

Her body was going to ache later, which fit her suddenly morose mood. She had to spend some time thinking about how in the hell she was going to get Jared to lift the injunction. And how to reach out to Charlie when it felt like she’d already done that. Wasn’t his silence enough of a clue that he was still a flight risk?

Maybe it was a lost cause. But her heart refused to accept that.

C
harlie banged on Audra’s door and then thought better of the amount of force he’d put behind it. A woman who had just endured harm probably wasn’t going to answer a crazed pounding against the one barrier between her and unknown threats.