“Ideally. I’m a software developer, and at my last job, I was expected to deal directly with the clients I was developing for, but it turns out clients don’t like it when you point out their mistakes.”
Clare snorted with laughter, smothering it behind her hand. “The customer is always right, Alicia. Didn’t anyone teach you that?”
“No,” Alicia responded, looking so sad that Clare leaned closer, releasing her hand to wrap an arm around her.
“Well, now you know,” she whispered. “And for the record, I think you’re pretty good company too.”
* * *
Alicia’s shoulderstensed beneath Clare’s unexpected hug. Why was she being so nice? Alicia knew she was an acquired taste, a person most people didn’t get along with. She hadn’t had many friends when she was growing up. Her father was a commercial airline pilot, gone for days at the time, and her mom was a doctor. Alicia had spent a lot of time alone. She’d had to be loud, forceful, even, to get her parents’ attention. Maybe this was the result, or maybe she was just difficult by nature.
“Thanks for coming with me tonight,” Clare said finally.
“Thanks for inviting me. I’m really glad I got to experience this…all of it.”
In response, Clare rested her head on Alicia’s shoulder, a gesture so tender, it made Alicia’s chest ache with longing. “I think she’s finished. Look.”
Before them, the turtle scuffed her flippers through the sand as if she was covering the nest. They watched as she kicked more and more sand over her eggs. The process seemed so tedious to Alicia. She would have lost patience long ago, but the turtle looked entirely unhurried, as if she had all the time in the world.
Maybe she did.
And maybe Alicia did too. She’d been so focused, intent on getting ahead in her career. And what had that gotten her? Nothing, except fired. Now she was here on this beautiful island, and if Clare hadn’t interrupted her, she would have spent her entire vacation inside, applying for jobs. That was important, yes, but so was this.
How many other moments had she missed, too caught up in her own head to pay attention? Clare made her pay attention, and she was grateful for that. Sitting here with Clare’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, Alicia felt exquisitely aware of everything she’d denied herself, starting with the woman beside her.
She’d admired Clare from afar for years, certain she would never be interested in someone like her. As the breeze played with the amber strands of Clare’s hair, Alicia wondered what would happen if she turned her head and kissed her. At the thought, her heart sped, and heat crept up her neck, flushing her cheeks. Thank goodness her response was hidden by the pink glow of their cell phones.
Clare’s lips probably tasted as sweet as her personality. And her skin—
“There she goes,” Clare murmured.
“Hm?” Alicia drew herself out of her lustful thoughts to see that the turtle had begun to turn around. She slowly rotated herself to face the ocean, and then she inched forward, slow and steady as ever. Her flippers scored the sand as she dragged herself forward until she’d reached the surf. Her shell glistened in the moonlight, its natural brown color visible now that she was beyond the red glow of their phones.
“Bye,” Clare whispered.
“Safe travels,” Alicia added.
“I’m sure the conservancy will find the nest tomorrow on their rounds so they can protect it, but maybe we should mark it so we can let them know exactly where it is?”
“Sounds good to me. Plus, I’d like a closer look,” Alicia said.
Shining their flashlights ahead of them, they approached the spot where the turtle had been. The sand was obviously disturbed, but if Alicia hadn’t known better, she would have assumed a kid had played there earlier in the day.
“She did a good job covering up her nest,” Alicia said, no longer whispering now that there wasn’t a turtle here to disturb.
“She did.” Clare bent and rested a hand gently over the center of the mound. “Safe growing, little ones.”
4
Clare stretched out on her beach towel, closing her eyes to avoid the distracting view of Alicia in a coral-colored bikini with white trim. The colors perfectly offset her tanned skin, and Clare was having a hard time not staring. Somewhere over the course of the weekend, she’d become attracted to Alicia. More than that, she genuinelylikedher.
But should she act on it? Clare wasn’t really a vacation-fling kind of woman. Could they have a relationship once they got home? They both lived in the Raleigh area, after all. She dug her toes in the sand, turning her attention to Rue, who was asleep on the towel beside her. The weather was perfect today, warm enough for sunbathing without being so hot Clare would turn into a sweaty mess because the water was still too cold to swim.
Maybe she was a wimp about the temperature, though, because when she looked up, Alicia had abandoned her towel and was waist-deep in the ocean, her hands flitting across the surface. She’d twisted her blonde hair into a knot on top of her head, and dammit, even her back was sexy.
Clare needed to seriously get her libido under control. “How’s the water?” she called.
“Freezing,” Alicia replied, then yelped as a wave swept past her, wetting her to her chest.
