Page 84 of The Work Wife

“Congratulations,” he said as he bent down and kissed her. It started out as a light little peck, but soon they had their arms around each other under the water, and his tongue had slipped into her mouth.

Someone clapped, and Jamie remembered this was just a show. She struggled to keep the disappointment off her face as he took her hand and helped her out of the water. He rested his arm on her shoulder as Misty gathered everyone around for their marching orders.

“Good job, everyone. I hope you all learned something that might help you communicate better with your partner.”

Curt grumbled something about being kicked in the nuts.

“This afternoon is free time. Go for a walk, have a swim or a snorkel. We’ll meet in the big room at eight for dinner and a workshop in conflict resolution.”

The only conflict Jamie was having at the moment was with her sex drive.

* * * *

After spending an hour or so with the McCaffertys to casually chat about what they were looking for in their new headquarters, Wes spent the rest of the day sitting next to Jamie on the beach. Both of them were content to relax on a chaise lounge in the shade and look out over the water. Occasionally they’d go in the ocean or the pool. A constant supply of drinks was delivered as the sun dipped toward the ocean. Every once in a while Jamie would pick up her tablet and draw something. She hadn’t shared it yet, which meant she was still in the exploratory stages of her creation.

“We should probably go get ready for dinner,” Wes said as he let his head fall to the side to look at her. She’d pulled on her cover-up, but after spending the day with her in that bikini, the image of those curves was burned into his brain, along with the memories of that kiss.

“I don’t want to move. I just want to spend the rest of the week right here.”

“Come on. You don’t want to miss conflict resolution, do you?” he teased.

“Do we have conflicts?” she asked, scrunching up her nose the way she did when she was thinking.

“No. You mostly boss me around and I just give in because it’s easier.” This wasn’t exactly true, but to tell her he didn’t disagree with her often would point out yet another area where they were well suited for one another. How had they not noticed how great they were together before now? Sure, they knew they got along, but on all levels they seemed perfectly matched.

“Hmm. Maybe we’ll actually get something out of this workshop,” Jamie said.

“You didn’t get anything out of the communication exercise this morning?”

“Sure I got something. I got another gift card.” She rubbed her palms together.

“We did well at herding all those balls,” he said, getting a snicker out of Jamie as he’d expected. “Better than the married people.”

“I’m not surprised. How many times have we had conversations without even speaking?” she pointed out. It was true. It happened quite often. Sometimes a look was all it took for him to know what she was thinking or how she felt about something.

He knew all her looks. Like the one now.

Utter happiness.

“I’m going to go shower. You can stay for a little while longer if you want. Don’t fall asleep,” he said.

“I won’t. I’ll be in soon.”

Without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her lips. Just a quick peck, like he’d seen real couples do when saying goodbye. Jamie glanced over her shoulder when he straightened, no doubt looking for someone from their group.

He’d kissed her as a reflex. Something he’d gotten in the habit of doing when her father was around. Playing the part of the doting husband was an easy role to step into. Too easy apparently.

“Give me twenty minutes and then the shower is all yours,” he said before he hurried off.

As he took the shortcut to their room, he heard a familiar laugh and slowed down so he wouldn’t be accused of storming off and leaving Jamie alone. The last thing they needed was for the group to think they were having another fight.

Lance laughed again, but as Wes got closer he realized Lance wasn’t with Holly. He was leaning into the personal space of another woman.

Wes stopped for a moment to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Yes, his potential client was flirting with another woman while on a couples’ retreat.

And since this resort was couples only, that meant the woman he was touching inappropriately was most likely someone else’s wife or girlfriend.

Unsure of what to do, he hesitated a moment too long. When he turned to go he spotted Holly heading their way. The only thing more uncomfortable than stumbling across adultery in action would be watching the teary, emotional reaction of the other party when the gig was up.