As You Wish (The Summerhouse 3)

Ray poured Coke into three glasses. Maybe the caffeine would sober them up. But as he picked up the bottle he realized that he was jealous of their merriment. There wasn’t anything in his life right now that came close to happiness. His wife was a wonderful woman. She kept a beautiful home. She was his boss’s daughter.

If he went through with what he planned, he was going to lose it all. His wife, who was his best friend, his home, and probably his job would all disappear.

And for what? For love? Was it worth it?

He looked at the two women by the window. All he knew about the girl, Elise, was what Olivia had told him—and that seemed fairly horrifying. As for Olivia, when he’d first seen her, he’d thought her eyes looked haunted. She smiled and was gracious, but there was something else there too, as though a part of her was missing. Not complete.

He looked at the three glasses. “What the hell,” he murmured, then opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rum. Maybe this cottage was magical and he could get drunk enough that he could laugh as hard as they were. Too bad that experience had shown him that alcohol only made him worry more.

“Here you are, ladies.” He set the drinks down. “More booze. I’ll keep them coming all night if you’ll tell me what you did that was so funny.”

“Do you have any tattoos?” Elise asked, then laughed as Olivia shushed her.

“I’ll show them to you if you tell me everything,” he said in a low, sexy growl.

“Ewwww,” Olivia and Elise echoed. Then they looked at each other. “I’m in,” they said together.

Ray quietly smiled as they drank their rum and Cokes and decimated the huge casserole. As he listened to them, most of it told in disjointed phrases, he managed to pick up the story. It seemed that the two of them had stripped off and run across a forest together.

He wished he’d been there—not to see them naked, but to see their happiness. He deeply wished he could share it with them.

After they’d eaten all they could hold, he got up from the table, pulled it out about three feet, then held out his hands to the two women. Olivia took his hand but Elise didn’t move.

Both of them had that unmistakable look of drunkenness in their eyes. “You still have your shirt on,” Elise said.

“And you want it off because...?” His tone was suggestive.

“A shirtless man reminds me of the best part of home.” Elise’s words were a bit slurred and her eyes dreamy.

“Your husband?”

“Heavens no!” Elise said. “Carmen’s brother. He works in the garden and has his shirt off rain or shine. He’s prettier than the delphiniums.” She took a drink. “And he’s my friend.”

Both Olivia and Ray were aware that Elise wasn’t telling everything, but neither of them asked for more. This wasn’t a time for seriousness. They all needed the great cure of laughter.

With a one-sided smile, Ray pulled his expensive knit shirt over his head and tossed it on the window seat. “Will I do?” His words were smug; he knew he looked good. He was thick and muscular, with little body fat. Four hours a week with a personal trainer kept him in very good shape.

“Turn around,” Olivia said, and he obeyed.

On his upper left shoulder was a tattoo of a scorpion and the number 283. Elise put her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter.

“Were you a member of the Scorpions?” Olivia was trying to hold in her laughter, but it was in her voice.

Turning back, Ray shook his head at them—but he was smiling. “Two snobby little girls. Can I sell you two some diamond-encrusted watches?”

“Ever the salesman,” Olivia said, and she and Elise laughed some more. When Ray held out his hands to them, they took them.

“Can you ride a motorcycle?” Elise asked as she followed him into the living room.

“Like I was born on it. And no, I’ve never participated in a gang war. Sounds like you two have all the same questions Kathy did.”

“Your wife,” Elise said as she and Olivia plopped down on the couch.

Ray went into the kitchen and got a big bag of tortilla chips and a container of freshly made guacamole dip and set them on the coffee table. He was still shirtless and didn’t seem inclined to re-dress. He sat in the big chair to the side. “I suggest that we each tell our favorite sex fantasy.”

Olivia laughed, but Elise nearly choked on a chip.

“Come on now, you two have been teasing me ever since you came back, and this is after a day of running around like a couple of Lady Godivas. Maybe I should break into the caretaker’s house. I’d like to see his trophies.” He narrowed his eyes at Elise. “And yes, Miss Got-Rocks, I have broken into more than one house. And before you start trying to wheedle the rest of my story out of me, I’ll tell you that after my best buddy was killed in one of our burglaries, I quit. Cold turkey. I put myself through school. Clawed my way to the top. Married the boss’s daughter—who I now want to divorce. You have any more questions?”