Should she bring it up? Until she decided, she tried a different tack. “I think we’re already doing that, right? Maybe not about jealousy, but a few weeks back, when I wanted you to trust me not to take chances—”
“And I told you it had nothing to do with trust—but I understood you didn’t like being coddled.”
“Not when it feels like an insult to my intelligence.”
“Which would never be my intention.” His breath teased her ear as he whispered, “Your brains are as attractive as your kickin’ body.”
Phoenix shivered, and his teeth tugged at her earlobe. To give her brain something to focus on other than his big gorgeous body and subtle seduction, she asked, “What’s my smartass sister doing now?”
He turned his head to look—and laughed. “She and Baxter are in much the same position as us.”
Good. Ridley deserved to be happy. “I guess Baxter convinced her to forget her payback.”
“Apparently.” He scooped his hands down to her bottom below the water. “We need to try this again some evening when no one else is around and it’s too dark for others to see us.”
“Swim at night?” The idea didn’t sound appealing at all.
“Have you ever had sex in the water?”
“Actually...no.” But suddenly his suggestion seemed more appealing. “Cooper?”
Lips to her neck, he murmured, “Hmm?”
“Was your wife the jealous type?” As soon as the words left her mouth, Phoenix cringed. She hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but the way he touched her, the warmth of his mouth, scattered her thoughts.
For only a heartbeat, his body stilled against hers. In the next second, he leaned away, his hands now holding her waist, their bodies no longer flush together. “Why do you ask?”
He appeared more defensive than offended. “It does seem to be an important matter to you.”
Two more beats passed, then he leaned in for a fast, firm kiss. “Yes, she was jealous a lot, though she never had any reason to be. She’d have hated the resort.”
“Because you deal with a lot of female customers?” Many of them, Phoenix silently added, dressed in skimpy summer clothes or even bikinis. And of course they often flirted with him. Why wouldn’t they? He was big, buff, gorgeous—and single.
Cooper nodded, and then he surprised her by hugging her close, his chin atop her head. “We had a good marriage. But like most couples, we had our problems.”
“Things are never perfect in any relationship.”
“True. I never talked about it before, though, because it would have felt disloyal.” His laugh was rough, and filled with irony. “So odd that it doesn’t feel that way with you. It’s even odder that you don’t mind talking about it.”
No, she didn’t mind. “I’m glad you had her.” She meant that with all her heart. Cooper deserved happiness, and Anna had given him that. “I’m just sorry that you lost her so soon.”
With a groan, he held her out the length of his arms. “Phoenix...”
“Yoo-hoo.”
Recognizing her sister’s voice, Phoenix turned toward the shore. She could just make out Ridley’s outline—alone. “Where’s Baxter?” she asked her, worrying that they might have gotten into another disagreement.
“Some new guests had scuba questions for him.” Sotto voce, Ridley confessed, “Two old dudes, so I happily left him with them. It’s the hoochies who come on to him that I don’t trust.” Hands on her hips, Ridley asked, “So Coop, how involved are you two in that water?” She peered at them skeptically. “The water is so dark, it’s hard to tell.”
While Phoenix choked on a laugh, Ridley asked, “Any chance I can steal my sister for a few minutes?”
Taking her arm, Cooper started her back toward shore. “I was whispering sweet nothings in her ear, but I suppose I can give you five minutes.”
Regretfully, Ridley said, “Might take fifteen. Is that okay?”
Phoenix heard a note of...something in her sister’s voice. “Everything okay?”
“Fine.” But she added in a rush, “I think.”
“You think?”
“Normally I wouldn’t intrude when it’s clear Coop is getting his romance on.”
Tone dry, Cooper said, “I was that obvious, huh?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “You’re not a subtle guy.”
Phoenix squeezed the water off the ends of her hair as they climbed to the shore. “Towel?”
“Anyway, I really do hate interrupting.” Ridley rushed to hand her a towel and her glasses. “It’s just that if I don’t talk to you soon, I might explode. Or worse, do something stupid.” As an aside to Cooper, she confided, “Phoenix is the supplier of commonsense.”
“True enough.”
With her glasses on now, she could see the tender look Cooper gave her. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” To Ridley, he asked, “Will you have enough privacy if I take Sugar into the lake to teach her to swim?”
“How good are your ears?”
He laughed. “I won’t be straining to listen, if that’s what you mean.”
“Then I suppose it’s fine.” She shifted her feet, antsy in her impatience. “Thank you, Coop, seriously.”
“No problem.” He went to Sugar, who’d been dozing peacefully, and scooped her up.
Phoenix could hear him talking softly to the dog as he waded into the water hip deep. Already Sugar’s legs were pumping even though she had yet to touch the water. Seeing the dog was excited, but not afraid, Phoenix turned to her sister.
“Come on.” Ridley grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the shore, toward the shade of the tree where the dog had been.
“What’s going on? You’re sure you’re okay?” Phoenix spread out the towel and started to lower herself.
“I’m pregnant.”
Shock took out her legs and she plopped down hard on her backside. “Pregnant?”
“Shh.” Ridley sat beside her, her back to the tree, her eyes closed as if by finally sharing, she’d exhausted herself.
“But...are you sure?”
“Positive. I did the whole home check then—”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Phoenix pushed her shoulder, but immediately snatched back her hand, horrified by what she’d done. “Oh, hell. I didn’t mean—”
Ridley rolled her head enough that she could glare. “I’m not breakable, sis. Just knocked up.”
Pregnant. Phoenix had a hard time taking it in. “But Robbie left you because you couldn’t conceive.”
“Yeah.” She closed her eyes again, but she was smiling. “Apparently the problem wasn’t with me.”
Phoenix sat sideways to face her. “Apparently not.” With her heart starting to pound in excitement, she gently stroked her sister’s hair. “Ridley, are we happy about this?”
Still with her eyes closed, Ridley nodded, then gulped.
“We are?” Phoenix gulped, too. A baby. The smile came with a bloom of happiness. “We are!”
“I should have known Baxter would be more potent.”
A snickering laugh escaped Phoenix before she could stop it.
Ridley bumped her with her shoulder and finally looked at her.
She had tears in her eyes, but she looked... “Radiant,” Phoenix breathed.
“Come again?”
Phoenix threw her arms around her. “Oh, Ridley, you’re beautiful.”
Ridley laughed. “Thank you?”
“We’re going to have a baby.” She started to bounce and couldn’t stop.
“We are.” Ridley began bouncing, too.
Phoenix noticed Cooper staring at them, a lopsided smile on his face as he watched them hugging and laughing.
“We’re drawing attention.”
Quickly, Ridley cleared her throat, wiped her eyes and resettled against the tree. “You can’t tell anyone yet.”
She nodded. “What does Baxter think?”
“Well...” Ridley plucked at a dandelion, twirling it between her fingers. “I haven’t exactly told him yet—and before you blast me, recall that I told you first, and that’s how it should be.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that one.” She was honored to be the first to know. “But you are going to tell him, right?”
She shrugged. “Eventually.”
“Ridley Rose.” Phoenix sat back, her hands on her hips.
Smirking, Ridley looked her over. “That indignant pose loses something when you’re sitting on a beach towel in a bikini squinting from the sun.”
“You have to tell him, sooner rather than later.”
Slumping, Ridley mangled the weed. “What if he’s not happy? What if he’s the opposite of happy? We’re not you and Cooper. We’re not—”