“No, what you need is to sweat some of that alcohol out of your system.”
“The logical part of me knows you’re right. My stomach wants to tell you to fuck off.”
Liz laughed and pulled Jenna out of the chaise.
They all took a long walk down the beach, the warm sun beating down on them. Liz had worn a hat and her cover-up and enough sunscreen to ward off a burn.
“This is nice,” she said.
“What is?” Tara asked.
“Being here. With all of you.”
Tara looped her arm in Liz’s. “It has been fun. I had some reservations about coming. I thought I’d miss Sam too much.”
“I sense a but in there.”
“Actually, it’s been good for me to get away. Between chasing after the baby, and being back at work, things have been intense. I needed a break.”
“I’m glad you had a chance to unwind. By the way, I have massages scheduled for all of us this afternoon before we have to pack.”
Jenna sighed. “Have I mentioned how much I love you?”
“You might have said that about fifteen times last night.”
Jenna laughed. “As long as I only said it to you, then I’m okay.”
“Oh, you loved everyone last night. Me, the other girls . . .”
“The bartender,” Tara added. “The cocktail waitress who kept bringing you drinks.”
“Don’t forget the bouncer at the club. You sang to him.”
Jenna’s face went blank. “I did not.”
“Oh, you did. He liked it though. He sang with you.”
Alicia laughed. “I do remember that part. Hysterical.”
Jenna lifted her chin. “I’m not speaking to any of you ever again.”
Savannah put her arm around Jenna. “Yes, you are, honey, because we’re your bridesmaids. And we got stinking drunk with you and made fools of ourselves, too. Now if that isn’t love, what is?”
Jenna smiled and laid her head on Savannah’s shoulder. “I love you guys.”
Liz rolled her eyes.
They had their massages later in the day, which to Liz felt like absolute heaven. By the time they all returned to the room to shower and pack, she was both reluctant and eager to get home. She’d loved having an all-women weekend, but she missed Gavin. And she wasn’t going to get pregnant spending time away from her husband.
The trip home was long, and by the time everyone said their good-byes, she was counting the minutes until she walked in her front door. It was late, and she knew Gavin’s flight got in well before hers.
He was probably asleep. The house was lit up, though, and when she opened the garage door, she was surprised to see him still up.
“I thought you’d be sleeping,” she said as she got out of the car.
He came over and enveloped her in his arms, pressing her against the car and kissing her deeply. She fell into his embrace, telling him without words just how much she’d missed him.
“Mmm,” she said when he broke the kiss. “I missed that.”
“Me, too. And I wanted to wait up for you and grab your luggage.”
“Is that some kind of sexual euphemism?”
He laughed. “Well, no, but I can make it one if you want me to.”
“That’s all right. Carry on.”
He pulled her bags out of the trunk of her car and carried them upstairs. She shrugged out of her jacket and hung it up, then followed him.
She’d been exhausted driving home, thinking of nothing more than throwing off her clothes and climbing in bed next to her sleeping husband. But since he wasn’t asleep . . .
When he set her bags down, she came up behind him and pressed her body against his. “I missed you.”
He grasped her hands. “I missed you too, babe.” He turned around. “Did you have fun in Jamaica?”
“We did.”
He ran his finger across the tip of her nose. “It looks like you got a little sun.”
She laughed. “Yeah, very little. You know my skin.”
“I do. But I think I should inspect you fully to make sure you didn’t get burned.”
She kicked off her shoes. “Yes, you probably should.”
He undid the buttons of her blouse one by one, his gaze burning into hers, making her hotter by the second. Her nipples tightened, achingly sensitive against her bra as he pushed her blouse off her shoulders.
Gavin traced the swell of her breasts. “I thought about you a lot while I was in Vegas,” he said.
She shuddered as she inhaled. “Did you? I thought about you, too.”
“Yeah.” He walked around behind her and unhooked her bra, then leaned in to lift her hair and press a kiss against the side of her neck. “We’re always apart when I’m playing ball, so I like being with you during the off-season. It sucked being separated.”
“It did.” Goose bumps prickled across her skin as he kissed his way across her neck toward her shoulder. He nipped at her shoulder and she tilted her head back. “Gavin.”
“I like the way you say my name when you’re turned on.”