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Carmen’s phone rang, waking her from a deep, wine-induced sleep. She winced, pressing a hand to her forehead as she set up, scrambling for the cell before it woke Sawyer. She pressed the silence and stared at the screen. The number was not in her contacts. She swiped to answer and spoke in a whisper.
“Hello?”
“Carmen? It’s Chuck.” Charlotte’s voice was bright, and it sounded as though she were walking outside. Carmen heard a car go by on the other end of the line.
“Hey, what’s going on? Is everything all right?”
“You bet! Why wouldn’t it be?” Charlotte asked.
“Uhhh,” Carmen groaned, lowering herself back down on the pillows and glancing at Sawyer. He was still out cold, his mouth ajar and his breathing rhythmic. “Because we drank an entire vineyard last night. Because we stayed up until two a.m.?” She desperately wished for a glass of water and an entire bottle of Advil.
Charlotte chortled on the other end, making Carmen wince. “You, my lovely, are a lightweight,” Charlotte informed her. “If we are going to hang, I am going to have to toughen you up a bit.”
“Oh, please, no, I don’t think I can handle much more,” Carmen said, making Charlotte laugh again.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I just called because I was thinking about how I ordered you to the party tonight.”
Carmen contained a moan. She had forgotten all about the party she had committed herself to that evening. How was she supposed to survive that? “Oh . . . yeah, it will be fun.” Even she could hear the fake tone in her voice.
“Carmen, you don’t have to come,” Charlotte said. “I realized I shouldn’t monopolize your time. You and Sawyer should spend it together.”
Carmen didn’t know what to say. She was reluctant to spend her second to last night away from Sawyer, but she also liked Charlotte and wanted to cultivate their friendship. “Are you sure?”
“Yes!” Charlotte exclaimed, sending another bolt of pain through Carmen’s head. “I don’t want to split up the lovebirds.”
“All right.” Carmen laughed softly. “I won’t come, but only on one condition.”
“What is it? What is it?” Charlotte trilled.
“We are going for coffee this afternoon. No boys allowed.”
“Yeah!”
“Meet me at the café at one?” Carmen asked.
“It’s a date, lovely.”
Charlotte hung up, and Carmen curled up against Sawyer’s side, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the cruel morning sunshine.
****
CARMEN NEARLY OVERSLEPT, despite her “date” with Charlotte not being until 1 p.m. Sawyer made coffee while she rushed through a shower, and they drank while leaning side by side against the island, ignoring the ringing of the phone.
“Is he going to stop?” Carmen asked when the ringing ate away at her nerves. Sawyer shrugged.
“I was hoping sooner rather than later, but he is a Stevenson. We are stubborn creatures.”
“Sawyer,” Carmen said with a sigh, “go to work.”
“I don’t want to,” he grumbled.
“Well, then you can stay here by yourself; I’m going out with Charlotte.”
Sawyer cocked his head. “What are you and Chuck doing?”
Sawyer looked down at her cup and back to her face. “All right then.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t talk about you.” She reached over and patted his cheek before draining her mug. “Boys are boring. We will just talk about unicorn stickers and probably have a few pillow fights.”
Sawyer cocked a brow at her. “Pillow fights, eh?”
She smacked his arm. “Stop it. I know what you’re doing.”
Sawyer laughed. “What am I doing?”
“You are picturing us having pillow fights in our underwear.”
“Pffft.” Sawyer flapped a hand at her. “You have no proof.”
“I do.” Carmen laughed and caught his fingers. “You’re a man. That’s all the proof I need.”
“All right, you have me there, I suppose,” Sawyer said. “I’ll go to work, but I won’t like it.” Sawyer released a long, drawn-out sigh and leaned over to press a lingering kiss on her lips. “Unless . . .” he drawled.
“Have a good day, Sawyer.”
****
“SO, ARE YOU RECOVERED?” Charlotte slid into the booth across from Carmen, bumping the rim of her mug against the latte Carmen had ordered.
“Barely.” Carmen let out a rueful laugh. “I’m not that much a lightweight, I swear. I think I’m overtired.”
Charlotte’s expression softened. “This is tough, isn’t it?”
Carmen’s throat went tight. She nodded, studying the surface of her latte. Charlotte reached across the table and took her hand. “I was right, you know, Sawyer is in love with you.”
Carmen shook her head, but Charlotte held a hand up. “Don’t bother, missy. I know when a boy is smitten.”
Carmen raised a brow at Charlotte. “Do you now?”
“Yes.” Charlotte nodded emphatically. “And that boy is smitten.”
“Well, since you are so in tune with the boys, you must know that Sam is smitten with a certain someone, as well.”
Charlotte froze with the mug halfway to her lips. “He is? With whom?”
Carmen bit her lip, studying Charlotte and wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut. Judging by the look on her face, Charlotte’s curiosity had raised its head, and Carmen was unlikely to get away without telling her. “It’s you, Chuck. Sam is smitten with you.”
“Pffft.” Charlotte flapped her hand in the space between them. “No. That’s not true. He thinks of me as a little sister.”
Carmen considered arguing but decided it would be best to let the matter go. Sam and Chuck would have to work out their own problems. She had enough of her own. She patted the back of Charlotte’s hand. “I’m sure you are right. Also, we used the word smitten more than anyone has the right to.”
Charlotte nodded, but Carmen could see the doubt flicker in her eyes. Maybe those two crazy kids could find their way to one and another someday. She knew what she had seen in Sam’s eyes when he looked at Charlotte.
“So, what are you going to do about your apartment?” Charlotte asked after a moment. “Will Billy give it up without a fight?”
Carmen sighed. “I doubt it, I just want this all to be over, but wishing will not get me anywhere. I suppose I will have to call a lawyer or something.”
“Yes, you will. It’s time to knock that jerk on his ass.”
They clinked their coffee mugs to that, and Charlotte began to pepper Carmen with questions about her family.
****
BY THE TIME CARMEN got back to the apartment, it was time for dinner. She stopped on the way through the garage, kissing Sawyer and greeting Dan, who was working on an old green Chevy parked in the other bay.
“I’ll be up soon.” Sawyer pushed her hair off her face with both his hands and leaned his forehead against hers. “Okay?”
“Okay,” Carmen said against his mouth.