Rock Wedding(26)

“The men probably think we have a stripper here,” Thea said at one point while she was treading water in the pool, the pool lighting making the water and her suit glow like jewels. “We could torment them by sending updates about our imaginary stripper,” she suggested to a round of grins. “He could be wearing a fireman costume.”

“Will he bring his own pole?” Charlotte asked with a sparkle in her eye.

Kit nodded. “An important consideration. What is a fireman without his pole?”

“That’s like poetry,” Thea said. “Where dost thou placeth thy pole?”

Slapping a hand over her mouth when a snort of laughter escaped her, Sarah met Molly’s eyes. The other woman began to giggle too, and then it was all over.

In the end, they decided not to mess with the men’s heads. Right now, the five males were having their own get-together at Thea and David’s place.

“What about you, Sarah?” Charlotte asked innocently ten minutes later, the two of them alone on the loungers while the other women swam. “Are you seeing someone?”

Sarah felt her stomach drop in a steep dive. The correct answer was no, but her brain kept flashing back to how it had felt to be in Abe’s arms again, to hear his deep voice in her ear, to see his smile. So right. It had felt so right. Not just the sex. Everything. Speaking to him about Aaron when she barely spoke on that painful subject even to Lola, listening to him speak about Tessie. All of it had felt right.

For the first time in forever, she hadn’t felt as if she stood on shaky ground.

She was still fumbling for an answer when Charlotte reached over to touch her hand with her delicate one. “It’s okay.” Gentle words. “I know sometimes things are complicated.”

Grateful for the quiet kindness, Sarah released a breath she hadn’t been aware of holding. “How about you tell me about this T-Rex Molly mentioned.”

Charlotte’s cheeks filled with color, but her grin was wicked and sweet both. “That’s what I secretly called Gabriel when we first met. He was my boss.” Then, as Sarah listened, Charlotte told her about a relationship that had begun with a stapler thrown at the boss’s head.

“He used to bring you cupcakes to say sorry?” Sarah sighed. “That is seriously romantic.”

“First he’d drive me insane with his demands—Miss Baird, I need this. Miss Baird, why haven’t I got this already?—and right when I was about to scream, he’d bring me cake.” Charlotte’s cheeks creased. “I adore him beyond life.”

Sarah couldn’t help but smile even as her own heart clenched; once, she’d worn her love for Abe as openly on her sleeve. “You two getting married as well?” She nodded at the stunning diamond on Charlotte’s finger.

“In just under two months,” Charlotte confirmed. “Molly and Fox are going to fly out to New Zealand for it. It’s going to be a traditional church wedding.” She found her phone, brought up a photo of four gorgeous and built men with their arms around each other’s shoulders. “This is my Gabriel.” She touched her finger to the image of the biggest man in the group, his shoulders and height reminding Sarah of Abe.

Both could’ve been linebackers.

Charlotte’s Gabriel had black hair and steel-gray eyes, his skin sun-golden. One of the men in the photo looked very much like him except that his eyes were a startling blue. The other two were younger and had a warm brown skin tone, different features, but there was something about them… “Brothers?”

Charlotte nodded. “Sailor, Danny, and Jake.” She scrolled through her photos to show Sarah several more not only of the four brothers but of a number of other good-looking men. Most were in sports uniforms that exposed strong thighs and biceps. Whoever else was in the shot, however, it also always featured either Charlotte’s fiancé or one—or more—of his brothers.

“Gabriel used to play rugby professionally, and his two youngest brothers still do,” Charlotte explained. “Sailor does it for fun.” The petite blonde shook her head. “Most of Gabriel’s former teammates are coming to the wedding, and at least half are currently single. I’m running out of single female friends to invite!”

Shoulders shaking, Sarah took a strawberry from the bowl Kit passed over before the other woman took a seat on the lounger next to Charlotte’s. She bit into the juicy red flesh as Charlotte showed off her man and his brothers to Kit. As she’d already guessed, Charlie was head over heels for her “T-Rex,” and if the look in Gabriel’s eyes in those photos was any indication, he had a serious thing for the woman who’d taken the photographs.