“It’s not like what each of you have. I want that, what you have. I want a guy who says I’m the only woman for him and that he can’t live without me, like your guys say to you.” I want Tony to say that.
Seeing her girlfriends so much in love was what really drove home how lonely Amy had become over the past few summers.
“I think he takes care of you like you’re his. I mean, how many guys text to say they saw a kitty pajama top you’d look adorable in if they aren’t gay or interested?” Bella shifted her shoulders in a Yeah, that’s right way.
“I’m probably the only woman he knows who wears kitty pajamas. He was teasing me, not being flirty or boyfriendish.” Was he? No, he definitely wasn’t. There had been times when Amy had thought Tony was looking at her like he was interested in a more intimate way, but they were fleeting seconds, and they passed as quickly as he’d taken his next breath. She was probably seeing what she wanted to see, not what he really felt, and she’d begun to wonder if she’d really loved him for so long, or if he’d become her habit, too.
“You know, he’s never brought another woman to Seaside.” Leanna’s loose dark mane was wavy and tousled. With her golden tan and simple summer dress, she looked like she’d just come from the beach. Her gaze softened in a way that made Amy feel like she wanted to fall into Leanna’s arms and disappear. “And look how he treats you. He’s always got an arm around you, and when you drink too much at our barbecues, he always carries you home.”
Amy wanted to believe them and to see what they apparently saw when he looked at her, but she never had. It was the secret memories of being in Tony’s strong arms that long-ago summer, feeling his heart beat against hers, feeling safe and loved, that made her hopeful there would come a day when they’d find themselves there again. But then her mind would travel to the end of those recent nights when she’d had too much to drink and he’d carried her home. When he tucked her into bed and went along his merry way back to his own cottage across the road, quickly dousing her hope for more with cold reality. Whatever they’d had that summer, she’d ruined.
“Exactly, Leanna. That’s why she’s not making a decision about Australia until after this weekend,” Jenna said. “Right, Ames?”
“Yes. That’s my plan. I’m going to talk to Tony, and if he looks me in the eye and says he has no interest in anything more than friendship, then I’m going to take the job. It’s pretty stupid, really, because how many times has he had the opportunity to…you know?” She dropped her eyes to her glass and ran her finger along the rim. Amy was as sweet as Bella was brash, and even thinking about trying to seduce Tony and find out where his heart really stood had her stomach tied in knots. When her friends had come up with the idea of seducing Tony, she’d fought it, but they’d insisted that once he kissed her, he’d never look back, and she’d grabbed that shred of hope as if it were a brass ring. Now her fingers were slipping a little.
“Talk? That’s not the plan,” Jenna said.
Jessica shook her head. “So, seduction? You’re going to try?”
“If I can muster the courage.” Amy drew in a deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t back out. As much as she wanted closure, the idea of actually hearing Tony tell her that he didn’t see her as anything other than a friend made her almost chicken out. But she didn’t want to chicken out. She had a great job opportunity, and at thirty-two, she was ready to settle down and maybe even start a family. But that thought was even more painful than Tony turning her away.
Tony set a disconcerting stare on Amy as he moved confidently across the floor with the other guys, heading for their table. Her pulse ratcheted up a notch, as his eyes went dark and narrow. She broke the connection, grazing over his low-slung jeans and short-sleeve button-down shirt, afraid to try to decipher if it was an angry or an interested look in his eyes. She’d probably see only what she really wanted to see anyway.
Big mistake. Now she was even more nervous.
Several women in the bar turned and watched the four gorgeous men crossing the floor, but Amy knew they had to be looking at Tony. She was held prisoner by his sun-drenched skin, sandy hair that brushed his devilishly long lashes, and squared-off features that amped up his ruggedness and made her pulse go a little crazy. She reached for a glass of liquid courage, having no idea whose it was, and drained it as Tony slid in beside her. His thigh met hers, and his irresistible scent made her hot all over again. She grabbed another glass and drained it, and another, until the glasses were all empty and the nervous stirrings in her stomach stilled.