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in that?
    Sun scalded his face as though he were in the universe’s hot seat, but the blue sky kissing the horizon beckoned as pelicans floated above the crystal water on a steady stream of warm, salty air. Carolina Beach was a dream location — sun, sand, and solitude — the perfect place to clear his head and plot a plan that would allow him to face the mess back home, a mess that was messy enough already without including Alice.
    She floated on her back, drenched in sunshine. Her eyes were closed. Her arms barely moved. Despite their sticky situation, she looked carefree. Justin craved that freedom, a freedom he would’ve had if his father lived longer and Justin could’ve grown at his own pace, made his own mistakes out of the public eye. There’d have been no overwhelming expectations and no one to answer to but himself. But that wasn’t his reality.
    “Are you going? Go! Feed him, too. He’ll eat anything humanly edible.”
    She’d been awake for only a few hours in the last fourteen and already he had a headache. If he wanted any semblance of peace, he was going to have to rein her in. “So I can’t tell you what to do, but you can tell me what to do?”
    “Because you dragged me here. It’s only fair.”
    “Like hell it is, Alice. You played a part in this, too.”
    She righted, tilted her head and wrinkled her nose. “A minor part. You’re the star, buddy.”
    He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked beyond her to the water’s edge. So much for reining. On a sigh, he conceded. “Do we have to bicker like this?”
    “Under the circumstances, yes. This whole thing sucks, and I don’t see how either one of us can say ‘screw it’ just to enjoy a couple days in the sun.”
    Nah. Justin had never said “screw it” to anything. “Screw it” was irresponsible. His face contorted under the weight of his thoughts.
    “Plain Old Justin would’ve said ‘screw it’.”
    “Who?”
    “The man you used to be before … ” She jumped a wave. “Never mind. Just go.”
    The man he used to be? Had the last few years of obligation and ambition split him in two? He glanced at the dusty tips of his patent leather loafers sinking in the sand, and flinched when his palm itched to brush them clean. So what if they had? Polish and rhetoric were required traits for a politician. Plain Old Justin remained. He just stayed out of Congressman Mitchell’s way.
    And damn if that didn’t bother him as he carted the luggage up to the condo, fed Mouse a bowl of canned chicken, and debated his next move. Congressman Mitchell wanted to haul his biggest liability off the beach and out of eyesight, but Plain Old Justin pushed in another direction. He was at the beach. He’d been driving all night. A quick swim would wash away some of the sleep that hounded him and might even prove to Alice that he hadn’t changed enough to deserve her disdain. Maybe then she’d calm down and stop yapping long enough for him to form an executable plan.
    Moving swiftly, before the nagging voice in the back of his brain wrestled control, Justin tugged on trunks and led Mouse back to the beach, finding Alice where he’d left her, bobbing on the waves. He relaxed a tiny bit as the sun soothed his frazzled nerves. It was time to look on the bright side. At least he wasn’t married. Sure, walking away from Morgan was a potential disaster now, but had he married her and endured years of treacherous behavior, there was no telling what sort of nightmare he’d be living.
    Far enough up the beach to afford a little admiration, Justin didn’t divert his eyes when Alice jumped a wave. If he was closer, admiring Alice would be problematic. Standing next to her he would see the water droplets sliding down the curve of her throat, diving into the valley between her breasts, and he might feel compelled to lift the bra strap that slipped down her soft shoulder and … A twinge tugged at the skin below his waist. He released a growly breath and