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out of earshot.
    “What was what about?” She turned big innocent eyes on him.
    Yeah, right. “Was he bothering you?”
    She sighed. “No. I can handle him.”
    “I’m sure you can. Ex-boyfriend?”
    “Yeah. Sort of.”
    He nodded slowly. “I gather he’s not happy about the break-up.”
    “No. But God, it was months ago. And it wasn’t really a break-up. I mean, I never intended it to be more than just…you know…fun.”
    “Uh-huh. But he wanted more than…fun?”
    She gazed into the fire. “I guess.”
    Carlos gave her a squinty look. Didn’t she know? “He was too serious?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Every guy is too serious. Why does it always have to be about marriage and babies?”
    Shocked into momentary silence, Carlos just stared at her. Then he laughed. “Are you for real, doll? Because I don’t think I’ve ever heard a woman say those words.”
    She frowned at him. “I’m for real. What are you saying? I’m weird?”
    “No! No, no, that’s not it. It’s just…you know. Women are usually the ones looking for that shit and guys are going, whoa, back off, babe.”
    She smiled reluctantly. “Yeah. That’s true. Okay, so I’m not like every other chick. Deal with it.”
    He laughed and clinked his beer against hers. “Cheers, doll. To each his own.”
    They fell silent for a moment, watching the flames dance in yellow and orange spears. Then Carlos said, “Fun party. Nice of the Surf Sisters to have this for us.”
    “They like having parties. And they have a great place for it.”
    “Yeah. It’d be nice to live right on the beach.”
    “Can’t get much closer than we are, though,” she said.
    “True. I’m not complaining.” He tipped his cold beer to his lips. “I really like it here so far. And the neighbors seem great.” He met her eyes. Sizzle. Snap. “Did Mike say something to piss you off?”
    Her eyes widened at his question, then she dropped her gaze to her knees. “No. Of course not.”
    “Okay. That’s good.”
    “You saw us.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well.” When she lifted those long dark eyelashes her eyes held a hint of uncertainty. “Did he send you over here to talk to me?”
    “Not exactly.”
    She squinted a little at him, the flames shimmering over her luminous skin. “He seems like a great guy.”
    “He is.”
    “He’s very…intuitive.”
    “Yeah.” He studied her again. “He can be.”
    “Hey, there you are!”
    Carlos looked up and saw Bella trudging through the sand toward them. Hell. He frowned when Bella stumbled a little. Double hell. She’d apparently had a lot to drink tonight.
    She lurched to a stop in front of them and gave Jules a long look. “What are you doing, Jules?”
    “Sitting here by the fire.” Jules batted her eyelashes and smiled up at the little blonde. “Were you worried about me?”
    Uh-oh.
    But Bella laughed at that. “Yes, actually.”
    Carlos’s eyebrows rose. “Thanks a lot.”
    Bella gave him a lopsided smile. “I didn’t mean because of you.”
    “Oh.” For a minute there he’d been worried about a cat fight. Bella was drunk and almost seemed jealous, and Jules was…he could not for the life of him explain why he felt protective of her when she was clearly a strong, independent woman.
    Bella planted her hands on her hips, one still holding a bottle, shaking her head. “You can’t have them both, Jules,” she said.
    Jules rose gracefully to her feet and gave Bella a disdainful look. “For heaven’s sake, Bella, get over it.”
    Bella sighed. “Jesus, Jules, you just can’t help it, can you? When are you going to stop this? It’s like an addiction, isn’t it? You know you don’t have to…”
    Carlos saw the flash of hurt in Jules’s eyes before she turned and walked away. He couldn’t help but watch the sway of her butt in the little denim shorts she wore, muscles flexing in her slender legs as her feet sank into the soft sand in long strides. He looked at Bella. “What was that