Alison Kent - Bound to Happen

Kinsey was actually the one bunking with Lauren, as Sydney had chosen to share a double room with Poe down the hall. The other two women hadn’t yet returned from the moonlit stroll they’d taken along the beach with three of the four men.

Anton hadn’t left the room he was sharing with Doug since taking the decanter of bourbon and calling it a night. Sydney doubted he was in any condition to put one foot in front of the other, moonlight or not.

Lauren’s condition wasn’t much better. Unable to sit still, she bounced this way and that, crossed her legs, then stretched them out and flexed her toes. Finally she tucked two pillows behind her, kept the one in front, leaned back against the headboard and collapsed.

Unfazed and possessing the patience of a saint, Sydney snapped the squirt cap of the lotion bottle and repeated her question. “Why did you come if you thought it was a mistake?”

Lauren finally accepted that Sydney wasn’t going away and heaved a huge sigh. “I know he’s been seeing Poe. And I knew she’d be here.”

“And you couldn’t stand a week at the office without her so you decided to come along?” Sydney asked wryly.

“Very funny.” Lauren glared, then sulked. “The truth is, I couldn’t stand thinking of the two of them here together.”

“So do you plan to stalk any woman Anton goes out with? Or tag along on all his dates?” Sydney asked, having a hard time keeping a straight face.

Lauren massaged both temples, then rubbed the heels of her palms over her eyes. “I know, I know. I regretted moving in with him. Now I regret moving out. I don’t want him dating anyone else, but I’m not sure how I feel about him. Or how he feels about me.”

“Don’t you think it’s time to find out?” Sydney wrapped her fingers around one of Lauren’s feet and playfully, teasingly squeezed. “Don’t you think being here together gives the two of you the perfect opportunity to see where exactly you stand with each other?”

“It might.” Lauren’s expression conveyed her irritation as sarcastically as did her tone of voice. “Of course we’d have a better chance if certain other people weren’t here stirring up trouble. I mean, c’mon. What was that business with the way Poe cleared off the table, anyway? Rubbing all over Anton and Doug. And truth or dare? Give me a break.”

Sydney shrugged, walking a fine neutral line between her friendships with the two women. “I think she was trying to break the ice. You have to admit it worked. Too bad Macy wasn’t here to take notes for gIRL gAMES.”

Lauren blew out an inelegant snort. “What I want to know is where Poe gets off thinking it’s her place to break the ice?”

“Why don’t you ask her?” Poe said, walking uninvited and unexpected into Lauren’s room and plopping on the end of the bed opposite Sydney. “I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping. I came back for my suit—” she dangled the black bottoms to the top she’d been wearing all day “—and to ask if either of you wanted to join us in the hot tub on the sundeck. But now that I’m here, I’m more than happy to clear any air that needs clearing.”

“All right.” Lauren cocked her head to one side and considered the other woman and her offer. “This isn’t exactly a tropical reality show, Poe. We don’t need a cruise director. We’re all adults. We know how to get along and how to entertain ourselves, thank you very much.”

Poe shrugged carelessly. “Maybe so. But it’s obvious that certain tensions exist between some of us that will ruin this vacation for others if not dealt with.”

Lauren pulled up her knees and pressed them into the pillow she held tightly to her chest. “You’re talking about me and Anton.”

“That, yes.” Poe inclined her head, lifting both brows in a visual challenge. “And your feelings toward me.”

“What about my feelings toward you?”

“Obviously they are hardly charitable. And obviously they are rooted in the fact that Anton has taken me out a couple of times since the two of you broke up.”

“Well, then, what else is there to say?” Lauren asked, clearly believing she held the upper hand.

Sydney glanced from Lauren to Poe, who easily yanked away Lauren’s hold by replying, “You mean, besides the fact that you can’t have it both ways?”

Frowning, Lauren asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Either you want to be with Anton or you don’t.” Poe got to her feet, begin untying the knots holding her sarong pants in place. “You can’t dangle your feelings like bait, hoping he’ll bite. That’s hardly fair to him. It’s certainly not fair to me. But most of all, it’s unfair to yourself.”

“And how do you figure that?” Lauren asked, watching along with Sydney as Poe’s pants and barely there bikini panties hit the floor.

Poe slipped one foot, then the other into the swimsuit bottoms and pulled them on. “Are you dating anyone else?”

“I’ve been seeing someone, yes,” Lauren answered, then, avoiding Sydney’s gaze, hurried to add, “It’s not serious, though. We’re just very close friends.”

“Are you happy just being very close friends? Or do you miss being in a committed relationship?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

Poe snagged her pants from the floor, tossed them over one shoulder and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. Sydney suddenly knew that Poe was about to breathe the fire by which she’d earned her dragonlady reputation.

“C’mon, Lauren. If you want Anton, go for it. If you love him, fight for him. Fight with him, if you have to. Because I can tell you right now that he won’t be unattached for long. He’s intelligent and successful. He’s kind and he’s funny and he’s sexy as hell.

“If you’re sitting around waiting for him to come crawling back on his knees, it’s not going to happen.” And then Poe’s voice softened. “But you know that, don’t you? You know exactly what he’s worth. And exactly what you’re missing, now that you don’t have him in your life.”

As Sydney watched, tears filled Lauren’s eyes. She reached for Lauren’s foot, wrapped a comforting hand around her ankle. But before Sydney could soothe her friend with heartfelt words, Poe said, “Don’t cry, Lauren. Get tough. Get mean. Stand up to him. Stand up for what you want from him. There are so few men worth fighting for. And you’ve found one.

“Don’t let him go, because if you do, I guarantee he’ll be snatched up before you can blink. And I can’t say that I won’t be the first woman in line.”

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