Jen frowned. “You also said they were fighting?”
“Ry and Matt heard them arguing last week when they showed up early for poker night. And I overheard Holly fighting with Carson over the phone when I went by the restaurant to have lunch with her a couple of days ago. That’s when she told me she’d stayed with her sister the other night. She admitted that they’ve both been really busy and on edge lately, and she claims they needed some breathing room—why on earth would they need breathing room when he’s been gone for the past six months?”
Jen absorbed the information, wondering if she ought to be worried. It was true, her brother and sister-in-law did lead busy lives. Holly not only spent four days a week working at a five-star restaurant, but she also co-owned an event planning and catering company with Annabelle. The business ate up a lot of their weekends, and several weeknights now that the venture had gained more recognition. And Carson was a SEAL, which not only meant lengthy deployments every other year, but that he was forever on call, ready to get on a chopper at a minute’s notice and often gone for weeks or months at a time with no way to contact his wife.
The long absences had the power to destroy a relationship—which was precisely why Jen shied away from military men. Growing up, her father had been a complete stranger to her; he’d been the strict, taciturn man who made an appearance whenever his tour of duty ended. Her mother had shouldered the burden of raising Jen and Carson alone, while working as a full-time nurse, to boot.
Watching her mother struggle and seeing her parents attempt to reconnect each time her dad came home had cemented Jen’s decision to avoid that kind of relationship. She wanted a partner in every sense of the word, a man who’d be there day in and day out, not one who’d hand all the responsibilities to her while he went off to fight for his country.
It really troubled her to hear that Carson and Holly were having problems. They had a strong, loving relationship, but even the strongest and most loving marriages could buckle under the pressure.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” she admitted. “But then again, nobody in my family tells me anything.”
“Well, if you get a chance, talk to Holly, okay? She won’t confide in me or Shelby or anyone else. Savannah thinks we should have a girls’ night next week and pry the truth out of her.”
“Count me in.”
“I’ll text you the details when I know them. But if you talk to her before then, see what you can find out.”
“I will.”
When male laughter met her ears, Jen’s gaze drifted over to Cash and Ryan, who were chortling about something at the other end of the pool. It suddenly occurred to her just how much they resembled each other. They both had dark brown hair, blue eyes, the same lean and muscular body type. The two of them could easily pass for brothers, yet while she found Ryan attractive, the sight of him didn’t elicit the same rush of desire she felt when looking at Cash.
Annabelle followed her gaze and smiled coyly. “How do you like Cash?”
She didn’t bother coming up with an offhand reply; she got the feeling her sexual longing was written all over her face. “What do you think?” she answered in a wry voice.
“He’s yummy, huh? When I first met him, I asked Ryan if I could change my freebie list and replace Matthew McConaughey with Cash, but he said no because we already had our lists laminated.”
“Back up—what are you talking about?”
“The freebie list. You know, the three people you’re allowed to have sex with if the opportunity arises.” Annabelle shrugged. “Me and Ryan are big on lists.”
“And you got them laminated? That’s beyond weird.”
“Will it make it weirder if I told you we turned them into business cards and keep them in our wallets?”
Jen burst out laughing. “Yes.”
“Anyway.” Annabelle’s gaze glimmered with appreciation as she continued to inspect Cash. “After Ryan shot him down as my freebie, I suggested we invite him to have a threesome, but Ry said no way.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “I think he’s scared that Cash might have more stamina than him or something. Ever since Ry turned thirty, he’s all paranoid about his manhood. Personally, I think a threesome would only benefit him. You know, force him to up his game.”
Jen hoped the other woman couldn’t see the blush on her cheeks. But jeez. Was she the only person on the planet who’d never indulged in a damn threesome? Carson had, and apparently Matt O’Connor still had them all the time since his girlfriend was into it. And a little birdie—ahem, Carson—had let it slip that Annabelle might’ve been the filling in a Ryan and Matt sandwich at one point too…
Envy burned in Jen’s belly. Seemed like pretty much everyone she knew got to experience the kind of sex she’d always dreamed about. Hot, kinky, exciting.
She cast another look at Cash, annoyance creeping up her spine. He was laughing at something Ryan had said, looking sexy as all get out with that T-shirt clinging to his washboard abs and perfectly defined pecs. Damn bastard, depriving her of all that sexiness.
She turned back to find Annabelle staring at her in sympathy. “You do want him. And bad, from the look of it. It sucks about Carson’s ruling, doesn’t it?”
Jen narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Carson mentioned in the conference call that Cash has been ordered to keep his hands off you.” Along with sympathy, barely restrained humor danced in Annabelle’s brown eyes.