Private 02 - Private Paradise

might be happy together with a couple of kids by now.”
    She knew she shouldn't go there, but her mind was suddenly flooded with visions of what life would be like, had she married Sam. She probably would have never come to work with Chris, would have probably found work close to wherever Sam was stationed.
    Work she would have given up, at least partially once she had kids since she'd told herself she wouldn't work full time as a parent if she could help it. That long ago summer she'd fantasized dozens of times about what their future children might look like. Would they have had boys, tall and rangy with their daddy's devilish blue eyes? Or determined little girls with dark curly mops of hair and big brown eyes? A combination of the two?
    The tightness in her chest told her she had to get off this track, and fast. “Or I would have ended up a single mother, either because you were killed in combat or because we got divorced after we wised up and realized what idiots we were to think a summer fling between two kids could ever lead to something meaningful.”

Chapter Nine

    The words tasted bitter coming out of Carla's mouth and she saw the bitterness reflected on Sam's face. “In any case I wouldn't have ended up here, living in paradise, doing something I love that keeps me way too busy to worry about marriage and all that nonsense.”
    She waited a beat, but Sam didn't respond. He just sat back in his chair, his muscular torso gilded by the flickering lamplight, his pensive stare never wavering from her face. Like he could see straight through her bluster to the dream of a family and children she still held secreted away in her heart.
    “ I'm going to get some of that ice cream,” she said, desperate to break the tension. “You want some?” she called over her shoulder as she hurried to the mini fridge.
    “ Why not?” Sam asked, though his tone sounded like she'd just offered him rat poison.
    She took the tub out of the refrigerator and scooped two portions into coffee cups since she couldn't find any bowls. She spent unnecessary time making sure the amounts were equal, perfectly shaped little balls, stalling as she tried to get control over the twist of emotions Sam had stirred up inside her.
    She couldn't let herself get carried away. Whatever she'd felt for him―and assuming he wasn't full of shit, what he'd felt for her―was firmly in the past. She couldn't let herself fall for Sam's game just because they still shared an undeniable and explosive attraction to each other.
    She gave one cup to Sam, felt the frisson of heat pulse up her arm and straight to her core as her fingers brushed his. She curled up on the couch and brought the spoon to her lips, not so much because she was hungry as to give herself something to do.
    Nevertheless, the instant the creamy, fruity ice cream hit her tongue, Carla closed her eyes and moaned. The cold, the sweetness, saturated her senses and sent a rush of pure joy through her.
    Some people had booze, some people had heroin. Carla DeLuca had ice cream.
    She took another bite, moaning again as she bit down into a chunk of frozen mango, its tart flavor the perfect balance to the rich vanilla of the ice cream.
    A choking sound jerked her from her blissful haze. Her eyes snapped open to see Sam, still staring at her, his own ice cream forgotten in his hand. But the pensive tumult was gone from his eyes, replaced by a heat so intense she could feel it sizzle across the skin.
    An answering heat rushed through her, coupled with a sense of relief. This she could do. Focus on the sex and keep the emotions out of it. Keep them busy pleasuring each other so there would be no more opportunity to bring up the past, how he may or may not have felt about her then or feel about her now.
    No opportunity for her to wallow in stupid fantasies about what might have been or could still be when they both knew damn well there was nothing for them beyond the walls of this villa.
    Keeping her gaze locked with his, she withdrew the spoon slowly, deliberately from her mouth and licked the bowl clean with a flick of her tongue.
    His tongue came out to lick his own lips.
    “ What are you staring at?” Carla asked, her voice already husky with her growing need.
    Sam's mouth pulled into that sexy, knowing smile that had never failed to make her feel tight and achy inside. “I think you know.”
    Carla took another bite, sucking her spoon with exaggerated relish, hiding her smile at the dark