Can't Get Over You (Fortune's Island, Book 2) by Shirley Jump Page A

mind. She could still feel Zach’s touch on her jaw, her waist, feel his lips against hers. So familiar, so knowledgeable. He knew how to touch her, how to coax those little sounds from her throat, how to make the world disappear. Damn it, he still knew all those things, and so did she.
    No more kissing. No more being alone with him. And maybe then she could truly forget Zach.
    You’re the everything I love , Zach was singing, the sound muted by the thick glass, but still whispering through to her ears. You’re the everything that matters.
    No. She wasn’t going to listen. Wasn’t going to hear those words or that melody. Jillian crossed to her brother, putting a few more feet between herself and the song.
    Carter was just laying a few bills on the table when she sat in the chair across from him. “Sorry I just got over here to say hi,” she said. “It’s been a crazy busy night.”
    “I noticed.” He grinned at her. “Glad you weren’t my waitress or I would have starved to death.”
    “Not like you couldn’t stand to miss a meal.” She reached over and tapped his stomach. Carter was lean and long, from running pretty much all his life, but she still teased him anyway. “So, are you here by yourself?”
    “Nah. Brian and Sophie were here, but left. Sophie said she was tired but I think she really just wanted to get some work done.” He shrugged. “I thought I’d wait around for you. You know, being that you’re my favorite sibling and all.”
    She snorted. “Aw, you’re just sucking up now.”
    “Exactly. There’s only, what, a hundred and twenty shopping days until Christmas?” Carter winked.
    “I don’t need that many days. I’m getting you the same thing as last year.”
    “Coal in my stocking?”
    “Exactly.” She grinned. She loved her older brother, and the familiar patter between them. They’d always gotten along well, and she wished he lived here, on the island, so she could see him more often. “So, Workaholic, Mom tells me you’re taking a few days off. Is this the first sign of the apocalypse or what?”
    “Maybe.” Carter sat back on the stool and let out a long breath. “I’ve been working too many eighty, hundred hour weeks lately. I barely even know what day it is, never mind whether the sun is up or if it’s raining or snowing. I decided I needed a few days, just to clear my head.”
    “Then back to the grindstone.”
    “Maybe.” Carter fiddled with a napkin. “Brian is trying to talk me into going into business with him. Becoming financial advisors on our own. Setting up a shop here, and another on the mainland.”
    “Really? You going to do it?”
    Carter chuckled. “You know me. I’m the most risk-averse guy on the planet. I’m not a big fan of jumping into the water without a safety net.”
    “Or health benefits and a retirement plan.” She grinned. “I know what you mean. Waitressing for Mom and Dad isn’t exactly my dream job, but it is a steady, predictable check, and you gotta love that.”
    “I think it’s watching Mom and Dad struggle with this place,” Carter said. “That’s made both of us a little entrepreneurially gun shy.”
    “Listen to you with the big words. What was that, like seven syllables?” Jillian gave him a light jab in the arm. “Showoff.”
    “Hey, I gotta trot out that college education every once in a while.” Carter leaned across the table. “So, how about you?”
    “What about me?”
    “I know you love Mom and Dad, but I also know you don’t want to be asking, ‘Would you like fries with that’ for the rest of your life.”
    She laughed. “No, I don’t.”
    “Then what are you doing about it?”
    She hesitated a long time, then leaned across the table and lowered her voice. Carter was right. Watching their parents struggle over the years had left an impression on Jillian. There’d been years so busy and profitable, it was all they could do to hold on for the wild ride, and keep up with the steady flood of