Candy Crush (38 page)

I did, and she let it fall to the floor. She
was buck naked underneath. I gaped at her and she laughed. “You
aren’t attracted to women, are you?”

I shook my head. That didn’t necessarily
mean I was comfortable standing in the same room with a naked
woman. “That’s good. How about Carter the security guru?” she
asked.

She set the champagne bottle on the counter
in the bathroom, stepped into a walk in closet and began rifling
through dresses. The closet was bigger than my entire apartment,
and she had more cocktail dresses than I had underwear.

“What about him?” I asked uneasily. I took
another gulp of champagne. I’ve only ever had champagne for New
Year’s Eve and very special occasions, and it was always cheap and
too sweet, so I’ve never been in danger of drinking too much. This
stuff was delicious and way too easy to drink. Since I haven’t
eaten, I could feel its effects, but I wasn’t inclined to stop
drinking.

“Is he hot or what? I’ve known him for years
but he’s never been anything but a stiff suit. I would love to get
him naked and roll around between the sheets. I bet he’s an animal
in bed. He has to be, after being so stiff all day long.”

Since I’d been trying really hard not to
imagine Carter naked, I declined to respond. I watched as Bree
pulled a black gown that was shot with silver beading out of her
closet and slip it on. She stepped up to me and I zipped her up.
Then she walked back into the closet.

Bree pulled a shimmering peach gown out of
her closet and held it up for my inspection. “This would look
fabulous on you.” She shoved it towards me. “Try it on.”

I touched the fabric. It slipped through my
hands like water. I
really
wanted to feel this gown on my
body, but I hesitated, because this just wasn’t my place.

Bree made an impatient noise. “If you’re
worried about ruining it, don’t be. It’s not one of my favorites. I
actually had it on earlier and then changed my mind and changed.
You can keep it, if you like it.”

I gaped at her again and she laughed. Why
did everyone laugh at me? She drained her glass of champagne and
stepped up to me. She twisted me around and frowned. “Where’s the
zipper?”

“It’s a wrap.” I turned and pointed at my
side. “This button essentially holds everything together.” Bree
reached over and popped the button and the kimono fell open. Bree
tugged it over my shoulders.

“Sexy underwear. They have Victoria’s Secret
way out here, huh?”

No, but there was an outlet mall two hours
away.

Bree frowned. “I’m not sure the red will
work under this gown, though.” She stepped back into the closet and
came out holding a flesh colored bra and panties. “Here, put these
on.” She pulled the champagne glass out of my hand and stepped into
the bathroom, presumably to refill our glasses.

I tried to change as quickly as I could,
while her back was turned. I wasn’t embarrassed by my body. On the
contrary, I was pretty darn proud of my body. It was just that I
was uncomfortable being naked in front of a virtual stranger.
Apparently, Bree did not have the same problem.

I had just fastened the bra strap when Bree
accidentally dropped the champagne bottle with a deafening crash.
The bedroom door flew open and Carter stood there, staring at me.
My face flushed and I instinctively covered my chest with my arms.
His eyes swept the room, noted the broken bottle on the ceramic
tile floor in the bathroom and then slid back to me. I tried to
look defiant but I’m sure I failed miserably.

Without taking his eyes off me, he said,
“I’ll call housekeeping to clean this up.” And he turned and left
the room, closing the door behind him.

Bree was suddenly next to me, pressing a
glass of champagne into my hand. “He just looked at you as if you
were lunch and he hasn’t eaten in a week,” she murmured, and then
she drained her glass. I followed suit, not at all sure what to
think about that comment.

When Bree and I finally emerged from the
bedroom, fully dressed, makeup and hair touched up, we were both
giggling like schoolgirls. Nothing like shared clothing and a
bottle of champagne to bring two girls together. We were
practically BFF’s.

Carter cocked an eyebrow at us but said
nothing. He opened the door to the suite, nodded to the man still
standing outside, and allowed us to walk by. Bree and I skipped
down the stairs, across the lobby and outside, down the path to the
ballroom, holding hands and with Carter walking sedately in our
wake.

It’s amazing what half a bottle of quality
champagne will do for a girl’s self confidence. I suddenly could
care less what everyone in that room thought of me – except Carter,
maybe – and so I followed Bree’s lead as she skipped across the
dance floor and flirted with the singer in the band.

I watched as he slipped a piece of paper to
Bree, and then he started playing a song with a fun, upbeat tempo.
Bree dragged me to the dance floor and I glanced over her shoulder
to see Carter holding up the wall, in the shadow of a fichus tree,
those black eyes watching us with an unnerving intensity. I sort of
felt like we were dancing for his pleasure, and the thought made me
a little more than warm in places that I knew I shouldn’t be
associating with Carter the Security Detail. After tonight, I’d
likely never see the man again. And if I did, I hardly expect he’ll
ask me out on a date.

“Come on,” Bree said as the song ended. “I’m
hot. Let’s go check out the river.”

“Okay,” I said, because I felt a little
overheated myself, and the river always helped calm me down.

I glanced toward the fichus tree, behind
which Carter had been standing, but he wasn’t there. My eyes darted
every which way as we left the ballroom, but Carter was nowhere to
be found. I don’t know why, but that made me a little uneasy. I was
being dragged along by a socialite who was a target for any number
of crazy people who lost a lot of money thanks to her father, and
our bodyguard was nowhere to be seen. I tried to reassure myself
that he had eyes and ears everywhere.

As we followed the flagstone path towards
the river, Bree whispered, “Let’s see if we can lose Carter’s
men.”

And then she grabbed my hand and jumped in
between two eight-foot tall arborvitaes. I let her drag me along as
we weaved in and out of bushes and trees, until we were near the
river but not near the boardwalk. We were standing on the
riverbanks in an area that had likely been protected by some
wetland law. Shrubs and trees and weeds grew wild and we stumbled
along blindly in the almost total darkness of a new moon. Bree
looked around. “I think we lost him.”

“I think our dresses are ruined,” I pointed
out. Bree giggled and then slapped her hands over her mouth.

“We have to be quiet, so he doesn’t find
us.” I watched as she maneuvered herself down the bank to the edge
of the water and sat in the sand. I clamored down to do the
same.

I knew this river like the back of my hand.
My dad managed the marina for thirty years, until The Resort was
built and added its own private marina. Then the only boats left to
dock were for the locals, and none of them could afford to pay
much. So dad quit the marina and now handles the books for the ice
cream parlor that my grandma owns in town.

I happen to live in the apartment above the
ice cream parlor. It’s handy because grandma doesn’t charge me
rent, but it has its drawbacks, in the form of hoards and hoards of
people, all summer long, from nine a.m. until ten p.m., seven days
a week. The winters aren’t so bad, other than the fact that Grandma
doesn’t pay for someone to plow the parking lot and I don’t have a
garage. But at least it’s quiet.

I knew that this part of the river was deep
and had a strong undercurrent. Even the locals avoided swimming in
this area, because the undercurrent could pull you under and hold
you there, and chances were good that no amount of thrashing or
attempts at swimming could pull you to the surface. Every ten years
or so, someone ends up drowning, and it’s always in this small
patch of the river.

“Careful,” I warned Bree, “the undercurrent
is wicked here.”

Bree laughed her tinkling laugh and slipped
her sandals off. She plunged her feet into the water and sighed.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going in. I can’t swim.”

“You can’t swim?” I asked in disbelief.
Jeez, I think I was swimming before I was walking. But then again,
I lived near a river and a lake my whole life, so I suppose that
was to be expected. I didn’t think there were many rivers and lakes
in Dallas, although from what I’ve heard, practically everybody had
a swimming pool.

Bree shrugged. “My parents sent me to
lessons, but I kept flunking. And then I got caught letting the
swim instructor peek in my bikini and I never got another lesson.”
She laughed again.

“I can’t imagine having your life,” I said
in awe. I felt her shrug again. She was only a foot away and I
could barely see her. Her dress was black, and I could just make
out her pale hair and skin because there wasn’t any moonlight, and
the Tiki torches and twinkle lights didn’t extend this far. We fell
silent, listening to the water gurgle past, and enjoying the
solitude. I imagined Bree didn’t get a lot of solitude.

I sensed another presence a split second
before I felt two hands on my back. They gave a mighty shove and I
tumbled head first into the river. I heard an earsplitting scream
before the water sucked me under. I fought to keep the panic at bay
as I used my arms and legs to push in unison, hoping I was pushing
toward the surface and not further under.

My chest burned and my lungs felt like they
were on fire and I knew I was a hairsbreadth away from sucking
water into my lungs when my head broke the surface. I gasped in a
mouthful of air before I was pulled under again. I could feel panic
welling up and I pushed it away.

Despite everything I knew and heard about
this part of the river, I felt I was too good a swimmer to let it
take me under. I’d dragged many a kid and occasionally an adult out
of the lake throughout my years as a lifeguard at the state park’s
beach. Surely I could get myself out of the river, even the ‘scary
part.’

This time, I knew which way was up, so I
used every bit of energy I had to push myself that way, and I broke
the surface again. The most dangerous part of the river was only
about twenty feet long. If I could keep this up for a few more
minutes, I knew the current would settle and I could swim to shore.
The problem was, I could feel my strength weakening and I wasn’t
sure I could keep pushing myself to the surface.

I went under again and suddenly my legs
wouldn’t kick. I felt myself being pulled further away from the
surface and I was powerless to stop it. Numbly, I thought it’s been
more than ten years since the last drowning, so it was time.

Then there was a great yank on my hair and I
opened my mouth to scream, sucking in water instead of air. I
flailed, trying to make the burning stop. Powerful arms wrapped
around my chest and pulled. My head broke free of the water and I
sputtered and coughed, trying to breathe and spit out water at the
same time. Not an easy or attractive process.

I went limp, allowing my savior to pull me
to shore. When he dragged me onto the sand, I rolled over onto my
side and began hacking up the rest of the water, taking large,
gulping breaths in between hacks. Someone lay down next to me and I
looked over, right into Carter’s black eyes. I flopped down and lay
my cheek on the still-warm sand and closed my eyes. ####