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It took the smaller man all of three seconds to whip out his wallet and offer a stack of bills.
Mr. Studious sneered. “Another hundred should do it.”
Bad Dad mumbled and came up with more before my benefactor let him go.
Still dripping wet, I accepted the money from Mr. Studious. “Thank you.”
“Perhaps dessert another time, Nicole,” he offered.
I nodded. “Another time.”
He was gone before it registered that he knew my name.
Sandy helped me back toward the room. “Well, that didn’t go the way I expected.”
* * *
Josh
The kids had beenloud and roughhousing all evening. The parents made no effort to control them.
Making the asshole who’d allowed his family to ruin everyone else’s quiet evening pay for Nicole’s phone had been the right thing to do.
I should have also pushed him in for a swim.
When I lifted her out of the pool, the white fabric of her shirt and shorts turned translucent. The red of her bra and thong showed through enticingly, and it had taken all the will power I had to let her escape to her room to change.
“Another time,” she’d said without a hint of surprise that I’d overheard her name at the beach.
Back at my room, I plugged my tablet in to recharge. Going over the financials of another potential target all day had drained it into the red. Settling back onto the bed, I stared up at the ceiling. I had to get this one right.
Dad’s words were etched into my memory: “A business is like a machine. It works best when all the parts operate in well-oiled unison, pulling together in the same direction.” Obvious, but profound at the same time.
On this break, I’d consumed four different management books, looking for the person who’d uttered those words. Success had eluded me so far. Clearly I’d have to expand my search. Once I found the teacher Dad had learned from, I’d be able to master the concept well enough to impress even the great Lloyd Benson.
I got up, moved a chair closer to the charger tethering my tablet, and started the next book. Four more days in the sun and still five books to go through. If I got ahead, I’d have some time to spare for actual relaxation, and I now knew just who I wanted to relax with.
Nicole.
I closed my eyes, and her words came back to me: “Another time.” I had to readjust my pants, recalling how delectable she looked with slicked back, wet hair and her red bra showing through her wet tank top. Tomorrow’s calendar now included dessert with the green-eyed beauty, and hopefully more.
Chapter 2
Nicole
The next morning,Sandy slept in while I laid awake in bed, wondering what kind of trouble Lara had gotten into. There wasn’t anything I could do about it until I got back. The jail didn’t take messages. But that knowledge didn’t keep me from worrying just the same.
I’d borrowed Sandy’s phone last night to get a hold of Maro Tanaka back home, and he’d agreed to feed and look after my dog until I got back, since it seemed Lara was no longer available. She would just have to survive jail until Monday because there was no way to get back to California sooner.
I’d taken in my only cousin, Lara Martini, and given her refuge after she’d had a big fight with her stepdad, Uncle Ernst. She was Aunt Rossella’s only child from her first marriage and had always been a wild one. She was three years younger than me, but at times it seemed like twenty years less mature.
I’d never had any particular problem with Uncle Ernst, but Lara called himCreeper, without getting any more specific than that.
The bad blood ran so deep that the second time Lara had gotten into trouble, my aunt and uncle had refused to help, and it had fallen to me to bail her out.
After that, Lara hadn’t even bothered to call them. And she’d gotten herself into a string of legal troubles. But, that had stopped two years ago—or so I’d thought.
When Sandy finally got up, she and I spent our last morning down by the beach.
