by Jen Greyson
I tore my attention away from the buttons and scanned the wall. What did this alarm open? I still didn’t understand how he thought I was going to do anything related to my job from the middle of the ocean.
After Stuart punched the enter key, the wall cracked right down the middle and swung away on silent hinges. I blinked, stared at the door, then down the hallway again. This boat had everything.
Beyond the doors stood a state-of-the art office. Walnut paneling mirrored the look from the library, accented here by the same blues and creams in the upholstered chairs that flanked the enormous desk and sitting area—A sitting area my current cell of a bedroom would fit in. I trailed my fingers along the furniture.
“It’s equipped with everything you should need. Satellite phone, computer, internet, printer. If you need something that’s not here, let me know and I’ll have it waiting at our next port.”
“And?” I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
“My attempt at a peace offering. In exchange for hanging out with Kat, this room is completely at your disposal.” He pointed at the SAT phone. “You can call your office and have them send whatever needs your attention while you’re here.”
Mateo might not be able to turn me into a gigglet, but this office could. Jubilation bubbled in my chest, but I hesitated. “This is nice, but won’t the girls get suspicious if I’m in a ridiculously outfitted office?”
Stuart stepped to the far corner, bending again with his fist of keys. Another door swung open and he beckoned me closer. “I didn’t originally plan for you to end up in the master suite, but it seems to have worked out perfectly.”
My mouth dropped open as I stared at my room, now four times bigger. I snapped it shut and tried to play it cool. Again, I didn’t want to give Stuart anything he could use against me. “We’ll see.” I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes. “You’d better keep your end of the bargain.”
He patted my butt on the way to a chair in the sitting room. “Back at ya, babe.”
While he might be creeptastic, I had to give it to him, this was a spectacular bribe. Not only would the office provide me with a sanctuary, but I’d be able to give my brain stimulation beyond lame small-talk and social niceties—clearly neither of which I excelled at. From here, I could do my intern duties, and McComb couldn’t disagree if Stuart was the one asking.
So was I agreeing to take the bribe? He wanted a lot for this fabulousness. If I agreed, I’d be thrust in the middle of the mayhem. Every abhorrent trail hike, dance, meal... I’d have no excuse to miss one.
He propped his sneakers on the coffee table. “And I’ll up the ante. For every hour you spend visible with the girls—specifically Kat—I’ll find thirty minutes worth of excuses for you.” He held up a hand when I opened my mouth. “But you’ll have to spend half that time on my stuff. There’s surveillance tapes to watch, jewelry tapes to listen to—“
“Fine.” He’d sealed the deal and I could regret it later. If four hours with the girls meant two alone in here, I was sold.
“Your first assignment is dinner tonight.” He glanced at his watch. “Cocktails are in an hour.” He scribbled a series of numbers on a pad and pulled the two keys off the ring, then stood. At the door, he spread his arms wide and caught the edge of the doors so he could pull them closed as he backed out in some bizarre dramatic Stuart fashion. “It’s black-tie.”
Silent doors closed on my retort.
Jamming the keys and security code in my pocket I raced after Stuart, desperate to buy one last night of freedom for time already served. I raced up the stairs behind him, but he had just enough of a head start that I wasn’t sure that I could get a chat in without making a scene now.
At the aft deck, I froze on the last stair and the air wheezed past my parted lips.
Completely transformed since we boarded, I might as well have walked into an enchanted forest.
On the lookout for fairies—and hidden cameras—I walked the jungle along the railing. Every few feet, the foliage curved into a cozy recessed area, set well back from the bustle of any activity in the main section. Lights twinkled in the greenery, dancing on the ocean breeze fluttering the branches. An overhead canopy of vines and lights added to the secluded atmosphere, and wooden arched doorways stood as anchors on each end, covered in fragrant night jasmine. The heady scent drifted through the entire area. Soft R&B tunes tangled on the salty air from speakers hidden behind the foliage, and it fit so perfectly I didn’t ask Stuart to change it. Candles of different shapes and sizes covered every flat surface. There were tapers and votives—even floating tubs of twinkling lights.
Of the sets I’d seen so far, this one absolutely blew me away. The design team had gone to a ridiculous extent to make this amazing.
In the center of the deck, a round table held seven place settings. Like everything else, it was covered with candles and greenery. Vines draped low overhead—a few probably concealed cameras and mics—but the effect was undeniable. Dinner tonight was going to be intimate, and incredibly romantic.
I straightened and counted the recessed areas. Six.
One for every girl.
Was Stuart going to force Mateo to spend time alone with each girl before dinner? Interesting.
Unfortunately, that also meant he’d have some with me.
That didn’t mean I had to cooperate. I’d agreed to befriend Kat, not Mateo. Worst case scenario, I could fill my mouth with Hors d’oeuvres and munch away my time without having to say a thing. The atmosphere was already doing something to my inhibitions—almost like the breeze was plucking each one off me like a daisy petal and sending it out across the waves.
I giggled. And clamped a hand over my mouth. I glared at the vines overhead. Surely they hadn’t gone so far as to put something in the air... some sort of pheromone. I giggled again.
Either way, viewers were going to eat this up. A wry smile turned up one side of my mouth—five girls as well.
Maybe Stuart and his team thought Mateo’s cheezeball approach needed some help too. No one would be immune from this intimacy.
A chill raced up my spine.
Except me. I would always be immune.
I had to be.
I sure as hell hoped Stuart knew what he was doing. Playing the coolheaded-intern-cum-best-bud was a tall order—especially in this atmosphere. I was more likely to tip everything upside down and send Kat racing in the wrong direction. Law attracted me because there were rules and order. Nothing happened without a script. Contracts accounted for the tiniest nuance. Dating and men and relationships were chaos.
Friendships were worse.
One table, seven chairs. Barely any space between the chairs. Tonight Stuart wanted tons of interaction. No way to escape like I’d done at lunch.
My stomach heaved. No problem, I just had to convince five perfect strangers—women I’d snubbed so far—that I wanted to be friends.
I groaned.
With a final glare at each hidden camera, I turned and headed back toward my room. No point in asking Stuart for the reprieve now. Clearly he’d intended to make the deal before I realized what—exactly—he’d been asking.
My footsteps echoed in the corridor. Bubbling laugher and excited chatter filtered through each door as I passed. Wardrobe and makeup were probably getting everyone ready.
So much for shorts and a t-shirt. I’d managed to escape the wardrobe team this long, but Stuart wouldn’t have played his hand if he didn’t know exactly what they’d planned to put me in tonight. I cringed. They’d better bring backup because I was going to need some serious help.
Kemmerie’s door opened. “Sangria! Aren’t you ready? Cocktails start in forty-five minutes!” Three slender brunettes primped and poked at Kemmerie’s hair and dress. The peach silk dramatically accented her fair features.
“Wow. You’re stunning.”
Kemmerie curtsied. “Why thank you.” When she smiled, her cheeks literally formed tiny apples. I had always wondered where that
phrase came from... apparently the south.
“All set,” the brunette kneeling on the floor said as she stood. Kemmerie turned and studied her reflection in a full-length mirror. “Why, I do look fabulous.”
I laughed. No self-confidence issues here.
“Scoot, scoot.” The brunette guided me toward my room. “We have lots to do and no time.”
The other prep girls followed, smothering Kemmerie in compliments. “See you in a few Sangria.”
“Bye.” Brunette number one pushed me into my room and closed the door.
“Oh, heavens child. We have no time for showering.” She tugged on my shirt. “Take this off so we can get you ready.”
Number Two grabbed a chair and swiveled it around while Three opened a giant makeup case on the table.
“Eyebrows, nails, legs.” One grabbed my face and examined it, turning it side to side. “Beautiful pores. No scrub today.”
I blinked and let the women push, pull, and pluck me. I wouldn’t have thought there was anything left after what they’d done to me last night. This was the strangest spa day ever. I tried to complain once, but they put horrible tasting cream on my lips and I couldn’t say anything without getting a mouthful.
Halfway through, Two unclasped my necklace, but I held it tight against my throat and shook my head.
“Just for tonight.” She eased it through my fingers and turned my palm up, settling the square stone in my palm and closing my fingers around it. After what seemed like hours, they stood me up and handed me a wicked set of Spanx.
“No bra.” One directed me to the bathroom and Two unzipped a garment bag hanging on the back of my door.
In the bathroom, I set my necklace carefully in the soap dish, flipped on the light and stared. Leaning closer to the mirror, I didn’t recognize the reflection at all. Every night I took my hair down from the tight bun, but I never brushed it while looking at a mirror, always while sitting on my bed. Every morning it was a wild tangle around my face that was impossible to control without massive amounts of water and conditioner, so I rarely tried.
Soft, black waves framed my oval face, shimmering brightly beneath the overhead light. The slightest movement made them flow over my shoulder and down my back. When had my hair gotten so long? No way could I ever make my hair do this without serious professional help.
Actually, the last time I’d seen it down like this... I blinked rapidly. No time for tears, and no way was I going to sit through that again while they fixed my makeup. Bold eyeliner swept dramatically upward at the corners. Silver and blue eye shadow made my eyes huge beneath precisely shaped eyebrows. Makeup was something I rarely had time to put on, and never to this extent—except Senior Prom when I’d had my makeup done at Sephora. Most days I managed a swipe of mascara, but Two added thick extensions that far-exceeded anything I’d accomplished on my own.
Flawless foundation covered every imperfection, and blush chiseled my cheekbones... I hadn’t known I had cheekbones. Lips perfectly lined and painted a bright red. This woman could handle anything Stuart dished out—maybe even stand being around Mateo.
This girl didn’t take crap off anyone. Men probably dropped things when she walked in a room. I straightened my shoulders. Beneath my T-shirt, my chest rose seductively.
Oh yes, this girl controlled entire populations.
Careful not to smudge a whisper of makeup, I pulled the shirt’s neck wide and eased it down over my shoulders. Luckily, it hadn’t been a favorite, and I was going to make Stuart give me everything I wore for the next month and a half anyway. Stripped down to my panties, I surveyed the scrap of lycra. Was I supposed to take everything off? I’d never worn anything like this, but my roommate owned half a dozen—one for every type of outfit. Right now, I couldn’t remember if I’d ever seen her wear them with underwear.
“Can I leave my—“
“Nothing. Just the Spanx.”
Slipping my panties to the heap on the floor, I couldn’t help but compare my body to the other girls.’ Except for Kat, they were pretty curvy. Kat had boobs, but she’d bought them. I was sure everyone else hadn’t. I cupped my own. They were firm and round, and a healthy DD. My hands slipped down my waist, not flat, but not falling over my waistband just yet either. No matter how many crunches I did, it never flattened out like the girls on the magazines—not that I compared myself to them, but I knew guys did.
I sighed, slid my hands over my wide hips and generous booty. Apparently the butt gods had seen fit to match my junk to the size of my brain. Stepping into the Spanx, I didn’t mind my curves. Growing up, my dad paid my mom endless compliments about hers, so I’d never wanted a different body. And since I didn’t want a guy either, I didn’t care whether any of them liked curves or not.
The Spanx didn’t diminish my figure at all, just created a flawless canvas, just like the foundation they’d put on my face. I might have to try a pair under my suit when I got back to work—whenever that day finally arrived.
I stepped out of the bathroom and the Three grinned. Two held up a dress that seemed to come alive. Soft baby blue fabric pulsed and rippled with the slightest motion, like living water. Three sets of hands lowered it into a puddle on the carpet. One held out her hand and I grasped it, then followed instructions to step into the pool. The fabric rose and they turned me away from the mirror.
Gentle hands lifted my hair, and another pair secured a small silver clasp around my neck, drawing the fabric taut. My fingers couldn’t stop touching the shimmering silk. Every breath sent ripples cascading to the floor. The magical underwear shoved my cleavage nearly to my nose, making my breasts strain against every seam of the plunging neckline.
Hands fiddled with the fabric, adjusting and twisting it a millimeter this way, a centimeter lower.
Finally satisfied, they turned me and I completely disappeared. The woman from the bathroom mirror who I’d barely resembled had vanished, replaced by a stunning goddess. I glanced over my shoulder, then back at the mirror. No one stood behind me. Somehow, they’d transformed me into something unreal.
A mermaid come ashore.
After the dress plunged well below my comfort zone, it clung to my hips then flared as it fell to the ground like a subtle breath.
The shape alone would have been plenty to incite riots, but the dressmaker hadn’t been satisfied, slitting the dress to the top of my thigh. I didn’t think I exposed this much skin when I showered, let alone around another soul. My confidence wobbled like a newborn colt. Outwardly, I owned the world. Inwardly, I couldn’t name the emotions roiling around, but queasiness stuck to the colt’s fragile legs.
Three handed me diamond studs and matching diamond pendant—a little too similar to the girls.’ Had Stuart decided to mic me up after all? I glanced at the stunner in the mirror. She wouldn’t care if someone recorded her, hell, she’d probably be the first one to make it public. “They’re beautiful.”
Three fitted the necklace around my neck and settled the studs into my lobes. Maybe those were mics as well.
After they stepped back, I approached the mirror, still not sure this wasn’t a projection of someone else. An undulating wave floated across my stomach and hips.
“You look amazing,” Two said.
I stretched a hand until I touched the mirror. “Is this a trick? Do I really look like this?”
They laughed. “We didn’t have anyone for this dress when we saw it last month, but we brought it aboard anyway, just in case.”
“It was fate.” Three bounced up and down on her toes.
One clasped her hands against her chest like a proud mama ushering me off on my first date.
Two crouched in front of me with a pair of silver Pradas. A pair similar to those I’d eyed in my roommate’s closet more than once. I may not do makeup or hairspray, but any girl would have coveted these. I stepped into them and Two buckled the slender strap around my ankle. I pointed my foot, revealing my toes, sporting a subtle French manicure with a blue line ac
ross the white. “You guys painted my toenails?”
More grinning and bouncing. “The red didn’t exactly go.”
I straightened. “True.”
The alarm clock chirped the hour and they rushed to put everything away. Cocktails had started long ago, and I might have missed dinner by now. But I didn’t care, too mesmerized by the mermaid staring back at me.
“You’re the most beautiful one,” Three said on her way out the door. I’d never heard that before. Not ever—kind of stunned me.
I waved. “Thank you for...” My throat constricted and they blew me kisses. It was the closest I’d ever come to having girlfriends.
CHAPTER
MOMENTS LATER, I paused, a silver heel suspended above the bottom step. Music tumbled down the stairs, Mateo’s timber and the girl’s lilting voices intertwined like notes of the song. What was I thinking, letting them dress me up like someone I wasn’t? Could never be. Didn’t want to be. I was out of place enough as it was. Showing up dressed like I wanted to be included would only muddy things. But I had to, I’d taken Stuart’s deal. Not to mention McComb’s deal...
I took a deep breath, but my guts were jellyfish. Smalltalk was nothing but a seven-sided debate, I could do this. My pulse quickened and I clutched the railing, worried that this was going to be a disaster.
I caught a glimpse of myself in a glass door leading to the lower deck, its darkened interior reflecting me perfectly. That woman was still stunning—and courageous. If I couldn’t do this for me, I at least owed it to The Three. They’d worked hard to make me into that woman. Couldn’t I be her, just for one night? Perspiration slicked my palms and my heart thundered, making my necklace tremble at my throat.
