Undertow

by Jen Greyson

  Kat leaned forward in her chair, eager to match his answer to what she knew. What did she know, and who was feeding her information? What troubled me was why she wasn’t content with the story they’d been given about who Mateo was. Why go searching for a different answer? The network offered prize money to make up for his “financial shortcomings” so something triggered to make her go hunting. But what?

  Mateo swirled his wine and took a sip. Was he buying time? He grinned and winked. “Oh, I get around.”

  I fidgeted. He was going to make me a stressed-out mess. He gazed at me, warming me from the inside out, and silently telling me not to worry. I couldn’t look away. He was right and everything was going to work out. This was his way of asking me to trust him. I wanted to, I really did.

  “What’s your favorite place?” Cassidy leaned forward, chin in her hands, every molecule straining toward Mateo.

  From behind lowered lashes, Mateo’s eyes never wavered from mine. “Right here, right now.” His gaze finally slid to the other girls, and they sighed. This was so much better received than the corny douche routine. We were all buying what he was selling tonight.

  “That’s so sweet, I can’t wait until my man says things like that.” Cassidy leaned further over the table, pressing her massive breasts against the polished surface of the table and giving us an eyeful. That was some bra.

  Kat slammed her glass on the table. “Simpering women like you are the reason it’s tough for women to succeed. Men think we’re like you, wilting little flowers who need protection from every element.” Her words slurred at the edges. “You’re the reason they never take us seriously in the boardroom, because they think we belong in the bedroom.”

  Mateo tensed and opened his mouth to say something. But Rinnae beat him to it.

  While everyone reeled from the outburst, Rinnae tsked and twirled her wine. “Hmmm, so you’re no good in bed. Interesting.”

  Kat’s attack seemed overboard for Cassidy’s comment. If she’d been drinking since cocktails, it was impressive she was still upright and her droopy bloodshot eyes told their own story.

  Kemmerie shot Rinnae an imploring look. What was it about Kat that appealed to Kemmerie so much? They had nothing in common, Kemmerie was just that much better than the rest of us.

  Kat finished the dress-down with a scathing look of her own. “Please. I doubt you’ve seen the inside of a man’s lair—“

  “Fascinating you used that term, as if it were a burrow he needed to protect.” Rinnae hardly raised her eyes, occupied by the tines of her fork. Her voice carried no trace of resentment or anger, as if the topic of Kat’s prowess were nothing more than a current event.

  “I’m not finished.” Kat’s voice rose on the heat of her anger, fueled more by Rinnae’s nonchalance than if she’d been yelling or condescending. “You’re no better, you’re the kind of woman who thinks—“ She groped for her wineglass and scowled. “I’ll get back to you.” She swiveled back to Cassidy, and a wave of burgundy spilled on her blouse. Oblivious, she leaned in. “Most women like you don’t know how to balance a checkbook, but you sure can look cute carrying it through stores on your daily shopping spree.”

  I lunged. Mateo’s hand shot out underneath the table and gripped my knee. I whipped around to glare, but he held it, beseeching me to let the scenario play out. I couldn’t be an innocent bystander in this, how could he? Again, Kat was hurling statements that made no sense and someone needed to shut her up. Cassidy was a semester away from finishing a double major.

  Cassidy sat back, confusion on her face. She looked to Mandy for help, but she just held out her hands and shook her head. No one was taking Kat seriously. They’d watched her drink the night away, too.

  Undaunted, Kat turned on Kemmerie, but an unopened bottle of wine distracted her. She made a wild grab and sent a centerpiece tumbling into Rinnae’s lap. Rinnae rolled her eyes and set the ball of flowers back on the table, scarcely outside Kat’s wrath of destruction.

  Kat tugged at the cork, flicking the wax off with her fingernails. A waiter materialized behind her, opened the wine, and vaporized before she could spew more venom.

  Wineglass topped off and poison reservoir replenished, she began again, though heavily slurred. “Kemmerie, you’re a piece of work. Volunteering and reading. What man wants a woman who’s more interested in a book?”

  An evil laugh burst from her lips. “You were always my favorite competition. The pretty ones who could have trapped a man—“ We gasped.

  I glanced at Mateo. Why wasn’t he saying anything? He winked at me and emptied his glass. Maybe he figured that if he gave her enough rope, she’d hang herself and we’d all be done with her. Still, I wanted him to say something.

  “They think it takes brains to win a man.” Kat waved her hand, sending spirals of hot air into the black sky. “And it does, but you’ve got to have looks to go with it.”

  Kemmerie shrugged, her attitude nonchalant, almost bored with what Kat was implying. I was surprised that she was taking the attack so well, but maybe this was letting her see the cracks in Kat’s veneer. “I guess if you’re fishing in the shallows, you need is a shiny lure. Personally, I prefer deep sea fishing, something with a challenge.”

  Kat wanted to fight, and Kemmerie’s calm stoked her further. But she hesitated and I sincerely hoped she was going to stop. She tipped her glass and emptied it, then set it down with a clumsy thunk.

  Her unsteady gaze wobbled to Mandy, who regarded her with upturned eyebrows. Surely Kat wasn’t drunk enough to go there.

  Kat snorted, sobered just long enough to stare down her nose at Mandy. “How you work with the filth you do every day is beyond me. And you think you can change them. They’re victims. They’ll always be victims.”

  The table bucked as I lunged, spilling water and wine. Mateo had to wrap an arm around my waist and pull me back into my chair. My bottom made it to the edge, but Mateo had wrestled my torso into his own, and I flailed, desperate to make Kat pay for that comment.

  “Stop it. Let her hang herself.” His voice was a harsh whisper against my ear. I shouldn’t have reacted like that, but no one had noticed. They were glued to Kat. I relaxed a little. The earthquake of plates and silverware had only caused them to lift their own glasses.

  Kat barely stopped to take a breath. “The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be. If they don’t learn to help themselves, they’ll never get ahead. They’ll always be looking for a hand out.”

  I seethed and Mateo’s arms tightened. Had he not kept holding me, I’d have sprinted across the space, bad leg be damned. If I hated her before, I loathed her now.

  She settled back in her chair, looking satisfied that she’d put the girls in their places.

  Still shaking, I eased out of Mateo’s grip and onto my own chair. “You missed me.” My voice was thick with the hatred churning in my belly.

  “Excuse me?” Kat focused my way, then her face contorted, as if she was seeing me for the first time.

  I leaned forward. “Well, I want you to be perfect. You’ve insulted everyone else at the table, but you forgot me. I wasn’t sure if it was an oversight or you were still working on it.”

  Hatred swirled over Kat’s features. I didn’t care about Stuart’s repercussions, I wasn’t going to sit by.

  “You’re not worth my time.” She slurred and drank straight from the bottle.

  “Back at ya, bitch.” I brushed Mateo’s hand aside and stood, wobbling on my good foot. Rinnae and Kemmerie mirrored my movement without hesitation and Rinnae grabbed my crutches while Mandy looked at Mateo. Not finding what she was looking for, she rose. Cassidy’s dazed gaze bounced off our faces. I kind of felt sorry for her and wasn’t sure if she understood what’d just happened. Maybe she’d hit the pot a little early tonight.

  I trailed behind the group, still a little slow with my foot. As darkness cloaked me, Kat’s words rang out and I cringed. “What a bitch.”

  “That’s enough
.” Mateo’s voice cut through the night and by the tone of his voice, he’d probably wanted to go with the rest of us and leave Kat sitting there. I hoped the only thing holding him there was my contract. Stuart had wanted specifics about bailing when the cameras were rolling. Leaving like we’d done was a major breach. Mateo was smart enough to keep his obligations ahead of his feelings, but I didn’t blame the girls. They’d taken the brunt of Kat’s abuse. “You’ve made your point. And succeeded in getting me alone.” He paused, probably nodding toward Cassidy. “Almost.”

  I’d forgotten to tell him we needed to talk but I couldn’t go back in there with Kat.

  I slowly traversed the walkway, careful not to slip or stumble.

  I could find him later.

  “Oh.” Cassidy’s bright singsong voice trilled across the sand. “I guess I’ll, um, see you guys tomorrow, then.”

  CHAPTER

  MANDY PACED THE edge of a frothy sea. Churning waves beat the sand in a mocking image of what the girls couldn’t to do to Kat.

  Rinnae sat barely out of the water’s reach. “She’s a bad drunk.”

  I paused where they’d left the walkway. I could go back to the boat and leave them to stew, or I could join in the Kat-bashing camaraderie. Until this trip, I hadn’t realized how badly I craved friendship. So far, the girls had been nothing but nice and accommodating.

  Tonight, I’d set the tone by stomping away, but still, I wavered with indecision. Rinnae threw a clump of sand into the water, then saw me and jumped up. “Guys! We left Sangria stranded.”

  She and Mandy raced to help me cross the shifting sand. I took a few wobbly steps off the carpet, but they caught me and lifted my arms over their shoulders. Tears stung the backs of my eyes. My roommate wasn’t this helpful. She extended shoes and clothes, but rarely anything that required effort. In fact, I don’t think she’d ever lifted a finger to help me. I leaned on them for support and for the first time wondered if I’d done the right thing by closing myself off from everyone. Showing horses had been the last time I’d surrounded myself with people, and cut-throat competitors weren’t exactly kind. A bit of my wall crumbled as they lowered me to the sand and sat down on either side.

  Kemmerie stood with her back to us, staring out across the dark water.

  Mandy drew her knees up. “Kem, you okay?”

  I sifted sand through my fingers and drew abstract designs across the erasable canvas.

  Kemmerie turned and kicked her shoes off. “I will be. But, what troubles me more than Kat’s outburst is Mateo’s indifference. Why didn’t he get up and leave? Is she really that beautiful that he can’t see past her hideousness?”

  I bit my lip. I wanted to be right about his reason, but how could I possibly know? Maybe he could overlook her drunken outburst as just that and if he was as shallow as I wanted, he could do it, no problem.

  “I don’t think any of us were allowed to leave during the taping.” We swiveled as Cassidy emerged from the darkness. I was glad she’d left Kat and Mateo and she was right.

  Mandy struck her forehead with the butt of her palm. “Totally forgot about that.”

  Rinnae looked at me with wide, fearful eyes. “What’s going to happen?”

  I sighed and scooped another fistful of dry sand. “Probably nothing. Your mass exodus will be good for ratings, but Stuart will probably remind you of the clause. In the future you’re going to have to stick it out, no matter how nasty Kat gets.”

  “She’s getting uglier by the minute.”

  Mandy laughed. “Truth.”

  Kemmerie dragged her toes across the wet sand in a rainbow. “Someone’s going to get stuck with her tomorrow on the treasure hunt thing.”

  I groaned. Pretty sure that would be me. Maybe my foot would keep me out of the game, but I doubted it. After tonight, he needed Kat under control more than ever.

  Rinnae nudged me with her elbow. “So what’s your deal?”

  I stiffened. “Huh? What deal?” No way was I revealing anything more than I absolutely had to.

  She grinned and drew a heart in the sand. “You know what I’m asking. What’s the heat between you and Mateo?”

  I snorted and my guts relaxed. Heat? Was she serious? The only heat between the two of us was my fury about the car... and I thought I’d gotten over that.

  “Yeah,” Kemmerie added. “I’ve been wondering about that too. You guys seem cozy.”

  Did we? I clenched my fingers in my lap to keep from fidgeting. I’d gotten comfortable around Mateo, but I’d never thought about what we looked like from the outside—mostly because there was no we. I scanned their faces. “He’s a flirt.” I shrugged, hoping for convincing. “That’s what you’re picking up on.”

  Kemmerie came up from the surf and sat opposite Rinnae, crookedly facing us. She shook her head. “No. He’s different with you. When he flirts with us it’s obvious he’s doing it for the cameras, like he’s playing a part. Today was better, but he’s still awkward.”

  “It’s true.” Cassidy dug in her purse and pulled out a joint.

  I laughed uneasily and my blood pressure escalated. There had to be cameras on us somewhere. Leon was either hiding in the trees with a killer zoom lens, or diving a dozen feet off-shore. I wouldn’t put it past Stuart to have tiny cameras afloat in the waves. If Cass lit up, that would be the end of my career.

  Rinnae took a hit and I waved it off, hoping if I at least declined I couldn’t be held accountable for what my company was doing. “Not with my pain meds.”

  Cassidy talked through her held breath. “This is better.”

  A smile stretched my lips, and I hoped they couldn’t tell what a prude I was. “I’m good.”

  Mandy passed, and Kemmerie took a small toke, then handed it back to Cassidy. Hopefully that diversion had gotten us off the subject of me and Mateo.

  Mandy wagged a finger at me. “When Mateo flirts with you it’s genuine. Like when he asks me about my work... He’s genuinely interested in what I do.”

  Rinnae snapped. “You’re right! Same with me, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. He’s always polite, and kind, but when he tries to flirt I don’t feel it.” She leaned over and pulled a pile of sand toward her thigh. “But I don’t mind, he’s really more of a brother.”

  I groaned and flopped back. “You are killing me. Don’t say things like that. Stuart needs you to be interested.”

  Mandy chuckled. “No he doesn’t. Stuart needs ratings. Kat’s handling that just fine.”

  I draped my arm across my eyes. “For now. But what happens when she gets kicked off the show because she’s taken her act too far?”

  Cassidy inhaled deeply. “Why worry about that now?”

  The rest of the group grumbled in ascent. No one cared enough about Kat, and that bothered me. I needed them to understand how serious she was about winning. “She’s not going to lose.”

  Mandy shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Sangria took the joint from Cassidy. “It’s really up to Mateo, isn’t it?”

  My heart lurched and I wasn’t sure why. What did I care who he picked? I was here to earn my job and so Mateo would maybe back the eff off the next time we bid against each other. I propped myself on my elbows. “Depends on how Stuart’s going to play this with of us on the show the whole time. He might leave it up to viewers.”

  “Thank goodness,” Cassidy blurted. “They’ll never pick Kat.”

  Rinnae glanced at Mandy and they had a silent conversation. I didn’t like it. Mandy gave a barely perceptible nod and I glance between the two of them. “What are you up to?”

  Mandy’s face blanked. “Nothing.”

  Rinnae squeezed my hand. I searched her face for a clue to whether it was a gesture of solidarity or to keep me from asking any more questions. And if it was the latter, why? I wanted to get her alone and grill her.

  Before I could ask anything, Kat’s obnoxious giggling filled the night air. We twisted and I recoiled.

  Mateo strode down t
he walkway with Kat situated upside down over his shoulder, an unreadable expression on his face. Her perfect round butt nestled against his ear, and his arm wrapped possessively beneath the curve. She giggled and smacked his ass. “Look at how tight you are. I could take a bite out of this ass.”

  Every muscle in my body tightened. Rinnae’s hand tightened on mine again. Mandy glanced over her shoulder and patted my knee. I couldn’t tear my attention off them. Clearly our exit hadn’t bothered him in the least. As he reached my crutches, he faltered and paused, covering Kat’s ass with his other hand to keep her from falling. He stared at the sand, then beyond the torches to where we sat.

  I stiffened and we collectively held our breath.

  He squinted, but as his eyes scanned the darkness I realized that with the moonless sky we were as invisible as the crabs skittering across the wet sand. He panned the surf one more time, then stepped over my crutches and headed for the boat. As he retreated, we were forced to watch Kat caress and stroke his back and—admittedly—his tight, biteable ass.

  “Mmm,” Cassidy moaned and melted into the sand, arms outstretched like a sand angel. “He is so hot.”

  “Are you okay?” Rinnae whispered in my ear, ignoring Cassidy.

  I eased my hand from beneath hers and sat up. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? He can take whoever he wants to bed.”

  “Maybe he was taking her to her room,” Kemmerie said, trying to be helpful. I appreciated the effort, but I wasn’t into him, so why were they trying to make me feel better?

  And why did I want it to work?

  CHAPTER

  IN THE DARKNESS of the pre-dawn hours, I threw back the covers and gave up on sleeping. I’d had a tortured, fitful night of sleep, but couldn’t remember any of my dreams. Early mornings were still my favorite time of day. So fresh and unchartered. It helped that there weren’t a lot of other people who held my same philosophy, and I got to enjoy the time alone.