Doug and Clay looked at Daphne, and she felt her face flush.
She swallowed before responding. “I . . . I think the adjective she’s looking for is hydrophobic,” she said without smiling. She was too off-kilter to even fake a smile at this point.
“See? Beautiful and smart,” Skylar said, and Daphne shot her a thankful look. Even in adulthood, there was a fine line between feeling smart and feeling like a nerd. And right now she needed a confidence boost.
KC returned with a tray of waters and proceeded to pass the glasses around. “What do you think, birthday girl? It’s your special day, so it’s up to you.”
Daphne cautiously turned toward Clay in search of an answer in his eyes, but he wasn’t looking in her direction. She took a deep breath and prepared to say no, but when she spoke, she heard her voice saying the words, “Okay, sure.” Why not? How often do I get invited on a catamaran?
KC pumped her fist. “Awesome! I’m totally going snorkeling, if that’s an option.” She swung her head toward Doug. “Is that an option?”
Doug nodded. “Definitely. We’ll cruise up to a cove on the north shore of the island, go swimming there and have lunch, then circle back down here. It’s going to be a blast.”
“Then it’s settled,” Skylar stood up, clapped her hands, and headed toward the house. “We’ll do the spa thing tomorrow. Let me go arrange it. What time do we have to leave? I need to make a couple work calls first.”
Doug looked at his watch. “We leave at ten sharp and return at four. The boat is picking us up in front of the beach house. Meet us there?”
“Deal.” Skylar made her way toward the glass door to the living room. “I hate to drink and run, my friends, but I’m doing it anyway.”
KC jumped up and followed her. “I need to call Max. He’s going to be so jealous!”
Doug followed them inside to retrieve the rest of his things, leaving Daphne and Clay alone on the deck.
“Should be a fun day,” Clay said. “I’ve heard that cove is off the charts.”
Daphne looked at the deck floor, acutely aware of his chosen words, or lack of flirtatious undertones therein. She also couldn’t ignore the physical distance between them. “Definitely. I’ve never been on a catamaran,” she said.
He stood up and gestured down the beach. “I guess I should go home and get in line for a shower. Will you tell Doug I’ll see him back at the house?”
“Will do. See you soon.”
He gave her a quick kiss good-bye, but she knew it felt forced—for both of them. As she watched him climb down the steps of the deck to the beach, she briefly wondered if last night had been a mistake. But only briefly. It wasn’t a mistake. It was fun. Don’t take it so seriously. Just be yourself. Be yourself and enjoy.
She remembered the early morning ride to the airport just a couple days ago, when she’d been so worried about what her friends would think of her, of who she had become. Now after such a brief time on St. Mirika, away from Columbus, she no longer felt like that tormented woman in the car. Who am I now? Was this a new version of her old self? Or someone else entirely? She turned toward the ocean and stared out at the horizon.
Whoever Daphne White was becoming, or returning to, she was glad to have her here.
Chapter Ten
Doug left a few minutes later. Daphne waved good-bye and calmly waited until he’d walked down the steps of the deck onto the beach, then quietly closed the French doors, turned around, and looked at her friends.
“Well?” Skylar called from her desk.
Daphne pressed her hands against her cheeks. “I totally slept with him!”
“I knew it!” KC yelled from a stool at the kitchen island. “Nice work!”
“Am I a slut now? Or should I be proud of myself?” Daphne half laughed, half whispered. “I’m not sure which way to go.”
Skylar placed her headset on the desk and held up a finger. “Give me five seconds to finish this e-mail . . . okay . . . sending . . . done!” She set down the headset, then stood up and walked toward Daphne, her arms extended. “I’m so proud of you, dahling. I knew you could break that dry spell. And God no, you’re hardly a slut. Anyone who would suggest otherwise is a complete idiot.”
“Agreed,” KC said with a firm nod. “You were due for a little horizontal tango.”
Daphne laughed, then took Skylar’s hands and pulled her down with her so that they were both seated on the plush couch. “What about you? Did you really hook up with Doug?”
Skylar shook her head. “Oh God no. He took one of the empty bedrooms. We were pretty drunk after we broke out the good stuff, so he decided to crash here.” She pointed to the empty bottles on the counter.
“What happened to Scott?” Daphne asked. “The last I saw, he was putting on a full-court press.”
Skylar shrugged. “After that drama at the Castaway, I kind of lost interest. Then Doug mentioned that he has a girlfriend, so I unsubscribed for good. Scott’s a hottie, but I don’t play that game, even on vacation.”
Daphne pointed at KC. “And you, little lady, nearly gave me a heart attack.”
KC put a hand on her chest. “Me? Why? What did I do?”
“Because I thought Scott was with Skylar last night. So when I saw Doug cruising around in his underwear this morning, I thought you had hooked up with him.”
KC cracked up. “Yeah, right. Can you imagine? Max would have loved that.”
Skylar shrugged. “I told him to put on some clothes.”
“You have no idea how freaked out I was,” Daphne said. “Thank God it was all a misunderstanding.”
“Anyhow, back to you and Clay,” Skylar said. “How was it?”
Daphne blushed. “Um, good, I guess.”
“How good?”
Daphne smiled and looked down. It was amazing.
“Don’t be shy now,” Skylar said. “Was it one-sided? We’re too old for one-sided sex.”
“Amen!” KC called from her barstool.
Daphne laughed. “No, it wasn’t one-sided. To be honest, he was quite concerned about making sure I, um, enjoyed myself.” She felt a shiver run through her at the memory.
Skylar snapped her fingers. “Yet another benefit of being older. Men know we won’t put up with sexual selfishness like we did in our twenties. Remember those days? Good riddance.”
“That’s quite a tongue twister,” KC called. “Sexual selfishness. I can picture the protests now. Stop the sexual selfishness!” She pumped a fist in the air.
Daphne smiled at KC, then looked back at Skylar. “It was kind of awkward this morning, though.” A lot awkward, actually. “I had no idea how to act, or what to say, literally no idea. I kind of just froze up.”
“It’s always awkward the next morning,” Skylar said. “I wouldn’t sweat it. I’m superproud of you.”
“So proud of you!” KC lifted her water glass in the air. “Daphne got some!”
Daphne frowned. “I kind of wish Doug hadn’t invited us on the catamaran trip. I didn’t want to say no, but I don’t think Clay was too thrilled about that. I kind of got the feeling that he would have preferred to leave things as a ‘one and done,’ you know?”
“I wouldn’t overthink it one way or the other,” Skylar said. “You’re never going to see him again after this week anyway, so I say just relax and try to have fun. Plus, there will be enough people on the boat to provide a buffer if things get a little weird. Big picture, you bedded a hot guy, and you get to go on a catamaran on your birthday.”
“A win-win!” KC called.
“You sound like my neighbor, Carol. That’s one of her favorite expressions,” Daphne said.
“Your old-lady neighbor uses the expression ‘bedded a hot guy’? Skylar asked.
“Sweet! Sounds like we need to visit Columbus,” KC said.
Daphne laugh
ed. “I mean she likes the expression ‘win-win.’”
KC made a lasso motion with her arm. “I think we should focus on the bedded-a-hot-guy part of this conversation. That bar was overflowing with girls in their twenties, but look where Clay woke up this morning. Yes, that would be here. You totally roped him in. I love it!”
Daphne blushed, but she could feel the hint of a smile on her face. “Actually, he kind of roped me in. It was after midnight, so he said he wanted to buy me a birthday drink.”
“Handsome and chivalrous. I love that too!” KC said. Then she turned to Skylar and pretended to cast a fishing line. “And you, turning down Scott like that after you’d successfully reeled him in. That was an impressive display of skill and willpower. You were both on fire last night!”
Skylar stood up and pulled the tie out of her bun, letting her hair fall loose around her shoulders. “Reeling him in wasn’t all that hard, actually. Getting a man interested is all about how you carry yourself. Janine is a perfect example of that. She’s a beautiful girl, but the poor thing had desperation written all over her. Guys just aren’t attracted to that. That’s why so many of them like older women.”
“I wish I had your confidence,” Daphne said. “I woke up feeling good about last night, but then I half expected Clay to sneak out when I was in the bathroom.”
Skylar shook her head. “But he didn’t, right? You can’t think like that.”
“Agreed, negative energy only leads to negative energy.” KC jumped off her stool and walked toward them. “The end story is that the birthday girl here had a holiday tryst with a younger man, how exciting!”
“A hot younger man, don’t forget that critical adjective,” Skylar said.
KC nodded. “Indeed. Well done, Daphne.”
“Aren’t you glad I dragged you to the Castaway?” Skylar said to them both. “I told you we’d have a blast.”
“Understatement of the year,” KC said. “Although I’m not gonna lie. I could do without the headache right now.”
“Do you ever lie?” Daphne asked.
KC laughed. “Good point.”
“There they are, my favorite neighbors.” Doug waved from the deck as the trio approached the bachelors’ beach house.
“Hey, everyone.” KC trotted up the stairs and gave a quick wave to the group. “Long time no see.”
A small cheer erupted. “MVP!” someone yelled from the back, and KC took a little bow.
At the sight of all the guys milling around the deck, Daphne’s nerves reappeared. Where was Clay? She stopped walking until Skylar nudged her in the back.
“Confidence, confidence,” Skylar whispered. Then she interlaced her arm with Daphne’s and led her up the stairs. “Gentlemen,” she said with a cool nod. “It’s nice to see you again. Scott, looking quite dapper, as always.”
“Morning, Skylar,” Scott mumbled.
Daphne noticed that Skylar didn’t seem the least bit fazed that Scott, if not the other guys, probably knew that Doug had spent the night with her, however platonically. Or maybe they didn’t know? Did men talk about that sort of thing with their friends the way women did? That line of thought made her wonder if the guys knew where Clay had spent the night. It was all Daphne could do to keep from breaking out into a cold sweat at the idea.Her brain turned with a question she was afraid to know the answer to. Does everyone here know I slept with him?
Being more adventurous was one thing. Publicizing a one-night stand was another.
She quickly scanned the rest of the deck for Clay but didn’t see him. She did, however, spot three younger women huddled in a corner. She immediately recognized one of them as Janine from the night before. Next to her were two blondes, one of whom had been dancing with Scott when Janine left the Castaway. The other didn’t look familiar.
Janine made eye contact with Daphne and gave her a quick wave hello.
Daphne smiled and waved back. What are they doing here?
Just then Clay emerged from the house, his eyes scanning the deck. When he noticed Daphne, he turned and walked straight toward her, which both thrilled and terrified her.
“Hey, Daphne, long time no see.” He held out a bottle of water. “Can I interest you in some water? I heard you got some exercise last night.”
Relieved that he’d made the effort to break the ice, she laughed and took the bottle, then lowered her voice. “Do you think we could keep that on the down low? I hate to broadcast it to the world.”
He pretended to look hurt. “I will do my best not to take that personally. But you’re the birthday girl, so I’ll defer to your wishes.”
“Much appreciated.” She felt her face flush and put the cold water bottle against her cheek, not sure if it was the heat or the memory of what they’d done last night that was causing her temperature to rise.
“Who invited the sorority girls?” Skylar appeared at Daphne’s side.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Daphne said.
“Scott invited them,” Clay said. “They showed up this morning.” He gestured toward the house. “I’m going to go grab my backpack. See you on the boat?”
“Sounds good,” Daphne said. What was I worried about? He’s not acting weird at all. This is going to be fine.
Once Clay was out of earshot, Skylar lowered her voice and leaned in close to Daphne. “Drama alert on sorority row, three o’clock. This could get ugly.”
Daphne stole another peek at the young women. All three of them were wearing makeup and heels and had their hair down. Who wears makeup and heels at the beach? Who wears their hair down on a boat?
“I wonder why Scott invited them?” she whispered to Skylar.
“Why wouldn’t he? They’re young and nice to look at, and he loves the attention. Plus, he’s probably miffed that he ended up alone last night when he easily could have hooked up with one of them. It’s textbook game playing for him to have all of us here. Reminds me a bit of my younger self, to be honest.”
Daphne put her arm around Skylar. “I love how forthright you are.”
Skylar shrugged. “No point in sugarcoating things. All that does is make you fat.”
Daphne glanced back at the young women. “So his game is literally to put you all in the same boat.”
Skylar laughed. “You and your words.”
“Hey, people, the catamaran’s here! Let’s get a move on!” Doug hopped up on the railing and yelled to the group, “Don’t forget your swimsuit and shades. Wilson, don’t forget your tampons. They have everything else on deck.”
“Suck it, Bates!” A stocky man Daphne assumed to be Wilson yelled back.
KC bounded toward Daphne and Skylar. “I’m so excited! I’ve been on a sailboat before, but never a catamaran.”
“Are my favorite neighbors ready to go?” Doug pointed down at them from the railing.
Daphne started rummaging through her oversized tote to check her inventory. “Let’s see . . . sunscreen, bug repellent, hat, salty snacks, sugary snacks, energy bars, water, hand lotion, tissues, hand sanitizer, sewing kit, tin of safety pins, mini-first-aid kit, and two tampons just in case of an emergency, although I guess Wilson over there has that covered.” She looked up at Doug and smiled. “I think we’re good.”
Skylar peered into the canvas bag. “Good lord, you’re in serious mom mode. Do you have a minivan in there too?”
Daphne slung the tote bag over her shoulder. “What can I say? I like to be prepared. Is that bad?”
KC shook her head. “Not at all. It’s cute. Very endearing.”
Daphne lowered her voice and glanced around the crowded deck. “You think everyone here would freak if they knew I had a teenage daughter?”
“Maybe. The sorority girls probably would. But who cares? You’re the one who woke up with the hot guy in your bed,” Skylar said.
“Shh!” Daphne
said.
“It’s the truth,” Skylar said with a shrug. “Why not own it?”
Daphne thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “You’re right, I did wake up this morning with a hot guy in my bed. Thank you for reminding me of that.” A tiny victory bell rang in a far corner of her brain.
Skylar bowed her head. “You’re welcome.”
KC pointed at the tote bag. “Can I have one of those energy bars?”
The catamaran was quite large, so despite the size of their group, once everyone was on board it felt spacious and not crowded at all. At least in Daphne’s opinion. Skylar had traveled on many a fancy yacht, so once again perspective became the operative word.
After they got moving, three crew members appeared on deck, each holding a tray of rum punches, which were gone in a blink and quickly replaced by a fresh round. The crew also turned on the stereo to play reggae at a decibel that managed to strike the perfect balance between soft and jarring. Again, that was just in Daphne’s opinion. She had a sneaking feeling that the younger members of the group might have preferred an uptick in the volume. She remembered those days of ear-ringing dance music, and while she had never been much of a fan, it certainly didn’t bother her then as much as it did now.
KC held up her plastic cup for a toast. “Ladies, this is already my favorite day of the trip.”
Skylar poked her in the arm. “Who are you, and what have you done with KC?”
“Huh?” KC said.
Skylar pointed to KC’s cup. “It’s ten thirty in the morning. Even I can’t drink alcohol at ten thirty in the morning, and I’m a professional.”
KC grinned. “When in Rome, right?”
Daphne hunted in her tote bag for a bottle of water. “I think I’ll wait until noon to canvas that territory again.”
Just then Clay and Doug wandered around from the opposite side of the catamaran, followed by Janine and one of her friends. Both women were barefoot now, the bemused captain having informed them that heels were most certainly not allowed on board. They were also holding their hair behind them, trying unsuccessfully to keep it from flying in their faces.
Wait for the Rain Page 20
