Until We Meet Again(49)
his eyes off her.
“Why, hello, Lonnie,” she says, her voice more sultry
than usual.
Ned laughs again and slaps Kip Hawkins on the back. “What
did I tell you? Have you ever seen such a sweet little honey as
that one?”
Fay rises fluidly from her chair. Without moving her gaze
from mine, she glides across the room toward us. Every man
here watches her. And how could they not? She positively
oozes allure.
“Your nephew really is a cad,” she says to Ned, coming to his
side and linking arms with him. “He’s been so busy studying
lately. What’s a lonely girl like me to do?”
My face feels hot. Suddenly I wonder if this wasn’t Ned’s plan
in inviting me here: to throw me in Fay’s arms again.
“Aw, Lon’s not studying,” Ned barks. “He’s been spending all his free time at that ugly, old beach. You’d think this one was training to be an Olympic champion backstroker
or something.”
Fay’s eyebrow lifts slightly. “Interesting. He’s never mentioned a penchant for swimming before.”
I scramble for a reply, but Ned talks over me. “You ought to
take her out there, Lon. Yes, that’s a swell idea. Go show Fay
your beach.”
Taking Fay to the beach is, of course, out of the question. Not
with Cassandra waiting there for me. I try my best to appear as
relaxed as possible. “I don’t think so.”
“Aw, take her,” Ned says, his voice overly loud. He gives me
a suggestive nudge in the ribs. “A little moonlight swim doesn’t
sound too bad, eh, Lonnie?”
Fay smiles. “Of course, I couldn’t ruin my new dress, so I
guess that means…”
Ned roars with laughter, and I decide I loathe him when
he’s drunk. The other men laugh too, and Fay smiles, enjoying
every ounce of their attention.
“I shouldn’t,” I say, taking a step away from Ned. “It would
be rude to leave the guests.”
“Oh nonsense. We’re just a bunch of old men talking about
drab things.”
I give him a pointed look. “I thought you said this would be
a good learning experience for me.”
Ned’s smile fades somewhat, and a glint of severity comes
into his eyes. “I’ve changed my mind.”
Fay reaches out for my hand. “Do take me, Lon. I fancy a
walk on the beach anyhow. All this cigar smoke is making me
positively ill.”
“There now,” Ned says, the sharpness still in his face. “You
take Fay out to get some fresh air.”
A tremor of panic crawls through me. How would I explain
Cassandra, waiting on the beach for me in her strange, future
clothes? And worse, how would I explain Fay to Cassandra?
Fay grabs my hand. “Oh, come on, Lawrence. Don’t be such
a chump.”
Ned’s eyes narrow ever so slightly. He has the same look on
his face that he did that night in New York. “Go on, son.”
Fay pulls me out the glass double doors and I go along. I
have enough to worry about right now, and angering Ned
seems imprudent. Besides, surely I can stall Fay before we get
to the beach.
“It’s been ever so long since we were alone together,” Fay says,
her grip tight on my hand. “One would almost think you’d
stopped caring for me.”
I sigh. “Fay…”
She stops abruptly. Spinning around to face me, she put
her finger to my lips. “Don’t speak, darling. Let’s just enjoy
the moment.”
Her arms latch around my neck. There’s something in her
eyes I haven’t seen before. Almost as if she can tell that I noticed,
the strangeness vanishes, and she gives me one of her sly smiles.
“Kiss me, you cad.”
Her lips come to mine, hot and urgent, and she presses her
body against me. Fay’s always been a forward girl, but there’s
definitely something different about her tonight. A fierceness
to her kiss. A desperation in the way she grabs me.
I grip her upper arms and peel her off me. “Stop.”
She’s breathing hard. “What is it?” I catch a steely glint in her
eyes. “We need some privacy, don’t we?”
She grabs my hand and pulls me toward the path and the
beach. Alarm flares inside my chest like a light. It would
wound Cassandra deeply to see me like this. And with the way
she’s acting tonight, Fay’s sure to make some kind of scene.
I forcefully halt, jerking Fay’s slender body toward mine with
the inertia. She falls into my arms with a giggle.
“That’s more like it.” She kisses me again. Her tongue slides
along the inside of my mouth. A flicker of raw desire heats in
me, but I put it out. I don’t love Fay.
As she grabs for my belt, I take her by the arms. “I won’t do