Smile And Stay Dry
Dahlia
“What’s on your mind?” Dylan asks as soon as we step into the elevator.
“Was it that obvious?” I didn’t really think much before I spoke.
“You literally jumped up and said, Dylan and I will get snacks for the pool.” She leans back against the metal mirror wall. “Well?”
“I took a picture today,” I blurt out the words and stare at my feet.
“What?”
“Without even thinking, I sent my guy a picture of me lying on my bed.” And now it’s all I can think about. But that wasn’t the first picture either. When we were in his library, we took dozens of pictures.
With Vex around, I didn’t even hesitate to take a picture. The past wasn’t even in my mind. That room, though, is a dreamland. Anything that happened in it wasn’t real.
But doing it again… that felt real .
“Prue, that’s wonderful. You’re finally getting over the trauma of your past.”
Am I? “Sometimes it feels like I never will.”
“But you are. It’s just a series of little steps. Though that one’s a huge step. You literally had a meltdown getting your photo taken for work.”
That wasn’t a good day.
The doors open to a seemingly endless hallway. One way will lead us to the lobby. Another to the pool. But we’re looking for the shops.
We follow the arrows.
“Do you think it’s the guy?” Dylan walks by my side.
“Yes. But also no. I made the biggest change before I ever met him. Yet he makes me feel safe. The kind of safe I haven’t felt since I was a child.”
“Wow. Is he the one?”
“Yes… No… I want him to be.”
Dylan reaches out and squeezes my hand. “It’s still new. Give it time. You never know what will happen with time.”
Can Vex change? Could I be comfortable enough with who he is to introduce him to my mother?
“Right now, all you need to do is figure out how to stop buying candy.” Dylan nods at the sweet shop in front of us.
“We could just buy the whole store.” The person who designed the little shop was brilliant. Not only does the sweet scent of baked goods fill the entire area around the shops, but the pretty colors draw me in. More people walk in than walk by.
“That’s a distinct possibility.”
“There is a guy in our group. He looks like he can eat a fair bit.”
Dylan laughs. She’s seen me eat.
“Half the store. Definitely half the store.”
** *
“Over here.” Junie stands up and beckons us over to a cabana. “Can you believe these are included with our room?”
No.
No. I can’t.
“Most of the girls are already in the pool.” Harper steps out of the cabana in a simple tank swimsuit. “Wanna go in with me?”
Dylan sets her bags down on one side of the table and I put mine down on the other. “I don’t swim.” In order to swim, I’d have to take my coverup off.
“That sounds like too much effort” Dylan sits down and pulls stuff out of the bag.
Daria and Colin approach the cabana as Sheridan and Keely walk back from the pool.
“Oh, that looks amazing. We’re going to end up in such a sugar coma.” Keely wraps a towel around her body and sits down a few chairs away.
Daria takes the one next to Keely and Knight sits between the two of us.
She didn’t bring her tablet down with her, which is probably practical around the pool, but she did bring a notebook and pen.
Garnet semi-sprints over to the table. “You’ve got to see this.” She twists to face the corner of the pool where Piper is rinsing off the chlorine. “The sexiest guy I’ve ever seen is staring at Piper.”
“Which guy?” Junie’s head shifts from side to side, just like the rest of us as we search for the sexy guy.
“He’s at the outdoor restaurant over there. The big guy in the suit.” Garnet nods to the left.
Who wears a suit to a pool—Oh! “That man is gorgeous.”
“Prettier than your guy?” Savie pulls over a chair.
“My guy isn’t pretty.” No one in their right mind would call Vex pretty.
“Oh?” Dylan says as everyone briefly turns towards me.
“Another time. We need to focus on the issue at hand. Piper and this guy.” He hasn’t looked away from her once.
“She should go say hello.” Garnet reaches for a chocolate caramel .
“You don’t go over and say hello to a random stranger at a hotel.”
Dylan isn’t wrong. It just isn’t safe.
“Didn’t we all do that at one time?” Keely takes a gummy bear. “All of us were strangers until we met at a hotel.”
“It’s not the same.” Dylan takes her laptop out of her bag. “We approached fellow authors. That were all women. This guy could be anyone. We don’t know.”
“But we have someone that might.” All eyes follow mine to Colin.
“I don’t know that guy.” Colin holds his hands up.
“But you’re a guy. What kind of guy vibes does he give you?” Junie leans forward, setting her elbows on the table.
“Guy vibes?” Colin looks at us incredulously.
“You have to have some sort of feeling about this guy?”
That’s what I love about Garnet. She’s always good for backup. And causing mischief.
“Who has feelings?” Stella stops a few feet outside of the cabana and grabs a towel.
“Piper has an admirer. And we all want to know what Colin thinks about him before Piper goes over and flirts with him.” Savie grabs a bag she had tucked under the table and pulls out a white ball of yarn and two needles.
How many colors of yarn does she travel with? At least it doesn’t weigh down her suitcases.
“Oh, where?” Stella follows the group’s gaze. “Oooo weee, that man is pretty. Why is that man wearing so many clothes by the pool?”
“Stella,” Junie gasps.
“What? I almost became a spicy romance author.” Stella tucks the tail of the towel wrapped around her hair under.
“Don’t let her fool you, Colin. The closest Stella has ever come to being a spicy romance author is having two aliens touch fingers once.” Garnet reaches for a chocolate truffle.
Stella shrugs. “It was a very poignant touch. ”
“We’ve digressed.” That’s something we do a lot. “Piper is on her way back to the table. What do you think about this guy, Colin?”
As a group, we turn to stare at him.
“Fine. I’ll be right back.” Colin stands up and walks away.
“Do you think Colin is going to go talk to the guy?” Juniper asks.
He’s not walking towards the restaurant. Men never make sense. “Probably not.”
Piper reaches the cabana. “The water is perfect.” Piper stops. “Why are you all staring at me like that?” She twists around. “Is something wrong with my suit? Is my butt hanging out or something?”
If it was, that very fine man would probably be drooling as his eyes bulged out of their sockets.
“Piper, honey, there’s a man staring at you,” Stella breaks the news.
“A man?” Piper starts to turn her head again.
“Play it cool.” Savie points one of her needles towards the man. “Tall, dark, and scrumptious over at the restaurant has been watching you since we got out here.”
“Scrumptious?!?” Dylan raises an eyebrow at Savie.
“Well, I’m not going to say deadly. It might scare Piper.”
“He’s deadly,” Piper squeaks.
“Don’t scare the girl.” Garnet glares at Savie.
“If I had a man like that looking at me like that, I’d be terrified and checking my makeup.” Savie doesn’t wear makeup often. Though she wears enough hairspray to set a dozen heads of hair like a grandma of old.
“Piper, go sit next to Dahlia. That will give you a clear view of the man watching you.” Dylan moves her gaze between the rest of us as she says, “And all of you chill out. Eat some candy. And let’s see what happens before you torment Piper.”
As the person who’s going to be tormented later about Vex, I wholeheartedly support this idea. The girls go quiet. The only noise in our area comes from the clicking of Savie’s needles and the soft music that the resort plays in the background.
Piper slips into the chair next to me and I reach over and give her hand a reassuring squeeze. It isn’t easy seeing a sexy man for the first time.
She slowly eases her gaze over to the restaurant.
Their eyes meet and the whole world freezes.
I’d say I’ve never felt a moment like this, but I have too many times with Vex.
Piper gasps as the man stands up. “He’s coming over here.”
It sure looks like it.
“Now honey, just say something if you want one of us to step in and shoo him away. As delightful as he looks, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want.” Stella wouldn’t hesitate to speak up.
Nor would Garnet or Savie. The rest of us might get tongue-tied around a man that beautiful.
Piper’s gaze locks with the man’s like a tractor beam pulling him to her. The shy Piper never acts like this. She’s more likely to hide than to look at a man.
Piper doesn’t respond. I’m not even sure she knows how to speak anymore.
“Hello, ladies.” The man has an indistinct accent. “My name is Valen Linckester. I couldn’t help but notice how much fun all of you seemed to be having today. Might I ask what special event brought you to Vegas this week?” Valen stops across from Piper’s chair. Though he addresses all of us, he never stops looking at Piper.
His gaze moves down her body to her hand.
He’s looking for a ring. Smart man.
“We’re here for the writer’s convention.” Savie’s needles stop.
“Are you all book lovers or authors?” He couldn’t care in the least what we are.
Garnet grins. “Can’t we be both?”
“Of course. I know your time is limited, but I was wondering if I could borrow your friend for a short while? I’ve been eating lunch all alone and was hoping she might keep me company. ”
With that amount of self-confidence, it’s doubtful that man cares about eating alone.
Piper just keeps staring.
I feel her pain.
“Piper would love to have lunch with you,” Junie jumps into the conversation.
We all watch as Valen walks over to where Piper is seated. “Is that true? Would you like to have lunch with me?”
I nudge Piper, hoping to elicit some response. Or remind her that there’s a world outside of Valen’s eyes.
“Yes.”
Even Valen’s smile is beautiful, with just the right amount of perfectly straight teeth showing. He holds a hand out to her.
But she doesn’t take it. “I can’t.” Piper looks down at her bathing suit and up at his formal outfit.
“If the fact that I’m overdressed bothers you, I’d be happy to remedy that.”
Is he going to strip in front of all of us just to make Piper more comfortable?
“I have a spare dress you can wear, Piper.” Sheridan grabs her monstrous bag. She could have almost anything in there. Including the kitchen sink. “We’ll be just a moment.” Sheridan grabs Piper and pulls her back to the cabana, where there’s a private changing room.
“So, what brings you to Vegas?” Garnet twists to face Valen.
“Business.”
That’s a cagey answer.
“What do you do?” Savie sets her needles down.
And it’s official, he’s getting the third degree before lunch.
“We don’t have time for easy questions. Just ask him if he’s killed anyone?” Stella drops that little bomb.
“Well?” Savie asks.
We all turn to Valen.
“You’re all very good friends, it seems. ”
“It seems like you don’t want to answer our question.” Stella raises an eyebrow, challenging him to answer.
“Criminals go to jail, and I’m not in jail.”
“Smart criminals go undetected all their lives.” Garnet has an answer for everything.
He chuckles. “I can promise you that no harm will come to your friend when she’s with me.”
That I can actually believe.
What’s with scary men showing up everywhere all of a sudden?
“Okay, she’s ready.” Sheridan opens the cabana door with a dramatic flourish.
A whole new Piper stands in front of us. All the pink in her cheeks compliments the soft floral sundress. It’s loose and flowy, highlighting Piper’s delicate features.
“Shall we?” Valen holds out a hand again, and this time Piper takes it.
When they’re out of earshot, Stella sighs. “Do you think they’ll fall in love?”
Maybe Stella should have decided to write romance.
Watching Valen and Piper becomes our new favorite show until Colin arrives back.
“Well, what did you find out?” Garnet asks before he’s fully seated.
“Valen Linckester won’t hurt Piper. But he probably won’t stick around long either.” Colin reaches across the table for a sour licorice. “Where is Piper anyway?”
“He asked her to eat lunch with him.” Savie points her needles in that direction and then reaches for a jelly-filled shortbread.
Is anyone but me wondering how Colin found out so much about this guy in such a short time?
“Since she has all of you watching over her, I think I’ll go for a swim.”
“That’s not a good idea right now,” Keely warns.
“Why not?”
“Because the spicy romance authors arrived.” Savie smirks. “They’re already eyeing you up since you’re sitting with us. But if you take off that shirt of yours and venture away from our protection, they’re going to talk you into being a cover model for them.”
Colin chuckles. “I think I’ll just stay right here for a while.”
He would have made a good cover model to be fair.