Chapter Twenty-Three #2
A friend had told her that her personality would make her an ace in investing.
She was an adrenaline junkie, and she was charming, so she should be able to part people from their money easily enough.
The problem was that she didn’t always think clearly when she started to panic, and once she made a decision, she stuck with it, whether it was a good idea or not.
So, when things started to go south with one of her investments, she just kept getting more investors and throwing good money after bad.
In the end, she was damn lucky she wasn’t sued.
She’d been honest when she said she wasn’t trying to defraud investors; she had just bet wrong and bet big.
The worst part about that disaster was that she’d really worked hard to make that career viable.
Somehow, it seemed the harder she tried, the harder she failed.
Just like soccer. She’d always been the one to play through the pain and “walk off” injuries.
Her coaches had always acted like that was how you succeeded.
But she hadn’t succeeded. All she’d done was give herself a lifetime of pain that was made worse on days like today, when it was raining buckets, and where the hell was Skye?
“What’s up, LaLa?”
Mack appeared beside her, a hand on her lower back. That’s when Kayla realized she’d stood up at some point during her internal freak out.
Kayla forced a smile and took a deep breath. “Nothing. You’ve been gone forever. I was about to send out a search party. You ready to go?”
Mack grinned and held up a bulging bag with the gift shop logo on it. “The real question is: are you ready?”
Kayla eyed the bag with suspicion. Mack wasn’t nearly as wild as Skye, but she’d been known to have a harebrained idea or two. “What’s that?”
“You’ll see.”
“Do I want to see?”
Mack grabbed her hand and led her toward the exit. “Don’t you trust me?”
“More than anyone on earth.”
The quick, honest answer seemed to catch Mack off guard. She came to an abrupt stop, and Kayla bumped into her. “You mean that, don’t you?”
Kayla rubbed her forehead where it had collided with Mack’s shoulder. “First off, ouch. Second, of course I do.”
Mack’s smile seemed to push away some of the storm clouds, and it made Kayla’s stomach squirm pleasantly. When had Mack’s smiles started having this effect on her, and why did she enjoy it so much?
A resort employee greeted them at the restaurant exit. “My apologies, ladies. I only have one umbrella left. If you don’t want to share, we can wait for another guest to arrive so you can have theirs.”
It only took one glance out into the resort grounds to know the futility of that.
The rain was like a gray curtain, and there was not another person in sight.
The only dots of color were the flowers on the plumeria near the pool deck.
There was no sign of the bright yellow umbrellas carrying the Rainbow Sands logo.
Mack said, “No problem. We can share.”
Kayla was all for it. Not only because she very much wanted to be back in their room, where she could dry her feet and wallow in misery.
The better reason for sharing came when Mack flicked open the umbrella and pulled Kayla tight against her body underneath it.
Had her stomach always squirmed at Mack’s smile?
Being wrapped in her arms, smushed close to her body while they walked made it positively dance.
“This is the problem with everyone thinking you’re a couple,” Mack shouted over the pounding of rain on their umbrella. “They think you want to share an umbrella, so you get half wet.”
“Are you saying being entwined with me doesn’t make you fully wet?”
Mack tripped on an uneven section of the sidewalk and only just caught herself before face-planting into the pool. When she recovered, her cheeks were flaming red, but she still managed to tease back. “I certainly didn’t say that.”
The rain had driven their friendly resort cat into hiding, so they didn’t have anyone to greet them at the door to their room. Once inside, Mack turned a serious expression on Kayla. “Change into dry clothes. The comfier the better.”
Since she had started to shiver, Kayla didn’t argue. She snagged a pair of worn sweats she’d brought out of habit. Mack disappeared into the bathroom to give her privacy, and she happily tossed her soaked sun-dress into the corner along with her bra. Rainy days should never involve underwire.
After she’d thrown her hair up into a messy bun, Kayla examined herself in the mirror.
Her sweatshirt had once been a vibrant maroon but was now more of a faded rose.
The loose black pants cuffed her ankles still, but the waist was sufficiently droopy to lounge comfortably in.
She felt wonderfully warm and soft, but she looked a fright.
The bathroom door opened, and Kayla said over her shoulder, “This isn’t exactly honeymoon attire. I don’t even know why I brought them.”
“Maybe because you knew you’d have at least one day to relax and be yourself?”
Kayla shrugged and turned her back to the mirror.
She didn’t need to look sexy today. She just needed to enjoy whatever diversion Mack had prepared for them.
And Mack certainly couldn’t object. She had changed into a pair of sweats even more worn than Kayla’s.
They were nondescript grey and sported a cracked and faded cartoon cougar with the words “Claremont High School” in ancient vinyl.
“Have you had those sweats since high school?” Kayla asked incredulously.
“Yep. They’re the ones from cross country. Don’t you still have yours?”
“I’d never fit in them anymore. Especially around the chest.”
Mack crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying your tits are bigger than mine?”