“You’re not even our lawyer on this trip,” Trina said.
“I’m always your lawyer.” Lori whispered the last word and looked around as if she’d said a dirty word.
Avery pointed to her chest. “I’m not paying you five hundred dollars an hour this week . . . what about you, Trina?”
“Nope . . . you, Shannon?”
“My bill has been paid.”
Lori rolled her eyes.
“Guess that means you’re just one of the First Wives. No more or less than any of us.” To Avery, everything was that simple. Lori wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad. Was she right?
“We are here on behalf of Alliance. And I’m the ambassador. You’re my priority, not a hard-bodied, charming gambler.”
“Oh, please. When was the last time you got laid?” Avery asked.
A woman in a chair in front of them responded by taking her child by the hand and leading her away with a dirty look.
“I manage,” Lori said quietly.
“Nice diversion, Counselor,” Shannon said.
“I’m fine.”
Lori’s terse response halted the conversation for a few moments.
“I tell you what,” Avery broke the quiet.
Lori was almost afraid to ask. “What?”
“If two out of the three of us hook up, then you let your hair down.”
Lori lifted a hand to her ponytail, her eyes landing on Trina. Yeah, Trina wasn’t looking at her. Then there was Shannon. The chances of her letting loose were slim . . . and Avery? Yeah, Avery was a sure thing for hooking up. The woman was beyond ready. If two out of the three of them did manage to find some male companionship, then Lori’s idea for this weeklong trip would have been worth the effort.
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
“I’m not a gambler, but I’ll take that bet.”
“I haven’t been pressured into going on a date by a woman since high school,” Shannon said.
Trina raised her hand. “College, and he was French.”
Avery giggled. “The one language you don’t speak.”
“There are a lot of languages I don’t speak.”
The women spoke of college and friendships as they soaked up the sun while Lori closed her eyes.
“Hola, ladies.”
Miguel and Rogelio from the dance club stood shirtless and smiling.
“Hello, boys.” Avery flirted without effort. She scooted her legs off her lounge chair. “Sit.” She patted the space next to her.
Rogelio took her offered spot, his eyes sweeping her skimpy bikini.
“We hoped to see you again,” Miguel said, sitting on the edge of Trina’s lounger.
Trina was smiling. Reserved, but smiling.
Miguel said something to Avery in his thick Spanish accent as he lifted her hand, kissing the back of it.
Shannon leaned over and whispered. “I hope you weren’t counting on winning your bet.”
Rogelio spouted off in Spanish, and Miguel spoke beside him as if finishing his sentences. “Do you think we can win the competition?”
“Really, both of you?” Trina asked Miguel.
“What?” Lori asked, missing some key words in the conversation.
“They’re entering the Mr. Epic contest,” Trina translated.
“What’s that?” Shannon asked.
“A male body pageant. They want us to join them,” Trina said.
“Join? As in parade onstage?” Lori saw that as a great way to be noticed when they were trying hard to blend.
Trina shook her head.
“I’ll be the oil girl,” Avery offered.
Miguel started laughing, and translated for Rogelio.
Rogelio leaned over Avery, rested a hand on her leg. There was heat between their eyes.
Oh, yeah . . . someone was getting lucky before dinner.
“Sounds like fun,” Lori said.
Trina sat forward, grabbed her wrap. “What the hell. It’s like Vegas, right? What happens here stays here.”
“That’s right,” Shannon encouraged her.
“Let’s go, Miguel. Lead me to the oil.”
Miguel flashed a smile. “Would you like to join us?”
Lori didn’t get a chance to respond.
“Go, six is a crowd,” Shannon told him.
Trina and Avery wasted little time following Spanish Playboy Number One, and Spanish Playboy Number Two to the stage.
“Oh, boy,” Lori sighed.
“That’s what we’re here for, right? Reconnect with life?”
“It is,” Lori said.
“So what are you worried about?”
Lori lifted her sunglasses from her eyes. “I’m paid to worry.”
“Good thing you can afford Botox, then. You’re gonna need it.”
She rolled her eyes.
One of the rotating cocktail waiters covered them in shade. “Can I get you something?”
Shannon answered for both of them, “How about two of your specials.”
“Good choice.”
Lori watched him as he walked away. “My liver is going to need a good detox.”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
Ten minutes later, sipping something that tasted of coconut and rum, Lori changed the conversation. “What’s your story?”
Shannon peeked from behind her glasses.
“You of all people know my story.”
“No, not the marriage . . . your life after the marriage? Has there been anyone? Anything?” It had been close to two years since Shannon and Paul had separated. A year and a half since their divorce. Her high profile world was littered with the paparazzi for months after their split.
“It’s easy.”
“Oh?”
Shannon sipped her drink and shrugged. “I fell in love with him.”
Lori’s smile fell with the last hope that she was wrong. She’d guessed that Shannon had fallen hard. So had Sam, but they never asked.
“I’m sorry.”
Shannon set her drink down, looked beyond those in the pool. “Not your fault. You cautioned me, Sam and Eliza pointed out Paul’s past. I should have been more guarded.”
There was a time when Lori and Sam hoped to hear that the first couple of California was going to stick the marriage out. Only like clockwork, the week their contract was up, Paul showed up in Lori’s office and asked to sign the papers to end his in-name-only marriage.
Their polite divorce shook the state. Media had a field day and made crap up when there was nothing gossip worthy to report. First it was that Paul had found another woman, then that Shannon had an affair . . . none of it validated with facts. A few pictures leaked of Paul dating, but never with the same woman twice. His handlers kept the media out of his personal life as much as they could. Alliance helped Shannon with the media for the first year. Since then, there was little to report.
Shannon moved out of Sacramento and into the house she and Paul had shared before he was elected. Everything was as they’d contracted. Paul even added a security detail for her and kept in contact with Alliance to make sure she was cared for. It was as if he knew he’d left a footprint on her heart and still wanted some control over her life.
“He’s a great man. Just not the kind to settle for one woman.”
Lori placed her hand over Shannon’s. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine. Please, let’s not talk about ancient history. It’s time for me to move on.”
Lori lifted her drink with a reluctant toast. “To moving on.”
Chapter Six
“Antonio!” Reed greeted the man he’d met the night before.
They shook hands.
Around them swam a sea of bikini-wearing women sporting suntan lotion and consuming copious amounts of liquor. The DJ pumped music loud enough to bust eardrums, and a walkway was set up in the middle of the deck.
“What’s going on?” Reed asked the Italian.
“Male exploitation.”
“Male what?”
“Male fashion show without clothes.”
Naked? That didn’t sound right.
Antonio pointed to the lineup of men wearing Speedos and shorts. Reed noticed Trina and Avery spreading oil all over two of the men that were part of the previous evening’s party.
“Looks like someone is having fun.”
“That Avery is a party.”
“Looks like it’s rubbing off on her friend.” Reed looked around to see if Lori was nearby.
Sensing what he was searching for, Antonio pointed toward the massive swimming pool. “The others are over there.”
“Should we drag them over here?” Reed asked.
“I’m not walking on that stage.”
Yeah, neither was Reed. “I’ve never met a single woman who didn’t appreciate this kind of thing.”
“Let’s go.”
Antonio led the way, weaving through the deck chairs and kids running around.
He spotted the two lone women stretched out on chairs, large sunglasses covering their faces.
He’d pegged the conservative woman for a one piece. He was wrong. Lori wore a black bikini, revealing more skin than he was prepared for.
“Bella!” Antonio announced their presence before they stood over them.
Reed couldn’t see Lori’s eyes, but he felt them.
“Hey.” Shannon lifted her sunglasses.
“We’ve come to drag you away from this boredom,” Reed told them.
“I’m not bored,” Lori countered.
Shannon pushed up from her reclined position. “What did you have in mind?”
Lori slapped at Shannon’s arm.
“We’re good.”
“Come, Bella, sitting in the sun you can do at home.”
Shannon stood, reached for Lori’s hand. “C’mon. I need my wingman.”
Reed liked Shannon more and more.
He reached for Lori’s wrap and handed it over once she was standing. Not that he wanted her to cover up. That yoga butt looked even better in a bikini than it did in pants.