G-Men: The Series (90 page)

“Really? You know, I was contemplating going blonde.”

“Oh no,” he said quickly, “I think you’re gorgeous with your dark brown hair and sapphire-blue eyes. It’s my favorite combination.”

“You’re too nice, Eli,” I cooed, flashing him another smile. I was checking out Lacee in my peripheral vision; she was still over there all by herself. I made sure I put a giggle out there for good measure. I saw her squirm in her chair, and then she rolled over onto her belly.

Eli and I chatted for a few more minutes. He was from Denver, Colorado and was actually going to be interviewing for a position with the resort the following day. He said winters in Denver were not his thing; he much preferred sand to snow. I filled him in on just enough, not mentioning the thing with Darin, only that I was meeting my parents here for winter break. He was a few years older than me. He’d stayed on in Colorado after he graduated from the University of Colorado several years back.

“So, Nicole, are you going in the pool anytime soon?” Eli was watching me with his boyish grin going on strong.

I glanced over at the gorgeous pool. “Well, I’m not sure. I think this suit might be ‘dry-clean only.’”

“What?” he asked; his voice incredulous. “I think you’re full of shit. I think it’s time we find out if that suit can take being wet.”

Before I knew what was happening, Eli took my iPad from me, and placed it on the table. He scooped me up into his strong, muscular arms and headed towards the pool. I was laughing and kicking in faux protest, making enough noise to draw Lacee’s attention, I’m sure.

“Eli,” I squealed, “put me down. I don’t want to go in just yet! Pretty please?”

“Too late, beautiful,” he replied, laughing. “You’re going in, baby!” He jumped into the pool with me still in his arms, shrieking and giggling as we both went under the water and sprang back up. Eli let go of me, laughing, and dared me to race him to the end of the pool.

My sunglasses were still on and as I looked over at Lacee, I saw that E.J. was standing right there, next to her chaise. He had observed the whole thing with Eli and me; his expression was unreadable. Lacee’s not so much, as a slow smile graced her full, pouty lips.

E.J. wasn’t dressed in pool garb. He was dressed casually in a pale blue polo, and cargo pants. He looked magnificent. I watched as he apparently instructed Lacee that she was done at the pool. She quickly gathered her towel, sandals and suntan oil, getting up from the chaise, where I heard E.J. instruct her in a brusque tone to put on her cover-up. He, apparently, was not happy with her. Again.

I turned my attention back to Eli who was swimming towards me now, dipping beneath the surface of the water where he grabbed an ankle and pitched me up in the air, causing me to fly a few feet and go under. When I sputtered to the surface, all signs of Lacee and E.J. were gone. I felt a bit deflated.

I finally managed to escape Eli’s attention in the pool and climbed out, going back over to my towel on the chaise. He followed a few minutes later, shaking his wet blond locks on me as he passed my chair with a laugh.

“You’re a brat,” I said, drying myself off again.

“Are you mad?” he asked, seriously thinking that I just might be.

“Well, you can make it up to me if you bring me a frozen strawberry daiquiri, how’s that?”

His replying grin was fully-watted. “You’ve got it, babe,” he said, grabbing his wallet from beneath his towel and heading over to the Tiki bar. I settled back down in my chair, relaxing and letting the sun soothe my raw nerves. Why did this whole thing with E.J. bug me more than the deal with Darin? It was like I wasn’t even thinking about Darin any longer; not so with E.J. though.

Eli and I enjoyed a couple of daiquiris over the next hour. I was feeling fairly relaxed when my cell phone rang. It was Mom.

“Hi Darcy. Daddy and I will be at the resort in about an hour and a half. We’re staying in Unit 12B in the Coconut Grove Condo complex. It’s just east of the villas. Do you want us to come to your place, or do you want to come to ours?”

“I’ll come to your condo, Mom,” I replied quickly. “I’m at the pool right now, but I’m heading back to shower and get changed.”

“Okay, darling. Why don’t you stop by the condo around dinnertime and we’ll go together?”

“Sounds great, Mom. See you then.”

I turned to Eli who was reading a magazine. “Got to go. Meeting the parents and I gotta’ get ready. It was good meeting you. It’s been…interesting.” I shot him my famous smile.

“Do you have plans for dinner?” he asked.

“I’m having dinner with my parents,” I deadpanned.

“Oh sure, right.” He quickly put on his shirt, and grabbed his shades that were lying idle on the small table between us.

Ah, fuck.

“I mean, if you’d like to join us, I’m sure they’d have no problem with that—”

Except he thinks my name is Nicole…

“I’d love to, if you’re sure it’s okay with you.”

“Sure,” I shrugged like it was no biggie that I was kind of inviting a guy I’d just met. But the hell with it. This was my vacay and he seemed like a pretty chill guy. Maybe a little lonely…and I knew what that was like.

We exchanged cell numbers and I promised to call him once I was ready so that he could pick me up at my villa and we would head to their condo together.

Once I got back to my villa, I showered, shaved, and gave myself a facial. I went through my closet, selecting a newly purchased Stella McCartney designed cocktail dress. It was a clingy, silhouette-enhancing two-tone dress. The major portion of the dress was Fern-green; the side inserts at the waist to the top of the hips were black mesh.

It was sexy, yet conservative enough not to upset my parents. Yeah, the ones that used to wear tie-dyed shirts with peace signs, love beads and bell-bottom jeans that were frayed because they dragged on the ground—those parents. I put on a pair of new Prada open-toed strapped heels, and a clutch shoulder bag to match. I left my hair down, taking pains to straighten it flat; humidity was not my friend. I was ready to call Eli, but I wanted to check in with Mom first. I needed to clue her in on what was happening. She answered her cell phone sounding kind of flustered.

“Mom? It’s me. Did you guys get in okay?”

“Yes, we’ve been here for over an hour now.”

“Is something wrong? You sound kind of frazzled. Does the condo suck?”

“Oh no, it’s not that. As a matter of fact, it’s breathtakingly beautiful with a great view and a lovely outside terrace that’s to die for. It’s just that it’s a double and the people in the “A” unit are kind of noisy. The walls must be kind of thin, I guess.”

“Noisy? Do they have kids or something?”

“No, no—they’re noisy and seem to be on some sort of a sex marathon, as far as I can tell.”

I had to giggle at the way she described it. “Well, Mom, maybe they’re honeymooners or something.”

“God—I’d hate to think so with the language and tone they’re using! They sound like two people that hate each other, but decided to fornicate all afternoon for the hell of it.”

At this I burst out laughing. Yeah, my mom didn’t usually talk that way. As in: at all. And it was kind of hilarious as hell hearing her use the word ‘fornicate.’ “Mom, why don’t you call the office and see if the property manager can request they hold it down?”

“I tried that,” she replied with a sigh. “It seems that this particular condo is owned by the guy currently inhabiting Unit A. In fact, he owns all four of them on this beach. The property manager was not inclined to make that call. In fact, he said the owner specifically wanted the unit free of guests while he was using it this week, but apparently a clerk made a mistake in letting us rent it, so I was told I should be grateful and I was advised to keep a low profile.”

“Well,” I said, trying my best to console her so that we could change the subject, “we’ll be out for dinner soon, so maybe they’ll get it out of their systems.”

“We can only hope,” she replied. “Are you ready to come down? Your daddy found a seafood restaurant down the main road that he’d like to try. We made reservations and since we have a rental car, no sense in not putting it to use.”

“Sounds good to me. There’s one thing, though. I met a really, really nice guy at the pool this afternoon. His name’s Eli and I invited him to come along with us for dinner. Is that okay?”

I could feel her smile over the phone. “Well, of course, darling. He’s more than welcome to join us this evening. I’m glad you’re getting back out there and not sitting around crying over Darin.”

“Great! There’s just one more thing, Mom; can you and Daddy refer to me as ‘Nicole’ instead of Darcy?”

Silence from her end.

“Darcy Nicole, what are you up to?”

“Nothing Mom—it’s just that, since I’ve been here, I’ve been introducing myself as Nicole instead of Darcy.”

“Why would you do that?” I could almost feel her churning over thoughts in her head about how her daughter was probably having personal identity issues.

“I don’t know. Maybe I just wish I
was
a ‘Nicole’ instead of a ‘Darcy.’ The name Nicole sounds so much more together, you know?” She was
so
going to speed-dial her shrink after she got off the phone, probably wanting to make an appointment for me as soon as this trip was over.

“I’m not going to be a part of any game you’re playing so, to answer your question, no. And I think I can speak for your father as well on this. Your first name is Darcy and that’s what we call you and will continue to call you, understood?”

I rolled my eyes. It really wasn’t
that
big of a deal, I thought.

“Sure, Mom. I’ll explain it to Eli before we get there.”

“That’s my girl,” she said. “Deception almost never works out, remember that, okay? It’s always better to speak the truth than have your deception come back to haunt you.”

“I know, Mom. You’re right of course. Eli and I’ll see you and Daddy soon.”

“Not soon enough for me,” she replied, her tone now totally exasperated. “They’re at it again next door. Hurry up and get here so we can get the hell out. You’re daddy doesn’t seem to mind all the racket, but I sure do. He probably has plans for me tonight after hearing all that dirty talk next door for the past couple of hours. My God, the language…” I could practically feel her cringing.

“Okay, Mom,” I replied, smiling.

^{chapter 3}

I called Eli and he was at my villa shortly after, looking fantastic, I might add, in a summer sport jacket and cotton trousers. His blond locks were gelled, and slightly spiked, which was a good look for him.

“You look great,” I said, motioning for him to come in and take a seat. “I need to explain something to you before we meet my parents.”

“You look fabulous, Nicole,” he said, studying me from head to toe. “Stella McCartney?”

“It is—but listen, you need to call me ‘Darcy’ not ‘Nicole.’ Just for tonight, okay?” I saw him quirk a brow. I needed to explain this to him.

“You see, my name’s Darcy Nicole Sheridan. I’ve been—well…going by my middle name since I’ve been here at the resort for…personal reasons. My parents will be calling me Darcy and I just thought you should know.”

“It’s fine. I get it,” he responded, shaking his head slightly.

“You do?” I asked, frowning in confusion.

“Sure. Hey, whatever makes you comfortable is fine with me. I don’t question the way people handle things in their personal lives and I certainly don’t judge.”

Judge what? Wait a sec…

“Eli, how did you know this was a Stella McCartney design?”

He shrugged. “I was in Milan for her fall show,” he replied nonchalantly, as if he’d just told me he was at a Bronco’s game or the U.S. Masters Tournament. He watched my puzzled expression with amusement.

“Oh, somebody’s ‘gay-dar’ seems to be on the fritz, I see.”

“Eli,” I said, the shock apparent in my tone, “you don’t
look
gay. I mean, it never crossed my mind…”

“Ah hah, I see some stereotypes at play here, beautiful,” he teased. “And may I add that you don’t look
butch
either?”

Rewind. What?

“What?”

“You know, ‘
butch;’
the stereotypical description for a
lesbian
?”

“Holy hell—you think I’m a lesbian?”

Now he was now the one flustered…getting up from the couch, and running a hand through his thick mass of blond hair. “I guess my gay-dar’s on the fritz as well.”

I burst into laughter as I saw how totally clueless we both had been. Eli joined me and we continued to laugh until tears were rolling.

“Okay, okay,” I said, still giggling. “I want to know why the hell you thought I was a lesbo.”

Eli rubbed his eyes and tried to compose himself enough to explain. “I was watching you from outside the pool area before I even came in,” he said, starting to chuckle again. “I mean damn, girl, the way you were checking out that blonde across the pool from you left no doubt in my mind. Since I didn’t see any interesting males around, I thought it might be nice to hang out with one of my own.” He dissolved into laughter once again.