So Much More (2 page)

Chapter Three

Wearing an itsy-bitsy yellow and blue polka dot bikini and a pair of cut off jean shorts that hung low on her hips, Angie slipped her feet into her blue flip-flops and grabbed the matching blue beach bag. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, a smile was on her face and excitement was bubbling over in her belly.

This was a real vacation! A real, fly-to-an-exotic-place-and-lounge-on-the-beach vacation! With her flip-flops slapping against the bottoms of her feet she made her way down the hall while digging in her beach bag for her Audrey Hepburn like sunglasses. Truly if finished off the look she was going for. What look she didn’t know, but the sunglasses did wrap it up.
Maybe fun-loving beach bunny? Or I-couldn’t-care-less-what-I-look-like beach bunny? Or
just
beach bunny?

“Well what do you know?” Angie came to a full stop at the deep rumble of Dean’s voice. He stood in the doorway of his bedroom with his arms crossed over his bare broad chest, his tall frame leaning against the doorway, his blue swim trunks fitting like they were tailored to him, and a grin that spoke volumes.

“You
can
look like a woman when you aren’t trying to play up your small self, Little Bit.”  

What was that supposed to mean? It wasn’t as if Angie tried to make herself look as small as she was, and frankly it was hard finding stylish clothes in the petite sections of department stores.

“What’s that supposed to mean,
play up my small self
?”

He pushes himself off the door frame and saunters toward her, forcing her to crane her neck just to see his face as he stood over her. Wow, what a
glorious specimen of man. She couldn’t help the down ward glances she kept taking to see his hard chest. After all, this may be the only time she had to take a mental inventory of his half naked body. And oh what a body it was. Sculptured and hard, fine hairs sprinkled across his chest and trailed downward into the swim trunks. What she would give to draw her index finger down that trail and find the treasure at the end. 

“Let’s just say,” he stepped closer to her and bent so his mouth was close her ear, sending shivers through her body as he spoke. “That grown up fits you.” He stepped back and his grin broadened, Angie’s eyes widened, and he walked away.

Did he just say he thought she dressed too young for her age? How was a twenty-six year old supposed to dress? If the women he dated were any example she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Actually, there was one of his exes Angie wouldn’t mind finding out where she shopped. But that was neither here nor there! The jerk, he was flustering her on purpose and then walked away before she could gather her thoughts.

Angie stomped after him, actually, she flip-flopped after him,
ready to demand he explain what he meant but again had to stop short, but this time because her gracious hosts stood in the living area.

Dawn and George Austen was a stately couple, both looking as if they could grace the cover of AGI magazine and draw in potential insurance buyers with just their smiles alone. Stella stood next to Dawn with a slight frown on her face. She hoped her friend hadn’t seen her ogling Dean. That would be an awkward one to explain.

Angie attempted a smile at Stella and asked, “Ready to go?”

“Don’t you look cute?!” Dawn clapped her hands in front of her, a smile beaming on her
glowing face. “If your suit were just yellow we could sing that old song, remember George? The itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini song? ”

George smiled indulgingly at his wife. “I remember dear.”

“I need to get a picture of you and Stella! Stay right there!” Dawn bolted off in search of her camera just as Angie caught the expensive scent of her mother’s perfume.

“Good God!” There was no guessing who shrilled this from behind her. And with those two words the part of the week Angie so dreaded began. “Don’t tell me you’re going out in that scrap of material!” This wasn’t a question, for in Joan Adel’s mind as long as she thought it was preposterous everyone else did as well, therefore Angie would be a laughing stock if she didn’t conform to what Joan thought was right.

“This is called a bikini mother. They came out long after you were a teenager.” Angie forced a smile and stared her down.

“Don’t be cheeky dear, it doesn’t suit you, like that
thing
you’re wearing.” A bony finger flicked in the direction of Angie’s chest just as her nose scrunched in disgust, as if Angie let loose with a deadly fart instead of dared to wear stylish swimwear.

At that moment David entered the room, completely oblivious to her mother’s attempt to embarrass her in front of the entire Austen family. “Wow! Angie, you are a woman!” His grin broadened into that of pure male appreciation. It was a blessing really, that grin.

Angie turned to her mother. “See mother, by dressing this way I may fulfill your dream of me marrying a handsome, rich man that you can be proud of.”

Joan’s lips pursed into a thoughtful pout, an inner battle waging and all could view it through her big brown eyes, which were like a television screen, and the dilemma playing out in her mind were an HBO movie.  The battle ended as soon as Dawn entered the room again with her camera. “Joan, don’t the girls look too cute for words? What I would give to have perky boobs again. I just have to get a picture before they go out.”

All eyes turned to Joan, awaiting her response to this. For the first time in Angie’s life, her mother backed down. “Well apparently I’m too old fashioned. Dawn is my age and if she thinks you look… normal… than I must be… well, anyhow, you have fun dear.” She kissed Angie’s cheek and whispered in her ear. “But do take an over shirt dear. If you get a chill everyone will know.”

She always has to have the last word, a frustrating habit that raised the fine hairs on Angie’s neck and had her clenching her teeth. Angie tapped
her bag and said, “Already covered mother, no pun intended.”

After the pictures were taken, a few which included Dean and David as well, they were finally off to the beach. Cruising in the rented Jeep, Dean worked his way through the traffic like a pro, swerving around cars, honking at other drivers whenever they would honk at him, running stop signs, and scaring the crap out of Angie and Stella. It was as if they were riding with the cabby again.  Finally they arrived at
Coki Point, said to be the best beach on the island, and Angie and Stella gratefully hoped out of the open Jeep, thankful to be on land again. “Be back in an hour, okay Dean. I don’t want to have a repeat of my sophomore year where you ran off with some bimbo and completely forgot to pick me up.” Angie didn’t look back at Dean as she walked away, her mind pushing at the image of Dean and some blonde in the back seat of his old Maverick.

The moved through parked cars and stepped onto the white sand. Instantly Angie understood why the locals loved this beach so much. It was the most breathtaking sight Angie had ever seen. The water was so clear it was almost like looking into a pool. Angie dropped her bag at the spot Stella picked as home base, kicked off her shoes, and slipped out of her shorts.  Without
so much as a see-you-later, Angie made a beeline to the water.

Small fish swam around her calves, a thought that would have previously been creepy but suddenly seemed like the coolest thing ever, and the deeper she got the bigger the fish.  The water was refreshing and she let the weight of the world, which she carried on her shoulder, just drift away with the tide. She let her body relax, sighing her pleasure, and floated as she stared up at the still bright blue sky. The waves lulled her. She didn’t know how long she had been out there but it was long enough for the sun to start setting and the
water went from lukewarm to a bit chilly. Her muscles were beginning to protest her demand on them to hold her afloat.

“You know if you stay out here any longer Dean is going to call you mermaid for the rest of your life.” Angie turned to find David swimming toward her.

“I thought you guys were going to find the nude beaches.” She teased.

“We’ll do that tomorrow. The thought of drinking beer on the normal beach tonight was too appealing. You’re quite the swimmer, were you on the swim team in school?” Angie laughed and inadvertently swallowed some sea water, which threw her into a coughing fit.
“Perhaps not.” David grinned at her. “Do you need me to take you in? I used to be a lifeguard you know?”

Grinning back, Angie shook her head. They were slow to make
their way back to the beach, stopping periodically to point out a fish or scantily clad pedestrian. It was fun to share the moment with David, someone Angie had always liked but never really got to know. He was the best choice of Deans friends to share her vacation with.

“It’s about time you came back.” Stella sipped a strawberry daiquiri and attempted to looked vogue in her floppy purple hat and matching bikini. “Dean got you a daiquiri as well.” She held up a plastic cup filled to the rim with reddish pink liquid and nodded toward Dean, who had found a few buxom blondes that appeared to have stepped right out of the pages of Victoria’s Secret. One was wearing a white string bikini that promised to turn see through once wet. Maybe that was what initially drew Dean to the woman.

“How kind,” Angie mumbled after setting up her beach towel next to Stella’s and taking the proffered drink. “So what’s on the agenda for this evening? Bonfire at the beach? Club hopping? Crashing early so we can take in the sights tomorrow?”

Stella wouldn’t make eye contact, a really bad sign. Suddenly Angie realized the plans had already been made and she wasn’t going to like what they were.

“Actually… Well, were all going out to dinner.” Stella followed this with a big gulp of daiquiri.

“All, as in the whole
fam-damily?” Angie tried not to panic, after all, she knew this would have to happen at least once on the trip. She just hadn’t planned on it being the first night.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already talked it over with David and he and I will be surrounding you the whole time. Your mom won’t get a chance to touch
you with a five foot pole. Besides, remember that one time our mom’s got together? They will be oblivious to us.”

How could she forget? She got a call at two o’clock in the morning from her mother who needed a ride home because she was too drunk to drive. In all Angie’s years she had never seen her mother so much as ask for second helpings on wine and one night out with Dawn and she’s plastered. Of course, Dawn wasn’t any better off but at least she had drunken moments before. The duo had decided to crash the third wedding of one of Dawn’s old friends, who happened to provide an open bar, and they took advantage of the free alcohol.

If her parent’s marriage weren’t on the brink before, it definitely was after that night. Angie’s father was furious with her and her mother. She still wasn’t sure why she got in trouble for being the designated driver. It wasn’t as if she forced all the liquor down her mother’s throat, or that she had even been there to witness it. But she was guilty by association.

It was two months after that night that her parents signed divorce papers, neither of them fighting it, just happy to have it over. Twenty-seven years down the drain.

“Perhaps with your dad around they won’t drink themselves stupid.” Angie mumbled absently, her mind still on her parents dissolved marriage. How was she ever supposed to believe in the sanctity of marriage when she had been blindsided by her parents divorce? She always thought they were content, happy with their life if not with each other. The day her parents broke it to her was the day they signed papers. They hadn’t even felt it necessary to inform her that they were having problems. It was just, “Pass the peas honey, oh and we’re divorced as of today, Dad’s moving out tomorrow.”

David sat down at her feet and took a swig of his fresh beer. “Stella
tell you about tonight?” Angie nodded as answer to his question. “Don’t worry, we have it all planned out. We’ll get you through this evening unharmed, even if that means getting you drunk off your ass.”

That was one way to make it through. But Angie knew she would regret it in the morning.  After all, one day of a hangover meant one less day of enjoyable vacation. She could handle the evening. Besides it was just dinner, how horrible could it be?

Dean managed to flirt with a few blondes and a brunette, not really feeling anything other than the need to pass the time and preferably do it away from Angie. He had noticed her swimming with David, blonde hair slicked, blue eyes sparkling with laughter, and he found himself wishing he were the one swimming with her.

He shrugged the thought away as soon as it popped into his mind. Focused on the leggy blonde sitting next to him on the beach, he tried to appreciate her curves but fell flat. He just wasn’t interested. How could he not be interested in getting her into the water to make that white bikini see through? Frustrating as it was, his thoughts on the swim suit all had to revolve around Angie; she would never be caught dead in something as blatantly sexual as that; Wonder what Angie would look like in it wet, her dark nipples poking against the fabric, begging for attention?

“So what do you do for a living?” The blonde’s perfectly straight white teeth gleamed beautifully in her broad smile. She really was beautiful, whatever her name was.

“I’m an investment banker. Meaning I get to play with other people’s money and they pay me to do so.”

She laughed and leaned toward him, brushing an enhanced breast against his forearm. “I bet it’s more exciting than you make it sound. I’m trying to break into modeling. I’ve done a few shoots and my agent thinks I have a great chance of making it big. I’m actually here doing a shoot.”

He could believe she was model material. Maybe one day he would see her in Maxim and think he had a chance and blew it. Even that thought didn’t sway him.

“Well, it looks like my party is heading out. It was good to meet you…” He wished he had been paying attention when she told him her name but he was absorbed in Angie playing mermaid.

“Jasmine,” she provided.

“Jasmine.
Maybe I’ll see you again.” He was just being friendly and had no doubt he would never see her again, at least, he wouldn’t go out of his way to see. She looked a bit crestfallen that he was leaving.

“I’ll be back tomorrow evening doing a shoot. Maybe you could stop by and watch me work.” She actually looked hopeful and he felt a twinge of guilt.

“We’ll see,” Dean smiled at her and walked away, feeling like a schmuck and idiot for passing up what she was offering.

Damn if this vacation was starting
out on a really low note.