Life Is A Beach (Mills & Boon Silhouette): Life Is A Beach / A Real-thing Fling (28 page)

S
INCE SHE HAD ALREADY TAKEN
action, Azure decided that no response to Harry’s e-mail was necessary, so she shut off her computer and went shopping instead.

P
AULETTE WASTED NO TIME
in hauling Azure off to the very boutique where the yellow crochet bikini was still part of the window display, and she immediately located a version of it that seemed, to Azure’s eyes, two sizes too small.

“Look at it this way, Azure,” Paulette said impatiently when Azure stood in front of her in the dressing room wearing the swimsuit. “You want to drive Lee crazy. This bikini will do that. You look hot, hot, hot, girl.”

“With the air-conditioning in here going full blast, I feel cold, cold, cold.” Azure twisted this way and that, the better to assess the ample amount of goosebumped skin reflected in the three-way mirror. The swimsuit showed off her breasts to advantage, leaving little to the imagination. The bottom was not much more than a few interwoven threads that covered the essentials but left most of her hips bare. She gave it a futile tug and sighed.

“You have a great figure,” Paulette said, “and besides, this outfit is the perfect look for South Beach. Why, people are walking around in a lot less than that out on the sidewalk.”

It was true. Skimpy boob tubes in Day-Glo shades, miniskirts with portholes of clear plastic so that skin showed underneath, gauzy see-through pantaloons worn with little in the way of underwear—Azure had seen them all.

“And,” said Paulette in her most officious tone, “we’ll take the pareo that goes with the suit. And
the—”

“Not the feather boa or the snakeskin boots,” Azure said firmly, stopping Paulette in midsentence.

“Why not?”

“They’re outrageous, and definitely not me.”

“You said the bikini wasn’t you, either,” Paulette reminded her.

“The me I used to know seems to have evaporated in this heat,” Azure said with a sigh. Paulette only laughed.

“You could try a new hairdo,” Paulette suggested offhandedly from outside the dressing room door as Azure was getting dressed.

Azure stopped and looked—really looked—at her hair in the mirror. As usual, it was neatly twisted at her nape, and she thought it looked fine.

“I don’t think I need a new hairstyle,” she said to Paulette as she emerged from the dressing room.

“Try this,” Paulette said, and before Azure could dodge out of her way, Paulette had pulled huge hanks of hair down on either side of Azure’s face and was taking aim at the twist.

“Stop!” Azure yelped. “My hair is okay.”

“So why should it be merely okay when it could be great?” Paulette said in midyank.

“Ow! What are you doing?”

“Finding the casual you,” Paulette said before stepping back and admiring her handiwork.

“There is no casual me.” With her hands full of garments that she’d tried on, Azure was unable to repair the damage to her hairdo. She rolled her eyes at her image in the three-way mirror across the narrow corridor between dressing rooms. The hair that Paulette had pulled out of the twist trailed around her face, wafting in the breeze from the air conditioner
vent overhead. The twist itself was cockeyed, the hair that was still in it haphazardly held by the pins. “I look like a bimbo who just got out of bed.”

“Oy! So what’s wrong with that?”

“I have a serious job. I need serious hair.”

“Not when you’re on vacation.”

Azure had to admit that the bedroom look was, well, sensual. Experimentally she drew her lips into a pout.

“There! That’s perfect! You try that when you’re wearing that yellow bikini and Lee will want to jump your bones.”

This outburst brought Azure back to reality. “Paulette, you’re incorrigible. Thanks for your help, and how about if I take you to lunch?”

But Paulette said she had to leave for the seminar late in the afternoon and still hadn’t found the shoes she needed for her outfit, and if Azure didn’t mind, she thought she’d better skip it.

After Paulette had left the shop, Azure, feeling deliciously wicked, hastily bought several pairs of thong panties, jiggling be damned.

“H
I
,”
SAID
G
OLDY
, who was eating a kiwi fruit with a plastic spoon when Azure got back to the Blue Moon. “Anything new?”

Azure pulled the bikini from its bag and arrayed it on the counter for Goldy’s inspection. “What do you think?” She left the panties in the bag, not wanting to appear as wanton as buying them had made her feel.

Goldy grinned. “I think you’re going to give Mr. Lee Sanders an eyeful, that’s what I think.”

“
If
I even hear from him,” Azure said,
wrapping her purchase back up in the tissue paper. “
If
he’s still interested.”

“You’ll hear from him. I’m sure of it.”

“You phone me upstairs right away if you see Lee’s red Mustang pull into the parking lot, Goldy. Please.”

“I’ll ring you as soon as I see the aura of that red convertible preceding it down the street,” Goldy promised.

As soon as Azure got back to the apartment, she checked her cell phone to see if Lee had called. Again there were no messages. What if she had bought all this new underwear and the bikini for nothing? A yellow crochet number wasn’t exactly something she’d want to wear at the health club pool in Boston, and as for her upcoming week on Cape Cod in August, forget it. Dorrie and their other friends would laugh their heads off if she showed up in a bikini that almost wasn’t there.

Still, crochet bikinis and the like were what people wore here, so she decided to put it on. It exposed a lot of skin, that was for sure. Which made for getting a great suntan, so she settled a beach towel on the chaise longue on the balcony and lay back to soak up some serious rays. Bees were buzzing around the papery thin magenta flowers on the bougainvillea vine that climbed the side of the building, and somewhere someone was gabbling in exuberant Spanish. After a while a jackhammer started up across the street. Azure blotted out the sounds, trying not to think about work or whether she would hear from Lee.

It was an hour or so later when a foam cup weighted by a seashell flew over the balcony railing, startling Azure out of a reverie in which she was pleasantly dwelling on her recent vivid imaginings concerning Lee.

As soon as she saw there was a piece of paper wrapped around the seashell, Azure looked down and saw Lee’s red car parked under the royal poinciana tree below in the parking lot. Goldy hadn’t called to warn her! There was no sign
of Lee, however, though she knew that must be who had thrown the cup.

She unwrapped the piece of paper and read it eagerly.

“Azure,” it said. “Meet me downstairs. Believe it or not, I’m going to have my tarot read.” It was signed, Lee.

“Having his tarot read?” she wondered out loud. But what did it matter? He was here, and he wanted to see her.

The pareo that went with her new bikini had a black background arrayed with wild tropical flowers, was not quite opaque and barely came to her knees. It took her a few minutes to wind it in an artistically saronglike way, first tying it experimentally between her breasts, then tugging it down to cover more of her thighs, and finally trying to make up her mind if its transparency was a plus or a minus. She finally decided that it was a plus and tied the corners around her neck, halterlike, before hurrying to the lobby, where she found Goldy slapping tarot cards down on the counter as Lee watched with an expression more skeptical than not.

“Hi,” Lee said, and she was gratified that he looked her up and down and then up again in the manner of a man who wanted to see more. It was his Lust Puppy look, and it encouraged her considerably.

“Lee’s getting a good tarot reading, Azure,” Goldy said, looking over the cards.

Before she could reply, there was a clattering on the stairs. “What’s going on, Goldy? I saw a red Mustang in the parking lot and—oh, hello, Lee. And Azure.” Mandi, resplendent in vinyl shorts in an alarming shade of purple, a geometric-print top that was several sizes too small, and midcalf white boots, slinked up to the counter, which was just the right height to allow her to support her unfettered breasts on it only
inches from the tarot cards.

“I’m reading cards for Lee,” Goldy said without looking up.

“Hmm, let me see,” said Mandi, craning so she could see the spread. “Isn’t that the Emperor right there?” She pointed to a card whereon a man sat on a throne holding a large scepter.

“Mmm-hmm,” Goldy said. “The Emperor is Lee’s agent. It represents him as he as at present.”

“Oooh,” Mandi said, sounding impressed. “The Emperor is a powerful card, right, Goldy?”

“Yes indeed,” Goldy said. She lay out a couple more cards, covering the Emperor.

“What do you mean by powerful?” Lee asked, looking turned off by the whole thing.

“The Emperor is the ruler of the world, possessing its highest attributes,” Goldy intoned as she intently studied the cards.

Mandi huffed impatiently. “You’re too shy to tell all of it, Goldy, so I will. The Emperor is the ultimate in masculinity and dominates sexually. See that thing he’s holding?”

“The scepter?” Azure supplied in spite of herself.

“It’s a phallic symbol. It’s longer than a normal scepter would be, and the circle on top represents the part of the female that is penetrated by the male. The Emperor makes women ecstatic with his expertise. He—”

“Mandi, for heaven’s sake.” Goldy was blushing. “The important element is the crown that the Emperor wears. It bespeaks mastery over all. The Emperor is a powerful card, Lee. Very powerful.”

“Good,” Lee said, but Azure noticed that he was paying more attention to Mandi than was strictly necessary. How
could he not, with her breasts on display like a tray of fruit? Forbidden fruit, Azure hoped, but maybe not. Mandi was returning his interest unabashedly.

“The thing is,” Goldy continued, sounding thoughtful, “Lee’s obstacle card would seem to indicate a falseness of some sort.” She glanced up at Lee. “Still, the future card shows sensual bliss and happiness and money in the bank. And a soul mate as well.”

“Oh, Lee’s future card is the ace of the deck,” Mandi noted with interest. “You could say that it shows speedy orgasms, too. Though that might not mean sensual bliss for a partner, if you know what I mean.” She shot a coy look up at Lee and laughed. The diamond in her nostril glinted in the sunlight pouring through the front window.

“Mandi! I should never have let you read that tarot instruction book!” scolded Goldy.

“I’m only saying what you can’t bring yourself to talk about, Goldy dear. Say, Lee, I manage the juiceteria down the street. You want to come over and have a free smoothie on me? I could use a ride. My car’s in the shop.”

Azure’s expectations dropped precipitously when Lee looked interested. “A juiceteria?”

“A fancy name for a juice bar. The kiwi smoothies are good, and we also make a terrific guava fizz.”

“Azure? Would you like to go?” Lee smiled at her.

Mandi seemed surprised that Lee would invite Azure to go along and lifted one skeptical brow as she waited for Azure’s reply.

Which, Azure decided in that split second, was no. Lee had tossed the note over the railing of the balcony and invited her to the lobby. Presumably he’d wanted to see her. She wasn’t about to share him with Mandi Eye Candy, the complete airhead.

“I have work to do,” Azure said loftily. “Maybe another
time.” If Lee chose, he could take the hint and call her later. Or he could even change his mind about going with Mandi.

“Okay, whatever,” Mandi said breezily. “Lee? Let’s go.”

“Are you sure you won’t join us?” Lee said. To Azure’s satisfaction, he sounded a wee bit anxious.

“No, I can’t. Sorry.”

“Come along, Lee, I don’t want to be late for work.” Mandi tugged at his arm.

He afforded Azure one last look over his shoulder. Azure, biting her lip in chagrin, thought that at least Lee looked regretful as he followed Mandi out into the heat of the day. He could not, she thought miserably, feel more regretful than she did at this development, but after all, he
had
had a choice. He wouldn’t have had to let himself be manipulated by Mandi, though Azure supposed that the offer of a free smoothie had a lot to do with it. When you didn’t have a lot of money, you tended to take people up on freebies.

“I tried to call you when I saw Lee’s car pull into the parking lot,” Goldy said. “You didn’t answer the phone.”

“I was out on the balcony. There was all that noise from the jackhammer across the street, and I didn’t think to turn up the ringer on my cell or on Paulette’s phone in the kitchen.”

“Well, you got here and saw Lee, but why did you let him go off with Mandi?” Goldy scooped the tarot cards into a pile.

“I’ve never liked sharing my toys.”

Goldy giggled. “Can’t say that I blame you. Frankly, I’m surprised at Lee’s reading. The Emperor is a
powerful figure, so he must have a strong personality.”

“If Lee’s powerful, that’s a surprise.”

“Azure, don’t count him out so quickly. And by the way, you look real nice in that new outfit. I think Lee noticed.”

“He noticed Mandi,” Azure said, feeling deflated. It didn’t help that outside she could see the red Mustang as it zoomed out of the parking lot. Mandi’s hair was flowing in the breeze, and she was talking with much animation. Lee wore his mirrored sunglasses, so it was impossible to read his expression.

“Between you and me,” Goldy said conspiratorially, “I think Mandi is insignificant in his life. I didn’t see her in the spread of cards.”

Azure couldn’t stop herself from asking. “And what about me? Did you see me?”

“Oh, you were there, all right. You’re part of the influence on Lee’s life that will come into operation soon. Maybe you’re his soulmate, Azure. The cards definitely showed a soul mate.”

“How soon is this influence supposed to arrive?”

Goldy looked mysterious. “Oh, I couldn’t say.”

“But not today, I gather.”

“Oh, Azure, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Nothing in life was sure, Azure thought unhappily as she went back upstairs to the apartment. Especially where men and, apparently, the tarot were concerned.