"Who?"
"His name is Wes," I said. "Remember the company in Raleigh? The one with the big Christmas parties? He works for them."
"I quit trying to keep track of all the companies you work for." Michael leaned forward to see past me, and then made a left turn. "He wants to stay with us?"
"Well, no, he's not asking. He's going to be in town and I was going to make the offer."
"How well do you know this guy?"
"I worked with him for over a year. Do you think I would invite a total stranger to stay with us?"
"Well he's a total stranger to me." Michael adjusted his tan Adidas ball cap with the worn brim and then shrugged. "Whatever."
"Hey girls," I said toward the backseat, "when we get to the beach, first things first. We're going to put on sunscreen, right?"
"Mommy, do we have the spray kind that's not sticky?"
"Lauren, honey, we have every kind of sunscreen imaginable." My voice trailed off as my focus shifted to my cell phone and I keyed the following text. "Talked to Michael, u should stay with us, we have a guest suite."
Within the minute, my phone vibrated. Wes said: "Ur crazy"
Velia said: "Just trying to save you some $$"
Wes said: "Just trying to get me killed"
Velia said: "Then I could have you stuffed!"
Wes said: "Ur the one gonna get stuffed"
Velia said: "I hope so!"
Wes said: "I'll find a hotel"
Velia said: "Stay with us"
Wes said: "I'll find a hotel"
Velia said: "You'll stay with us"
Wes did not respond. I looked out the window past Michael as we cruised south on A1A, and between houses and scrub brush I caught glimpses of the waves breaking on Butler Beach. We were almost to Crescent Beach. I picked up my phone and keyed. "My friend runs the Dallen resort near us. Nice place. I can get u a room @ cost"
Wes said: "That works"
Velia said: "I'll make reservations 4 u...chicken"
Wes said: "bak...bak...ba-cawk!"
I couldn't help but to laugh and Michael looked over. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing...a text from Gina," I said. "The girl's a riot."
*****************
I met Danny for the second time on an unseasonably warm April night with a gusting breeze, a gray sky, and the smell of impending rain. As I walked from my car to the restaurant, I could feel the wind swirl under my high-waisted, floral print miniskirt and brazenly run its dirty hands up the inside of my naked thighs. Arousal purred inside me, because the wind reminded me that I wasn't wearing underwear.
I arrived at Bristo's first, a mid-priced Italian restaurant with candlelit booths and a Tuscan motif. It's a large place with an expansive bar that includes plush, upholstered seats in the lounging area. I set myself up into a barstool and ordered a glass of Riesling, but I soon felt Danny squeeze my shoulders from behind. "Hey, good lookin," he said. I was surprised to see that he was wearing a button-down shirt, open at the collar, since he's a machinist. As he took a seat in the barstool next to me I asked, "Did you guys have visitors at work today?"
"No," he said looking down at his shirt, "I just figured this place was a little 'high-society'."
"Well," I smiled, "I thought I might expand your horizons."
"Expand MY horizons? Hell girl, fore I'm done with you, you'll be puttin your own worms on the hook."
"Don't hold your breath."
Danny was a hunting-fishing kind of guy who drove a four-wheel drive truck with a gun rack, smoke stacks, and tires the size of France.
Okay, so it didn't really have smoke stacks, but you get the picture. Smoke stacks or not, Danny had a heart of gold. He was a thirty-eight year old Southern gentleman, handsome and husky, with a buzz haircut and a dark goatee he kept short and well defined. He was a high school graduate who seemed a little intimidated by the professional abbreviations on my business card, but that was a genuine sign of his modesty. He was one of the nicest people I've ever met. Nevertheless, Danny and I had absolutely nothing in common.
"You said you were in court today?" He asked.
"Yeah. Giving testimony."
"But you're not a lawyer, right?"
I swallowed some wine and place the glass on the bar. "That's right. I do financial forensics."
"You dig up the dirt on people who been stealing from the company."
"Umm...mostly. We do a lot of other stuff too."
Danny slowly turned his beer glass. "Sounds like that would get some people really pissed off."
"If you're going to lie, cheat, and steal, you've kinda got it coming, don't you?"
"I reckon," he shrugged. Then he reached over and touched my arm. "Hey, you ever eat possum?"
The thought made my stomach turn, and I emphatically told him, "No!" I leaned away and looked at him with disgust while wondering, "
What kind of person would eat a giant rat?
"
He nonchalantly looked out over the bar, casually lifted his beer to his mouth, and then paused with the glass almost touching his lips. "Yeah, me neither," he said calmly. Then he looked at me with a wide grin. "But I had you goin' for a second there."