by Scott, Lisa
That would explain the fabulous tan and the muscles. “That’s great. So you still live here in the area? Me, too.”
“I actually live in Needham, but I got a room nearby at the Marriott tonight.”
“Oh?” She wondered if anyone had ever suffered a heart attack while flirting. “That’s good to know.”
She laughed nervously, ready to make a joke about the poem, when he waved to someone and held up a finger in a just-a-second gesture. “Hey, it’s been great talking to you, Cathy. You look fantastic. We should catch up later.” He squeezed her arm and walked over to some guy.
She spun around to watch him go. “We should?” she whispered to herself. “What does that mean?”
***
Danny realized he had backed up all the way to the bow of the boat. Now Selena was on top of him and the only place to go was overboard. Where the hell was Chance? He scanned the crowd but couldn’t see him. It’s not like you could miss a six-foot-tall guy with bright red hair.
Selena took a step closer. “So what kind of car does a young doctor drive?”
Not ready to abandon ship just yet, he took a step to the right. “A piece of shit, actually. Like I said, I’m still a resident. I have six-figure student loans. I won’t be making real money for years.”
“Nonsense, you’ll be able to pay that off that loan the first year you’re working. You could pay for a nice wedding and a big house the next year. I know that banks give doctors excellent lines of credit.” She straightened his tie and he tried to swallow, but a lump was caught in his throat.
“I didn’t know that.”
She nodded. “I’ve looked into it. Doctors are typically able to pay off their student loans quicker than lawyers.”
“Really?” Danny had to admit she was hot, but she wasn’t Cathy. He hadn’t flown across the country to hook up with the first woman who showed an interest. He’d had plenty of opportunities for that in Seattle. No, he came here to tell Cathy the truth—he’d been crazy about her since the first day he saw her freshman year. And if she wasn’t interested, well, at least he tried. And then maybe next time he met someone, he wouldn’t have to wonder if he was settling for second best.
He thought about excusing himself to use the restroom when he saw Cathy walk back onto the deck. And the good news was she was headed straight for them. She looked at them, tilted her head, then bit back a smile. She crinkled her nose. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but can I talk to Selena for a minute?”
Danny took a big step away from Selena. “You’re not interrupting. Not at all. We were waiting for you to come back. Please, join us.”
Selena widened her eyes and gave Cathy a tight smile. “Actually, you are interrupting.”
“I just need to talk to you real quick.” Cathy pulled Selena away and said, “Stay right there, Danny. I promise to have her right back.”
“No, no! I meant, you come back, too, Cathy,” Danny said.
“This might take a while,” Cathy told him. “I need Selena’s help.”
Danny sighed and looked up at the sky.
While Cathy pulled Selena to the other side of the deck, Danny stalked inside to the bar. This was so not going as planned. He ordered a beer and Chance wandered over. “Any luck?”
“Where have you been?” Danny asked.
Chance looked at him like he was stupid. “Playing interference with Brandi.”
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
“Dude, you asked me to. Once Brandi finished flirting with Peter, she was looking for you, so I intercepted her. I was trying to give you some time alone with Cathy.”
“Yeah, well she left me with her friend Selena so she could track down Peter Schmidt.”
Chance banged his fist on the bar. “I hate that guy.”
Danny shook his head. “What does she see in him?”
Chance gave him a funny look. “Probably the same thing Tiffany and Gina see in him. Look at them over in the corner. I hope to God Tripp McCall put down plastic mattress covers in the staterooms. Otherwise, I’m not using the bed.”
“Dude, gross.” Danny leaned against the bar, watching Cathy watch Peter. “What should I do? Do I even bother telling Cathy how I feel?”
Chance grabbed Danny by the shoulders and lowered his voice. “You have to. You flew in from Seattle just to see her. Freaking Seattle. If she knew that, she might throw you a few extra points. Once she sees Peter making out with the entire cheerleading squad, she could lose interest.”
Danny clapped Chance on the back. “Fine. Then you take on Selena duty.”
Chance straightened his lapels. “I’m on it.”
Danny felt a tap on his shoulder. “There you are.” It was Selena. He jumped.
Danny gestured to Chance. “Do you remember Chance Carrington?”
“That red hair… Yeah, I remember you.” She looked him over.
“He’s a lawyer. Personal injury,” Danny announced.
One of her thin, blond eyebrows rose ever so slightly. Chance’s rose, too.
“Really?” Selena purred. “They make a lot of money, don’t they? Like more than a prosecutor or defense attorney, right?”
“Oh, yeah.” Chance nodded. “‘Take a chance on me. I’ll get you a big cash reward.’ That’s my slogan.”
“Chance? Oh, I get it.” Selena fluttered her eyelashes. “That’s so clever.”
Danny tried not to laugh. Chance was an auto mechanic. He didn’t chase ambulances, but he sometimes fixed them.
***
Cathy was pressed up against a wall in the bar, nursing a drink, waiting for her chance to talk with Peter again. When Brandi announced that it was time for the limbo contest on the front deck, the two women hanging on Peter like tinsel on a Christmas tree squealed and scurried outside. She swore they left a trail of body glitter in their wake. But Peter was finally standing alone in the corner. “Yes!” Cathy said to herself, hurrying over and trying to shake away the image of herself as a gigantic hawk swooping through the air.
Peter spotted her and held up his beer to her. “Hey there, Cathy Blake.”
“It’s hard to get a moment alone with you,” she said.
“After ten years, there are a lot of people to catch up with.” He smiled and she was wowed again by just how handsome he really was.
Not knowing if she’d get the chance to be alone with him again, she inhaled, tipped up her chin, and bit her lip. “Wanna hear something crazy?” Her voice sounded impressively sexy. All that rehearsing was paying off.
One corner of Peter’s mouth quirked up. “Crazy sounds like fun.”
Blinking, she looked down, the subtle rocking of the boat making her woozy. The drinks were probably contributing to that, too. Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” was playing in the background and she could remember that song blasting in the gym during the winter formal senior year. She’d spent most of the time watching Peter dance with his date. But here he was now, right in front of her. She had to do it. She looked up at him. “I loved you in high school.” It came out as a whisper.
He tilted his head. “What? I didn’t quite catch that.”
She set her hand on her chest and raised her voice. “I said, ‘I loved you in high school.’ I had such a crush on you.” Her lip wobbled and she hoped the wine wouldn’t start her blubbering. Confessing a crush was an emotional moment.
“You did?” Out came the one-corner grin again.
“We kind of kissed at a party after homecoming. Right before you threw up.”
He frowned. “I don’t remember anything from homecoming.” His gaze dipped from her face to take in the rest of her. “But you had a crush on me? You should have said something.”
“I wh…wait…what?” Her jaw dropped and her mind spun. She couldn’t even get her words out right. Did he mean he would’ve been interested? Her lip trembled again and she pressed her fingers against her mouth.
Then a huge arm reached between them, grabbing Peter’s sho
ulder. “Dude, you are missing it. Katrina’s doing body shots on the deck. Come on!” One of Peter’s friends pulled him out of the corner, and Peter shrugged and made an apologetic face as he was led away.
Cathy stood there. What the hell had just happened? And where was Selena to help her figure this out?
***
Danny watched Peter leave Cathy standing all alone near the bar. What an ass, just ditching her like that. He took some comfort in the fact that it didn’t appear like Peter was interested in her. Which Danny couldn’t even comprehend. Cathy was by far the most beautiful woman here tonight. But it didn’t matter. This meant Danny could finally have time alone with her and tell her how he felt. Reunions were made for moments like that, weren’t they? Just then that damn Kelly Clarkson song, “A Moment Like This” started playing. It was fate.
Cathy picked up a yearbook on a big table covered with memorabilia from school. She took a shuddering breath. Was she crying?
He looked around nervously but went over to her. “Time flies, doesn’t it?”
She glanced up from a page with glassy eyes. “It sure does.”
Shit. She was upset about something. “Are you all right? Can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head hard. “No. I don’t need any more drinks for a while.” The she glanced down at the book.
“There’s a great picture of you on page fifty-two at prom,” he said.
“Really?” She thumbed ahead to the page and groaned. “That’s a horrible picture. My eyes are half-closed.”
He cocked his head to look at it again. “It looks like you’re having fun, the way you’re throwing you head back and your neck is curved in that beautiful way and your hair looks so shiny.” He coughed. “But there is a picture of you on page sixteen where you’re definitely smiling, and a candid from soccer on page seventy-four.”
She looked at him oddly and he scratched his head. “I was paging through it earlier.”
Her lips parted and a faint blush crept up her neck. “You were looking at pictures of me?”
This was it. He had to tell her. It was the perfect moment. “Cathy, I…”
Then a conga line burst through the door, sweeping Danny along with it. Cathy took a quick step back to avoid the chaos, wide-eyed at first, then laughing at the spectacle. She continued stepping back and disappeared out the door leading toward the rear of the boat. He tried to follow her, but strong hands had a grip around his waist. He turned to look and felt his eyes bulge. The former all-state wrestling champ was hanging on to him. No wonder Cathy had laughed. Soon they were below deck, dancing past a caricature artist doing sketches, and Danny finally broke free and walked all around the boat looking for Cathy, then gave up and sat down in front of a highlight reel from the AV club. A video was playing featuring the girls’ soccer team at a playoff game. Eighteen-year-old Cathy ran across the screen, smiling like she knew he was there. Damn, he hoped she hadn’t left with Peter. He would do one more sweep of the boat before giving up.
***
Cathy returned to the bar and ordered a Coke. She was hoping to finish her conversation with Danny. It seemed like he’d been about to tell her something, but he’d been gone for at least half an hour, so it couldn’t have been that important. But Cathy knew she needed to finish her conversation with Peter Schmidt so she could look back at the night with no regrets. Shockingly, he was surrounded by women again. Did she have to stand in line to talk to him? Take a number like she was at the deli or the DMV?
“I was hoping to catch up with you again.” Danny Patel was standing next to her. “This is quite a party, isn’t it?”
“Oh, hi! I thought you disappeared. I know, it’s incredible. Did you try out the photo booth? There’s also a professional photographer taking portraits if that’s more your speed.” She shook her head, laughing. “Once we found out Tripp was going to pay for the whole thing, Brandi went a little overboard. Tripp was our Class Clown. I can’t believe he founded a multimillion-dollar company. I feel like a slacker.”
“But you like your job, right?” Danny rubbed his chin. “I remember what a good writer you were in high school.”
Cathy was surprised. “You do?”
“I read all your stuff in the school paper.”
“Wow. I didn’t realize anyone actually read the school paper.”
“I did. Just your articles, though. And any band news, of course.”
She laughed. “Remember when we went out of town for the football playoffs? That was one of the craziest weekends of my life.”
“Yeah, we lost the entire woodwind section when they all got drunk the night before the game,” he said.
“And someone shaved off that tuba player’s hair?”
“Don’t forget the whipped cream in the trombones,” he reminded her.
She slapped a hand over her eyes. “I thought Mr. Dunn was going to have a heart attack. Remember how red his face was when he was yelling at us?”
“That was his last season as band director.”
“Those damn drunkard flutists.” Someone bumped into her and pushed her right up against him. “Sorry,” she said, feeling the firmness of his chest against her.
His hands wound around her waist to steady her. “No, that’s fine.” He stared at her for a minute and she got caught up in his eyes. They were a beautiful chestnut color, framed by dark, long lashes. “I’ve been hoping to bump into you one of these days.” He pulled his hands away.
She hadn’t minded them there, she realized. It had been kind of nice. She reached out and touched his arm. “Bump into me. Ha, still funny, I see. Better not try out that humor on your patients, or you’ll keep them in stitches.”
He winced. “Oh, that was bad.”
She shrugged. “I know. I pride myself on bad jokes. The paper lets me write a fake April Fools’ Day article each year. Highlight of my year. Last April, I wrote about a new proposal to reissue a tax on tea to help support the T. You should have seen the comments until someone finally caught on to the joke.”
“I’ll have to start subscribing.” On top of a gorgeous grin, he had one dimple peeking out from his left cheek. Had she ever noticed that before?
“How long are you in town for?” she asked.
“I leave tomorrow afternoon. I’m staying at the Marriott. It’s a quick trip.”
“Wow. That is quick.”
“It’s hard to get time off during the summer.”
“I’m glad you came,” she said.
“Me, too.” They were quiet for a moment.
“I feel bad. I interrupted things with you and Selena.”
His smile fell. “What? Oh, no. No, we were just talking. No, I’m not interested in her. I’m not. At all.”
“Oh, really?” She grimaced. “It looked like she was really into you.”
A wrinkle creased his forehead. “You’re wrong. I think she’s really into Chance now.” He pointed across the room, where Selena was running her fingers over Chance’s palm.
Cathy scrunched her nose. “Not necessarily. Selena pretends she can read palms. That’s kind of her pickup technique. I’m surprised she didn’t try it on you.”
“I kept my hands in my pockets the whole time. On my wallet, actually.”
Cathy laughed. “She makes no qualms about her ambitions to be a trophy wife. She says it’s the skanks who keep it a secret and pretend not to care about the money. She thinks it’s admirable to just lay it all out there like that.”
He scratched his head. “She definitely lays lots of things out there.”
Cathy nudged Danny with her elbow. Had he been this appealing in high school? Who knew? She hadn’t paid much attention to other boys while she’d been pining over Peter. She’d gone out with other guys, but it had never been anything serious. She looked over at Peter flirting with five different girls now. She really had wasted a lot of time on him. And she wasn’t willing to waste any more. She had to find out what he thought about her big confession. If he
wasn’t interested, then he wasn’t interested. How many more great guys would she miss out on like Danny because she was too wrapped up in fantasizing about her high school crush?
Danny shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. “Did you know I had the biggest crush on you in high school?”
She took a step back. “What? Are you serious—me? Come on. You’re joking.”
“Nope. Totally serious,” he said.
Cathy turned up her hands. “I had no idea.”
He nodded. “I wanted to tell you so many times, but I chickened out.”
Her mouth opened and closed before she finally said, “That’s so sweet.” She had an urge to brush a finger along his smooth, perfect brown skin and trace it over his lips. She couldn’t imagine all the women who must chase him around his hospital.
“Yeah. Sweet.” His smile disappeared.
“It’s too bad you live in Seattle now.”
His eyebrows knitted together. “Well… I do come home a lot. And I’ll be back for good in October. And there’s always McCall Me to stay in touch…”
Selena was waving to her across the room. Cathy held up a finger. “Hang on. I don’t know if Selena is giving me the SOS call or waving goodbye. Let me go check on her. I’ll be right back.” She squeezed his hand before she left and rushed toward Selena, looking over at the corner where Peter had been surrounded by fans. She shouldn’t be so critical. If she’d gotten in line first, she’d be doing the same thing, too. But the truth was, she probably wasn’t the only one confessing their undying love for him tonight.
But she didn’t see Peter. Maybe he’d already left with someone. She found Selena near the bar. “What’s up?”
Selena took a step away from Chance and grabbed Cathy’s arm really tight. She was drunk. That’s what Selena did when she was drunk—she was a grabber. Sometimes Cathy had bruises the next day. “I heard the Janson triplets say they were going to invite Peter to their hotel room. You’ve got to talk to him now. Now, I tell you!” Selena shook Cathy and tottered back a step. “No matter how hot you look, the power of three bimbos united as one is greater! Didn’t we learn that in math class?”