Both Caroline and Davis agree to lunch, and we decide to go to a cafe near where we’re staying. At our request, the hostess seats us on the patio, where it’s not as busy due to the hot summer temperature. Not even the large orange umbrella and ocean breeze are enough to cool it down.
“So, you two aren’t really married?” Caroline asks while we wait for the waitress to take our order.
I shake my head. “No, but we’re best friends,” I say, feeling the need to explain.
“Well, that’s too bad.” She chuckles, shaking her head. “I don’t mean it’s too bad you’re best friends. It’s just that you really had me fooled. I thought what you two have between you is real. You really are good actors.”
“Thanks. I guess it’s in my genes. My grandmother was an actress, and I did some theater in high school.” It also doesn’t hurt that what I feel for Jayden is real, too. Not all of it is acting.
But I’m hardly admitting that to any of them—including Jayden.
“Rumor has it,” he says, “that we’re up for an Academy Award for our brilliant acting.”
He grins at me, but there’s something slightly off about it. The smile isn’t the same one that causes my heart rate to speed up whenever I’ve seen it lately.
But my heart does hiccup at the sight ofthissmile, unable to ignore the impact he has on me.
We place our orders with the waitress, and then the four of us talk about all things related to Caroline’s campaign promises, and what she hopes to accomplish if elected. Fortunately, if anyone on the patio overhears the conversation, Jayden and I sound like two reporters asking her questions.
No one would guess the real intent of the conversion.
“I would like to see more being done to protect our kids when it comes to drugs,” she explains as we finish our meal. “I’d like to see stiffer penalties for repeat offenders when it comes to drug trafficking. So many kids miss out on reaching their potential because they get pulled into that unhealthy lifestyle—both as users and sellers. Too many kids die because of drugs, either directly or indirectly.” The more she speaks, the more conviction there is behind her words.
But she doesn’t have to do much to convince me of that. Jayden was shot when he and the team were dealing with Vadik Orlov, the mafia family suspected of, among many things, drug trafficking.
Drugs might not have almost killed him, but the bullet from one mobster’s gun came close to it. Drugs could have indirectly caused his death.
“And of course,” she adds, “I want to see more done about terrorism, to ensure our country and its citizens are safe, and to ensure healthcare is available to all and not only to those individuals who can afford it.”
By the time we return to the resort, Jayden and I have a lot more to go on than before when it comes to Caroline. But at the same time, it still feels like we’re looking for a needle in the ocean.
Until Landon has a chance to talk to the other victims, we don’t know if what we learned about Caroline is the missing element that links them to each other, or if we need to spearfish an entirely different needle.
25
Jayden
“Before you go,”Gabrielle says at the end of class, “I’ve got your homework assignments for tonight. Each of you will get a different activity card. You aren’t to share what’s on your card with your partner. It’ll be a surprise.” She grins at us—the way a cat does before pouncing on a chubby mouse.
And that sets off theMayday, Mayday, Maydaysirens in my head.
She hands out the envelopes, each with our names on them.
I remove my card and read it:
You and your spouse will go out for dinner in a public setting. While there, you will please her with your hand under the table, fondling her to an orgasm. No one is to know what you’re doing. Only you and your wife will know.
My dick twitches, turned-on by the unexplored possibilities. The voice in the back of my head groans…and pretends it’s not turned-on by the assignment.
I return the card to the envelope so Isabelle can’t read it.
Now the question is, will I actually go through with the homework? Before Isabelle and I traveled the friends-with-benefits route, the answer would’ve been no.
But since the class is currently part of the job, I can’t see why we shouldn’t do the assignment—as long as it doesn’t interfere with the mission.
A quick glance at Isabelle, as she reads her card, has me curious what’s on it. She’s blushing something sweet and fierce.
Not as much as you will be soon, I mentally tell her.
