Page 26 of On The Beach

I flushed. "Well…I feel like I'm behaving like someone else. It must be the Reef Harbor water."

"Or alcohol." Cato raised his empty cocktail glass. "Make me another, RiRi darlin'."

"What are you drinking?" I asked.

"Sex On The Beach," Cato deadpanned.

"Of course it is." I rolled my eyes.

"Or maybe this is the real you," Mick suggested thoughtfully, "The Lady Freeze is fake?"

"I wish." I slid off his lap, suddenly feeling much closer to home than before. I was here for just one more night. That's all I had of this feeling of being Belle The Lush. I didn't want to derail that. "The woman I'm here now is…well, I feel like I'm pretending to be someone I'm not."

"I do that every fuckin' day," Cato stated.

"I can hardly keep one persona straight—so not doin' two? Man, that sounds like a lotta work." RiRi set Cato's cocktail in front of him.

"I call bullshit on Lady Freeze being the real you." Mick rose and leaned in close, his voice a low tease.

Moisture pooled between my legs. We hadn't had sex last night. What we'd had was intimacy, laying together on that uncomfortable bench, holding each other close, spilling secrets. Well, I spilled mine; I don't think he told me anything about himself. In fact, I knew very little about Mick except he had a long and thick dick, and he knew how to use it.

Oh, come on, Belle. You also know he's sweet, funny, and caring.

"Babycakes, what's your plan for today?" Mick asked his hands in his board shorts pockets.

"I want to hit the Tropicana Club and see if maybe Dr. Augustus was sighted there. I spoke with his mother, and she said he drinks Scotch."

Mick arched an eyebrow. "You know hismother?"

I squirmed. "Well, I kinda cyber stalked her and made contact. She's the one who told me he might be here, and now she says shethinkshe is here but isn't sure. She's a nice lady, but she can be a bit flaky."

"No doubt," Mick muttered under his breath.

I gave him a quizzical look. "What?"

"Nothing, Babycakes. You want company?" he asked, his smile indulgent.

"Don't you have to work?"

"Not today." He grabbed his sunglasses.

"I…I don't have a car. I was going to call for a taxi."

"I got it covered." Mick put his arm around my shoulder. "See you later, RiRi, Cato."

I smiled at Mick, and he winked at me indulgently. It made me feel warm, not just between my legs but inside, deep down. It made me feel like maybe I was more than the work-obsessed Lady Freeze everyone back home thought I was. Maybe Mick's Babycakes was also me and not an anomaly.

We walked to his place, and from the back of his hut, he rolled out a scooter.

"What's that?" I asked, afraid,veryafraid that he was intending for us to ride on that thing.

"It's a Vespa."

"I can see that. You don't have a car?"

"Don't need a car."

The Vespa was a faded sea foam green, chipped in places, with mismatched mirrors and a few dings that looked like souvenirs from its long life on island roads.

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