Page 122 of Somebody's Watching Me
“Uh, sure?”
Her earpiece crackled, and Liam’s voice broke through in bits, but not enough to understand. Probably just him telling Jan to go to hell.
Arching up to look out on the crowd, Jan waved to someone in the mass of bodies. “The neat thing about male seahorses is that they carrythe burden of pregnancy. It’s their goal to find the perfect female to have babies with, and then take over the hard stuff because she’s not designed to carry them.”
The polite smile on Jamison’s lips faded, her mouth drawing slowly into a pressed line. Abe had scooted around the table to chat with Red Riding Hood, too engrossed in the conversation to be paying attention. “Really.”
“Imagine finding your seahorse. The perfect man who wants nothing more than to love you and start a big family,” Jan continued. “A guy that wants to create a world for you and your babies so that they can be raised in peace.”
This was wrong. She might be overreacting, but a sense of unease drifted in with the next rush of wind off the gulf, and Jamison glanced around for an escape. Right as she spotted one, Eddie appeared, blocking the way before she could tell Abe it was time to go.
“What are you girls talking about?”
“True love.” Jan giggled, tucking herself at Eddie’s side. “And babies.”
Eddie kissed Jan square on the mouth, and for some reason, it made Jamison sick. The unease turned into a ball of dread, kicking around in her stomach until she felt dizzy.
On the dance floor behind the pair, a lone woman moved, her body flowing at an unnaturally slow rate compared to the high-energy music. The white gown she wore swirled around her ankles as she spun with her arms wide and face tilted to the sky.
“I need to go,” Jamison said, unable to peel her eyes from the woman dancing. “Liam?”
When he didn’t reply or appear, a cold, sickly sweat hit, and full-blown terror seized Jamison. She’d sat with her sister through so many panic attacks, but she had never experienced one herself. She couldn’t move—couldn’t breathe—held in the grips of this strange, dancing woman and the cottage cheese smiles of Jan and Eddie.
Cottage cheese smiles.
Fake smiles were made of cottage cheese.
Grins people used when hiding the truth behind their intentions.
Simone.
Simone always said that.
“If they look like they’ve got a mouth full of cottage cheese, it’s usually a cover for all the bull crap they’re about to spew.”
Jamison didn’t know where that thought came from but had never seen a more apt example of cottage cheese smiles than in Jan and Eddie.
“True love is a special thing,” Eddie said, dragging her attention from the dancing woman. “But when lies overshadow the truth, a relationship can never make it. Know what I mean, Jamison?”
“I don’t.” The static in her earpiece kicked up. “Where are you from, Eddie?”
“Here and there,” he replied. “But what I was saying is if you can’t be honest with a man and share the tough stuff with him, then you shouldn’t be together. Keeping the truth hidden is as bad as lying.”
The surrounding crowd pressed closer, cutting her off from Abe. “Ugh, I hate when parties get like this,” Jan complained, elbowing someone. “Let’s leave before it gets worse. Jamison, do you want to come with us?”
“I’m obligated to stay.”
Jan’s purple painted lips curved. “Honey, you’re not obligated to do anything. Don’t you see? In the end, none of it matters.” She shrugged, and one of the straps of the shell bra drooped off her shoulder. “If it’s over with Liam, you’re free to go out and find someone new. A real seahorse who can make it all better.”
Not wanting to turn her back on them, Jamison took a step to the left to reach Abe. “Yeah, okay.”
Eddie pulled Jan in the opposite direction. “We’ll see you later, Jamison.”
They melted into a group of clowns and vampires, seamlessly disappearing into the night.
“You are the most beautiful woman.”
The whisper in her ear had Jamison freezing. She stared blankly at a man dressed as a lobster directly in front of her. “What?”
