Page 40 of When You Kiss Me

Violet tried to move forward, but the crowd was packed solid with onlookers just as eager for a gander at the unfolding events as she was to come to her grandmother’s rescue.

“Give me that.” Chuck/Coop reached for Dotty’s jacket, but the interfering model wearing black yanked it out of reach and one of his buddies shoved Chuck/Coop in the pool.

“Help!” Grandma Dotty cried, gasping for air as Kelcie screamed and tried to climb on top of her.

“Chuck! Coop! Kelcie’s drowning my grandmother.” Violet tried once more to cut through the crowd.

“I’m coming.” Simon swam slowly past Violet.

“I’ve got this.” Chuck/Coop pulled Kelcie into his arms, leaving Simon to assist Grandma Dotty.

Her grandmother wasn’t eager for Simon’s brand of help. “Young man, you’re an octopus. Get your hands off me!”

“O.M.G. He’s a perv,” someone nearby said, giving rise to more unflattering comments about Simon.

“He’s just trying to help,” Vi said in poor Simon’s defense.

The fashionable crush began inching away from the pool deck, giving it a wide berth. A couple of men in khaki shorts and polo shirts set down their drinks and helped those who’d taken a dunking out of the pool. Marguerite, who was renting the house and had invited Grandma Dotty, showed up with beach towels.

“Where’s my jacket?” Grandma Dotty demanded as Violet helped dry her off. “I see Xuri inside. I still have a chance to audition but she’s heading for the door.”

“Can we push pause on the pursuit of your modeling career for a minute?” Violet bent to look her grandmother in the eye. “What does Dad say about arguing in public?”

Grandma Dotty’s nose went in the air. “I kindly requested Kelcie return my coat.”

“I was just gonna wear it to dance in front of Xuri.” Kelcie’s lower lip stuck out. There was a sickly sheen to her face and a glazed look in her eyes. “You told me you’d help me. And I thought we could take turns.”

“I…” Something wild gathered in Grandma Dotty’s expression. “There is noIin team, you backstabber!”

“Give her a pass, Dotty,” Chuck/Coop said consolingly. “She got caught up in the moment.” The look he gave Vi was repentant, as if he’d gotten caught up, too, and was interested in forgiveness.

“A pass? It’s too soon for forgiveness all around.” Violet curled her fingers into fists, not to slug Kelcie, but to keep from slugging Chuck/Coop. “Do you know how valuable that ring in her coat pocket is? My dad’s going to kill both of us if we lose it.”

“Not to mention, my heart will be broken,” Grandma Dotty said, only half-seriously. She was still shooting dark looks Kelcie’s way.

“Let’s stop arguing and look for your coat.” Without waiting for agreement, Chuck/Coop led the way into the house.

Violet hustled Grandma Dotty after him. But they were waylaid by Marguerite, who offered to loan Dotty and Kelcie dry clothes. While they were changing, Chuck, Coop and Vi searched the house and grounds, looking for Xuri and the coat thief. But the fashion designer and her black-wearing, modeling entourage appeared to have moved on. Grandma Dotty’s coat was nowhere to be found.

“I looked everywhere,” Chuck/Coop told Vi when he bumped into her on the front steps. He was barefoot, holding his wet shoes and socks in one hand, still wearing his soaked slacks and shirt.

He hadn’t needed to help Violet search. The wind off the ocean was probably chilling him to the bone in those wet clothes. The shirt clung to all those abs in a way that said,Forgive me. And…

Do not forgive him!

Violet forced her gaze up to his face, his dear, sweet face.

“I didn’t find the guy who pushed me in the pool or the coat he took,” Chuck/Coop was saying, confirming that the night was turning out to be a disaster. “You?”

“I can’t find any of them,” Vi admitted, trying unsuccessfully to find the anger over being lied to. “Thanks for looking.”

Chuck/Coop smiled.

And for a moment, Violet almost smiled back. No matter who he’d introduced himself as, he was still nice. But then she remembered that he was a wealthy playboy who couldn’t hold down an honest job. He was just another guy Harvard would frown upon. “We’ll find our own way home.” Vi turned to go back inside.

He caught her arm. “Please. Give me a chance, Vivi. Give us a chance.”

Vivi.

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