“Or are you chiiickennn,” Lyric taunted.
“Oh hell no, you did not call me chicken,” Julie muttered.
Lyric pushed off from the side of the pool and swam backward to the center of the pool. “Last one in doesn’t get the really yummy cupcakes the chef baked.”
“Chef? Cupcakes?” Faith shook her head. “I must be doing something wrong.”
“I want that cupcake,” Angelina said as she started pulling at her pants.
Laughter and shrieks hit the air as the women all started shucking out of their clothes. Shirts and pants flew through the air and soon it looked like an orgy had taken place on the patio as clothes hung from every chair, were strewn on the ground, and panties and bras hung from the bushes lining the walkway.
Soon they were all in the water, and for Lyric, what she’d thought was an absolutely perfect day had just gotten better.
“Did you swear Sam to secrecy?” Angelina asked Serena. “I really don’t want the guys to come barging in and ruin our girly day.”
“I can have one of the guards shoot them,” Lyric said calmly. She swam to the side of the pool and looped her arms along the concrete to hold herself up as she kicked her feet below the surface.
“They won’t wonder where we are for a few hours yet,” Serena said confidently. “They were all so relieved that he was stuck taking us shopping that they won’t even think to look for us.”
“Except Damon, who loves to shop for you,” Faith said smugly.
Serena shrugged. “What can I say? The man has better taste in clothing than I do.”
Lyric eyed the intricate gold band on Serena’s upper arm and remembered Damon’s possessive caress and the way he touched her there often.
“So how have you been, Lyric?” Angelina asked. “Is Connor still being mean to you?”
Lyric felt heat rush into her cheeks. The other women obviously noticed it too because their eyes sharpened like vultures going after road kill.
“Ohhh,” Faith said.
“Okay, spill!” Julie demanded. “Oh my God, Serena and I have been dying to know all about Mr. Stick Up His Ass. I’ll admit to him firing more than a few girly fantasies.”
Faith clamped her hands over her ears and promptly fell underwater. She came up sputtering and holding her hand out. “Oh please. No. He’s my brother, for God’s sake. I don’t want to hear this!”
Angelina rolled her eyes. “Your brother is hot, Faith. Deal.”
“He isn’t mean,” Lyric defended. “He’s been very . . .”
“Uh-huh,” Serena said knowingly. “Very good? Very sexy?”
Lyric laughed. “Well, yes and yes.”
Julie grinned. “Oh this is great. I love it. Connor Malone has met his match.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Lyric said carefully.
“Oh crap, men alert,” Faith said as she ducked farther underneath the water.
Lyric looked up to see the chef and one of his assistants carry out a platter of hors d’oeuvres.
“Oh stop it, Faith. You’re freaking gorgeous. Let them look and lust over what they’ll never have,” Julie said cheekily.
“You guys are so never telling Gray about this,” Faith squeaked. “He’ll kick my ass.”
The chef cleared his throat and did his best to avert his gaze, though Lyric could see him totally sneaking glances.
“I would be happy to provide drinks for you ladies. I have a fully stocked liquor cabinet, and one of my assistants is a trained bartender.”
“Ohhh, Lyric. You have all the good stuff,” Julie sighed.
Lyric grinned. “Well, order up. I’ve never tried drunk swimming before. Maybe we should see if any of the security team is a trained lifeguard?”
“Not a bad idea,” Faith said.
“Ask Sam to come out,” Serena said to the chef. “What?” she asked when the other women looked at her. “He’s seen me naked before. Hello? Damon keeps me naked pretty much twenty-four/seven when we’re at home.”
“Do I even want to know?” Lyric asked.
“Oh we’ll fill you in on Serena’s lifestyle after a few drinks,” Angelina said.
Serena turned and lifted an imperious brow in Angelina’s direction. “And yours?”
Angelina flushed but laughed good-naturedly. “Okay, maybe not.”
“There I go, feeling frighteningly boring again,” Lyric said. “You guys are killing me with all these interesting comments.”
“I’m the only normal slash sane one in this group,” Julie said.
Julie was immediately swamped with waves of water as Faith, Angelina and Serena all drenched her.
“Drinks, ladies?” the chef reminded.
“Oh yeah, forgot,” Lyric said. And now that the chef and his wide-eyed assistant had gotten quite the show . . .
“Hmm, why don’t you surprise us?” Serena suggested. “Make us some yummy, fruity cocktails with the cute little umbrellas. We can stage our own little beach getaway here at the pool.”
The chef nodded, then turned and had to nudge his assistant to get him to snap his attention away from the women.
Angelina grabbed on to one of the floaties and rested her chin atop it as she floated lazily in the deep end. “This is so nice. I feel like a walrus, mind you, but man, this feels wonderful.”
“I’m so glad you all came,” Lyric said. “This has been such a great day and now it’s only better.”
“Oh? Do tell,” Julie prompted.
Lyric grinned and she reached for one of the floats lying on the side of the pool, then propelled herself along the surface of the water so that she floated close to Angelina.
“I fired my manager.”
“Whoa. Really?” Faith asked.
Lyric nodded. “Yep. Thanks to Connor.”
“Wow, we obviously need deets here,” Julie said.
“I’ll tell you all about it. Over drinks,” she said smugly.
CHAPTER 23
Connor pinched the bridge of his nose and put down the last report in his stack. He checked his watch. He and Kane had been sequestered for the entire afternoon. They’d crawled through the lives of every single person even remotely attached to Lyric or her tour.
The problem was, there were more than a few who’d raised serious flags. How they ever got hired in the first place would remain a mystery to Connor. Which further cemented his opinion that Lyric’s entire operation was half-assed and run by morons.
He laid aside four profiles that required more than a cursory runthrough. One guy in particular had riled Connor’s what-the-fuck meter. He had priors for assault. There were two restraining orders issued by former girlfriends, and his old man was in jail for domestic violence.
Still, Connor had his money on the two fuck-buddy bodyguards. Maybe he was prejudiced against them, given that they’d slept with the woman he was currently sleeping with, but the evidence was stacked against them. They had opportunity and access. What Connor wasn’t sure of, however, was motive.
He picked up the phone to call Gray. He and Nathan could do quite a bit of legwork, which would leave Connor to focus his attention on the most important thing: Keeping Lyric safe.
“Hey, man,” he said when Gray answered.
“Hey, stranger. You’ve survived Lyric, I see.”
“She’s not so bad,” he defended, and then winced. He needed to just shut the hell up.
“Uh-huh. So what’s up?”
Connor relayed the information to Gray, who stopped him so he could take notes. “Can you fax me those reports you have?” he asked after a moment.
“I’ll e-mail them to you. Kane has them on his computer.”
“Kane?”
“He’s heading up the security team Armstrong hired.”
“Ah okay. He good?”
“Yeah,” Connor said. “Seems on top of things.”
“What the ever-loving hell?” Kane said from across the room.