“There I go again,” she muttered to herself, and locked up her files. Poor little oversexed Vera.
The Inn was quiet; her office felt unoccupied even with her sitting in it. Then she noticed the package.
What is this?
It looked like a present—a thin, wide box in white gift-wrap. A cryptic notecard unfolded to read, simply, midnight in tight felt-tip. Midnight? she wondered. She opened the package.
You dick, she thought.
It was beautiful, a Bill Blass corselet-tank swimsuit, in a gorgeous bright-fuchsia. A half-front lace up. Her size, too: 7. Her lips drew to a tight, exasperated seam. I am not going to go swimming with that presumptuous prick, she told herself. But it can’t hurt to try it on.
Suddenly she felt giddily enthused and could name no reason. Was she so bored that trying on a swimsuit, which she had no intention of swimming in, seemed like a paramount event? Yes, she answered herself, quickly locked the office, and scurried up the stairs.
Minutes later she was stepping into the swimsuit before the mirrored bathroom wall. She laced up the front in a big, pretty bow. Her amethyst flashed. She turned in the reflection. This looks great, she assayed, turning again for a side view. Too bad I’m not going to…
She strayed to the bedroom. The mantel clock ticked, luring her eyes. It was midnight.
No, she thought. You’re not.
She poured herself a dab of Grand Marnier, thought about it. You’re a big girl, Vera. Why should you not do something you want to do because of some guy? It was a flawed rationalization—never mind that Kyle had invited her, and had given her the swimsuit—but Vera let that pass. What the hell, she dismissed. She put on her robe, grabbed a big terry towel, and went downstairs.
She peeked around the bottom of the landing. What if someone saw her? What if Feldspar saw her? The atrium stood empty, dimly lit by the chandelier and embers in the great stone fireplace. She could hear the cleanup clatter from the restaurant, but no one could be seen in the dining room. She whisked around the reception desk, slipped through the door, and traipsed down the dark hall to the pool.
This is a mistake, she told herself when she entered. A kaleidoscope of multicolored light floated amid the pool’s long column. The top of its T remained dark, and all the skirting lights were out. But there was no sign of Kyle. Good, she thought. But was that how she really felt? The silence sounded hollow, like an empty auditorium. Falteringly, she folded her robe and towel over the first of a row of strapped chaise lounges. She stood still a moment, biting her lower lip. Part of me wishes he was here, it occurred to her. But why? Perhaps those two drinks had hit her harder than usual.
She dipped the tip of her foot into the languid water. It felt deliciously warm. Then she dove in.
This is nice, came the slow, lulling thought. The warm water caressed her as she glided out. It was like rolling through a pleasant, idle dream. She slowly backstroked further across the pool. Gradually the warm water erased out some of the day’s aches and knots. Worst thing about her job was being on her feet most of the shift, then hunching over her desk with the nightly paperwork mess. Back in the city, Paul would give her fabulous back rubs when she got home, kneading all the stress out of her at once. I could sure use one of those right now, she dreamily thought, floating toward the dark end.
From below, the hand grabbed her ankle—
Vera screamed.
—and jerked her down. She flailed beneath the surface, bubbles erupting with her terror. She madly kicked away, gasping as she resurfaced.
Kyle was leaning against the pool edge, laughing.
“You are such an asshole, Kyle!” Vera yelled.
He continued to chuckle, slicking back his long wet hair. “Asshole? Me?” His laughter echoed. “That sure got a charge out of you. You think I was the creature of the black lagoon?”
“You’re a creature, all right,” Vera replied, and let her heart resume a normal beat. She lay her arms along the ledge, paddling her feet. He better be wearing trunks, she thought and tried not to be obvious about squinting. The low merging lights made it impossible to tell.
Kyle treaded water toward the deep end. “I don’t know about you, but room service was slammed tonight.”
Vera minutely smirked, still rowing her feet.
“Well, come on. How many dinners you do?”
“We did all right, Kyle. You don’t need to concern yourself with the restaurant.”
Kyle’s grin flared. “I get the message—you didn’t do squat for dinners tonight. Don’t worry, business’ll pick up for you.” He laughed again, harder. “Hey, maybe the ghost is scaring your customers away.’’
She watched him cockily levitate himself in the water. Horse’s ass, she thought. “Okay, Kyle, tell me about the ghost. You’ve been dying to for weeks.”
Kyle was a snide talking head atop the water. “The Inn’s got a bad history. Used to be a—”
“I know what it used to be, Kyle. Don’t bother trying to freak me out. Just tell me—have you ever seen it?”
“Sure,” he said. “The night before you and your gang arrived.”
Bullshit. “Okay, Kyle. What did it look like?”
“Just a big pale shape. Kind of hunched over, naked. Could hear its feet thumping as it walked. I only saw it for a second, stuck my head out the door, saw it moving down the second-floor hall toward the stairs.”
Now Vera laughed. “It was probably one of your maids going downstairs to snitch booze.”
“That’s what I thought,” Kyle said. “So I called out to it.”
“And?”
Kyle’s brash grin faded. “It turned around and looked at me.” Suddenly he seemed restrained, even distressed. “Looked like it…well, its face…”
Vera smiled, nodding. “Yeah? What about its face?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,’’ he said. “You wouldn’t believe me anyway.’’
“Kyle, it’s not that I wouldn’t believe you. I already don’t believe you.”
“That’s cool.” He treaded closer, his head bobbing. “Just ask Mr. Feldspar about the wall contractors.”
“The what?”
“Three, four months ago, construction was getting a little behind, so we hired an extra contractor to hang all the Sheetrock and paneling. Had ’em work at night, to save time.”
“So what.”
Kyle’s brow rose. “Couldn’t find a crew that’d stay more than a week. They all quit. Said there was…something here.”
“Oh, Kyle, I’m shaking with fright.” She expected more from him, more than trifling attempts to scare her. He quickly changed topics. “This is great, though, ain’t it?”
“What?”
“Relaxing in the pool after a long shift?”
“It is nice,” she admitted. Now her head tilted back, her eyes closed. The warm water line roved at her breasts. “I hate being on my feet all day, it wears me out.” It had been a long time since she’d felt so relaxed, so dreamy. The drinks, on top of her fatigue, unwound all her springs at once. Then Kyle was saying, “I know what you need.”
Vera opened her eyes, startled. Kyle quickly climbed out of the pool next to her. She half-gasped, as first thinking he was naked, but then she noted that he wore tan trunks. “What are you doing?” she said, looking at him upside-down.