Pretty Little Secrets

“Better,” she deemed. “Now let’s go. We’ve got a couple to break up.”

Chapter 5

If Cosmo Says It, Then It Must Be True

Culpeper’s steak house smelled overwhelmingly like meat, served punch bowl–sized goblets of red wine, and had caricatures of celebrities who’d visited all over the walls. Most of them were famous golfers, singers like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, and business moguls who were all featured smoking phallic-looking cigars.

Spencer’s father had finally turned up from his all-day outing, and the family filed stiffly into a banquette. Her parents had had an under-their-breath argument in the parking lot about where he had been all day, and now they weren’t speaking except to tersely agree on the wine. Spencer and Melissa were trying their best to ignore them, canvassing the room for Colin and Ramona.

Suddenly, Spencer grabbed Melissa’s arm. “There they are!”

Melissa turned to look just as Colin’s tall and muscular frame passed through the front door. He had changed into a black button-down, black pinstriped trousers, and a pair of loafers Spencer was pretty sure were Prada. Ramona was with him, still wearing the sexy black sheath dress from earlier. Colin said a few words to the maitre d’, but then Ramona interrupted and spoke over him. Colin frowned at her, looking annoyed, and Ramona rolled her eyes at him.

“Hmmm,” Melissa murmured. “Seems there’s trouble in paradise!”

“Maybe,” Spencer whispered, unconvinced as the maitre d’ led the couple through the dining room and seated them at a table by the window that blessedly wasn’t anywhere near Spencer’s family.

Melissa sipped from the glass of red wine the waiter had just poured. “Get up and strut past him right now. You look super hot.”

“Now?” Spencer felt panicked. It was so public here. Her parents, who were pointedly staring off in two different directions so they wouldn’t have to speak to one another, would see.

“Hold your head high. Say hello to Colin, thrust out your boobs, but keep walking. Don’t stop and chat. Leave him wanting more,” Melissa instructed.

Hold out your boobs? Melissa was the queen of prudes. When a boy had touched her butt during a slow dance in ninth grade, rumor had it she’d slapped him and reported him to the principal. “Where do you get this stuff?” Spencer asked.

“Cosmo,” Melissa answered.

“Seriously? I thought you only read Vogue and W.”

Melissa shrugged. “It’s actually pretty helpful when it comes to guy stuff.” She poked Spencer’s thigh. “Now go!”

Okaaay. Spencer climbed out of the banquette. She could feel Melissa’s eyes on her back, encouraging her on. It actually felt kind of familiar, the way Melissa was helping her. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were scheming to break up a couple instead of planning elaborate tea parties and cooking up ways to convince their parents to let them wear their princess crowns to school, Spencer realized it almost felt like old times. When they’d been real sisters.

Spencer advanced toward Colin and Ramona, trying to adjust to her shoes. “I think we should take a sailing lesson tomorrow,” Colin was urging.

Ramona pouted, her shiny lips folding into a grimace. “I just want to tan and relax.”

“You always want to tan and relax. If you’re not into it, I’m just going to go without you.”

“I’m just going to go without you,” Ramona mimicked, twisting her mouth unattractively.

Spencer took a deep breath and began walking a little faster. When she was a few feet from Colin’s table, he looked up and noticed her. She feigned obliviousness, swinging her hips, shaking her butt, and pushing her boobs out as far as they would go. She could feel her hair lift off her neck and float behind her. She felt fantastic.

“Hey, Spencer,” Colin called out.

She slowed down and faked surprise. “Oh, hey! Nice to see you!”

He breathed in as if to say something else, probably expecting Spencer to stop and chat. But she didn’t. She kept walking, holding her head high. After she passed, she couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder at him. He was still watching her.

And then her leg hit something hard, and she heard a loud oof. She whipped around just in time to see a waitress clamoring to rescue a tray full of steaming plates from tumbling to the floor. But it was too late—the plates slid off the tray one by one, smashing to the ground. At the exact same moment, Spencer’s high heels turned, and she felt her legs buckle beneath her. Before she could even catch herself she was on the carpet, her legs tangled under her, her dress riding up her butt, and her elbow landing in something squishy that had just spilled. By the smell of it, it was creamed spinach.

A hush went over the crowd. Everyone turned to stare. The waitress was next to her on the floor, quickly cleaning up a bunch of plates of steak that had fallen off the tray. “Great. You probably just got me fired!” she hissed.

Spencer scrambled to her feet quickly and shot to the bathroom. But as she pushed open the women’s room door, she heard faint chuckles and peeked back into the dining area. Colin and Ramona were staring at her with amusement, their hands now entwined on top of the table. Perfect. Spencer’s fall had probably been the ultimate icebreaker.

Cosmo scheme one: a definite bomb.

Chapter 6

Sail Away with Me

The next morning, after nightmares of laughing crowds and oversized Manolos clawing at her body, Spencer ordered a double espresso to go at the café and met Melissa on the Longboat Key dock under an awning that said FREEWHEELING SAILING LESSONS. Spencer had wanted to stay in bed for the morning—scratch that, for the rest of their vacation—but Melissa had been insistent.

Several small Hobie Cat boats with rainbow-printed sails bobbed in the water. Seagulls circled, squawking loudly, and a bunch of floppy-haired twenty-something guys in Harvard T-shirts passed by in a sleek, gorgeous Beneteau yacht. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw one of the guys point at her, causing the whole lot of them to burst into laughter. She scowled and drained her coffee. It was bad enough that she’d discovered a massive purple bruise blooming on her thigh from where she’d hit the tray of food. Now she had to deal with all of Longboat Key laughing at her.

“Colin’s already here,” Melissa said, slathering SPF 100 on her arms. “There are two other people taking lessons with us today, both of them guys. Colin DeSoto and Merv something. Ramona isn’t on the list.”

Spencer chewed on her thumbnail, feeling nervous. Not about the sailing lessons—she’d learned how to sail when she was eight and even had a junior license—but she’d never thrown herself so blatantly at a guy before. Besides, what if Colin took one look at her when he arrived and hightailed it away? He now probably remembered her as the girl who’d single-handedly taken out five large platters of T-bone steak instead of the girl who could hold her own against him on the courts.

Melissa squirted another blob of sunscreen onto her palm. “Want me to get your back?”

Spencer turned, feeling surprisingly touched. Melissa hadn’t offered to rub sunscreen on her back for years.

Then Melissa drew in a breath and nudged her chin toward an advancing figure at the end of the dock. It was Colin. He was wearing a fitted white T-shirt that showed off every ab muscle and a pair of patterned board shorts. Even his toes, which poked out of a pair of black flip-flops, were cute.

Colin spotted Spencer and stopped. “Spencer?” He grinned in disbelief. “Are you here for the lesson?”

“Yep! Oh, this is my sister, Melissa.” She touched Melissa’s arm.

“Nice to meet you.” Melissa stuck out her hand, and Colin shook it. He smiled at Melissa and then at Spencer. Spencer’s heart soared. If Colin was going to pretend last night had never happened, that was just fine with her.

The second student, a fat, balding guy named Merv, ambled up the dock, and then the instructor, Richard, appeared. “Welcome to sailing 101,” Richard told them in an adorable Australian accent. Spencer noticed Melissa checking him out and smiled. Maybe she could have a fling on vacation, too.

Richard went around the circle and learned their names and where everyone was from—Spencer swallowed in surprise when Colin answered, “Connecticut”—that was so close to Rosewood!—then went down a list of boating safety rules. He explained how a Hobie Cat sailboat worked and that they were going to take the boats out in pairs today. “Everyone, find a partner,” he said.

Spencer turned to Melissa, but her sister shot her a glare and then touched Merv’s arm. “Want to sail together?”

Merv’s fleshy lips parted, taking in Melissa’s trim figure, pretty face, and scalloped gingham bikini. “Sure.”

It was the noblest sacrifice Melissa had ever made for Spencer. Spencer turned to Colin. “I guess that leaves us. Do you mind pairing up?”

“Are you kidding?” Colin grinned. “Something tells me you’ve sailed before. You have that yacht club look about you.”

“Am I that obvious?” she said lightly. “How about you?”

Colin shook his head. “I have never sailed, which is pretty lame considering how much time I spend down here.” He hooked a life jacket around Spencer’s neck and tucked his own under his arm. “Safety first.” He grinned.

Spencer and Colin climbed into a boat and undid the rope that attached it to the dock. Spencer moved the rudder so that the boat was pointing into the center of the bay, as Richard instructed, and Colin raised the sail. After about twenty minutes of learning how to turn into and against the wind, they were bobbing peacefully on the water. Spencer leaned back and tilted her head to the sun, cursing the freckles she knew would pop up by the end of the day.

“I could get used to this.” Colin leaned back in the hull and laced his hands behind his head. Spencer opened her eyes, shading them against the sun. “I tried to get Ramona to take a lesson, but she wasn’t into it. She doesn’t know what she’s missing.”

“She’s not the active type, huh?” Spencer asked nonchalantly.

“Not exactly,” Colin said with a shrug.

Spencer wanted to push Colin for more information, but something told her to sit and wait for Colin to talk on his own.

Colin uncapped a bottle of AminoSpa and sipped. Spencer stared out at the bay. Melissa was across the water with Merv, deep in conversation. Then, she heard a snicker from the shore. She swung around and squinted at the docks, sure she’d just seen someone dart behind a boat. Or was that her imagination?

Finally, Colin sighed and broke the silence. “To be honest, Ramona hasn’t been in the mood for anything lately. I don’t know what her deal is.”

Bingo. Spencer gave him a mock-sympathetic look. “Have you guys been together long?”

He shook his head. “Ramona and I are . . . complicated.”

Spencer nodded gravely. “I understand complicated,” she said, thinking of her and Wren. Spencer turned the rudder so that they wouldn’t collide with an oncoming Jet Ski. The boom swiveled toward her, and she ducked. “My last boyfriend and I fought all the time.”