Page 50 of Dopplebanger

A regretful noise sounded in my throat as she climbed off me. We straightened our clothes and hair the best we could in the tiny space, and I knocked my elbow on the side.

“Ouch.” I was still rubbing it when we exited the booth, and Gwen grabbed my arm, lifted it, and kissed my elbow. Then she slid my arm over her shoulders. We took two steps away from the booth before she abruptly spun around. “Our pictures!”

She picked them out of the slot where they’d printed, and I studied them over her shoulder.

Us making a goofy face—Gwen won that one.

Us kissing—I won that one because I got to kiss Gwen.

And in the third… well, she’d said I really had a hold of her ass and now we had the photographic evidence.

I reached over her and yanked the strip from her fingers. “I’m keeping this. Hell, I’m hanging it on the fridge. Some people brag about their kids’ art; I want to brag about my girlfriend and her nice ass.”

The elderly couple passing by us widened their eyes.

“Sorry, Mrs. Miller,” Gwen said, a blush sweeping across her cheeks. Then she smacked my arm. “That was my second-grade teacher.”

“Don’t worry. I’m relatively sure she can’t give you detention anymore.”

She laughed and then her eyes met mine. An intoxicating cocktail of hunger and heat flickered through her multicolored irises, and I had to remind myself I couldn’t back her up against the nearest surface and have my wicked way with her. As our last interrupted session proved, there were too many people around for that.

I practically saw a lightbulb go off over her head before she leaned in and whispered, “I have an idea.”

“The lawyer in me is already going to advise this is a bad idea.”

“Counting those chicks a bit early, aren’t you?” She trailed her fingertips down my arm and then grabbed my hand. “You’re not a lawyer yet, so tell that buzzkill to shush up and come with me. Trust me, it’s averygood idea.” She slid her fingers between mine, and then I was useless to do anything but follow.

TWENTY-FOUR

“You’re not serious,” Evan said.

“I’ve never been more serious.” A big sign with large red lettering read WARNING and the stuff underneath it had all that authorized personnel only, hard hats required mumbo jumbo, but clearly they were being overly cautious to avoid frivolous lawsuits and the like. And when it came down to it, I was interested in what wasbeyondthe construction zone. “Come on. Surely you’re up for an adventure.”

“An adventure, sure. Aiding and abetting? Not so much.”

“We’re not going to get caught.”

“I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you’re not exactly subtle. Or quiet. Or anything it takes to sneak into somewhere.”

“For years I’ve heard all about the amazing pool at the resort from tourists, and when Madison decided to have her wedding here, I thought, ‘finally, I’ll get to use the amazing pool and see if the mineral water lives up to the hype.’”

“Right, but they have all these signs that apologize for the inconvenience and state that until they fix the drainage pipe for this portion of the resort, it’s too dangerous.” Evan gestured to the largest of the signs, the mumbo-jumbo-one I’d decided wasmore of a loose suggestion. “See? Warning. In all caps, so you know it’s real.”

I frowned at him. “Sure. If I was a toddler who could fall into the pit they’ve dug and couldn’t get out, it’d be dangerous.”

“You’re drunk and wearing high heels, which is pretty much the same thing.”

Keeping my gaze on his, I defiantly kicked off my shoes. I was going to lose them anyway—climbing the fence that surrounded the pool in a dress would be enough of a challenge. “We toasted to an epic night, remember? Not only have I always wanted to swim in the pool, I’ve always wanted to skinny dip, which I’m planning on doing when I get to the other side of that fence. Your choice whether you join me or not.”

If he decided onnot, well that would be a real bummer to my ego. But since I truly believed he’d follow, I backed up so I could give myself a running start. My adrenaline surged and then I was running toward the ditch with the exposed pipe.

Oh, holy shit.I jumped for all I was worth, my arms wildly swinging in the air.

The loose dirt of the embankment slipped under my feet, but I managed to catch my balance and right myself. Then I turned to Evan and arched an eyebrow.

With an oath of stringed-together swearwords, he backed up. His long legs ate up the distance and the moon lit up his dark figure as he launched himself over the exposed pipe.

He didn’t land in the loose dirt or even stumble, which seemed unfair since he was at least as drunk as I was. Not that I wanted him to fall in the pit or anything. A mere wobble to prove he was human would’ve been nice.

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