The girls left me alone until about an hour before I was to meet Jared, and then descended on the room like a flock of agitated birds to offer counsel on fragrances, outfits, and makeup. Sarah seemed horrified when I told her I only used lip gloss, and insisted I allow her to do a makeover on me, or at least a quick attempt. When she finished, I inspected her work in the mirror and grimaced.
“I’m not sure teen hooker is the look I’m after,” I said.
“You look seductive. Nothing wrong with that,” she said.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think I’ll stick with what I’m used to,” I replied. The eyeliner and heavy-handed blush made me look like a cartoon. “He’s already met me as me, so I don’t think there’s any point in pretending to be something I’m not.”
“You need to kick it up a notch, girl,” Sarah assured me. “It’s not pretending, it’s showing you’re interested.”
I frowned. “This is more than a notch. He’ll be asking what porn film I’m appearing in if I meet him like this.”
“Not such a bad thing. You can put it on the internet and make millions,” Kate piped up.
I shooed them away and rinsed the makeup off, and tried on one of the two flowery summer dresses I owned. When I exited the bathroom wearing that and my Docs, the girls inspected me with varying degrees of incredulity, which I ignored.
“See you guys later,” I said, and tossed Jared’s jacket over my shoulder and headed for the door.
Sarah called after me, “I want video.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I took the stairs to the ground floor two at a time. I liked all three of my roommates, but times like today strained my patience. What I’d really wanted was to be left alone so I could collect my thoughts in peace, but I couldn’t act like a diva throwing a tantrum, so instead I’d done my best to suck it up. Still, it was nice to be on my own for at least a little while, and I took my time making it to the guard gate, twilight’s ochre glow now gone from the sky.
Cliff was on duty, protecting the drive from trespassers while listening to a game on a portable radio. He gave me a wave with hardly a glance, and I continued to the road. A look at my watch told me I was a few minutes early, and I stood near the bus stop, fingering my hair.
Headlights bounced down the road toward me, accompanied by the high revving whine of an engine. A vintage black Porsche 911 convertible screeched to a stop by the bus stop, and Jared grinned from the driver’s seat.
“Hope you weren’t waiting long,” he called to me. “Hop in.”
I did as requested and fastened my seatbelt. He waited until I’d secured it and then took off with a spray of gravel from the rear wheels, taking obvious joy in racing through the gears, hands wrapped in leather driving gloves working the shifter and gripping the wheel. He glanced over at me on a straightaway and smiled.
“Nice car,” I said.
“Thanks. It’s an ’86. Air cooled. I modified it so it’s nearly as quick as a turbo from the same vintage.”
I made some appreciative noises as if I’d understood any of that. “Where are we going?”
“To the coast again.”
“Same restaurant?”
He grinned mischievously. “No.”
The road noise and the motor’s roar made any more meaningful conversation impossible, so I sat back as Jared guided his German land rocket around the bends at frightening speeds, grateful for the wind screen behind our seats that kept most of the wind from buffeting the cockpit.
I looked over at the speedometer. “Are we really doing a hundred?”
“That’s what this car was built for. Rock solid up to its top speed.”
“Which is?”
“A hundred and fifty.”
“What’s the fastest you’ve had it?”
He smirked. “I’ve hit that a couple of times.”
“Aren’t you worried about police?”
He shook his head and tapped a gizmo mounted to the dash. “Radar detector will let me know if I’m in trouble.”
Half an hour later we came over a hill, and there was the bay and the ocean beyond, a yellow crescent moon spangling the water with gold. Jared slowed to something resembling a reasonable speed and downshifted as we neared the water. He turned off the main road, and the low coupe growled its way toward a marina at the edge of the bay.
He rolled to a halt, shut the engine off, and smiled in the dark. My face was tingling from the chill of the air from the drive, but I realized it was surprisingly warm now that we’d stopped.
“We’re here,” he said, and I thought I heard a hint of excitement in his voice. I pulled the door latch and swung my bare legs from the car, glad it wasn’t cold, given my choice of outfits. Jared waited until I was out and then closed the convertible top. Once the windows were up, he locked the car and surprised me by rounding the front and taking my hand.
A sensation like a strong electric current surged up my arm, and my breath caught in my throat. If Jared noticed, he didn’t give any indication.
“You have to watch your step here,” he explained. “It’s kind of terrible until we get to the docks…and then it gets worse.”
I mumbled something unintelligible and tried to slow my trip-hammering heart. I hoisted Jared’s jacket and we picked our way across cracked pavement and then along a rocky path that led to a rusting gate that protected the docks. He pushed it open, and it gave way with a creak. Jared guided me along the wooden dock, which shifted slightly as we
