“He got a phone call. The guy who relayed the message didn’t say who was calling, but Lederman bolted out of the sauna so fast he nearly lost his towel.” He laughed and waited for her to do the same.
Her expression remained steady. He stifled a groan. He couldn’t imagine she didn’t find the image amusing, so he figured she was still angry with him after all. But he wasn’t about to repeat this morning’s conversation.
Better to focus on work. “At any rate, when he returned I asked him if everything was okay. I thought maybe there was an emergency at the resort, but he didn’t cover well. He flushed, hemmed and hawed, then finally said his son had called from California.”
Mallory shrugged. “Why are you so sure he didn’t?”
“Gut instinct. Besides, that’s an easy enough answer without beating around the bush.”
She nodded. “True. So what do you think he’s hiding? It makes no sense to keep us in the dark. Not if we’re on his side.”
“Agreed. And I intend to find out just as soon as…”
“Here are your drinks, folks.”
The waiter exchanged Jack’s empty glass for a full one that no longer appealed, but he thanked the man and turned his gaze back to Mallory. “I could have outright asked him what was going on, but…”
“Excuse me sir, but this is for you.” The waiter handed Jack a folded slip of paper.
“Phone message?” Jack wondered aloud.
“Actually the bartender asked me if I recognized the name on the top and since you’d just signed for your lunch earlier…”
“Did he say who left it?”
“He found it on the bar when the lunch crowd disappeared.”
“Strange.” He lifted the folded paper and a feminine scent drifted toward him. He raised the paper and the aroma grew stronger. More appealing.
“Anything else?” the waiter asked.
“No thank you,” Mallory said in her polite but husky voice.
Jack shook his head, then unsealed the note. Invitation to Seduction—a private evening of dinner, dancing and gratification of the senses. Eight o’clock. Beach cabin number 10. He tried to swallow and choked instead. There were further instructions, seductive allusions about what he could expect should he dare to RSVP.
He flipped the page over and read the back print. Come on time. And come hungry. His eyes teared and he grabbed for the drink that hadn’t appealed to him minutes earlier. Instead of easing his distress, the alcohol burned its way down his throat, and he coughed harder.
Mallory stood and gestured for the waiter. “Water, please,” Jack heard her request. “Are you okay?” she asked.
He swallowed again and breathing came easier. “Fine. Just…swallowed wrong.”
“Oh.” She lowered herself into her seat. “You scared me for a second. I thought I was going to have to do mouth-to-mouth.”
He stared at her, sure he hadn’t heard correctly.
“Resuscitation,” she said quickly. “Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation because I thought you’d stopped breathing or something.” She waved her hand in the air. “Never mind. As long as you’re okay now.”
“I’m fine.” He glanced at the note that now lay in his lap. As fine as he could be with an erotic invitation to seduction nestled in his groin and his repressed associate staring at him wide-eyed from across the table.
Who the hell could have sent it? He glanced around but the sea of women in bathing suits gave him no clue. Jack broke into a sweat that had nothing to do with the sun’s burning rays.
“Is it from Lederman?” Mallory asked.
He sure as hell hoped not. “It’s personal.”
She shrugged. “Okay, so do you plan to ask him straight out what’s going on?”
He stared over her shoulder, scrutinizing each woman who passed. None gave any indication that they’d sent the note, but someone had propositioned him and damn if it didn’t sound exciting. Tantalizing. Intriguing.