"Think what?" he asked, drinking straight from the pitcher and smacking his lips.
164
It was a beautiful warm night, and the crickets were chirping.
"I don't know, like I'm some kind of party girl or something. I do have a job, you know," she reminded him. "What if the kids saw me in Page Six?" she agonized.
"You know what? You shouldn't worry so much. It's just a photo in a newspaper. You know what people do with the newspaper?" Garrett asked, waving the pitcher around, accidentally sloshing its contents into the pool.
Mara shook her head, wondering if the alcohol would hurt the fish.
"They throw it away at the end of the day. In London, they wrap french fries in it to soak up the oil!" He laughed and set the pitcher by the side of the pool. He swam up, splashing her with water. "I like you, Mara. You're fun. Be fun!"
Mara glowed. He liked her. He'd said it out loud. With his hair all wet, he looked so cute, like a sleek, dark seal. He smiled at her, and she touched his face, liking how nonjudgmental he was. Ryan Perry probably thought she was the biggest hoochie in the Hamptons, but Garrett Reynolds thought she was fun.
A school of orange-and-white clown fish darted around the nearby coral, and Mara refilled her glass. It was delicious, and besides, hadn't Megan wanted to come to the Hamptons to experience all the glamour? Who wanted to go get lobster rolls in Montauk when you could hang out in the VIP room at Seventh Circle with movie stars?
Garrett threw her a pair of goggles and a snorkel and
165
switched on the underwater lights. She dipped her head underneath and looked around. The water was a bright, cerulean blue, as clear as daylight, and populated by colorful sea creatures of every size and shape. There were sea turtles and moray eels, brilliantly stark zebra fish, angelfish, rainbow fish, and blue-finned emperor fish.
"This is amazing," she told him, stopping to take the snorkel out of her mouth.
"Why go to St. Barths when you can bring St. Barths to you?" Garrett asked, adjusting his goggles. "That's the problem with the Hamptons: there's no good scuba."
A school of black stingrays floated by their knees. Mara watched them glide toward the reef, marveling at their smooth and graceful pace.
Garrett held her hand as they floated across the pool, pointing out transparent jellyfish and pulsating starfish. He swam toward an imitation grotto, a man-made cavern in the middle of the pool, and gestured to Mara to follow.
Mara held her cocktail above the waves, ducking into the cave. She'd thought the Perrys lived well, but this was a whole other level entirely. The Reynolds house was like Versailles and, well, Sea World all rolled into one.
"This is my favorite spot," Garrett said, pulling her closer to him. "Have you ever been to Capri?"
Mara shook her head. Apart from the Hamptons, she'd never really been anywhere.
166
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "Some day I'll take you there," he whispered in her ear.
"Mmmm," Mara smiled, liking the idea of that.
She wondered what Ryan was doing right then, but shook the thought out of her mind.
The dark cavern made Garrett's dark hair gleam with blue-black highlights, and his eyes glittered with mischief. "Bet you can't hold your breath underwater longer than I can," he challenged.
"Oh, ho! Bet I can!" Mara disagreed.
Mara inhaled and bent down, puffing her cheeks with oxygen, determined to prove him wrong. Garrett reached out to hold her hand as they sank underneath the water. Then he was kissing her, breathing into her mouth, salty and slick, hot and wet, and Mara surrendered to the novel sensation of being electrified by his touch, because for the longest time, she hadn't thought anyone but Ryan could make her feel that way again.
167
do two kind-of
boyfriends equal one
whole one?