Cat’s Revealing

Three Years Ago

Stretching in the sun she let one paw dangle into the stream. Frigid water penetrated thick fur, pulling it back she glared at the offending water as she licked herself dry.

“Oh, look,” she heard a voice gasp and knew she’d been spotted. That was part of the reason she chose this location. The mountain trail was just starting to get busy as spring began to thaw the snow. She decided it would be fun to give some lucky hikers a thrill.

Twitching her tail she rose, staying in the cover she stalked away into the deeper forest, pursued by the click of digital cameras. All they would get were shots of her legs and tail. She’d chosen her position, far enough into the brush to be considered safe but close enough to be spotted by the observant hiker, well.

Yawning she crept through the underbrush. She shouldn’t have stayed out so late with Sasha and Cara. She shouldn’t have had so much to drink. God knows she shouldn’t have told them the story they dragged out of her after one to many daiquiris. By the time she was in bed last night she regretted sharing about her first time with her friends, even if it did mean finding out Sasha’s first published work was erotica.

When she woke to sunshine she’d been thankful for the opportunity to escape and took off for Mount Rainier, her favorite place to get naked in the woods.

Stalking through the forest usually calmed her, soothing her nerves, and giving her perspective on things. Today she felt like she was hunting for something elusive. Perhaps something she’d left in Florida years ago?

That thought made her stomach knot and her skin twitch over her body. Her tail flicked back and forth and she flexed her claws into the damp soil.

How could she have told them about that story? At least she’d been smart enough not to tell them his name, or what he did for a living. There was no way in hell they would guess the truth. Her secret was still safe.

There was humor in that somewhere, she was worrying her friends would find out the name of the first guy she slept with when she was currently walking around the woods as a mountain lion.

Best if they never knew the truth about either.

 

-1-

Heather considered a bargain with God as the plane bumped once then touched down smoothly on the Florida runway. Or, maybe the devil, not that she knew any way of getting in touch with either.

Sasha’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “I love the energy of airports. I used to go to Sea-Tac to write before all the heightened security. The people coming and going, the anticipation of a trip, or the reunion between old friends -”

“The people saying goodbye,” Heather interrupted, “The tears. Airports make me feel like I’m sliding under water and can’t reach the surface no matter how hard I swim.”

“How pessimistic, you do remember this is supposed to be a fun trip? Some might call it a vacation?”

Heather sighed, Sasha was right, she needed to relax. That wasn’t likely to happen while she was in Florida. Why was she even here? She should have backed out, if she tried hard enough she could have found a way.

The fact that she was on this trip proved two things, first she was a masochist. And second she was a stupid masochist.

“Sasha, all I want is to survive this trip without humiliating myself in front of someone famous,” one famous person.

Sasha gave a bark of laughter, “Should I tell Cara you were looking at inventory reports and the fall book releases on the flight?”

“God no, she would ream me out.” Heather gave a mock shudder, “She made me swear to relax this week. Besides, you edited the entire flight, and I know how much you hate editing.”

“True… okay, I’ll make you a deal, you don’t tell Cara on me and I won’t tell on you. We’ll pretend the trip starts when we step off the plane. ”

“Deal,” Heather agreed extending her hand. They shook as the seat belt light above their head flicked off, they’d reached the terminal.

Hot, humid air engulfed Heather as she deplaned. The short jet way from the plane to the airport was thick with lack of air conditioning. Heather felt the light cotton jacket she was wearing cling to her skin. She was glad she pulled her hair up before leaving Seattle.

Airports did have a certain energy. Heather should know, she’d been thru enough of them in her life. Each one shared utilitarian flooring, wide hallways, huge windows, and chairs with almost no padding. They seemed to absorb the sense of expectancy, and exhilaration. But if you knew where to look you could feel the edges of grief. You could smell sadness lingering on the vinyl fabric of the seats.

Heather tried to shake off her fear as she walked down the broad hallway towards baggage claim. Her cell vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out she grinned at the name Cara Connors on the display.

“God what are you psychic, I just turned my phone on.” She asked.

“Only mildly,” Cara replied. “So…”

“We just landed,” Heather laughed as she adjusted the strap of her carry-on over her shoulder.

“Okay, well, was there anyone famous on your flight?”

“Nope, just boring everyday people.”

Sasha grinned back at Heather over her shoulder. “We aren’t going to have time to get into trouble if she keeps bugging us. For a sister-in-law she sure acts like a mother hen.”

“Did you hear Sasha?”

“Of course, but I don’t believe her. Tell her Ryan swears she can get into trouble in no time.”

“No, uh-uh, I’m not playing that game. If I tell her that she’s going to have me ask you how long it took Ryan to get you into trouble and I so don’t want to go there.”

Sasha snickered in front of her and Cara laughed into her ear. “Don’t do that, do you know how hard it is not to pee myself when I laugh.”

“Oops, sorry, sweetie.”

“No you’re not. Secretly you’re relieved I’m the beached whale.”

“Cara, honey, that’s no secret. If I were pregnant we would have a whole mess of problems on our hands.”

“Yeah, not to mention you have to have had sex to get pregnant,” Sasha pointed out; loud enough to draw looks from several passing people. Heather felt a flush creep up her cheeks. She’d spent so much of her life trying not to stand out; even the casual glances of strangers seemed intrusive.

“Alright, well I just wanted to check in with you. My spidy senses are all tingling about this trip, but I have no idea why. I wish I could be there with you.”

“We’re fine. Love you sweet heart, I’ll call you soon.” Heather smiled as she disconnected the call and widened her stride to catch up with Sasha.

Heather wondered, not for the first time, if Sasha ever just walked anywhere. She always seemed to be in a hurry to get to her destination. Even though Heather was a good six inches taller than Sasha she often found herself stretching her legs to keep up with her friend. Sasha would never survive if she had to stalk anything.

The wide hallway branched and they turned towards baggage claim. They were greeted by a group of people waiting for the arriving passengers. They scanned the crowd.

A tall blond man with blue eyes stood holding a sign that read “Sasha Connors”. His black slacks and crisp white shirt stood out against his tanned skin.

“Yummy,” Sasha said, catching Heather’s eye. Heather shrugged, the man filled out the shirt and pants nicely. He was young, probably early twenties and had a look about him that made Heather think he smiled a lot.

“Not my type, too young and too blond,” Heather said.

“Picky, picky.”

The man smiled as they approached.

“Hi,” Sasha extended her hand, “I’m Sasha Connors, and this is my friend Heather Smith.”

“Welcome to Florida, Ms. Connors, Ms. Smith, I’m Mike. I’ll be one of your chauffeurs while you’re here. Can I help you get your bags?”

Heather watched Sasha take his arm, and he led her towards baggage claim. She followed more slowly. She was in Florida again.

 

*******

“One day you’re going to understand, Heather.”

“No, dad, I will never understand.”

“When your mother died, I promised I would keep you safe -”

“I wish you hadn’t. I wish you’d promised you would take good care of me, or give me a normal life, or make me happy… anything but keep me safe.” Heather ran a hand through her hair and glared at her father across the seat of the taxi. She felt odd this morning, off somehow, bolder, agitated, and more ready to pick a fight.

“Heather when you have children of your own -”

“How am I ever going to have children? You won’t let me date. You won’t let me have friends. You won’t let me stay in one place long enough to establish any type of relationship. You do know how a person gets pregnant don’t you?” Heather knew her face was flushed as she tried not to think about the night before. But for once she didn’t care.

“One day things will be safe, Heather.”

“No, they won’t. In your mind things will never be safe, because there is no danger. You’re just paranoid and…”

Anger flashed across her father’s face and instinct told her she needed to back off. She blew out a breath, not wanting to obey that instinct. Still, he could make her life more miserable than it would be in Seattle already if he chose. Did she really want to antagonize him? Probably not, she turned to watch the Miami traffic.

“I know you liked it here,” Her father said, his voice surprisingly understanding. “You’ll like Seattle too. It isn’t as bad as people make it sound. It doesn’t rain all the time and I found us a place near a beach, like here. I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

Heather shrugged, in seven months she would be eighteen, then her father could go wherever he wanted. She was never moving again.

*******

“Hey, are you coming?” Heather snapped her gaze to Sasha.

Smiling she nodded.

Finding their bags took more time than Heather remembered from her younger years. Sasha’s bags seemed to appear immediately but hers didn’t. Fighting down the urge to see this as a bad omen, Heather forced a calm expression as she watched the conveyor belt. The crowd grew thinner and still her bag didn’t materialize.

“I’m going to go look in unclaimed baggage, sometimes if your bags get here ahead of you…” Heather trailed off with a shrug and turned to find the room full of unclaimed luggage. After a short perusal she was sure her own bag was not among them. Returning to where Sasha stood Heather felt a knot of dread in the pit of her stomach.

There was no one else waiting for their luggage.

“Where’s chauffeur guy?”

“He went to get the car. We’re supposed to meet him outside.”

“Shit,” Heather said, “it’s not coming.”

“Don’t you dare freak out. Everyone loses their bags sometimes. Look at it this way, you get to go shopping and buy all new clothes. It’ll be fun, a vacation wardrobe.” Sasha said.

“If you say so.”

 

 

**********

 

Kyle stared out the tinted window; he sat in the back of the SUV style limo that brought them from the airport to the hotel. His personal assistant, Paul, was inside checking him in. On the opposite seat sat one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. She wore casual jeans and a simple black cami yet still managed to look elegant. Her long honey blonde hair hung in soft waves around her shoulders and caressed the tops of her perfectly rounded breasts. Their faces were far too recognizable to stand around in the lobby.

“You look deep in thought,” Candice said. Her voice was as lovely as her body.

“Not really, I was just remembering when I could check myself into a hotel. Like the last time you and I worked together.”

“Yeah, that was a long time ago. We haven’t done anything together in years. Honestly I was surprised when they told me you agreed to take the part. It isn’t your usual style.”

Kyle shrugged. “There was something about the script that caught my interest, but I can’t quite put my finger on what.”

“Have you read the book?”

“No, I’m not into romance novels, or movies for that matter.”

“That’s only because you don’t have a woman to watch them with.” The affection in Candice’s voice was clear and Kyle smiled. One of the reasons they were such good friends was because Kyle knew she was safe. She was in a long term committed relationship and he never worried she was making a play for him.

“You and Marie can come watch them with me any time you want.”

“What fun would that be, the idea is someone you can snuggle with.”

“Uh-uh,” Kyle shook his head, “no setting me up, Candice.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I learned my lesson last time. From now on I’m leaving all match-making to Marie.”

“Thank God,” Kyle said. “Now I know I’m safe. Marie’s never set anyone up.”

Grinning, Candice ran a hand through her hair and glanced out at the lobby her green eyes twinkling. “I’m glad you decided to take this project. I was thrilled we would be getting to work together again. Marie is going to fly in tomorrow. She’s in New York taking pictures for some outdoor clothing catalogue. The shoot ends tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, great, it’s been what, a whole two weeks since you guys were over for dinner?”

“Oh shut up, it’ll be like old times. Ian, Jessica, Kaylee, and Jason are all in Florida, when Marie and I found out you were coming too she had to fly in. We’ll have fun.”

“Of course we will.” Kyle turned at the sound of another car. A second limo pulled in behind them. It carried the same logo as the one he and Candice rode in.

“Oh, I bet that’s her,” Candice leaned over to look around Kyle out the back window of the SUV.

“Her who?”

“The author, they have her in as a creative consultant for the filming, the backers want the movie to be as authentic to the book as possible. She’s involved in the entire process.”

“Great, this should be fun.” Kyle watched as the chauffer opened the rear door of the limo. A woman he could only define as tiny stepped out. Kyle wondered if she was over five feet tall. Every feature on her body from her face to the painted toes peeking out from her sandaled feet was petite. Long black hair hung down her back in loose waves. She wore a gypsy style skirt with dozens of colors swirling in the fabric. Her white peasant blouse billowed slightly in the breeze, contrasting perfectly with her olive skin.

“That’s her, I recognize her from the picture in the book, her name is Sasha Connors.”

Kyle grunted noncommittally, he was about to turn back around when another figure emerged from the car. This woman was taller and fairer than the first. Long red hair was pulled back from her face in a tight braid. Her body was slender. She had long legs, clad in black denim jeans, which moved with a subtle grace. Above those she wore a dark blue jacket over a white blouse. Kyle felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. He watched her face change from a frown to a small smile. The expression never reached her eyes.

 

*******

Kyle dropped an armful of wood into the sand. Standing straight, he brushed bits of bark from his hands. His gaze scanned the beach. It was getting crowded. He would have missed her had she not been pulling the shirt over her head at the exact moment his eyes passed her way.

He watched her reveal the smooth skin of her flat abdomen, and then pull it higher past the top of a black bikini. For a second he felt as if the world slowed to allow him time to take in this magical event. There was something compelling and sensual in the simple movement, she seemed detached from the people around her. Then everything snapped back to reality. The shirt came off and she dropped it to the ground.

Long red hair swayed around her shoulders as she reached down to pull off the Capri pants she was wearing. Kyle couldn’t look away as she revealed beautifully curved legs. Stepping out of the pants she stood straight. For a moment she clutched them, her knuckles turning white. Kyle dragged his gaze up from her body. She stared out at the water with unfocused eyes. As he watched she shook her head sharply as if to free herself from a trance and dropped the pants onto the towel near her shirt.

Without looking in his direction she turned toward the water. Her movements were lithe as she made her way down the sand. Kyle knew he had to meet her.

********

“I have no idea who that is.” Candice said.

Kyle fought the urge to curse. He turned to look back at Candice without responding.