Heat Wave (23 page)

Her face was a frightening mask, frozen in an expression of barely contained malice. ‘I'm going to win. Maxine told me, groomed me. I am supposed to win.'

‘Maybe that's how it was meant to go,' I said, ‘but Maxine could never have planned for me being here. I hope you understand, and I wanted to you know going into the last few days so you can prepare yourself.' I couldn't imagine what that would feel like
—
walking into a situation where you had complete confidence in one outcome, only to be devastated when the opposite happened.

‘Don't patronise me,' she sneered, pulling away from me. ‘Believe what you want, bitch, but I
am
going to win this.'

Her cold anger was far more terrifying than her screaming fits. As she stalked away down the hall, I had to marvel at her audacity.
How does one woman believe so fervently that she can beat love?

Chapter 18

‘Woman, I swear, I could dress you in compost and you'd still make my balls tingle!'

‘Ricky! You know I love you, but TMI.' I giggled at his silliness as he fluttered around me. He'd brought half the wardrobe department to my room, laying assorted sportswear on my bed in a rainbow of spandex and breathable high-tech fabric.

At first, Ricky had grumbled dejectedly about not being able to dress me up with his usual couture flair, but he'd warmed to the task as I'd modelled eight different pairs of tights and more than a dozen assorted tops. We'd settled on cobalt blue leggings, which moulded to my thighs like a second skin, and a cropped long-sleeved tee in shades of grey.

‘Perfection! Just deep-throat perfection.' He sighed, handing me a pair of swim sandals. ‘If there's any justice in the world, the other competitors should just bow out of the race because you've out-hotted them so badly, all they want to do is jump overboard.'

‘I'm not sure about that,' I said, ‘but at least I'll be prepared for whatever they throw at me today.' My outfit was lightweight, stretchy and water-suitable. Unless we were going skiing, I'd be fine.

‘And here's the only other woman in this world who could turn me,' Ricky cried as Mama Ruby entered.

She snorted. ‘Boy, you be talkin' nonsense again? I keep tellin' you, God made you perfect for your man, not this mama.'

‘And I keep telling you,' he trilled, gathering his stuff and preparing to flounce away, ‘that you are a buxom black angel, and you should be immortalised in a nude sculpture and displayed at the Vatican.'

‘Be off witchoo, Ricky.' She swatted him as he left, a loving smile on her maternal face.

The smile dropped fast when she looked at me. ‘Child! Oh, Lordy, Lordy. Oh, this is bad, really bad …'

She began to rat through her kit of hair paraphernalia, and I asked in concern, ‘What? What's bad?'

‘You, child!' She pulled a bag of small stones out and muttering, began to hunt through the collection of brightly-coloured rocks. ‘No … no … no … Where you at?'

‘Why am I bad?'

Mama dropped the rocks and moved close to me, flapping her hands above my head at something I couldn't see, but she clearly could. ‘That cloud over you, girly. It's so dark, it burns my eyes with its blackness.'

Swallowing back irrational fear, I said, ‘Mama, I've told you, I don't believe in all this.'

‘In what, girly? In energy? In intuition? In a touch of the divine?' She gripped my arms tightly. ‘You don't have to believe. That's Mama's job. Just give me a few hours, and we put you right, once and for all.'

‘I don't have a few hours right now. I have to be up on deck for this competition soon.' I sat in the high stool and tried to push down the rising concern Mama was churning up in me. I didn't have time for voodoo or hoodoo
—
my morning had already been shortened by another member of my beauty team.

I'd barely showered that morning when Natalie had stormed into my room. In total silence, she'd covered my face in a skin-toned zinc, and swiped waterproof mascara on my lashes.

Exhausted from the showdown with Callie the night before, I didn't try to engage her. As she finished, I murmured a soft, ‘Thank you.'

‘Huh.' She threw her tools back into her kit, glaring at me. ‘You act all nice when you think it matters, don't you?'

‘It does matter,' I protested. ‘Look, I'm really trying here.'

‘Oh, you are, are you?' She raised a calculating eyebrow at me, and I had to marvel at its symmetrical shape. ‘If you're really trying, let's talk.'

‘Let's.'

‘I don't wanna talk here. How 'bout you meet me at your hide-out you're always sneaking off to with that cameraman?'

Greg's deck.
I swallowed; obviously, our camera-less spot wasn't as secret as we'd thought. Despite not really having the time, I wanted to accept Natalie's olive branch as soon as possible. ‘Sure, I'd love to have a chat. How about tomorrow?'

‘How about an hour from now?'

My voice sounded too bright, as I said, ‘Great!'

She was radiating waves of annoyance, so I looked away and stared into the mirror. My dewy reflection glowed back at me. Even with a waterproof makeup job, she'd still managed to make me look fresh and stunning. ‘Wow! Honestly, Natalie, you do an incredible job. I know you haven't wanted to work with me, and I can't really blame you, but I'm glad you've been around. You're a very talented artist.'

For a second, I saw something flicker behind her eyes
—guilt? Confusion? Hesitation?
Then, it vanished as her normal dour expression took over. ‘Whatever. See you soon.'

I genuinely wanted to make things right with Natalie, and I couldn't chance not meeting her because Mama Ruby had decided she needed to burn sage or make me eat entrails.

Mama, however, wasn't about to be dissuaded. ‘Child,' she said, roughly scraping my hair up into a high ponytail, ‘you need to be thinking 'bout yourself right now, not some foolish competition.'

‘Trust me, Mama,' I said, jumping up and kissing her cheek. ‘I'm not thinking about the competition right now at all.' My brain was filled with thoughts of Tanner, of our future, of getting the hell off the ship of madness and beginning our relationship properly
—
and part of that included getting things straight with Natalie and starting with a clean slate.

Greg entered. ‘Hey, look! It's Triathlon Hobo!'

‘Ha bloody ha. What do you want, Gregorous?' I grinned and hugged him, while Mama harrumphed in the background.

‘A two-minute pre-competition interview.'

‘Fine!' I led him out onto my balcony and leaned back on the railing. ‘Let's do this.'

He quickly set up his camera. ‘God, you're a tall chick, aren't ya? You can practically sit on that rail without even stretching.'

‘Yes, yes, I'm tall. Greg, get on with it.'

True to his word, he wrapped up the interview in less than two minutes. Thankful, I whacked him on the shoulder.

‘Ow! What was that for, oh violent one?'

‘For being me mate.'

His wide smile was my reward. ‘You're welcome, Hobes. See you at the starting line.'

‘Thanks.' I began to run out of the room, but Mama stretched out an arm and prevented me.

‘If you won't heed me, child, then at least take this witchoo.' She handed me a tiny pearl-coloured pebble.

I studied the rainbow flecks inside the little rock, curious. ‘It's pretty!'

‘Pretty, nothin'. That's a moonstone. It's for protection. Good for people who travel over water when bad tides are on the way. It won't stop what's comin', but it might help give you a fightin' chance.'

Moved, I tucked the stone into a zippered pocket over my heart. ‘Thank you, Mama. I love it. But don't worry about me. I'll be fine.'

‘Mmhmm …' Her dark eyes warned of a different story, but I was too wound up to realise my intuition was agreeing with her.

I dashed out the door and into the corridor, just in time to see Sumara. ‘Hey, lady.'

‘Maddie!' She ran up and hugged me, her tiny frame looking more delicate than ever in her bright yellow leotard and running shorts combo. ‘Isn't this exciting? The whole ship is buzzing about the competition. I can't wait to see what they've organised.'

‘We know it won't be boring,' I said. I felt a sudden flow of appreciation for my good friends on the ship. Natalie was right; I'd been endlessly complaining about my luck, when in fact, I had been so blessed to be surrounded by people who loved and supported me. ‘Hey, Greg's in my room if you want to catch him.'

‘Oo! Goodie!' She kissed my cheek, her silky pigtails tickling my neck. ‘I'll see you up there.'

‘Bye!'

Now, I was really short on time. I sprinted along the corridor towards the hidden deck.
I don't have time to run into anyone else.

‘Oof!' I turned the corner and crashed straight into someone. Someone tall and lean, wearing his favourite hat, someone I would have recognised by smell alone. ‘Tanner!'

‘Maddie-girl.' He wrapped his long arms around me, and everything fell away. His touch had the gift to make me forget my own name.

He leaned me back into a wall, which turned out to be a swinging door. It gave way into a staff area, an access to a service elevator, and we stumbled into the dark alcove. ‘Whoa! Gotcha, darlin'.'

I let myself go dramatically limp in his arms, throwing a faint hand over my brow and affecting a Southern accent. ‘Oh, Mister Tanner, whatever would I do without you to catch clumsy ol' me every time I fall?'

‘Lucky we'll never have to find out.' His lazy smile grazed his lips as he brought them down to mine.

Like pinpricks of rain, sensation trickled over my body, spreading outwards from my mouth, tugging at my nipples and wreaking havoc below my panty-line. I moaned against him, my fingers dropping to his belt. Hooking my thumbs through the loops of his jeans, I pulled him closer to me, wanting to absorb into him.

‘Mmm … Maddie …'

‘I love hearing you moan my name.'

‘All night long, my sweet lady, as soon as we get off this ship.' He removed his hat, running a nervous hand over his sweaty hair. ‘I had to see you before the competition to make sure you were okay after last night.'

‘I'm fine. You know Greg talked to me too, right?'

‘I know.' His hot-chocolate eyes grew sad. ‘I just hated you having to stand there and watch all of that.'

I interlaced my fingers behind his neck. ‘Don't you worry about me. Besides, it's a good thing; it means they're finally realising you're going to choose me.'

‘Maddie-girl, you might think I'm the one doing the choosin', but knowing you pick this cowboy means more than anything in the world to me.'

We kissed again, leaning into the stolen moment. My fingers crawled around to Tanner's backside, cupping his taut cheeks through his jeans. He responded by thumbing my nipples through my thin shirt and crop bra, the nubs pushing through the fabric like needy puppies.

‘I want you naked so bad,' he murmured. ‘This is torture. I keep seeing your body, shiny and smooth in that room in Sydney. I should have been paying more attention. If I'd known how long I'd have to wait to strip you down again, I would have taken pictures.'

I laughed, breathy with exhilaration. ‘I promise, when we get out of here, we'll find a room, shut the door, get naked and stay that way for as long as you want.'

‘I can't wait for that.'

‘I can't wait to start a life together. I love you, Tanner.'

‘Maddie-girl, I love you too.'

We crashed together like waves, as if by moulding our bodies as close as possible, we could never be separated.

***

Smoothing my hair and clothes after my mad make-out session and frantic run up three flights of stairs, I made my way out onto Greg's deck. At first glance, it appeared to be empty; I looked around the scattered random items being stored there, and craned my neck upwards to see if she was perhaps staring down at me from the railing, but there wasn't a soul to be seen.

‘Natalie?' I called out cautiously. ‘Hello? Anyone here?'

‘Oh, I'm sorry,' said a snide voice from behind me. ‘Natalie isn't coming.'

‘Callie.' My clone took a step out from behind the heavy door where she'd been lurking, and kicked it shut. Puzzled, I asked, ‘Do you know
why
Natalie's not coming?'

‘Because she was never coming. I had her ask you up here, to the one place on the ship without cameras, so we could have a little girl time.' She advanced towards me, her face lit with a malicious grin.

I rolled my eyes and said, ‘I should have known Natalie didn't want to talk, but apparently you do. I don't really have much time for this today, so whatever you want to say, say it fast.' Giving her my back, I strode to the side of the ship, leaning back on the railing and waiting for her to say her piece.

She paced back and forth in front of me, a tigress with a vendetta. ‘You were never meant to be here, on this ship, in this competition. It would have been so much easier if you weren't.'

‘Sorry 'bout that,' I said, not sorry at all.

‘My parents always want me to put a label on what I do for a living.' She scowled, jumping topics without any apparent direction. ‘
Are you an actress? An entrepreneur? An entertainer?
I like to think that I'm an opportunist.

‘I met Maxine months ago in Dubai. I was working in a club as a hostess to wealthy expats and Arab douchebags. She found out my roommate, Bernard, was sleeping with her husband, and I gave her proof in exchange for cash.' Callie smiled wickedly at the memory. ‘She recognised something in me
—
a kindred spirit who'd do anything to get ahead.'