in the gently swinging hammock, secure in the belief that there was nowhere else he needed to be and nothing else he needed to do.
An intrusive voice in the back of his mind asked him how long he could realistically expect that feeling to last. He tried to dismiss it and concentrate on Lydia’s smile and her laughter, but the concern grew the more he attempted to ignore it. He hadn’t even looked at his phone today. In fact, after giving it to her last night, he hadn’t seen it. He wondered where she’d put it and if anything had happened at work that he should know about. Things had been in flux at the offices since rumors broke last month that Mitzi Danziger may have been having an affair with Tyler Brady. Of course, the controlling partners in the firm had neither confirmed nor denied anything, but very few employees had missed the scene when Tyler’s wife had come to the office to confront the two attorneys with evidence of their infidelities.
Riley shook his head. The days leading up to his bar exam had been fraught with greater than usual tension, and he hadn’t been able to take the time off that he’d planned in order to make final preparations for the big exam and then unwind afterward. Only his unplanned trip to Lakeside Hospital’s emergency room had convinced the partners he really did need the vacation they’d been expecting him to take before moving up to his promised executive office.
He sat up in the hammock, and after a brief struggle, managed to plant his feet on the grass below.
The moment he rose, Lydia glanced in his direction and waved. She headed up the sandy bank of the lake toward him, and he pasted on a guilty smile.
“How are you doing, Mr. Lounge Lizard?” she asked, wringing water from her dripping braid. Cool droplets hit his arm and they practically sizzled. What he really needed right now was a swim, preferably with Lydia in a spot where bathing suits were optional.
“I’m fine. I was thinking of wandering over to the snack bar for some chocolate-dipped rice cakes and a green tea.” Had he really just said that? What he needed was an angus beef burger and cheese fries, not something that tasted like Styrofoam and chilled dishwater.
“That sounds great. Let me grab a towel—”
“No, you look like you’re having fun down there. Go swim. I’ll get two orders and bring them back here.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the guests she’d left soaking in the lake. A couple of people waved to her, and she waved back. “Well, all right. Maybe I’ll try to get everyone to head over to the Jacuzzis so you and I can have the lake to ourselves for an hour or so.”
“That sounds perfect. I’ll be back.” He kissed her quickly, one eye on the group of guests which happened to include Dale. The man definitely noticed the PDA, but if it bothered him, he didn’t show it.
“Okay. I’ll take a mint sprig in my tea, please, and lots of ice.”
“Will do.”
Riley jogged up the gentle slope, hoping to outrun the shame of what he was about to do. Rather than take the trail to the right which led to the snack bar and the pool area, he cut left through a stand of trees and took the trail to the staff cabins. At this time of day the snack bar was busy, so he had that as an excuse. Lydia wouldn’t become suspicious if he was gone a while.
The little village of staff huts was deserted when he arrived, but he looked around guiltily first, like a second story man, before jiggling the lock on her door the way she’d showed him this morning so he could sneak in later this evening to spend the night again if he wanted to.
He hated himself for this, but he reasoned that he wasn’t doing anything legally wrong. She’d showed him how to get in and invited him to do so, and he was only going to retrieve his own property and not even take it, just quickly check his voice mail now before the work day ended in case he needed to call in.
She would never know, and he would never have
Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society