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yards or so until the music from the deck became a whisper that merged with the slap-slap of the waves on the sand.
    That was when Cammie slid her arms around Adam’s neck. “Kiss me,” she murmured.
    He did. Softly at first, but the kisses quickly heated into the torrid zone. Cammie tugged off his well-worn Levi’s jean jacket, placed it on the sand, and then sank down on it. So did Adam—he ended up half atop her, kissing her neck. She let her hand drift under his black cotton T-shirt and up his buff chest, then over his tight six-pack like she’d imagined just a few minutes before. With an easy and practiced flick of her fingers, the top button of his 501s was open.
    He pulled back a moment so that he could look into her eyes. “You sure?”
    “Yeah,” she whispered.
    This was it. Her and Adam. The call of the sand, the moon, and the wild. She lifted her dress and touched the top of her white lace thong. If he wasn’t a virgin, he’d never want anyone else. If he was a virgin, he wouldn’t even
think
of anyone else. No matter what, she’d be the one calling the shots. She would make him so insane with lust that—
    Suddenly Adam rolled off her and buried his head in his hands. “Shit,” he muttered.
    Cammie quickly sat up, thong still slightly askew. “Meaning?”
    Her heart was pounding, her mind racing. What was it? Why didn’t he want her right now? What had she done wrong?
    He fumbled with his jeans and re-buttoned them. “I’m sorry, Cammie. I know I sound like a character in some lame chick flick, but this is moving a little too fast for me.”
    “You mean . . . you don’t
want
to?”
    “God, yes.” He reached for her neck and caressed it with his thumb. “I’m totally into this, Cam.”
    Cammie exhaled. “Good. So let’s roll back thirty seconds and—”
    “I don’t know if I can. . . . I mean, we’re at a party. On a public beach. Anyone could see us.”
    Ah. Now she got it. It was cute, in a way, how he was so worried about being caught.
    “Trust me. That’s part of the fun.” She gave him a lingering kiss on his cheekbone. And then headed for his neck. But he pulled slightly away.
    “Uh . . . Cammie? My body doesn’t agree with that opinion.”
    Okay. Fair enough. It was the right time, but not the right place. She could deal with that. As long as she knew he wanted her.
    “It’s not important. We’ve got all the time in the world,” she whispered, giving him another kiss.
    Then he wrapped her leather jacket around her slender shoulders and held her as they listened to the gentle waves. It felt good, both to be in his arms and to understand what was going on. Adam was an intimidated probable virgin. But now it didn’t faze her, because she knew exactly how the story would end.

An Icy Martini
    “I ’m sure Susan will get in touch with us eventually,” Anna told her parents. Not because she believed it, but because she thought it was what they needed to hear.
    “It’s Susan,” her father cautioned. “You can’t be sure about anything with her.”
    All the way back home in the car, they tried everything they could to figure out where Susan could be. Called Sierra Vista. Called Delta. Even called the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Susan had taken a bungalow on her last visit to Los Angeles. Anna had tried her cell again numerous times. Nothing. It was like Susan had disappeared into thin air.
    In a way, Anna found it upsetting. In another way, it was just . . . Susan, who never did things the normal way and had taken the fast route to the bottom of the slippery slope so many times. But she always managed to land on her feet. More or less. Anna was reasonably confident that this was just going to be another one of those bizarre Susan Percy episodes.
    Now they were once again in the living room of her father’s mansion, two hours after they’d left LAX. The martini pitcher had been refilled—one of the maids must have done it—but no one was drinking.
    Jonathan drummed