Chapter 10

Eva finished her wife's champagne and left the glass on the bedroom bar, far away from other people and the bottle that would refill it. Instead, the people (and the bottle) were on the other side of the room, making full use of the hot tub that had become a veritable vat of "babe soup" now that Eva's secret ingredient was added to the mix.

God, she's hot. Every time she looked over, it was Nadia who caught her eye. Between the soft red hair, the pale shoulders, and the bold blue bikini, it took all of Eva's natural restraint to not go over there and make a fool of herself.

It was best to keep the conversation going far away from the tub.

"Tell me." She helped herself to the small gap separating Jane and Rebecca, who remained in their own world by the big bedroom window. "Who's got the most bombastic rack? My wife or yours, Wong?"

Jane was only slightly nonplussed. Was I not supposed to mention that I know she and Caitlyn are married again? Eva was getting too old to keep up with everyone's gossip.

"I'm biased," Jane eventually said. "I'll always vote for the tits I've had my face in."

Eva glanced back at Rebecca behind her. "How about you, huh? Want to cast a vote for ‘best tits in the tub?'"

"Oh, I am staying out of this."

"We smaller-breasted women have to stay together over here," Jane said.

"Tell that to Shelby. Flat as a pancake."

Jane smiled in Eva's direction. "Never stopped a woman from drop-dead gorgeousness."

Eva pointed both index fingers in the air. "I would drink to that if I had a glass in hand. Sadly, I do not."

Jane offered hers; Eva declined. "Next we'll ask who the tallest woman in the room is. Would you like to win that bet, Warren?"

"Completely unfair. Not even that modelesque Kelly Sugimoto is half as tall as I am."

While Rebecca braced both of her elbows on the ledge behind her and relaxed, Jane tensed up, her full focus now on Eva. "All right. I'll bite. What game are you playing tonight?"

"Game? What game? I didn't realize I played a game."

"I only can't tell if it's kinky or not," Jane continued as if Eva hadn't said a thing. "Maybe not, but you're holding all the cards in the current round. Nadia has no idea, does she?"

That got Rebecca's attention again. "Don't rope me into it, whatever it is. Nadia will be soooo mad at me if I knew and didn't warn her. You both know how she can be."

"We know how almost everyone in this room can be," Eva said. "At least I do. Only reason I was invited to this shindig is because I once dated the hostess."

Jane's eyebrows met her hairline. "Did you? How was that?"

"Let's say she's calmed down considerably since we dated in our mid-twenties. One of the reasons we broke up after only a month is because she was way too adventurous for me. I can only deep-sea scuba, zipline, and skydive so many times before I throw up. My sense of adventure trends more toward the bedroom."

"I admit," Jane said, "I feel exhausted hearing those three things together. Not the bedroom part, though."

"Oh, no, never that."

Rebecca cleared her throat next to Eva. "You are definitely up to something."

"Oooh," Jane interjected before Eva had the chance to defend herself. "If Becca is commenting on it, you've fucked up, Warren."

All Eva could do was fully stretch against the ledge, her bare foot almost extended far enough to reach the tiles leading to the hot tub. "I thought you didn't want to get involved, dear," she said to Rebecca, who sighed in frustration.

"At least tell us your dastardly plan," Jane said. "I've heard you can be an absolute tease, but this is the worst."

"Mm, I don't know." Eva craned her neck back to get a good look at Rebecca's tired visage. "I wouldn't want word getting back to Nadia and ruining the fun."

"If it's happening tonight, I won't tell a thing," Rebecca promised. "I'll be too exhausted. Plus, not enough opportunity. Because I doubt you're planning something dangerous."

"Only to my pride," Eva admitted.

"Even better. I'm almost rooting for that to happen."

"I don't know what you two talk about, but anything she says about our marriage is an exaggeration. It's how she vents."

Jane laughed. "To be fair, if I were married to you, I'd be venting to our Becca, too. You seem much wilier than our dear Cait."

"To be fair, your Cait has got the cajónes of a woman who plies her trade on FansOnly."

Rebecca erupted into awkward laughter, especially when Eva paired that statement with a gesture that implied her breasts were anything to write home about. The confusion was instantly on Jane's face, but she took her time replying.

"Dare I ask what ‘cajónes' means?" she asked. "Because I don't think it means tits."

"Balls, Jane." Rebecca got up to get more champagne. "It means balls."

Jane relaxed against the ledge. "You're right about that, Warren. Cait has balls."

"Oh, I have seen them. Gorgeous balls."

Jane didn't let the comment get to her. "Are you going to tell me what you're up to, or are you here to pass the time by taunting me with forbidden knowledge?"

A mischievous grin could not be contained in Eva's wicked countenance. "You tell me what you think I'm up to. You're a worldly woman who has been around a few freaky blocks, Wong. Your own romantic arrangement is something that makes other women curiously concerned. It's not everyone who can handle two partners at once."

"The day I hear that you two have gone poly is the day I move back in with my mother."

"I never said anything about going poly." Eva wrapped her arms behind her head. "My only interest is making my wife feel like she's hot enough to be mine, let alone everyone else's."

"I know insecurity comes for everyone, but the thought of your wife being worried about how she looks almost makes me laugh. Everyone wants a bite of that juicy red apple."

"Watch it that you don't call her a juicy apple within earshot," Eva warned. "It's that apple shape that gets her worked up more than everything else."

"Bet it gets you worked up, too."

"In all the most wonderful ways, of course." Eva glanced back at Nadia, who engaged in conversation with Caitlyn. "Though I wouldn't kick your woman out of bed for eating crackers."

"The feeling is mutual, of course."

Rebecca stood before them, her glass of champagne bubblier than her personality. "You guys are being perverts, aren't you?"

Jane gestured for Rebecca to join them on the ledge once more. "Simply enjoying the sights, love." When Rebecca sat, it was in the nook of Jane's arm. "Including the sight of you."

So smooth. Eva was pushed farther to the left so the other couple could canoodle next to her. In the hot tub, laughter and exclamations of disbelief rang louder than the jets adding to the party-like atmosphere. Eva was an island. A contemplative, scheming island. Lord, I hope this works. This night would either end with the hottest sex of the past three months, or with a slap.

She couldn't wait to see which! As long as I'm getting some attention around here… It really was as simple as that for Evangeline Warren.

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After the first few awkward minutes, Nadia realized that everyone else cared about her body as much as they cared about Caitlyn's – which was to say that they noticed her there, but no visible judgment flashed in their eyes.

It was easy enough to engage in conversation when she knew women like Caitlyn and, to a lesser extent, Belle Cherise. Shelby came off as a nervous person but quickly warmed up to Nadia after one made the other laugh with some observation about the weather in Hawaii. Kelly was the most aloof, but even she was placated when Nadia announced that her favorite place to travel was tropical places like this and the Caribbean, where she made sure to point out that "her family" had their own private island. Because I know women like Kelly value that kind of flaunting. Otherwise, Nadia was loathed to admit such a thing.

"Oh, it is a sight to behold," Belle said with a generous smile to the rest of the tub. "I've been to a few islands out there, and while none of them compared to Hawaii, of course, the Warrens' island is very close. Some of the purest sand around, isn't it?"

Nadia was prompted to respond. "Yes, of course." She supposed that was true.

"Is it still possible to borrow or rent it for a weekend? Or even a week?" Belle waggled her immaculate eyebrows in Nadia's direction. "I'd love to go there again. Maybe take some mainlander I don't want to know my exact location."

"Sounds like you have someone in mind," Shelby said. "You dating again?"

"Oh, honey, I like to keep my options open."

She said that while openly staring at Nadia. Caitlyn almost dropped her glass in the water once she noticed. Kelly's attention was also attuned to the far corner of the tub. Shelby was the only one who didn't seem to care.

Why is she looking at me when she says that?

"I don't know if they're lending it out to anyone," Nadia said to break the silence. "You'd have to ask Eva. I'm not even sure who technically owns the island. It might be her parents. Or it might be in the big family trust."

"It must be in the trust," Kelly said, "because aren't her parents technically broke?"

Nadia shrugged. It was Belle who saved the conversation.

"Let's not talk about money," she said, "or parents. Otherwise, I'll be here all night complaining about mine."

The others chuckled. Kelly agreed she could drink to that and did.

Nadia honestly thought she'd have more fun in the tub once she acclimated, but what she didn't count on was Eva keeping to her side of the room with Jane and Rebecca. What are they even talking about? It wasn't long before the three of them got up and announced they were rustling up some food from the kitchen or possibly ordering something from the restaurant downstairs. Belle waved them off. Nobody asked if the hot tubbers wanted anything. Nadia took it as a sign that her wife and friends were either too tipsy to think about asking, or they had another plan in mind.

"Don't mind me." Caitlyn interrupted Nadia's thoughts when her foot broke the surface in the middle of the hot tub. "I have to check for pruning. Old habits from the pageant circuit are hard to break."

Shelby's mouth remained long dropped even after Caitlyn put her naked leg back down. "Wow," she gasped. "What's it like being so… bombastic?"

Caitlyn was so caught off guard by that question that she perked up too quickly to control the rest of her body's reaction. That meant her breasts bobbed against the surface of the bubbly water. Even Nadia couldn't ignore what she saw before her. Damn is right. She was grateful that hers remained constrained in her bikini top – and they would stay that way.

"What size are those, anyway?" Kelly bluntly asked. "Like a G-cup?"

Once Caitlyn realized what this was about, she settled back into the water, eyes rolling. If she was looking for sympathy from Nadia, though, she didn't know what she was doing – because Nadia had also been wondering for a while. If my true cup size is a DD, then hers has to be bigger. Right? She was the first to admit that she wasn't sure how bra sizes worked. All she knew was that her bikini top didn't follow the same rules, and "XL" meant nothing.

"E," Caitlyn said with a tight jaw. "Although you know how it is. Sometimes I can get away with a sturdy D if it's the right brand. I only must wear it long enough for someone in my family to rip it off by the end of the night."

Kelly slapped her hand over her mouth, although her squeak of mirth was still audible to everyone in the tub. Shelby snorted. Belle grinned. Nadia was the only one pretending she hadn't heard that. I thought you were the one ripping bras off in your house? Or was that the way Rebecca painted it because it turned her on the most?

"Free-range titties, girls." Caitlyn pushed her elbows into the tiles behind her and lifted her chest out of the water. "It's the way to party."

Kelly stood up, her long legs attracting more attention than the water dripping off her naked nipples. Shelby soon joined in, ripping off her bikini top and tossing it onto the tiles. Belle chastised her for almost hitting the carpet before following the same plan. Soon, Nadia was the only one still locked in her bikini. The others were knee-deep in comparing each other's shapes and sizes – of everything, not only their breasts – and giving tips based on what worked best for them. For cellulite. For chafing. For everything… Although Nadia had some advice on chafing in the thunder-thigh department, she did not share any of her hot tips. She was too busy wondering if it was uncouth of her to remain strapped into her bikini top.

Because she sure as hell was not taking it off until she got back to the condo!

"Are you shy?" While the other three argued over which stretch-mark cream got the best results, Belle pushed herself closer to Nadia. "Why don't you join us? I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering what you've got hiding under there."

Butterflies shooting up Nadia's throat threatened to choke her where she sat in the corner of the hot tub. "Yes. I am shy, actually."

"Fair enough." Belle drifted away again. "I bet they rock, though."

Is she… flirting with me?

It was too hard to tell when Belle was the talented hostess who never let any of her guests feel left out of the conversation. When she wasn't whispering in Nadia's direction, her pink hair was pointed toward Kelly and sweetly telling her off for being too blunt about what she thought about Shelby's hip dimples. Or she was picking Caitlyn's brain about what it had been like to be a Midwestern beauty queen. Nadia pretended that she had never thought that Belle might have been flirting with her. It was utterly absurd.

Kelly was the first to announce that she was leaving, with the excuse that she had a flight to Lanai the next day. She draped her wet bikini top over her shoulder and stepped into the master bath, where she toweled off and put on the clothes she had attended the party with. Her bikini top hung from her hand, her stiff nipples poking through her sheer top as she blew a kiss in the tub's direction. Nadia realized that the other three guests – including her wife – were still in the kitchen because Jane didn't let Kelly leave without an exclamation about how hot she was.

"She's going out like that, huh?"

Nadia hadn't intended for anyone to hear her, yet Caitlyn answered. "Some women have no shame, in the best of ways."

"You like that look, huh?"

"I admire any woman who lets it all fly like that."

"Are you the type to do that?"

Caitlyn grinned. "There was a time in my twenties when I would do exactly that. Now? I prefer to keep it to certain situations. Like this one."

"I guess I am a prude. It took all my strength to take off my top."

A small commotion broke out as Shelby and Belle got out of the tub and headed into the bathroom with their towels. Apparently, Shelby was leaving as well. Caitlyn was in no hurry, though. "I don't think it makes you prudish. You've got boundaries. That's admirable, too. In fact, I think it's great that everyone has such different boundaries. Some women let their freak flags fly out in public, others like to keep things private behind closed doors. It takes all kinds in this world. Guess I'm the way I am now because I got used to being visually dissected in my old career. It took me years to be comfortable with my body hanging out there, though, and it only happened because I decided to pursue that level of comfort. Nobody else has to."

Although Nadia nodded, she had a hard time following Caitlyn's words. There are already too many words in my head. Each word wrestled with another for control over fully intelligible sentences, until all she had in her mind was utter gibberish.

"Guess we should get out, too." Nadia searched for the clothes left in a neat pile behind her. I should dry off before putting those on, though… Was there enough room in Belle's bathroom for two more? "Before we prune too badly."

Caitlyn agreed with that. Yet before she had the chance to get up, Nadia was already out, grabbing her clothes and traipsing across the dry carpet to hide out in the bathroom until she was properly dry enough to put at least her shirt back on.