Page 62 of Bring Her On

Dinner was fun and rowdy and I kind of wanted to get the kids back home to Corsica, because there was a lot of trouble they could get into in Orlando and I didn’t want to be the one in charge of dealing with it.

I wasn’t naïve, I knew that at least one of my kids had probably smuggled alcohol down here in their suitcase. I also knew that there were hookups happening as well, no matter how vigilant the chaperones were. I mean, I’d literally done it myself.

Tomorrow they headed to Disney and I’d made the decision that I wanted to hang around the hotel and maybe even get in the pool since it wouldn’t be filled with teenagers. Maybe I’d sit in the sun and read a book or something.

What are you doing tomorrow?Echo asked me, just as I was pondering what to do the next day. As if she’d read my mind.

My kids are going to Disney and I’m staying here. What about you?

Interesting. I am also squadless. What a predicament.

Indeed.

What do you think we can get away with?I asked.

I looked up and felt my face going red, even though no one knew what I was texting about.

I have a lot of ideas, Kiri. A lot of ideas.

I slept in and got room service breakfast. I was going to die when I had to go home and cook for myself again. Having food at my beck and call was the ultimate luxury.

Was Echo a good cook? I had no idea, but I wanted to find out. I bet she was. She seemed like she would be.

She and I had come a long way since then. A long way in a short time.

After a shower, I dried my hair, styled it, and put on some shorts and a tank. I hadn’t heard from Echo yet, so I texted her.

There was a knock on my door a few minutes later.

I opened it to find her grinning at me, her hair in a sloppy bun on the top of her head and her arms on display in a tank, paired with the cutest little yellow skirt I’d ever seen.

“You look amazing, wow,” I said.

“So do you. I love your hair like this.” She came in and I closed the door. “So, Kiri, what do you want to do with our day? Should we get naked now, or chat for a few minutes and then get naked?”

I picked up my bag and put it over my shoulder. “I think we should try and get to know each other with our clothes on. Wow, I cannot believe I just said that.”

Echo leaned against the bed and then looked out the window. It faced the parking lot where there were still a few cheerleaders doing jumps and fooling around, even though the competition was over.

“You want to talk and get to know me, ugh, that sounds like the worst.” She made a face, but she was joking.

“Okay, fine, we can do that. Where do you want to go? What would you like to do?”

I grinned because I’d been waiting for her to ask me that exact question.

“You’ll find out.”

“This isn’ttechnicallyDisney,” I said as the car dropped us off, “but it’s still fun.”

We were at what people called Disney Springs, a place full of shops and restaurants and lots of places to walk, but no rides other than a merry-go-round. There was also a chocolate shop and bowling and live music.

“I don’t know about this,” she said, but I took her hand and started walking. I had to stop when she wasn’t walking with me. I got yanked back and looked at her in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh, holding your hand and taking you on a walk? Isn’t this what we’re supposed to be doing?”

Echo looked down at our linked hands and up at me, her mouth opening and closing a few times. I almost laughed at how stunned she looked.