"Thatta girl!" said Mason.

"Not now, Mason, they're late for dinner," said Jack, wryly.

"Oh, that sucks. Well, hopefully we'll see you later at the club."

"Will we see you there?" asked Jack, addressing his question to Candi.

"I don't know, we'll see."

"Yes, definitely. See you guys later," said Sarah as she stood to go. "Thanks for the drink, hot stuff. See you soon." She leaned over and kissed Mason right on the mouth.

Candi stood there, frozen in place. Then looked at Jack with a panicked expression on her face.

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. "I hope I see you later, Candi. Have a nice dinner."

Sarah grabbed Candi by the upper arm. "Come on, Cinderella; time to go to dinner. We'll see the boys later."

Candi snapped out of her reverie, letting herself be led away. "Bye!" she said over her shoulder.

She couldn't believe it. Jack had kissed her on the cheek. It was her first kiss from a guy who wasn't playing spin the bottle at a junior high birthday party. Well, okay, so it wasn't on the lips but it was still a kiss and it counted. She sighed with contentment as they walked towards the doors to the dining room.

Sarah laughed. "So, what do you think of the cruise so far?"

"So far, so good," responded Candi, smiling.

"Excellent. Now let's go to dinner and see how much we can p.i.s.s off old Frank."

Candi grabbed her by the arm to stop her from going into the dining room. "Do you really need to try so hard to do that p.i.s.s your dad off, I mean?" Candi didn't want to see her new friend get hurt. She also didn't want to have to sit through what was surely going to be a very uncomfortable meal after Mr. Peterson flipped out.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't have to try hard at all." She gave Candi a hard look and then opened the doors, stepping through them, without worrying about whether Candi was following.

The room was full of people sitting at round tables covered in light cream-colored linen. Waiters and waitresses in uniforms were hurrying from table to kitchen and back again in what looked to be a carefully synchronized operation designed to get everyone fed in two hours and then out again so the second seating could begin. The far wall was mostly gla.s.s, with a view out to the ocean beyond. The sun was setting and the rays of red and orange light streaking across the sky made a perfect backdrop for the formal dining room.

Candi saw that Sarah had spied her parents at a far table and was making her way over. Kevin was facing her, as were Mr. and Mrs. Buckley. Candi know when Kevin saw her because he rolled his eyes in greeting. The Buckleys both stopped doing what they were doing, frozen in place, staring at Sarah as she approached.

Frank didn't notice anything was amiss and kept right on talking. As Candi approached, she heard him saying something about the current software market and blah, blah, blah. Mrs. Peterson's seat was facing away from Sarah also, so she had no idea what was coming either.

Jonathan was looking at his parents' faces. He turned his head to see what had caught their attention so completely. It was then that he noticed Sarah coming across the dining room towards their table.

She was practically prowling across the room, taking long strides in her impossibly high heels, looking like a leopard-spotted man killer after its prey. She was stalking something... but what?

Uh-oh. Too late Jonathan realized that it wasn't a what, but a who. Mr. Peterson, specifically. She was homing in on the table, looking like she was on a mission. Her long hair was blowing back away from her face; she looked like she was on one of those fashion runways. Her legs were so tan, he could see the definition in her thigh muscles as each leg came forward, bringing her closer and closer to her victim.

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple moving slowly up and down as he struggled to get the swallow to finish. She was so beautiful, it took all the spit out of his mouth. It was fascinating really, when he stopped for a split second to think about it. He was going to have to research this phenomenon when he got home.

Sarah reached the table, standing behind the empty seat next to her father. "h.e.l.lo, everyone," she said with a purr in her voice.

Frank stopped in mid-sentence and looked up. Everyone else at the table looked first at her, then at Frank.

Frank had been talking and eating at the same time. His fork now floated midway between his plate and his mouth, a leaf of lettuce dangling from its end. The knife he was holding in his opposite hand dropped, making a clattering sound on the plate as it landed.

Frank slowly lowered his fork down to the table.

"h.e.l.lo, Sarah. Nice of you to show up." He paused to look her up and down. With barely contained anger, he continued, "I thought I told you to dress up for dinner."

She smiled sweetly back at him. "Thank you, I'm so glad to be here. And as you can see, I did dress up for dinner. I wore this for you." She spun around in a flirty circle, which had the unfortunate effect of causing her dress to twirl up a little, revealing even more of her tanned thigh than was already showing.

"That's it!" Frank said loudly, as he struggled to get up out of his chair.

Just then, Candi arrived at the table, jumping to Sarah's side, grabbing her upper arm in the process and squeezing it effectively blocking the back of Frank's chair and halting his attempt at getting up.

"Hi guys! Are we too late? We rushed to get here. It's my fault we're late! Sarah was helping me get dressed and do my makeup. We didn't realize what time it was. She didn't have time to change, did you Sarah?"

She didn't even look at Sarah, just continued on, "So what do you think? Do you like the hair, Mom? I just love it." She paused to look over at Sarah's mom. "You see, Mrs. Peterson, I have the driest hair, and I've never been able to work with it. Sarah took one look at it and within seconds had it all fixed; I'm so excited because I think now I can figure out how to make it look nice and maybe not so frizzy all the time because, you know, my hair is so frizzy, it's like straw, isn't it Sarah?" She had to suck in a loud gulp of air since she had been babbling without taking a second to breathe.

She looked expectantly at Sarah, almost frenzied in a way.

Sarah sighed loudly. "You are a complete freak, you know that?" Then she smiled, despite herself. Candi was wigging out, and apparently Sarah found it pretty entertaining.

"Candi," started her mother, "what's wrong with you? Have you been ... drinking or something? You're acting very strangely ... "

Kevin stood up all of a sudden, distracting the parents with the unexpected movement. "Well, I for one think you look amazing, Candi, beautiful in fact. Here have my seat." He gestured for her to sit in the place he had just vacated which was across from Candi's parents.

This was probably the best place for her, since this way, Mrs. Buckley wouldn't be able to smell what Jonathan thought was probably going to be alcohol breath whenever Candi started talking.

"Well, thank you, Kevin." Candi walked over and took his seat. Now she was sitting close to the still steaming, but slightly mollified Mr. Peterson.

"Come on, Sarah, you can come sit over here between me and Jonathan. Maybe you can share some of your hair-do know-how with us guys," Kevin said sarcastically.

"As long as the pervert promises to keep his hands and his eyes to himself," Sarah said, staring pointedly at Jonathan. She had lost her predatory look and didn't seem happy about it.

Mrs. Buckley looked over at her son, a big question mark on her face, probably horrified to think about what Sarah could possibly be referring to.

Mr. Buckley just frowned, looking at his son as if confused about what Sarah was saying and trying to figure out the meaning behind the mysterious words.

Mrs. Peterson looked over at Jonathan with her right eyebrow raised, making him feel like he'd been accused of doing something terrible to her daughter.

Frank just gritted his teeth and stared at the ceiling of the dining room. It was taking all his self-control to keep his rage in check, that much was obvious. Jonathan feared that Sarah was going to be very sorry she provoked her father tonight; he didn't look like the type that forgave and forgot.

Jonathan was frustrated by all the suspicious looks being pointed in his direction. He couldn't let her words go unanswered. "I'm not. A. Pervert. I told you, I fell."

Kevin stood by the chair next to Jonathan's and reached over to pat him on the back. "We know, man, we know. Just eat your burger."

He pulled the chair out for his sister to sit in.

Jonathan looked down at his half-eaten meal and frowned. How did he end up being the bad guy here? That Sarah is trouble and that's a fact. He wished she didn't make his heart beat faster and his pulse start racing. She'd be a lot easier to dislike if she wasn't so beautiful.

Sarah sat down, and a wave of her perfume washed over him. He tried not to, but he couldn't help it he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He'd never noticed that a girl could smell so good. His mother and sister didn't smell like this at all. They just smelled like, well, nothing.

Sarah, on the other hand, smelled like, like ... he couldn't think because the blood was not only pounding in his ears, it was pounding in other places now, too. Oh G.o.d, please don't make me have to get up from this chair right now!

Sarah leaned over casually and whispered in his ear, "Stop. Smelling. Me. You. Perv."

Jonathan gripped his fork really hard, slowly turning his head to look at her. He stared her right in the eye, answering her in a tightly controlled voice. "I am not a pervert."

He was completely disarmed when she smiled at him and said, "Gotcha."

He turned back to look down at his plate. Holy c.r.a.p. She was totally s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with him, and he was now just figuring it out. This girl is wicked tricky. He was going to have to be on his toes around her for sure. The thought made him smile. He was super good at chess. Once he knew the game, no one could out strategize him. He turned to her then and said, "You think you do, but you don't." Ha. Let her stew on that for a while.

A loud squeak leapt out of his mouth at the exact moment he felt her squeeze his thigh high up ... like really high up. Then he choked. It wasn't on food, since he didn't have any in his mouth at the time. It was probably on spit or drool or something. Whatever it was, it had him gasping for air.

Kevin reached around his sister's chair and started clapping Jonathan on the back. Jonathan grabbed his gla.s.s of water and started chugging it.

Sarah looked at him sweetly. "What's the matter, Jonathan?"

"You ... ! You ... !" Words were failing him. He couldn't very well accuse her of grabbing his leg in front of their families.

"I what?" she asked sweetly, lifting her hands above the table and spreading them out in an act of innocence.

Jonathan stopped trying to talk, shaking his head in silence and lifting his eyes to stare up at the ceiling. He thought maybe he was feeling a small measure of Frank Peterson's pain, and felt less inclined to judge him harshly in that moment. Sarah knew how to get under a guy's skin. Somehow, she'd honed her skill to levels he'd never experienced before.

Kevin looked at Jonathan with questions in his eyes and then his eyes went to his sister. Jonathan could see him doing the math. A smile broke out across Kevin's face as he bit into his dinner roll, finishing half of it in one bite. He looked over at Candi and winked. Jonathan wasn't sure if he was happy that Kevin was obviously on to his sister's games or not.

Kevin leaned over to talk to Jonathan behind his sister's back.

"Dude, you're gonna be my wingman tonight, right?"

"What?"

"My wingman. My sidekick? My Robin?"

"Robin? What are you talking about?"

"I'm Batman, you're Robin. We're going out tonight to pick up some chicks."

Jonathan kept on eating and talked while looking at his plate. "I'm not going to wear any tights or a stupid cape if that's what you're talking about. I don't know what Sarah's been saying to you, but I am not a pervert."

Kevin laughed and shook his head. "No tights, no cape, man. Don't be a cheese brain, just shut up and eat. We leave in thirty minutes."

"Okay, fine." Jonathan didn't really know what he was supposed to do as a wingman, but whatever. He had nothing better to do anyway. He didn't feel like studying for his chemistry exam, even though he knew he probably should.

CHAPTER FOUR.

Making Friends Thirty minutes later, Kevin put his napkin on the table next to his plate and stood up. "We're outta here. Come on, Jon."

"Where do you think you're going?" asked his mother.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe go do the rock climbing thing or shoot some pool."

Jonathan interrupted, "But I thought you said ... "

Kevin clapped him on the back, making him fall forward against the table. "Yep, I did say we were going to go to the putting green too, didn't I, Jon? Thanks for reminding me. We're also going to play a little golf if we have time." He gave the parents his best toothpaste commercial smile.

Frank looked at his son suspiciously, but Kevin's mother was easily fooled by her son's charm. "Okay, sweetie, that sounds like fun. Remember though no alcohol."

"Of course not, Mom. You know I don't drink that stuff."

"But ... ," said Jonathan, pointing to Kevin's chest and then pointing at the table, obviously confused.

"We'd better hurry up before all the reservation slots are taken." Kevin grabbed Jonathan by the upper arm and started pulling him from the table.

"Bye, Mom and Dad. Bye, Candi." Jonathan was shouting from two tables away since Kevin was intent on getting him out of there before he blew the lid off their plans.

Sheesh, this kid doesn't have a clue. If he had told his parents they were going to the bar, it would have ended their cruise freedom and fun for sure.

"Dude, what is your problem? You know you can't tell them we're going to the bar."

"Why not?"

"Because we're not supposed to do that; we're underage."

"So why are we doing it then? I'm not really used to lying to my parents, Kevin. I'm not sure that's something I'm comfortable doing."

They continued walking down the pa.s.sageways that would take them to a bar that was not the one Frank had mentioned the parents were going to after dinner.

"Well, it's done, so don't worry about it. We're going to go have some serious fun."

"That rock climbing thing sounded fun ... "

"Yeah, you can do that tomorrow afternoon if you want. I'll be in the pool."

"So did the golf. I'm really good at putt-putt, actually."

"Tomorrow."

"Why can't we do it now?"

Kevin stopped and faced Jonathan, frustrated that he had to practically force this kid to have fun. "Listen, dude, do you want to have fun tonight or not?"

"Well, yeah."