Heat Wave (15 page)

I tried first. ‘Hi, Callie.'

All pretence of sweetness dropped, her face twisted into an ugly sneer. ‘You. What are you doing here?'

I watched her pull her legs around and arrange them casually in front of her, as if my presence didn't concern her at all. I cleared my throat, and said, ‘Uh … I just wanted to stop by and say sorry again.'

‘You've said it. Now, get out. I'm waiting for someone.'

Part of me was tempted to leave her there, gussied up and awaiting a man who wasn't coming, but I wasn't that cruel. ‘Callie, I've just left Tanner. He's exhausted and needed to go to bed, so I said I'd check on you. I'm sorry.'

Her eyes narrowed in distain. ‘Talk him out of coming, did you? How insecure about yourself you must be to not even trust Tanner to spend five minutes alone in my cabin?'

‘I'm not insecure,' I blustered. ‘I was looking out for him!'

‘Whatever. You haven't won yet.' She stood, her supple legs glistening in the low light.

‘This isn't a competition, Callie.'

‘Like hell it's not. Maybe you're choosing not to play, but that's why you'll lose and I'll walk away with the prize.'

Horrified at her cavalier attitude, I said, ‘I'm here for love. If you're here for any other reason, you should at least be honest with Tanner about it.'

She ignored me, crossing to the mirror and inspecting her reflection. ‘Do you like my outfit?'

‘What?' I rolled my lips inwards, trying to find something positive to say. ‘Well, it's certainly a look, although I'm not sure it's something I'd ever wear.'

‘It's not? Hmm … maybe this was just as well.' She cut her eyes at me. ‘Let me guess—you're more of a cotton panties and tank girl in the bedroom.'

‘That's none of your—'

‘Great, good to know. Good night, Maddie.' She dismissed me, moving towards her bathroom.

Crimson shards shattered across my vision. ‘You can't just fake being me, Callie. He's smarter than that. And why would he want another version when I'm right here and we love each other?'

Her superior smirk drained the blood from my face. ‘Because, I'm good at this—really good. I don't need to be you. I just need to adopt everything about you that he loves, and then add everything else you're not capable of giving him. This isn't about love; it's about strategy.'

She closed the gap between us, her voice soft and dangerous. ‘And make no mistake, I'm going to win, Maddie, because I'm more motivated than you, and I'm smarter than you are. Plus, you can't seem to go more than ten minutes without screwing something up with Tanner. You practically do the work for me; sooner or later, you'll hand me the win.'

‘I'll tell him,' I spat back at her. ‘He'll believe me.'

‘Will he? So sure of yourself.' She tossed her hair in a mimic of one of my mannerisms. ‘Do you know how it looks when one girl starts back-stabbing another to a guy? Insecure, jealous, bitchy. He'll rush to my defence even faster. So, go right ahead.'

Her confidence was so cool and calculated, I felt myself quail. ‘You're an awful person.'

‘I'm a competitor,' she said, opening the door. ‘Learn the difference.'

Somehow, she'd gotten the upper hand, even wearing gaudy costume chaps with her ass cheeks hanging out. I left, needing to regroup.

***

I spent the next day ensconced in my cabin, planning my date day with Tanner down to the last detail. Callie had completely rattled me. I may not have agreed with her views on competition, but she'd motivated me to provide Tanner with the perfect day.
I have to top whatever she does …

Greg stopped by in the afternoon, a silly, irrepressible grin shining through his beard. ‘Hello, Ms Serendipity. How are you feeling today?'

‘Not as good as you, apparently.' I couldn't help smiling in response to his sunny disposition. ‘Have a nice night?'

He whistled as he set his camera up in the corner. ‘I did. In fact, I might have had the most stupendous, game-changing night of my life.'

Not wanting to give anything away to any cameras that might be watching, I said, ‘I'm glad. You'll have to tell me all about it some time.'

‘You got it, Hobes. So, I'm here to do your daily interview.'

‘I figured.' Sighing, I hefted myself up from the bed, my notes scattered all over the sheets.

Once I was mic-ed and settled in an armchair near the window, I said to the beady-eyed lens, ‘I'm not sure I've got much to report. I'm just sorting out what I'm doing with Tanner on our date, the day after tomorrow.'

‘What are you planning?' he asked.

‘Well, we'll be at our next port by then, so I can take him off this ship for a day trip.' I couldn't wait to put my feet on solid land again. I half-hoped that once we were free, we could just make a run for it and never come back. ‘I don't want to give anything away, but I think he'll be really happy.'

‘Is it true you had a run-in with Callie last night?' Greg questioned, genuinely interested. ‘She's saying that you barged into her room and told her to back off from Tanner.'

I almost forgot myself for a moment, wanting to simply vent to Greg as my friend. I managed to hold myself back as I said, ‘Untrue. I went to see her to apologise, that's all. Surely there's footage from our conversation?'

Greg poked his head from around the side of the camera, a patronising look on his face. ‘Dude, seriously. Footage can be cut together to look like anything. It still hasn't been decided if you're going to be the hero or the villain in this show.'

Exasperated, I said, ‘For God's sake, Greg! I don't want to end up looking like a needy ex-girlfriend. How do I get them to show me the right way?'

‘Easy. Get Tanner to choose you at the end—they won't have a choice then. And stop kicking small animals.'

I was about to squawk in defence when Sumara exploded into my room. ‘Maddie! Maddie! You'll never guess—' As she spotted Greg, she froze like an adorable ice sculpture. ‘Oh! Hi.'

‘Hey,' he replied, his gaze soft and honeyed.

I let them have a long moment of eye-sex, then asked, ‘Yes, Sumara? What am I guessing?'

She tore her eyes away from the cameraman and said, ‘You'll never guess what I've found out.'

‘What?'

She walked towards me, deliberately letting her fingers trail over Greg's shoulder, causing him to shiver. ‘I know what Callie is doing with Beau tomorrow for their date.'

‘I'm not sure I want to know,' I said, bile flooding my mouth at the thought of that wretched player alone with Tanner. ‘There's nothing I can do about it anyway.'

‘Of course there is.' Sumara plopped into the chair across from me, her leg pointed towards Greg. He allowed his boot to drift towards her, and they sat with their feet connected. ‘There aren't any rules, Maddie. All anybody cares about is making interesting TV.'

‘This one gets it,' said Greg proudly.

‘So … do you want to crash it with me?' She was practically buzzing in excitement.

Feeding into her mischievous energy, I said, ‘Why, yes! I think that's a lovely idea.'

‘You'll need a cameraman to capture your exploits,' said Greg. ‘I suppose I'll have to tag along too.'

The three of us grinned goofily as I said, ‘It's a date.'

Chapter 13

As we explained to Ricky what we needed the next morning, he just about wet himself like an excited puppy. ‘My muse asks a favour of me? Done, dunny, done, done! I have the perfect outfit for her. But what about you two?'

‘I don't think we'll need much wardrobe, Ricky,' I said, trying to call him back as he disappeared in a flurry between the racks in his collection. ‘I was just going to wear jeans.'

Sumara turned kittenish eyes on our cameraman. ‘What do you think I should wear, Greg?'

‘Sweetness, you'd look good wrapped in toilet paper,' said Greg, his eyes soft with wonder as always when he looked at her. ‘But actually, Maddie, it's not a bad idea …' Greg stroked his beard pensively. ‘You and Sumara, kitted out and on the hunt. Could be just what you need to look more interesting in the eyes of the producers, and maybe convince them you're worthy of more screen time.'

‘I don't care about screen time. I just want Tanner.'

‘Right now, you're stuck on this show, and those two things are the same. Ricky,' he said authoritatively, ‘what can you do for these two?'

Ricky sprang back towards us, waving black Lycra. ‘Can you say “sexy ninjas”, anyone?'

Half an hour of shoehorning later, and I stood clad in the least-appropriate outfit I'd ever worn—a black, skin-tight body-suit that left my arms bare and dipped dangerously between my naked breasts. The saving grace of the look was the hood, which looped up and over my head, drawing low over my eyes. Teamed with knee-high leather boots and black wraps on my wrists, I looked ready for war.

Giggles came from the other change room, and I rolled my eyes. ‘Sumara? Greg? Are you guys okay in there?'

Greg emerged, blushing crimson under his facial fuzz. ‘Uh … yeah, Sumara just needed a hand, that's all.'

‘Thanks, Gregory,' said the girl in question, adjusting the long-sleeved kimono top she wore over the world's tiniest hotpants. On her feet was a pair of kick-arse combat boots, which contrasted delightfully with her adorable blonde pigtails.

Ricky fluttered a beaded fan at his teary eyes. ‘You're just perfect, the both of you. I can't even. Oh, my feels …' He slumped in a happy daze against the wall.

Sumara grinned, tying a long black mask over her eyes, the loose ends trailing down her back like reins. ‘I think we look ready to strike out against evil, aka Callie the Fake.'

I quickly divided my hair into sections and weaved them together, allowing the braid to snake out from inside my hood and dangle beside my chest. With my friends by my sides and my butt cheeks looking their best, I felt invincible. ‘This is the Ship of Maddie, bitch. Fear me.'

‘Dammit, you guys!' Greg yelled. ‘Stop saying stupid catchy stuff until I get the camera running!'

‘Well, you better run and grab it, sweet cheeks,' said Sumara. ‘According to my source, the date kicks off just after lunch.'

***

‘Hey, Callie,' said Tanner, greeting her warmly. ‘And hello, Chilli-dog. How're you doing today?'

‘He's so much better, thanks for asking.' Callie was dressed casual-pretty, in a long linen skirt and a fitted tank. She immediately wrapped her smooth arms around him, tilting her head so the camera crew that had followed her to the deck could get a perfect shot of her joyous face pressed to his shoulder.

From our hiding spot between the potted palms on the next deck up, Sumara and I made similar hissing noises. ‘Did you see that? She's such a phoney!'

‘And I'm ninety per cent sure she called that dog a girl the other day,' I whispered back.

From behind us, Greg interjected, ‘I just have to say, with the two of you kneeling over like that, I might just have the best job in the world right now …'

‘Shh, they're talking again!' We knew the locations for the date, but not what she actually had planned.

Callie had already intertwined her arm around Tanner's, and she stroked his fingers as she said, ‘So today I've organised a three-part date; we're starting in a special room just around the corner from here, if that's okay?'

‘Lead on, partner.' Tanner acted like the perfect gentleman, and so far he hadn't done anything reproachable, but it still caused bile to rise inside my throat to watch him escort her along the deck, the two of them looking like an old couple with their dogs trotting along behind them.

We shadowed above, the cloudy day giving us coverage as Callie, Tanner and the crew walked to the entertainment deck and turned into an empty nightclub. Once they were inside, we slid down the nearest staircase and stealthily let ourselves in the secondary staff entrance.

Sumara and I commando crawled into the little sound studio at the back of the space, inching our heads up to peep through the window. A low stage at the front was arranged with instruments for live performances, and Callie had drawn Tanner up there beside her.

‘So, you don't know this about me, but I have a private passion.' She lifted an acoustic guitar from a stand and sat on a chair, plucking at the strings.

‘Unbelievable,' I whispered. ‘She's clearly just using him to try and launch her singing career.'

Callie smiled serenely. ‘I support a charity for children who don't get enough to eat in the mornings. Did you know fifteen per cent of Aussie school kids don't get breakfast before they go to school?'

Sumara whistled quietly. ‘Damn, this bitch got game …'

Tanner slowly sat in the chair across from her. ‘Darlin', I didn't know that, but I know it's about the same for the States. I was one of those kids when I was in school.'

‘You were?' Her fingers began to strum a gentle tune as their camera crew set up as subtly as they could. ‘Why?'

‘Well, me and my pa, we used to start the day together at the crack of dawn …' Tanner's face glowed as I watched him recall those happy days. ‘We'd be out with the cattle early, and we liked to pretend that I didn't have time to eat. But the truth was …'

‘You couldn't afford it, could you?' asked Callie softly.

He shrugged. ‘Nah. It made more sense for me to fill up on the school lunch than run up our costs at home. I think part of the reason I wasn't ever any good in class was because I was always too hungry to learn anything in the mornings.'

‘Did you know that?' asked Sumara.

‘No …' Sorrowful, I shook my head. ‘He always just said he wasn't much of a breakfast person …'