Pretty Packages by Mi'Chelle Dodson Page B

it. She wanted to be the one slow dancing with Kentucky . She wanted his arms around her. In short, she wanted to be his.
    The more the night wore on, Giada became inundated with thoughts of Pinky returning to the boat with them. Fabian had mentioned that he was okay with Kentucky inviting his date back to the yacht for a nightcap, especially since that was the same privilege he regularly afforded Bartley.
    If she comes back to that boat, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Giada continued to sip her non-alcoholic drink, which was starting to taste like it could be the real thing.
    I don’t think I can handle Kenny sleeping with someone else right down the hall from me. Giada overlooked the fact that she’d done that very thing over the last three weeks. Like so many others before her, she couldn’t handle the shoe being on the other foot.
    She has to go, Giada decided selfishly, looking for the first opportunity to get rid of Pinky.
    That opportunity came when Pinky excused herself to the ladies’ room. Giada followed right behind her, walking a little unsteadily on her feet for some reason.
    “Are you coming back to the boat with us tonight?” Giada asked Pinky as they refreshed their makeup in the large bathroom mirror.
    Pinky smiled. “If Kentucky asks me to,” she replied, showing how conducive she was to the idea.
    “Well, if you do, I hope you’re into S & M, because Kentucky likes it rough based on what the last woman told me,” Giada lied. “I thought we were going to have to call the coast guard in when I heard that girl screaming at the top of her lungs that night.” She shook her head with fake sadness.
    “I called to check on her just yesterday, and the child still ain’t right yet.”
    Pinky stiffened. “ Kentucky ’s into beating and bondage?” Her eyes looked fearful.
    “Yes.” Giada nodded. “And so much more. I thought I would tell you so you’d know what you were in for tonight.” She shrugged. “But hey, you should be all right. Your frame is much sturdier than the last girl’s.”
    On that note, Giada left the restroom so that Pinky could have some time to mull over what she would do. She knew she’d taken a chance by lying on Kentucky like that. But it was a chance Giada was willing to take in order to . . . in order to . . . save him for herself?
    Now if I can only get rid of Fabian. Or at least get away from him for a while. Giada needed some time alone to just think about what she really wanted in life. She needed to particularly think about who she really wanted in her love life.
     
    * * * *
     
    “Where’s Pinky?” Kentucky asked when Giada returned to the table alone. He exited the seat so that she could return to her place beside Fabian.
    “I left her in the bathroom. She should be here in a little bit,” Giada replied innocently, settling into her former seat. She looked down at her glass and noticed that it was full again. “Who refilled my glass?”
    “Fabian,” Kentucky replied, sending her a look that reeked of caution.
    Though she didn’t fully understand that look, Giada knew not to touch that drink. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Fabian frown with irritation at the unusual connection she and Kentucky seemed to have with one another. It was almost as if they could read each other’s minds at times.
    “Thanks for the refill,” Giada told Fabian, even though she failed to actually bring the drink to her lips again.
    Just then, a waitress came up to their table with a note. “Which of you goes by the name Kentucky ?” she asked.
    “I do,” Kentucky replied.
    “A tall lady in pink left this for you.” The waitress handed him the note and departed.
    Giada held her breath as Kentucky unfolded the pink slip of paper and read the note. A frown creased his brow a few seconds later. Confusion shrouded his features.
    “Is something wrong?” Bartley asked, looking over at him with glazed eyes. He’d had one drink too many tonight.
    “No, Pinky