I almost laughed out loud at that. My parents? I'd been worried he was set to call the police. My parents I could handle. The police were another matter entirely.

"Oh," I said when the elevator stopped and Marcus opened the door and let me back out into the little corridor off the courtyard where they kept the pool. "All right." I tried to put a lot of petulant

disappointment in my voice. "I promise."

"Thank you," Marcus said.

He nodded, and then started walking me toward the front door.

He probably would have kicked me out without another thought if it hadn't been for the fact that as we were heading past the pool I happened to notice that someone was swimming laps in it. I couldn't tell who it was at first. It was really dark out, the night sky both moonless and starless because of a thick layer of clouds, and the only lights were the big round ones under the water. They made the person in it look all distorted – kind of like Mr. Beaumont's face with the light from the aquarium all over it.

But then the swimmer reached the end of the pool and, his exercise regimen apparently complete, lifted himself out of it, and reached for a towel he'd thrown across a deck chair.

I froze.

And not just because I recognized him. I froze because really, it's not every day you see a Greek god right here on earth.

I mean it. Tad Beaumont in a bathing suit was a beautiful sight to see. In the blue light from the pool, he looked like an Adonis, with water sparkling all over the dark hair that coated his chest and legs. And if

his abs weren't quite as impressive as Jesse's, well, at least he had a really buff set of biceps to make up for it.

"Hi, Tad," I said.

Tad looked up. He'd been drying himself with the towel. Now he paused and looked me over.

"Oh, hey," he said, recognizing me. A big smile broke out across his face. "It's you."

Cee Cee had been right. He didn't even know my name.

"Yeah," I said. "Suze Simon. From Kelly Prescott's party."

"Sure, I remember." Tad sauntered over to us, the towel slung casually over his shoulders. "How you doin'?"

His smile was something to see, let me tell you. His dad had probably paid some orthodontist a pretty penny for it, but it was worth it, every cent.

"You know this young lady, Tad?" Marcus said, his disbelief evident in his tone.

"Oh, sure," Tad said. He stood next to me, water still dripping from his dark hair like diamonds. "We go way back."

"Well," Marcus said. And then he evidently couldn't think of anything to add to that, since he said it again. "Well."

And then, after an awkward silence, he said it a third time, but then added, "I guess I'll leave you two alone then. Tad, you'll show Miss Simon the way out?"

"Sure," Tad said. Then, when Marcus had disappeared back through the sliding glass doors into the house, he whispered, "Sorry about that. Marcus is a great guy, but he's kind of a worrier."

Having met his boss, I didn't exactly blame Marcus for worrying. But since I couldn't say that to Tad, I just went, "I'm sure he's very nice."

And then I told him about the story I was doing for the school paper. I figured even if they discussed it later, his dad wasn't going to go, "Oh, no, that's not why she was here. She was here to tell me about this dream she had."

And even if he did, he was so weird I doubt even his own son would believe him.

"Huh," Tad said when I was through describing my article on the ten most influential people in Carmel. "That's cool."

"Yeah," I babbled on. "I didn't even know he was your dad." God, I can lay it on when I try. "I mean, I never did get your last name. So this is a real surprise. Hey, listen, can I borrow a phone? I've got to see about engineering a ride home."

Tad looked down at me in surprise. "You need a ride? No sweat. I'll take you."

I couldn't help looking him up and down. I mean, he was practically naked, and all. Okay, well, not naked, since he was wearing a pair of swimming trunks that did reach practically to his knees. But he was naked enough for me not to be able to look away.

"Um," I said. "Thanks."

He followed my gaze, and looked down at his dripping shorts.

"Oh," he said, the beautiful smile going gorgeously sheepish. "Let me just throw something on first. Wait here for me?"

And he took the towel from around his neck and started toward the back of his house –

But froze when I gasped and said, "Oh my God! What's wrong with your neck?"

Instantly, he hunched his shoulders, and spun around to face me again. "Nothing," he said too fast.

"There most certainly is not nothing wrong with it," I said, taking a step toward him. "You've got some kind of horrible – "

And then, my voice trailing off, I dropped my gaze down toward my hands.

"Look," Tad said, uncomfortably. "It's just poison oak. I know it's gross. I've had it for a couple of days. It looks worse than it is. I don't how I got it, especially on the back of my neck, but – "

"I do."

I held up both my hands. In the blue glow from the pool lights, the rash on them looked particularly grotesque – just like the rash on the back of his neck.

"I tripped and fell into some plants the night of Kelly's party," I explained. "And right after that, you asked me to dance...."

Tad looked down at my hands. Then he started to laugh.

"I'm so sorry," I said. I really felt bad. I mean, I had disfigured the guy. This incredibly sexy,

fabulous-looking guy. "Really, you don't know – "

But Tad just kept laughing. And after a while, I started laughing with him.

CHAPTER

9

"Shuttered," Father Dominic repeated. "The windows were shuttered?"

"Well, not all of them," I said. I was sitting in the chair across from his desk, picking at my poison oak. The hydrocortisone was drying it out. Now, instead of oozy, it was just plain scaly. "Just the ones in his office, or whatever it was. He said he's sensitive to light."

"And you say he kept staring at your neck?"

"At my necklace. It was his assistant who checked out my throat like he expected to see a giant hickey there, or something. But you're missing the point, Father Dom."