The Company You Keep. Tracy Kelleher

Extraordinary insight?”

      He stared at her, turning his head this way and that, as if trying to analyze every curve of her face. “No, you’re smart, but I’m pretty sure I’m smarter. No offense.”

      “I’m not so sure about that.” Actually, she was pretty sure, but she wasn’t going to admit it. She was no dope. She may have been a legacy admission—her family had been Grantham graduates and generous donors for generations—but she had been at the top of her class at prep school and had aced the college entrance exams. True, her grades in college weren’t exactly great, but then she had chosen to spend her time on sports, the newspaper and her social life.

      Whereas Vic Golinski, despite devoting countless hours to football and the Big Brother program—she had listened to his introduction, as well—was graduating Phi Beta Kappa. In their junior year he had won the prize for the highest cumulative GPA for a student in the social sciences. Even if the guy spent every night in the library, he had to be extra smart to beat out all the other smart people at Grantham.

      He pointed his finger at her, then at himself. “No, I think it’s because there’s something between you and me—something despite the fact that we are polar opposites.”

      “Maybe we’re actually attuned to each other in ways unimaginable?”

      “Oh, I can imagine all right,” he said teasingly. They continued to shift and sway, their faces so close to contact, but not quite.

      Mimi felt giddy, felt herself tremble. “You know what they say? Opposites attract.” She grabbed his finger when he pointed it at her. She felt possessive.

      He looked at her hand on his. “Why’d you do that?”

      Because she wanted him. “Because you shouldn’t point at people,” she answered instead.

      “You’re teaching me manners now?” He angled his head one more time and brought his lips near hers.

      She angled her head the other way, but kept their mouths close. “So, is this where you assert your manliness and kiss me?”

      He put his hands on her waist. Drew her hips to his.

      She was sure she could feel evidence of his arousal. She put her hands on his shoulders and went up on her toes. She held her breath, closed her eyes. Felt his hands squeeze her waist, felt him lift her effortlessly off the ground. Felt him hesitate then…

      Then toss her into the water.

      Splash!

      Mimi landed on her bottom in the shallow pool. She opened her eyes and coughed to clear her airway. Water streaked down her face and soaked her clothes. She flailed, reaching out on either side to gain her balance. She tried to push herself up, wobbled and fell back on her rump again. Water weighed down her clothes, soaked her shoes. Overhead, the fountain showered her hair and face. “Argh,” she growled.

      Vic was doubled over—laughing uproariously. “How come if we’re so attuned to each other, you didn’t see that coming, huh?” he asked, grabbing his side.

      He was right. She was sure he’d had something else in mind. But…but…whatever. She was madder at herself. And the jerk didn’t know when to stop laughing. “So, you thought you’d get even, didn’t you? Have a little go at me?”

      “You call that little?” He wiped his hand across his mouth, trying to stop the laughter. There were even tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. “Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted to see what can happen to someone who insists on flying without a safety net.”

      She struggled to stand, the two feet of water making her clumsy. She whisked her wet ponytail back from her cheek and straightened her shoulders. “You think you’re so clever to…”

      She paused. And then she knew what she was going to do. Nobody made a fool out of Mimi Lodge—especially when she was sure she hadn’t been mistaken about his arousal.

      First, she wriggled out of her jacket. Then she kicked off one black flat. The other got dragged down with water, so she bent over, slipped it off and tossed it over her shoulder. Next she grabbed the hem of her black sleeveless shell and began peeling the wet material over her head.

      “Whoa! What do you think you’re doing?” He called out.

      She freed her head from the top and threw the shirt over her shoulder. She saw him holding out an arm as if to stop her. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m stripping down naked,” she announced emphatically. “Now who didn’t see that coming? So what are you going to do now, eh? You going to pretend you didn’t have other things in mind? Oh, I know—you’re too chicken to act. Or maybe you’d like to weigh the pros and cons?” she taunted him.

      He looked around. “Hey, you can’t do that. Someone might come by.”

      “I’ll take that chance, especially since everybody and his little brother is down at the Reunions lunch eating and drinking to their heart’s content.” She undid the waistband of her pants and lowered the zipper. Then she stepped out of the legs, lifting one foot as she hopped in the water, and then the next.

      She threw the trousers at him.

      He caught them before they thwacked him in the face. “What about the cops?”

      “What about the cops?” She stood there naked except for the wisps of nylon and silk that comprised her demi-cup bra and bikini underpants. The slippery, nude-colored underwear was wet and, she knew, just as transparent as his shirt. She reached behind for the clasp on her bra.

      His jaw dropped open. “You could, you could be arrested.” He gulped visibly.

      She unhooked her bra and let it slide to the water below. The jets from the fountain hit the undersides of her small breasts. The chilly water made her nipples pucker tightly. She slipped one thumb in the side of her underpants. “You think I won’t do it?”

      “No, that’s the problem. I think you just might.”

      “So you’re attuned to me after all.” This time Mimi threw back her head and laughed. Then she looked him straight in the eye, put her other thumb in the other side of her panties and did a little wiggle. “So what do you intend to do about it, Mr. Look-But-Don’t-Leap?”

      She wiggled some more as she worked the elastic waistband down her thighs.

      “Well, I’m certainly done looking.” He came in after her.

      “My, my, you didn’t even take off your shoes. Now that’s impulsive.” She held open her arms.

      He slogged through the water to reach her.

      And that’s when the police sirens came wailing down the street.

      CHAPTER ONE

      A LOUD WAIL INTERRUPTED Mimi’s whimpering. The mechanical, incessant noise went on…and on. Mimi pressed her forehead down. She wanted to cover her ears, and even though logically she knew that movement was impossible, she reflexively went to raise her arms.

      She expected to feel the binding restraints and the shooting pain. Miraculously, there was none. Just the incessant ringing and ringing…

      Then the noise stopped.

      Mimi rolled over and opened her eyes. And realized she was lying on her own queen-size bed in her own apartment on the Upper East Side in Manhattan and not…not captive in that hellhole in Chechnya—blindfolded, beaten, alternating between bouts of despondency and glimmers of hope.

      She turned her head on the downy pillow and gazed out the window toward the light—something she’d been deprived of for months, something that was now so precious. It didn’t disappoint.

      It was one of those rare winter mornings in Manhattan when the gray clouds of January had decided to take a holiday. The sun streamed in through the glass like some visionary painting.

      It