Devil In The Waters, Book 8, Chapter 1

First thing Monday morning in her office after dealing with emails, Kimmy called Amy.

Quarter past three in the London afternoon, Amy picked up sounding lively. “I’ve been dying to talk to you. How was Cayman?”

“Hot.”

“I’ll bet,” Amy said.

Sly Amy, right to the core. No different from she was in those supercharged days after her brief high school fling began with Devlin Stone.

Kimmy asked Amy how she was doing and Amy told her, yeah-yeah, she was doing amazing and get to the point already.

“What do you want to know?”

Amy said, “Why on earth you might tell me the sex with Devlin Stone was ho-fucking-hum, chum.”

“I don’t know,” Kimmy said, “I guess I always thought it would be better.”

“Better? Well, what? how was it, how’d it happen? Tell me.”

“It’s happened a few times—”

“Goddamn it, why is this the first I’m hearing of it?” Amy cackled a short sharp sound.

“Like I said, things have been crazy here.”

“Are you all right though? Josh doesn’t know . . .”

“Of course not, what, you think I was going to tell him?”

“My goodness, Kimmy Chang being bad,” Amy said, adding a humorously nefarious spin to the word bad.

“See, when you say something like that, it makes my stomach turn. I hate myself.” And the truth was the weekend getaway in Cayman seemed otherworldly and distant, like the events had happened to someone else and she’d only heard about it secondhand. All morning her stomach had flipped over and knotted, and when her mind would flash back to some of the weekend’s imagery, she would get a sickly thrill below her belly that she didn’t like. There was a lump of regret too, choking at the back of her throat. The paths she’d taken were dark and scary, and she could tell herself she was brave and—more importantly—capable, but the truth was she should never go down these dangerous roads. But there was no turning back now.

Amy said, “Why on earth would you hate yourself?”

“What do you think?—for cheating on Josh.” She hated saying it out loud.

Amy clucked her tongue. “Just don’t tell him.”

“I wish it were that simple.”

“It could be. And honestly, it will be. Just get some time behind you and your feeling bad about it will go away.”

“I don’t think it was worth it,” she lamented.

“Oh, this? Why’d you tell me it wasn’t what you thought?”

“Because it wasn’t.”

“We’re talking about sex with Devlin, yeah?”

“I know, yes. Yes, we are.”

“It’s hard to believe you’d say that. You’re putting me on.”

“Look, it was fine, like I said, I just expected, I don’t know, more.”

“More what? I’ve seen what you’re getting at home and at least you have to admit the guy is packing a magic stick, yeah?”

“Don’t be cruel.”

“It’s not cruel,” Amy said, “it’s true. I saw Josh’s little boner, and it wasn’t impressive. I’ve dumped two men who didn’t have what I want down there and—”

“But what if that’s not what I want, what if there’s more I want?”

“Love? Kimmy, Devlin’s not—”

“Not love. Just more. I don’t know what you’ve got against Josh, but I’d appreciate you talking about my husband with a little more respect.” Said the adulteress.

“I’m sorry, Kimmy, I swear, I’m just joking around. There’s nothing wrong with what Josh’s got, but you have to admit Devlin is h-u-n and fucking -g.”

“Yeah, he is,” she huffed morosely.

“What, like he wasn’t tender, then?”

“It’s not tenderness, it’s . . . I don’t know, Amy, I expected to be swept away.”

“Like a romance?”

“Not love. I just—”

“I think you need to shag him again.”

“It’s been more than once.”

“You fucked him more than once?”

“A few times.”

“Gaw,” Amy scoffed. “Tell me, come on.”

“Where are you right now?”

“At the gallery.”

“In your office?”

“With my feet up. I’ve been waiting for this call all day. I worried you wouldn’t call me.”

Kimmy could picture her: wearing a suit with a low-cut blouse; black or steel, stiletto heels up on a glass desk top; looking severe in that sharp new crimson bob she wore. “Things have been crazy here.”

“Tell me about it. I mean it, tell me all about it.”

She told Amy about the time in the car outside her gym and Amy laughed. “Just to see if it fit?” Amy thought that was hilarious, and Amy’s amusement only proved to Kimmy how gullible she’d been that first time, even though she’d had agency—or at least she thought she had—the re-telling of it made her sound immature. She told Amy about the cargo container by the port and Amy said, “Have you ever thought about doing it in a bed? Maybe that’s what’s going wrong.”

She sighed and admitted: “We did it in a bed. In a suite at the Royal York.”

Amy emitted a low whistle of appreciation.

“Look, I mean it wasn’t terrible, it’s just, I don’t know, maybe I’d built it up in my head to be more than it really ended up being.”

“So, it’s done.”

“No. He showed up in Cayman—”

“Devlin did?”

“Yeah.”

Amy loved it and broke out laughing. “Fucking devil he is, yeah?”

“He is a devil.”

“You fucked him there?”

“I did.”

Amy was incredulous. “Josh was with you.”

“I know. I got away.”

“Oh my god, Kimmy,” Amy laughed, walking around her office now, the phone’s mic moving away from her mouth a moment as she made more sounds of disbelief. “Something tells me while you say it’s not great, it is great. You keep going back for more.”

She chuckled now too, as though she didn’t understand her own behavior. “I just keep hoping one of these times it’ll be like how you described.”

“I really wish I was there in Toronto. I wish I was there to guide you through this.”

I wish I trusted you enough to have you here. “I guess I sound like I need guidance.”

“You do.”

“So what should I do?”

“Kimmy, stick with it. It’s the advice I always give no matter the subject, but in this case I really do mean it, love.”

Now the kicker: “I don’t know if it’s worth it.”

Amy was honest: “I can’t believe you’d say that. You’re curious enough to step out on Josh a few times, but you’re not sure if it’s worth it? If Devlin isn’t rocking your world, I honestly want to know what the hell Josh has been doing to you. Maybe I’ve underestimated him.”

“Maybe you have.”

“I don’t think I have.” Then, before Kimmy could chastise Amy for being negative toward Josh, she said, “You will not find a single man anywhere in this world who’s better in the sack than Devlin.”

“You’ve slept with them all, have you?” They both laughed, then Kimmy said, “If you’re so amazed by Devlin, you come back and take over for me.”

“I would if I could, but I’m all the way here, Kimmy. And it’s you that Devlin wants.”

And that was the whole beginning to what had become six whirlwind weeks that changed her life. Devlin had wanted Kimmy Waters. And how did that happen?

“I’ll figure it out,” she said.

“Don’t sound so sad, Kimmy. It’s not exactly torture being with Devlin. How’s the new job?”

“Pretty great, actually.”

“You’re happier there?”

“Than where, immigration? Yes, for sure.”

“Seems like things have improved for you since Tiffany’s party, you ask me.”

Things had definitely improved. But there was a cost. There was a sweet and loving man, about a hundred-fifty pounds, who was smart and dedicated and would do anything for her. The cost was that man’s future.

“It’s been a wild six weeks, and yeah, I’m pretty happy about where things are headed.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“When will you be back?”

“In Toronto? No plans. Why don’t you come out here? You’ve got the bucks now. Come stay with me for a week and we’ll have a real hen’s.”

“I might do it, you know.”

“I’d love it, Kimmy. I miss you. A lot. It’s been years, and London’s amazing, but I do miss my friends from home.”

“It has been a long time,” she agreed. And things change over time.

Even when they’d been best friends in high school, there was a dissimilarity between them. They were both smart and dedicated to school, but while Kimmy was a shy and mousy bookworm who enjoyed staying at home and binge-watching Korean soaps, Amy was a go-getter, a social butterfly wannabe who would ingratiate herself to anyone she thought had status. Amy had always wanted a more glamorous lifestyle, to be part of a better crowd. And Amy could be nasty.

Though Amy had never been cruel to Kimmy, she’d seen it firsthand. Amy didn’t let people get in her way. And, in the end, Amy had fled their friendship for greener pastures. That was cruel in its own way.

“Any time you want, love. Just let me know. I’d love to see you again and spend some time having fun like we used to.”

“Studying together?”

Amy laughed, then said, “I think my studying days are over. But it’s paid off, don’t you think?”

“You’re happy there?”

“Ecstatic.”

So she’d tell Amy untruths about Devlin. Why? To discover where those truths would pop up. Like flooding a groundhog’s hole, waiting for nearby geysers to show where the exits are. If Amy and Devlin still communicated, then Devlin will hear of how underwhelming Kimmy is describing his lovemaking behind his back. Devlin will react. What would he think? That Kimmy was duplicitous? That she was as upwardly mobile-minded as Amy and was just fucking him to improve her bank account? Devlin wasn’t likely that stupid, but he would have a tell.

And what would it mean if Devlin and Amy still communicated and Kimmy didn’t know about it? Terrible, terrible things.

They talked a while about London and how things were going there. She told Amy about the job with Devlin and all about the weekend in Cayman. Amy didn’t press for the gory details about sex with Devlin. Had she already been told by Devlin? But it was a workday, so she didn’t spend too long chatting. Before they hung up, Amy made her promise she would stay in touch.

“I want to know how it’s progressing, Kimmy. Anytime you want to talk, call me. For advice or whatever. And just in general, call me. You hear? I want to know what’s going on with you. I think about you.”

“I think about you too.”

They said their goodbyes and ta-tas and then closed off the call.

Kimmy checked her watch. It was past ten-thirty and Devlin hadn’t showed yet. Awful as the things she was doing were, she loved them. All that foggy talk of not really thinking Devlin was great in bed was of course total hogwash. There was a lunchtime date today with Devlin. They were going to go to his apartment. A knot of lusty desire formed between her legs that got her flexing her thighs. There was a hungry need for her boss. Even the thought of meeting him for the tryst had got her heated, sitting at her desk mid-morning on a sunny Monday. It was going to be impossible getting anything done before lunch.

But she adjusted her skirt, scooted in her leather chair and woke her computer up again. Then fidgeted where she sat. She wasn’t wearing underwear, plus the push-through knobs on her garters were digging into her flesh.