"Car's here"

Jack read the text and gave himself one last look in the mirror before heading out. He walked nimbly up the path between the guest house where he lived and the French doors on Kelsey's patio. He let himself in, calling out, "I'm here!"

"Be down in a sec!" he heard from upstairs.

They were going to some big party, thrown by someone related to the studio who was producing Power Through, Kelsey's new movie about Marian Lowell. It wasn't for the movie exactly, but a lot of people related to its production were going to be there, so Raymond thought it would be a good opportunity for Jack and Kelsey to meet people and get to know who was who. Jack, of course, was a little nervous.

"Hey, you," Kelsey sang out as she came down the stairs.

Jack turned and stared.

Kelsey was wearing a barely there backless halter dress in tropical shade of blue. It was so short that Jack wondered how she could possibly sit down in it, and on her feet she wore strappy sandals so high she was almost eye level with him. Her black hair had been brushed to a high gloss and left loose, so it hung down past her shoulder blades, brushing against her bare skin, accentuating her new tan. The cut down the side was so extreme that every time she moved she exposed a fair to middling amount of side boob, a fact which made Jack very uncomfortable. As for the front, it was so low that Jack was pretty sure he could see the beginning of a suck mark he'd put on her breast the night before. You wouldn't really notice it unless you knew to look for it, but Jack did know, of course, so he saw it right away, a tiny purple bloom on her pink flesh.

She got to the bottom of the stairs and did a little twirl in front of him, bringing the scent of her perfume to him. "How do I look?" she asked with a smile.

"You look, uh, pretty marvelous," he said, swallowing as he leaned in to kiss her, just under her ear. "Just really, um, wow, you know?"

"Marvelous and wow," Kelsey repeated, nodding and laughing. "I'll take those adjectives, I guess, thanks. And you look damned good yourself, Jack, I must say. And you smell amazing!" As they headed out the door, she continued, "I think for the first time since we met you don't smell like chlorine, what did you do?"

"I put conditioner in my hair, actually," Jack admitted as the driver opened the car door. The studio had sent a car for them. It was Jack's first time in a chauffeured car, and he grinned as he looked around the opulent interior. "There's this super expensive, made in Australia conditioner that's especially for swimmers, with all kinds of weird stuff in it that I break out for special occasions, you know?" He gestured at himself. "Same with the clothes."

"I see that," Kelsey said. "This might be the first time I've ever seen you in actual shoes, Mr. LaGuardia. I didn't even know you owned any."

"Well, they're not handmade in Italy or anything," Jack said, lifting his shoes for her perusal. "Speaking of whom, that guy's not going to be there tonight, is he? Don?"

Kelsey made a face while checking her make up in her compact. "No. I mean, I don't see why he would."

"Well, which is it?" Jack asked.

"He has no reason to be there," Kelsey said. "But he's friends with the same people as me, and he is in town, so I suppose it's possible?" She shrugged. "Don't worry about him, okay? He's a non-issue in my life."

Jack blinked at her. "Yeah? Well, that non-issue was being a real pain in the ass the other night when I was trying to lose my virginity, that's all I'm saying," he finally said with a grin.

Kelsey leaned in and kissed him, a kiss which he returned with great ardor, placing his hand between her legs and rubbing her thigh.

"You know, Ms. Carlisle, all this swimming you've been doing has made your legs even more spectacular than they were before," he murmured as he kissed her.

Kelsey smiled into his mouth at his words. "Actually, I do know, sir. Someone else was telling me that, just the other day."

Jack leaned back to look at her, his smile gone. "Really? Who?"

"Ray," Kelsey said, laughing.

The car pulled up outside an opulent, ostentatious, Beverly Hills mansion, the kind of place Jack had only ever seen on TV and in movies before now. Palm trees and professionally landscaped bougainvilleas and topiaries were expertly lit for maximum effect, and the whole place looked like a movie set.

They were stopped by photographers as they walked in, which surprised Jack. He didn't think that would happen at a private residence, but apparently they were let on the property for just this purpose. He and Kelsey posed, close to each other but not touching, and Kelsey told them who he was and spelled his name for them. No one needed to be told who she was, of course.

Inside, Kelsey was greeted by name by everyone they saw, and she pulled Jack behind her, introducing him to everyone and explaining that he was her swim coach for her upcoming role. They slowly made their way to the open bar, and when they got there, Kelsey got a champagne cocktail and Jack got a seltzer water.

"Why don't you drink?" Kelsey asked curiously.

Jack shrugged. "When I was younger, I didn't want to be breaking the law, I guess."

"But you're Catholic," Kelsey persisted. "Aren't you guys like, born drinking wine?"

"Well, it's pretty ubiquitous, I guess," Jack responded. "I don't know about being born drinking it. I knew it wasn't good for me, that it would affect my judgement and everything, and I didn't see the point." He shrugged. "I'm an athlete?" He offered.

Kelsey burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, Jack! You're a college athlete, a swimmer. They're famous the world over for being the biggest partiers around, for fuck's sake!" She shook her head as she took a sip of her cocktail. "I don't see how you could avoid it in those crazy dorms at UCSM. I mean, don't they have keggers every weekend?"

"Just about," Jack said. "I don't know. People are pretty respectful, I guess. And I didn't make a big deal about it, you know? I was pretty quiet, kept to myself, so I don't know, I guess no one really noticed that I wasn't out getting hammered all the time."

"Kelsey! There you are!" They both turned around at the sound of her name.

"Ray!" Kelsey exclaimed. "Hey there."

Standing with Ray was someone whose face Jack knew well, but whose name eluded him, a good-looking guy in a magenta shirt. He was, like Kelsey, a young up and comer, a very popular young movie star who was very hot in Hollywood at the moment. He had brown hair and pop star good looks, and chiseled abs that could probably give Jack a run for his money.

"Have you ever met Ryan?" Ray was asking. "Ryan Goldman, Kelsey Carlisle. Kelsey, Ryan." He turned to include Jack in the introductions. "And this is the guy who's teaching Kelsey to swim for her role. Jack LaGuardia, I'm sure you've heard of Ryan? He's going to be her costar in Power Through."

"Oh, wonderful," Kelsey said. "I didn't realize they'd cast the part already."

Jack smiled and shook hands with Ryan, and the four of them talked for a few minutes, until someone called Raymond away.

"Kels? You should come with me," Raymond was saying, guiding her away with a hand on her elbow. "I want you to meet these guys, okay?"

As soon as they were out of earshot, Ryan turned to Jack. "So, anything going on between you two?" he asked, swiveling his head in Kelsey's direction.

"Oh. No, nothing like that," Jack replied, taking a sip of his seltzer. "I'm her coach, it's strictly professional." He smiled reassuringly.

"Great. Good to know," Ryan said, grinning the grin that had been melting hearts for the last five years. "Catch ya later, man," he said, clapping Jack on the shoulder as he moved away.

Hmm.

Jack moved around the room, making small talk and getting to know people. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, and people seemed to like him. The room was getting louder as people relaxed, or perhaps it was because they were drinking, he supposed. He would look around for Kelsey from time to time, keeping an eye out for the long legs and blue dress. They'd smile at each other and wave.

Women were drawn to Jack, as they always seemed to be. Something about his natural shyness, along with his incredible swimmer's build, made them like moths to flame, and the fact that he gave off a gay vibe didn't seem to hurt. Finding out he wasn't gay made him that much more attractive, too, and there were always one or two women around him, wanting to touch his arms and listen to him talk.

Jack looked around after a bathroom break, unable to see Kelsey anywhere. He went out to the back yard, where more people were gathered, and a buffet had been set up.

He saw a flash of magenta and headed in that direction to ask if Ryan had maybe seen her. Ryan, however, was obviously busy. He had a girl against a tree and was all over her, leaning into her, kissing her neck and moving his hand around her front.

Jack saw the legs and blue dress, and for a few seconds his brain refused to process what he was seeing. He stopped walking abruptly when he realized who it was, and he must have made some sort of sound, because Kelsey, whose eyes had been closed, looked directly at him, her horrified gaze meeting his as he stood motionless a few feet away from them.

He turned immediately and headed back toward the house, even though he could hear her calling his name. He could hear her behind him and walked faster, as fast as he could without running, and made it all the way inside the house before she was able to catch him in her very high strappy sandals.

"Jack! Haven't you heard me calling you?" she asked, turning him around to face her.

He looked at her, but didn't say anything.

She smiled at him, knowing that people were looking. "Come with me, okay? We can't do this here, there are too many people." And she took his hand, keeping her expression neutral, and led him down a hallway and into a bedroom that was, mercifully, unoccupied.

"Please, I can explain," she began, knowing how pathetic the words sounded, how much like the words of every lowlife two-timer since the beginning of time.

Jack just stood, blinking those eyes, breathing rapidly.

"It was for work," she said.

Jack's eyes widened in disbelief, and he spoke, even though he'd had no intention of doing so.

"What? You had to make out with that guy, let him maul you, for work?" he repeated.

"Yes." She nodded. "I mean, no, not like that--fuck--let me start at the beginning, okay?" She put a hand on his chest, and she could feel his heart beating like a triphammer through his nice shirt.

"We were just talking, being friendly, you know, flirty. It's what everyone does," she said impatiently. "It's just the way things are, it doesn't mean anything. And there are photographers to take pictures of it, you know, it's publicity for the movie and everything, it's no big deal, you'll see them in People or OK! or online or whatever in a few days," she continued, her words falling all over themselves.

She reached up to stroke Jack's hair, and he moved away from her hand, which really hurt Kelsey. She let out a little breath when he did it, and put her hand down.

"So the photographer was teasing us, like they do, kind of egging us on, goading us, almost?" Kelsey said, as if asking Jack to understand. "And Ryan was joking back and forth with him, like 'oh, dude, don't take a picture of this' kind of thing, you know?" Kelsey shrugged.

"And he kind of dragged me away from the photog, as part of the joke, like we needed some privacy, and things just sort of got out of hand a little," she concluded in a small voice.

The silence grew until Jack suddenly realized that Kelsey was finished talking. "Are you serious?" He spoke in a low voice. "That's your explanation?" He took a few steps away from her and walked around in a little circle, running his hand through his hair, laughing. "To think I almost believed you could explain it for a few seconds," he said, shaking his head. "I'm so stupid!"

He looked back at her. "So you're saying that for however long we do--whatever it is we're doing here," and here he pointed back and forth between them, "I have to act like I'm not interested in anyone else, ever, including friends I've swum with for years who might get cramps in their legs and need me to work on their calves a little, but you, you're allowed to, uh, get friendly and flirty with random people at parties--oh, sorry, costars, for photographers, and then continue to make out with them after the photographers are gone, and let them feel you up?" He jammed his hands in his pockets and stepped closer to her. "Have I got that straight, then?"

"Jack," Kelsey said in an anguished voice, "please forgive me, I'm so, so sorry--"

"Boy, you sure are," Jack said as he pushed past her. He left her there, standing in the middle of the empty room, and made his way back to the open bar.

"I'll have an, uh, whatever that guy's having," Jack said, pointing to something brown that the bartender just served to the man next to him.

The bartender nodded and returned moments later, placing the squat glass in front of him on a napkin before moving away.

Jack picked it up and regarded it for a moment before tossing it down in one go.

"Bartender? Another one, please," Jack said, trying not to grimace at the taste.

"Hey Mr. Swimmer Jack," a pretty blonde said, materializing next to him with a laugh. "I thought you didn't drink!"

"I guess this is my night for trying new things," Jack said, turning to smile at her. "Amber, is it?"