Way of a Wanton Read Online Free Page A

mahogany, tumbled down to her shoulders. Right here, I decided, was a woman who could have all of my time she wanted.  
    Finally I found my tongue again. “We sort of go together: Shell and Sherry. Names do, anyway. You joining the party?”  
    She smiled. “I thought there was some work for me to do here—typing or note-taking or something. That gay deceiver over there"—she glanced at Oscar Swallow across the room mixing drinks—"led me to believe there was. But as long as there isn't, I'll just drink and run.”  
    Raul spoke up. “I move that Sherry remains.”  
    â€œSecond the motion,” I agreed.  
    She laughed musically. “Gentlemen, you're overruled.” She turned and took her drink from Swallow as he came up, then asked me, “A detective? Are you here picking up clues or whatever detectives do?”  
    â€œUh-uh. Just enjoying myself.” I looked around the room. Almost everybody else was in a swim suit now, and that made me consider how lovely Sherry would look at the beach. Particularly a private beach. She was sipping at her drink and listening to Raul, so I excused myself and hunted up an empty room. I changed into my trunks and when I came back into the living room I noticed everybody was now ready for a swim except Genova—who wasn't really invited, Raul had told me.  
    But there was one thing missing: the bosomy Sherry. I spotted Raul, long and thin in a pair of faded green trunks, and walked up beside him.  
    â€œWhat happened to the little—”  
    He knew what I'd started to say. “She left. I figured she would when she found out Swallow didn't really have anything important cooking but just wanted to make a pass at her.” He smiled. “But I wish she'd stayed.”  
    I'd been wishing the same thing, myself. Then Raul turned away from me and yelled, “Outside, everybody. Hit the pool.”  
    We all trooped out, blonde little Dot prancing in the lead, looking very fetching in a bright yellow two-piece bikini. Everybody seemed to be happy, yelling and laughing, and I decided I'd only been imagining that something was dampening the spirits around here. The pool itself was a beauty. It was about sixty feet long, and at one end there was a diving board and at the other end was the feature of Raul's pool that made it different from most of its Hollywood counterparts. That was the waterfall. It wasn't a very big waterfall, but water was pumped continually up from the pool to splash down over artistically piled rocks and back into the pool again. It was pretty, and had a pleasant sound to it, and if you tried hard you could almost imagine it was a country stream. The house and grounds were isolated enough. Even the other homes nearby were out of sight.  
    We grouped around the pool and I spotted Helen and walked up beside her. She looked even better in her light blue one-piece suit than she had in the strapless white dress.  
    â€œI was looking for you,” she said. She went on casually, “How do you like my new suit? Usually I wear a two-piece, but I liked this one. Do you think anybody will really go swimming in the nude?”  
    I swallowed. The sun was low now, but it was still plenty bright. Very damned bright, if you asked me. I said, “In the— Is that on the program?”  
    She shrugged. “All I know is what Raul told everybody when he got the party together,” she said, smiling broadly. “That we could bring suits but we couldn't wear them in the water. You know: Hang your clothes on a hickory limb...”  
    â€œHe—he didn't tell me that.” I thought back to Raul's invitation. “That is, not exactly.”  
    She put her hand on my arm. “Scare you?”  
    My heartbeat had speeded up a little bit. I looked down at Helen's brown eyes and red lips. The way she was smiling now, her lips seemed to thin and look almost