Chapter 7
Their last day on the boat in St. Bart’s was idyllic. They’d been there for almost a
week and knew their way around. They had been to the best restaurants, and had
excellent meals on the boat. They ate dinner at L’Isola, the best and most elegant
restaurant on the island, on the last night, and went back to the boat afterward, and the
captain arranged for a van to pick them up at midnight to take them to the disco they’d
been to before. There had been very fine wine at dinner, and champagne on the boat
until the van came. Katherine and Frank didn’t join them for the trip to the disco, and
Valerie and Olivia were laughing and giggling in the back seat during the twenty-minute
ride. Seth would have liked to stay on the boat with his wife, but they didn’t want to be
rude to their guests, so they went with them, and he ordered champagne, vodka, and
tequila at the club when they got there. Alcohol was served at astonishing prices, and
the bill didn’t surprise him. It had been just as expensive the first time they went. Peter
switched to vodka, and Olivia stuck with champagne. Everyone was in good spirits, the
music was great, and they all headed to the dance floor shortly after they arrived. There
were people from other boats, and some staying in villas or at the hotels. It was a racy
American and European crowd of big spenders, whom the island depended on during
the holidays to support their economy.
Peter claimed Olivia as a partner as soon as they got to the dance floor, and she had
fun dancing with him. They had fallen into an easy friendship in the past week, and he
genuinely enjoyed her company. She was smart and funny, and he was dazzled by her
looks. They’d gone snorkeling together, and he admired how athletic she was. They
stayed on the dance floor when the others went back to the table, and at three A.M., Seth
shepherded them back to the boat after a fun evening. The crew were waiting up for
them with a snack, and Seth and Valerie finally slipped away to their cabin, thrilled to
fall into their bed after a long day and evening. Everyone had had fun. Their four friends
stayed on deck for a quick snack, and then went to their cabins too, and Peter and Olivia
were left under a star-filled sky, and relaxed slowly after a very active night, with one
crew member at the bar to take care of them. Peter let him go after a few minutes and
said they would help themselves, and they’d go to their cabins soon. The young crew
member was relieved to be allowed to go to bed, and Peter and Olivia sat talking
quietly. It was peaceful with no one else on deck.
“I haven’t danced this much since college,” Olivia said, lying on one of the outdoor
couches under the stars. The silence of the night was a nice way to unwind, as Peter sat
down next to her. “Or drunk this much,” she added. She was comfortable with him now,
and he had undeniable charm and endless energy. He made her laugh all the time, but
there was a serious side of him she found appealing too. She liked him much better than
she had expected to, and he was more relaxed than Seth, who always acted like a big
brother around him, and was an attentive host to all his guests. Seth wanted everyone to
be happy, his mother, their friends, his brother, his wife, and her twin.
“I like being with you, Olivia,” Peter said softly, and gently stroked her leg, as
Olivia let him. She was too tired to stop him and didn’t want to, and when he kissed her,
she responded to his touch, and the skirt she had worn to go dancing seemed to slip
away of its own volition. Suddenly their bodies were entwined. The night was too
inviting, and their mutual desire, enhanced by what they’d been drinking, was
overwhelming. Olivia wasn’t sure when it had happened, but she had begun to find him
powerfully attractive after the first time they went dancing, and the feeling had gotten
stronger day by day. He was easy to talk to and she was comfortable with him. There
was a playful side of him which appealed to her immensely, and he had never known
anyone like her. She was so honest and so real, so naturally sexy with no artifice about
her. She was a good woman, and her natural kindness and compassion touched him
deeply. He couldn’t keep his hands off her, and neither of them wanted to stop as he
made love to her under the stars. It was the most powerful wave of passion they had
experienced. They felt bound to each other as they became one. It was the best sex
either of them had ever had, and when it was over, she lay in his arms on the couch, and
he felt like a new man. She was what he had been looking for all his life and didn’t
know it.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” he whispered to her. He felt suddenly sober, and
terrified she would hate him in the morning, but they had been equally unable to stop,
and didn’t want to.
“Yes.” She smiled as she nodded and clung to him. She had never wanted any man
as much, or loved one more. “How drunk are we?”
“I don’t think I am. I think I’m sober, or I’m drunk on you.” She kissed him when he
said it.
“Let’s not tell anyone. Val will think I lost my mind. Actually, I think I have. Come
on, let’s go down to my cabin before anyone gets up or the deckhands show up,” she
whispered to him, and they tiptoed downstairs like two children and slipped into her
cabin, and made love again. Their feelings for each other were even more powerful the
second time.
“I think you put a spell on me,” he said, as they made love in the shower, and then in
her bed again, and she laughed. They couldn’t tear themselves away from each other,
like two people who had been starving. And then she sat up next to him and laughed.
“Did I forget to tell you that Olivia and I switched places tonight? We thought it
would be funny to do to Seth,” she said. Peter looked as though he’d been shot as he sat
bolt upright and stared at her in horror.
“Are you serious?” He leapt out of bed, and pulled the sheet around him as though it
would make a difference now. He had slept with his brother’s wife unknowingly, he
couldn’t think of a greater crime. “You and your sister are insane,” he said, panicked at
what they’d done.
“All right,” she said, lying back on the bed again, “I’m just kidding. I’m Olivia, it
just sounded funny for a minute.”
“It is not funny, and don’t you ever do that to me again. You scared the shit out of
me,” he said, and lay on top of her, pinning her arms down. “Swear to me you two will
never pull a switch on me.”
“I swear,” she said innocently. “Besides, Val doesn’t think we should do that
anymore, except for unimportant stuff like drivers’ licenses, or little things.”
“This is not a little thing,” he said to her seriously. “I think I’m falling in love with
you. I’ve never felt like this in my life, or had sex with anyone the way we do. Isn’t
there any way to tell you two apart?”
Olivia hesitated for a long time before she answered. It was a secret she and Valerie
had never told anyone, not even their mother. “Maybe,” she answered vaguely, and
brought a graceful foot up to where he could see it. “There,” she pointed.
“Where?” Peter was still shaken by her pretending to him for a minute that the twins
had switched. “What?”
She pulled two of her toes apart, and pointed. “I have a freckle Val doesn’t. It’s the
only mark on our bodies she doesn’t have. Even our beauty spots and moles are the
same.”
“I think you’re clones,” he said, staring at the smallest freckle he had ever seen,
between two of her toes.
“I’m going to make you show me that every time before I make love to you. I am not
going to sleep with my brother’s wife because you think it’s funny. It’s not.” He looked
serious.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d believe me when I said it. I wouldn’t do that to Val
either, sleep with her husband. Besides, I don’t want to. I think I’m falling in love with
you too, or it was the tequila. It was great, wasn’t it?” Olivia grinned at him and he
kissed her. “I mean the sex, not the tequila.”
“I think I’m going to give up drinking so I don’t get confused. I need all my faculties
intact to deal with you. What are we going to say to the others?”
“Nothing. Let’s keep this as our secret for now. We don’t need them all watching
every move we make.”
“Not if tonight is any indication of the kind of moves we’re capable of,” Peter said,
smiling again. “And I want you to meet my daughters.” She looked faintly worried at the
prospect of that.
“I’m better with adults than kids,” she said. “What if they hate me?”
“They won’t. I love you. They’ll take their cues from that.”
“Girls are difficult.”
“They’re not, they’re sweet kids. They’re only four and six. They’re not
complicated yet.” Olivia nodded, thinking about it. She wanted it to work with him, and
had never felt that way before either. Everything about Peter was new to her. He wasn’t
the kind of man she usually fell for. He wasn’t an artist. He was conventional, he was a
player, he had children. But she had fun with him, he was smart, he was kind, and she
loved him, and sex with him was incredible, and she wanted more.
The sun had come up by then, as she looked at him. A new day had dawned, for both
of them, in more ways than one. “You’d better get your ass out of here, before someone
sees you when you leave, if you want to keep this a secret.” They both did, they wanted
time to adjust to it themselves, without dealing with gossip and opinions, which would
only complicate things. She knew that Valerie would approve, which was all that
mattered to her. She’d been pushing her at Peter for three years and it had finally
clicked.
“Can we do this again?” he asked her, as he put his clothes on and wished that he
could stay and make love to her one more time.
“I think that can be arranged,” she said, smiling. She felt like a queen with him, a
sex goddess, and a happy woman.
“I’ll be back in an hour,” he said, and she laughed. She loved the fact that he was
funny and made her laugh. He didn’t take life so seriously, except for his daughters. She
was nervous about them.
“See you at breakfast,” she said innocently, with a grin.
“I’m not even hung over,” he said with a look of surprise. “You’re definitely a
witch. A good witch,” he added, and came back to the bed to kiss her. It was a searing
kiss which aroused them both again.
“Go!” She pointed at the door, and he pulled himself away from her, which took real
effort, and smiled at her from the door.
“Thank you,” he said, “and I’m going to demand to see that freckle between your
toes before I touch you from now on.” And then he slipped out the door, and Olivia lay
in bed, smiling. The room looked like a tornado had hit it. They had made love on every
surface possible. It had been a night she would never forget, nor would Peter. He was
lying on his bed in his cabin, exhausted, smiling too. He wasn’t sure what had hit him,
an amazing woman, but he knew he wanted more. He could hardly wait to see her, and
make love to her again. And even though her twin looked exactly like her, except for one
ridiculous freckle, Olivia was unique.
