Chapter One
The Caribbean sky was a perfect blue without a single cloud to mar it, and that blue was reflected in the acre-wide swimming pool underneath it. Even when she was exhausted and out of sorts, Pearl Watford could take a certain kind of freeing joy in the twin blues of sky and water, and tipping her head back for a moment, she simply breathed.
Of course, like any fun moment at the water show, it was one that ended quickly. Angie, one of the waitresses who worked the crowds at the edge of the pool, nudged her on her way past.
"Hey, look alive," Angie murmured. "Carson's on his way by."
Pearl nodded her thanks at Angie while cringing a little inside. Seriously? Didn't Carson ever go home? The son of the resort's owner always seemed to be lurking around on “business” from his father, and lately, his business took him around the mermaids more often than not.
"I swear, the little creep is breaking in to steal our panties," Eileen had grumbled the other day, and Pearl wasn't sure she disagreed.
Seated on the fiberglass rocks that ringed the edge of the swimming pool, Pearl flexed her thighs and calves, letting her magnificent white silicone tail roll partially into the water. It was stunning, and unlike the girls who borrowed their tails from the resort, this one was all hers, shaped perfectly to fit her narrower hips and slender legs. While the other girls enjoyed the green and blue and even red tails, she had always loved the subtle iridescence of her own tail. Her short, wavy blonde hair was held back with shimmering white barrettes, and her green glass earrings mimicked the bright green of her eyes.
Being a mermaid had its downsides, but Pearl had been doing it for almost three years. Every time she thought she might like to find another line of work, another child looked at her as if she had made magic for them, and she thought she would keep at it a little longer.
Unfortunately, glancing around, she couldn't see any children who might want to stop for a chat and a photo, preventing Carson from overstaying his non-existent welcome. All the parents were getting their children situated for the show that was due to start in half an hour or so. The only people around seemed to be a group of Italian tourists who were sitting up in the seats close by, all male, all laughing as if they had already had a few, and none looking all that inclined to help her out of a tight spot.
Pearl sighed and pasted a broad smile on her face as Carson came closer. He held a clipboard that had some random form attached to it, and he looked at her over the rim of his ridiculously expensive sunglasses.
"Hey, Pearl of my heart," he said in a tone she guessed he thought was charming. "How's it going over here?"
"Just fine," she said with a smile. "I'm just getting into character for the show, that's all."
Carson obviously thought she was too far away for his message, so he climbed up on the rock with her. For a moment, he stood over her, looking down with a superior glint in his eye, and then he condescended to squat down by her side.
"Sure, sure," he said airily. "I know how seriously you girls take the 'magic' and the 'mystique.'"
He wiggled his fingers in the air on the last words, and Pearl stifled an angry reply. As a matter of fact, she did take it seriously, but he was already moving on.
"You know, Pearl, my dad and I have been talking about you."
"Oh?" That was a surprise. Carson Senior had been at one of his other resorts overseeing renovations all week, and he had a nearly legendary lack of patience for his son, even if he refused to fire him.
"That's right, Pearly-girl," Carson said with a grin. "He was just telling me that there are some big things in the works for you, you know? You've got a lot of potential, and who knows what's in the works? A bigger place in the show, hell, your very own show too. Sky's the limit."
For a moment, Pearl wondered if there was a chance that Carson was serious, and then she dismissed it.
"That's pretty cool, Carson," she said politely. So what if he thought she was a little too dumb to take the bait? That was fine by her.
Carson laughed, and there was something more than a bit jagged about it. If she could have scooted away without making it obvious, she would have.
"It's more than pretty cool, baby," he said. "I'm telling you, this could be big. Why don't you come to dinner with me after the show? You know, I get free room service here, and if you come up to my room tonight, maybe we could try some lobster thermidor together, huh? As long as you check and make sure we're not eating one of your best friends!"
She smiled politely at his joke while he laughed out loud, and then she shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I'm sorry, but I can't make it tonight."
"Tomorrow then, tomorrow night. Same offer, I can show you a good time..."
"No, no thank you," she said, never taking her eyes off of him. There was a growing intensity in Carson's eyes she didn't like.
"Goddamn, will you get the stick out of your ass," Carson sputtered. "All you resort girls are alike, you act like you're too good for everyone."
If he would have just muttered his way off of her rock, it would have been simply another day with another asshole. Instead, it looked as if Carson wanted to make a point, and he grabbed her arm hard, dragging him close to her. That was when Pearl had decided that she’d had enough.
She leaned in, making Carson blink a little as she put him off balance, and then she threw herself backwards into the fifteen foot deep tank. Thankfully there were no observation windows directly under her, and the tourist kids didn't have to see a guy in khakis and a polo fall into the water.
He let go of her immediately, flailing to regain the surface, but Pearl swam around behind him. With the ease born of long practice, she curled her left arm around his chest under his arms. It was the best posture to help him propel his way up to the surface, but for one long moment, she kept herself still in the water, a weight rather than a buoy.
Only when she felt his arms and legs start to kick and punch in shock did she flick her tail and send them both shooting back up to the surface.
They both broke the surface with a spray of water, and acting as a hospitable mermaid should, Pearl pushed him up on the rock before easily lifting herself to sit on it as well.
"Oh gosh, I'm not sure how that happened," Pearl said, never blinking as she looked right at him. "I hope you're all right."
There were men who would have made an untold amount of trouble for her with that little stunt, but she had guessed that Carson was a coward. He wiped the water out of his eyes, sputtering for a moment, and then without looking at her, he stumbled off.
I need to tell the other girls how that works as Carson-repellent, she thought with satisfaction, and then she was startled by a burst of applause.
The group of Italian male tourists she had noted from before were still seated in the bleachers, all except one who was standing on the edge of the pool close to the rocks.
"Bravo, little siren," he said. "I don't think I've seen a neater drowning in all my days."
"Have you seen many drownings then?" she asked, her voice slightly tart.
It occurred to her that this man must have leaped down from the bleachers as soon as she’d pulled Carson under. Had he come down to rescue her?
"Not so many, though I've done my share of sailing. Wherever I go, though, they always say to beware of the mermaids. They're always looking to drown sailors, pull them right off their ships and take them down to watery graves."
Pearl laughed a little even as she wondered where people got this from. The kids that she could easily charm were never so much trouble.
"Well, you're lucky, because I'm not that kind of mermaid," she said with an offhand shrug.
"Oh? What kind of mermaid are you?"
It was her job to make nice with the guests of the resort, but this man was definitely not part of her regular clientele. She was torn between irritation towards him and a certain kind of guilty attraction as well. He was tall with healthy, bronzed skin, thick hair that was so dark it was nearly blue, and deep brown eyes that regarded her with a dancing light.
"I'm the nice kind, of course," she retorted. "We're known for saving sailors too, you know."
"Sometimes," he conceded. "But I'm not sure if the man who left here was feeling all too saved."
She shrugged. Pearl knew she should end the conversation, but she was feeling slightly too prickly to do so. Ornery, her Oklahoma grandmother had called her, and more often than Pearl liked to admit, the old woman was right.
"Well, whether you get drowned or saved, I think that has more to do with the kind of man that you are than the type of mermaid. What kind of man are you, anyway?"
His eyes still bright, the man stood close enough to the rock that she could lean down and touch him if she wished. The rock was tall enough to dissuade small children from climbing up, and she had to lean down a little towards him.
"Closer," he said, and without thinking, Pearl did as he said.
He straightened up, putting himself far closer to her than she thought he could reach. One large hand came up to cup the back of her neck, and she caught a white flash of teeth.
"I'm a prince," he whispered, and he tugged her down for a kiss.
The moment their lips touched, Pearl felt as if fire had blossomed in her belly, sweeping out to light her up. That single hurried kiss could have blinded her, and if rage hadn't swept over her like a flood, there was no telling what would have happened.
As it was, she held the kiss a moment longer than she strictly needed to, then she threw herself back, breaking his grasp. Pearl turned her head away, coming to sit on the edge of the pool, one hand covering her face.
"What's the matter, did I hurt you?"
Through her rage, she could hear the genuine concern in the man's voice as he came around the rock, getting closer to her. A part of her wanted to let him go easily, but god, she got so tired of men who thought they could take liberties just because she was in a goddamn water show. He didn't climb up on the rock, which at least showed that he had learned from what had happened to Carson, but he was stepping close on the deck.
Pearl hitched her shoulders a little as if she were crying, and the man's voice grew sharper with worry.
"I'm sorry, I did not mean anything to harm you..."
On the last word, he was within range, and Pearl half-rolled towards him while kicking her legs up hard. Her tail, which extended a good two feet beyond her toes, flipped up a decent bucketful of water and dumped it on the man's head.
The look of utter shock on his face made her laugh, and if the laughter from the bleachers was any indication, his friends agreed with her.
"You...you weren't..."
Pearl pointed towards one of the fiberglass signs nearby that had been molded to look like battered wood. It proclaimed in Gothic letters, "Don't Trust the Mermaids," and she smirked at him.
"Does that tell you what kind of mermaid I am?" she called, scooting back in case he got any ideas of making a grab for her.
For a moment, she wondered if she had pushed her luck too far that day, but then he grinned. Despite herself, she felt her breath leave her body in a rush. It wasn't that he was handsome, though he was certainly that. There was something about this man and the pure joy he had on his face while he was sopping wet that made her feel almost dizzy.
"Truly, I'm well answered, lovely mermaid," he said, sketching a bow. "I'll keep my distance in the future."
It was on the tip of her tongue to reply that he should have known better in the first place, but then a thin cry caught her ear. She was used to children shrieking through the water show, but there was something wrong about this one.
It was coming from the wrong direction.
Her stomach in her throat, she turned towards the open center of the swimming pool. All around the edge were girls in mermaid tails socializing with the resort patrons, getting their pictures taken, so none of them saw the tiny girl sitting on a pool noodle floating close to the center of the pool.
That's one of the flotation noodles from the residential area of the resort, she thought automatically, and then, That little girl's far too young to be out there.
She heard a startled voice next to her, but she didn't hesitate before sliding off the rock. She was a strong swimmer, and she maintained a steady pace in the water. The closer she got, the more she could see that the little girl was clinging to the noodle for dear life, and at the same time, she looked terrified.
It's going to be okay, sweetie, Pearl thought desperately. Just hang on, hang on, and I'll be right there...
Just as she thought that, however, the girl slipped off of the noodle with a kitten-like cry, and Pearl had to forget everything about careful or steady. She dove under the water, finding the girl's dark shape without a moment of hesitation. It seemed to take hours, but in all likelihood it was less than a few seconds before she had the little girl wrapped in her arms, dragging her back to the surface.
The girl was heavier than she’d thought, however, still fully clothed, and that was before she started struggling in a hard panic.
Pearl's stomach clenched. She could still remember her lifeguard instructor’s words. If someone struggled too much, you couldn't save them. An inert body was safe, but a struggling one could result in two deaths instead of one. The little girl was struggling so frantically that Pearl nearly lost her grip.
Nononono, I will not let you go!
At that moment, a dark shape moved in Pearl's peripheral vision, and she saw two strong arms come out to reach around the little girl.
What the hell?