The sea looked like polished silver beneath the pale orange and pink of the blooming sunset, which gave the air an otherworldly glow. A few sailboats rode the breeze along the horizon.

“I feel sooo good tonight,” Matt said, leaning back to look up at the sky. He staggered a little and she laughed.

“And you’ll feel sooo bad tomorrow.”

“It was worth it. I never let loose like this.” Then he muttered, as if to himself, “Jane was right about me.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“Did Ellie tell you about Jane?”

“In passing, yes.” She didn’t want Matt to know Ellie told her every detail she knew.

“Well, Jane claims I don’t know how to relax.”

“Really?”

He nodded, wearing a half-assed grin. “Her exact words were, ‘You wouldn’t know fun if it threw you a surprise party.’”

“Ouch. That’s harsh.”

“Espe-shly coming from someone who works jus’as hard.” He was slurring and now he squinted, as if to compensate for double vision. “She’s a lawyer. Sixty-hour weeks eeeeasy. We had that in common. We’re both career oriented and goal driven.”

“You sound like a corporation,” she said.

“Yeah. True.” He nodded a couple of times. “Thatz what made us a good match. Bu’ I was wrong.” He sighed and shook his head. “She broke up with me.”

He’s still in love with her. Candy felt a jolt of disappointment. But this was helpful, she knew. Matt still loved Jane. Like garlic to werewolves, this would ward off Candy’s own lust, keep her from imagining things that could never be.

Things she didn’t even want, for Pete’s sake.

“Being here with you is good for me,” Matt said now, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “You’re showing me how to be…what did you say? ‘Fun Guy.’ Yeah. I could get into that. I’ve been missing out…a lot.” He tried to turn her toward him, to embrace her, she was sure.

She scooted away.

He was so tough to resist. His eyes were soft, but still hot, moving over her body, wanting her, no longer able to politely look away from her breasts, her hips, her mouth.

She had to stay in charge. “I bet when Jane sees Fun Guy, she’ll want you back, Matt.”

“She won’t believe iz me, tha’z for sure.” He chuckled. They walked a little farther. “So, whadowe do now?” he asked her. “Back to my place? For a drink?”

Bad, bad idea. “I was supposed to show you my ideas on Ledger Lite, but you’re in no shape for that. How about we start early in the morning? Before we go to the mall? I’ll borrow your computer so I can get organized tonight.”

“If you say so,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe you wanna work.”

They made it to his place and he invited her in again, his eyes offering more than the Cheetos and HoHos he was trying to tempt her with.

“Just the computer,” she said, standing firm outside his door.

“Okay. You’re one tough cookie,” he said, giving up and going to get his computer. He put the case’s strap over her shoulder. “There you go.”

“Is seven-thirty too early to come back?” she asked.

“I’m up at six.” He tilted his head at her. “Do you know how remarkable you are?” He was looking her over as if she were dessert. The booze had melted away all traces of politeness.

“That’s the Tsunami talking, Matt, but thanks.”

“See you in the morning, then.”

When he leaned out to kiss her, she chastely gave him her cheek, but she greedily inhaled the warm, human smell of him-salt and man and lime. Matt.

She headed to her place, computer snug at her side. She was proud of herself. She’d fought off the ache to get naked with Matt and stuck to her mission.

It was only 7:00. She had plenty of time to key in her notes, consolidate e-mails and leave a voice mail for Freeda, who worked 7:00 to 3:00 and could nab Candy’s hard-drive files for her in the morning before she went to Matt’s.

If only her family could see her now. Though the proof would be the promotion. That would be tangible evidence of her success. The promotion would redeem her, prove her maturity, make her respectable in their eyes. She was making definite progress. Tomorrow, Matt would see what a good team leader she would make. This was working out just fine, despite the Tsunami-inspired make-out.

At the beach house, Candy was delighted to find Sara and Ellie stretched out on the foldout couch Candy would sleep on. Both were sucking on BombPops, the red, white and blue Popsicles she remembered from her childhood, and laughing at TV.

“Hey, Candy, what have you been up to?” Ellie asked.

“Working with Matt.” She grinned, proud that it was true.

“No way. All this time?”

“Every minute.” The hardest work of all had been walking away. She sank into a chair beside the bed, happy to be with her friends, vowing not to confess her close call.

“Your nose is burned,” Sara said. “And what’s that sticking out of your bag?”

Candy held up the trophy. “We won this in a karaoke contest. Matt and I sang a duet. It was work, believe it or not. Before that we won our game in this volleyball tournament. Also work, because-”

“Hold it right there,” Ellie said, raising her hand in a stop sign. “You got my brother to sing? In front of a crowd?”

She shrugged.

Ellie squealed and tapped her Popsicle against Sara’s. “I told you they would hook up.”

“We didn’t hook up.” Though they’d come damn close. “We made this deal about work. My computer croaked, so he’s loaning me his. In exchange, I’m helping him with his social skills, which he has to improve because of his PQ2 scores.”

“Matt gave up his laptop?” Ellie said. “That’s amazing. He’s, like, hooked by umbilical to it.”

“Exactly. It’s part of helping him be more social. He was very impressed with my networking skills.”

“Your networking skills?” Sara grinned.

“So, you made a deal to teach Matt how to party?” Ellie said. “That is so you.” She saluted Candy with her BombPop.

“It’s not that way.” Except she saw how it might seem so. “Anyway, I’m going over there tomorrow morning to work.” She had to change the subject. “So what have you two been up to?”

She spotted Sara’s computer on the counter, still on. “You didn’t work after we talked?”

“Just a little,” Sara said.

“She took a break long enough to meet a hot guy, though,” Ellie said, “until Uncle Spence called and ruined it.”

“Sara, if I can work on vacation, you can try not to.”

“I am trying,” Sara said with a heavy sigh.

The girls talked on about the guy Sara had met-he owned a surf shop and Ellie thought Sara needed lessons-and then Ellie had news about an audition for extras for Sin on the Beach.

“And here’s the best part,” Sara said. “The director is a guy she knew from when she was a kid.”

“No!”

“He was our next-door neighbor when I was twelve. Bill Romero-eighteen and sooo hot. I wrote about him in my diary, fantasized about my first kiss with him-my first, well, everything. I only spoke to him once and that was to ask if he was really going to film school in New York. He was and that was that. He left and my heart shattered into a million pieces.”

“And that’s what sent you to the dark side?” Candy asked. “You started in with the vampires and the undead?”

“Oh, stop.”

“So, do you have an in with the show? Because of Bill?”

“He didn’t recognize me. Of course, back then I wore overalls all the time and my hair was flyaway and mousy brown.”

“So now he can fall for the grown-up Ellie,” Candy said.

“Hardly,” Ellie said.

In the silence, Candy noticed the boom-chica-boom soundtrack coming from the TV. “What are you two watching?”

“Summer Sluts, I think it’s called,” Ellie said. “We’re getting Sara in the mood for her surf guy. With these, too.” She lifted the ice pop. “We’re picking up oral techniques.” Ellie gave her Popsicle an exaggerated lick.

“How does she do that?” Sara asked, watching one of the video sluts bend backward off the side of the bed.