Dani sat up and surveyed the gorgeous ocean and even more gorgeous people around her. “We don’t exactly have a beach club. There is a lake nearby that I go to in the summer. My best friend Sam is working there this year at the canteen, but she’s hoping to get a lifeguard job when she’s old enough. Our lake doesn’t begin to compare with this. Or with the lifeguards…” Dani’s voice trailed off as she eyed a tan guard in low-rise orange trunks.
“It’s true. Our lifeguards are none too shabby,” Kayla agreed. “And speaking of none too shabby, check out who’s here today.” Chelsea and Violet immediately rolled their heads to check out a muscular, dark-haired god who was coming out of the ocean. “Jason, Jason, Jason. Who knew anyone could look so hot at sixteen? God help me, but that boy gets me every time,” Kayla crooned.
Dani could see why. As Jason neared the group of four girls, Dani took in the wet hottie. Totally buff body, deep green eyes, and tremendous smile. None of the boys at her high school looked like this.
“Hello, ladies,” he said smoothly, interrupting the business of admiring him. “How is everyone today. Ah, a newcomer. Who is this lovely woman?”
Dani’s mouth got dry, and she couldn’t prevent the blush that crept over her face.
“This is Dani McKinley,” Kayla said. “Mark Ocean’s daughter. She is here from Michigan for a week. And Dani, this is Jason Young. His father plays for the Dodgers.”
Dani noticed that everyone here was introduced by what his or her parents did. She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Jason.” Where had her awkwardly seductive voice suddenly come from?
“It’s beyond pleasurable to meet you.” Jason took her hand and raised it to his lips.
“God, Jason, do you ever stop?” Kayla laughed, but it was clear that Jason was undeniably charming.
“Aw, Kayla, don’t tell me you’re jealous?” Jason teased as he sat down on her lounge chair. “You’ll always be my favorite California girl!” Jason lay his wet body on top of hers, eliciting squeals from Kayla.
“Jason, you’re freezing! Get off me!”
“You love me, baby, cold and wet or hot and dry.” Jason kissed her affectionately on the cheek. “Where’s that loser brother of yours? Surfing with his loser friends as usual?” Jason sat up and reached for one of the neatly stacked beach towels.
“Yeah, I saw him out there a few minutes ago. But don’t start anything today, okay? Dani doesn’t need to witness a smack down.”
“For you, my dear, I’ll restrain myself from kicking your brother’s ass.” Jason turned to Dani as he toweled himself down. “So Miss Dani California, what’s on the agenda while you’re in town?”
She was sure she looked repulsive in her bikini next to Kayla, Chelsea, and Violet, but she couldn’t exactly throw a huge towel over herself now. “Not much. I was just telling them that I’m going to my father’s premiere on Saturday.”
“Oh, yeah. The Clone Faction, right? It looks good.”
“No, it doesn’t. It looks terrible,” Dani said.
“Okay, true. It does look terrible,” Jason admitted, “but you’ll have fun anyway. If you want, I could come by and give you a training session before you go. A lot of people around here do a last minute workout before they go in front of the cameras. Not that you need much enhancing, mind you,” Jason said softly. “But if you’re nervous, it might help you to work out and de-stress beforehand.”
“Jason wants to be a celebrity trainer,” Kayla explained. “He’s actually really good, Dani. You should take him up on it. My trainer is more interested in checking out my ass than sculpting it. Have Jason come by, Dani. He’ll have you jacked up in an hour, and you’ll great.”
“Okay, sure,” Dani agreed. It couldn’t hurt to work out before the premiere.
“Cool. I’ll get your address from Kayla later. How about I come by at noon on Saturday?” Jason asked.
Dani faced Jason, presenting what she hoped was a flattering pose. “Great. Thanks.”
“God, I’m starving. Are you ready for lunch?” Nathan showed up behind Jason, wearing an unzipped wet suit and holding a surfboard. “Jason, what’s up, man?” Nathan held out his hand.
Jason ignored Nathan. “Dani? I’ll see you Saturday.”
Nathan eyed Dani with surprise and then changed the subject. “So are you all hungry?”
“Famished.” Kayla said, rubbing her flat stomach. “Nathan, can you grab a menu for Dani?”
“You bet.” Nathan brought the menu from the cabana and handed it to Dani. He gave a friendly wave to a nearby waiter. “I’d like to place an order for the Dodd account.”
“I want the Moroccan couscous salad,” said Violet, running her fingers through her long blonde tendrils
“Mahi mahi in a whole wheat wrap,” Chelsea decided. “Extra fennel slaw.”
“And I want the crab and artichoke panini,” Kayla added. “How about you, Dani?”
At least these tiny girls ate. Dani had been afraid they would order scented water and steamed vegetables. Dani flipped through the pages, confused.
Nathan leaned down and turned a page for her. “This is the one you want,” he explained. “One is a hangover menu, one’s a relaxation menu, and one’s a carb-free, fat-free, and gluten-free menu. Also taste-free, if you ask me. This is the normal one. I recognize that it’s idiotic, but welcome to the lifestyles of the rich and spoiled.” Dani could feel his warm breath on her ear, and cool drops of ocean water fell from his body onto her chest.
“Um, is there just a sandwich of some kind?” Dani scanned the page for something resembling a normal turkey club or a BLT.
“How about this?” Nathan reached his hand over Dani’s shoulder, grazing her shoulder, and pointed to a harmless-sounding chicken wrap. Dani nodded, thanking him for the help.
“And I’ll have the veggie burger, please.” Nathan spoke politely to the waiter.
“How manly,” Kayla said, her voiced loaded with sarcasm. “Will you be getting a whipped smoothie with that?”
He ignored his sister. “I’m going for a quick swim. And Dani? Watch out for Jason.”
“Oh, my God!” Kayla said. “Are you flirting with Dani?”
Embarrassed, Nathan jogged away.
“What are you talking about?” Dani defended Nathan.
“Seriously, you cannot possibly find my dorky brother in the least bit attractive. Can you?” Kayla pulled off her sunglasses.
“There was not even the illusion of anything more than a normal, friendly exchange between me and your brother. And he’s not dorky.”
“Jason is one thing. But Nathan? Ick.” Kayla shivered at the thought.
“Oh, leave her alone, Kay!” Chelsea raised her eyebrows and gave Dani a sympathetic look. “She has limited time here, so she’s got to pack in as many boys as she can. A girl after my own heart,” she said, pleased.
“You’re fitting in already,” Violet said approvingly. “Hey, Dani, you should come over tomorrow night. I’m having a slumber spa with the girls.”
“A slumber spa?”
“Yeah, a slumber party and a spa night all in one. You’ll love it.”
“Sure. Let me check with Mark, but if it’s okay with him, I’ll come.”
“Give me your phone, and I’ll add my info.”
Dani got her phone out of her purse. “I’m not even sure how to use this thing.”
“Aw, your first iPhone? I’ll help you.” Violet sent the device into a flurry of beeping noises as she tapped away at the tiny keys.
Kayla rummaged through her Birkin bag and sighed with aggravation. “Have any of you seen my phone? I just had it in the car. This is the second one I’ve lost! I’m ordering two this time so I can have a backup.” Kayla leapt off her chair. “Girls, that’s enough vitamin D for the day. We don’t want revolting tan lines marring our décolletage, do we?” She handed tubes of SPF 60 around. “Dani, you’ll come tanning with us after this, right?”
“Aren’t we tanning now?”
“No, silly. Spray tanning. Right now we’re just showing off our previous spray tans and adding a hint of natural color.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” Dani was getting a real education today. Four different lunch menus? Fake tanning after lying out in the sun? Sons of professional baseball players offering up their training services? Cabanas with plush towels and private suites with showers and bedrooms?
Kayla moved off her chair and began applying sunscreen to Dani’s back. “Don’t worry, new girl. We’ll take care of you.”
Chapter 21
Mark opened his front door to find his daughter teetering in a pair of high-heeled sequined shoes and clutching a fistful of shopping bag handles. “Didn’t I give you a key?”
“Well, no. I guess I forgot to ask you for one.” Dani’s cheeks were pink from her day in the sun, and her eyes sparkled with happiness. “Sorry, I should have remembered to get one.”
“Here, let me take your bags. How was the club? Did you get along with Kayla? I see she took you shopping.” Mark walked through the foyer and into the living room, where he set the bags onto one of the sofas. “What’d you get?”
“About that…” Dani pressed her lips together and flashed him an apologetic face. “Kayla, Chelsea, and Violet insisted I go shopping with them after we left the club, and they swore they’d impale themselves with the heels of these shoes if I didn’t get them. According to the girls, I now look leggy and statuesque?” She raised a foot in the air for him to see, nearly throwing herself off balance. “And the shoes were apparently inseparable from this dress,” Dani said, as she pulled a yellow garment from one of the bags. “And when Kayla watched me try on the dress, the poor thing almost collapsed at the state of my…of my…delicates.” Dani squeezed her eyes shut with embarrassment. “So she yanked me into Stella McCartney and made me buy a year’s worth of replacement, um…items,” she stammered. “I feel like I belong at the Playboy mansion! I’ll pay you back for everything, I really will. I just didn’t know how to stop them. They were on spending autopilot! Then they took me tanning and then to some organic beauty product place where I got covered in jojoba oil and slathered in chemical-free eye shadow. Seriously, I could eat everything they put on my face and not keel over. It’s all plant-based. That’s bag number three.” Dani pointed hesitantly to a cloth shoulder bag. “I had to buy the hemp bag to carry my purchases because they don’t use plastic bags there. I’m fully aware that this is all insanely superficial and materialistic, but…” her voice trailed off. “I’m so sorry, this stuff cost an unearthly amount of money.”
“It sounds like you had a great time, and there is no way you are paying your own father back for anything. So, tell me about the girls. I gather Kayla took good care of you?”
“She was so nice! They all were.” Dani bubbled. “Even though Kayla informed me that I would be a candidate for social disgrace if I didn’t smell like banana-mango-basil oil, and so then she forced me to buy a vat of the perfume. Oh, Violet is having a slumber party at her house tomorrow night, and she wants me to come. Would that be all right? And I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier, but I didn’t know how late it had gotten. I’m usually much more responsible.”
Mark wondered if the kid was going to stop to breathe. “Kayla is going to be there, too?” he asked.
Dani nodded.
“Of course. You can do whatever you like. How about you go change, and we’ll go out to dinner.” Mark wanted to take her to eat at small Italian restaurant. They were sure to be photographed there, but it was a less desperately obvious choice than others. “And I’m glad you’re making some friends here,” he said. Dani startled him by leaning in to him for a moment before she went upstairs to shower.
Mark went into his study and Googled himself on his laptop. He was relieved when he saw the picture of himself and Dani on Perez Hilton. Perez was finally softening up on him. He browsed through more search results and bookmarked some of the better shots. Mark smugly noted that he really didn’t have a bad side—all the pictures of him were pretty spectacular.
He was glad that his daughter was making friends with Kayla. Now he just needed to get closer to Evan Dodd. But, God, there was hardly any time to do what needed to be done. He needed to find a way to connect more deeply with his daughter. And he needed her to stay in California longer. Long enough so that he could take advantage of her budding friendship with Kayla. Sure, Dani had been temporarily hypnotized by the lure of beach clubs and Fred Segal but she needed to admire him.
What could he do to entice Dani to stay with him?
Mark began rifling through a file cabinet that held old audition pieces that he used years ago when he’d had hopes of landing meaningful roles. Within a few minutes, he had pulled out a few scripts that he stacked neatly on top of his desk.
These should do the trick.
Chapter 22
Dani wiggled her toes in the soapy water and inhaled the aroma of apricot that emanated from the bubbling foot spa. She leaned back into the cushion of the oversized armchair and watched her new friends, who were spread across Violet’s living room, all enjoying various sorts of pampering. Chelsea lay on her back on a massage table, a towel draped over her, while a masseuse rubbed her calves. Violet’s face was soaking up the benefits of an avocado mask.
Dani had attended more sleepovers than she could count, but this one at Violet’s house was in a completely different league. The woman in charge of beautifying her toes was removing her feet from the foot spa and toweling them off in preparation for a full pedicure.
“Dani, I can’t believe you won’t get the carp pedicure.” Kayla leaned forward in her chair and pointed down at the large tank where tiny fish swam, nibbling her feet. “It’s the absolute best way to get all that dead skin off. You won’t believe how smooth your feet feel afterwards.”
Dani had forced herself not to laugh when Kayla had first explained this trendy beauty treatment. There was absolutely no way Dani was allowing fish—even supposedly toothless ones—to snack on her feet. “Um, maybe next time. This is my first pedicure, so I thought I’d start off with something more traditional.”
“It doesn’t hurt, if that’s what you’re worried about. Actually, it tickles.”
“Maybe next time,” Dani said doubtfully. As it was, she was still trying to adjust to this lavish slumber party.
Without considering the possibility that an innocent invitation to a night at Violet’s meant she should dress to the hilt, Dani had thrown her hair into a ponytail and left the house without a stitch of makeup. She’d been mortified when she’d shown up at Violet’s wearing sweatpants and a big T-shirt. Kayla, Chelsea, and Violet looked like they’d already spent hours primping for the evening. Much to Dani’s delight, Violet had provided wonderfully soft camisole-and-shorts sets as gifts to her guests, so Dani now coordinated perfectly with the other girls. Even Chelsea had whipped off her black clothes, removed her heavy eye makeup, and put on the required eveningwear. “Don’t tell my mother about this!” she threatened the other girls. “But, God, how cute do I look?”
Violet was now slipping into a plush robe. “By the way, Dani, if you meet my parents, don’t mention anything about the food tonight. We’re only supposed to eat organic and vegan stuff, but I have a connection to the chef at Crustacean, and he agreed to sneak us some real food. Thank God my parents are away this weekend. They’re environmental nuts so all my clothes are made from hemp and other weird stuff. And, in case you’re wondering, no, it’s not the same thing as pot. You can’t get high off my clothes. Just ask my cousin. He made a fire with three of my shirts and attempted to inhale the fumes. All the more reason for me to sneak off to Wilshire Boulevard and buy some real clothes.”
An hour later, after the spa people had left, Dani was seated on the floor when Kayla sat herself on the couch behind her and began running her fingers through Dani’s hair. “No offense, but you really need a new haircut. Where do you get yours done?”
?
??Just a small place back home. I know, my hair is too thin and straight.” Dani reached for more of the crusty shrimp mousse and topped it with a dab of kiwi sauce. Alan would love all this food, especially the trio of dumplings that had been served earlier. Dani stopped herself from thinking about Alan right now; she was having too much fun.
Kayla leaned over, her silken red hair falling out from behind her ear, and studied Dani’s face shape and hair color with a critical eye. “No, you’ve got a good start, you just need some major highlights and some more shape in the front. Violet, go get the hair pieces and we’ll poof her up!” Kayla clapped her hands excitedly.
Within minutes Kayla was pinning thick, dark hair into the top of Dani’s head. “So tell us about life in Michigan. What’s your friend Sam like? And how did you find out that Mark was your father? Who leaked that whopper to the tabloids? You must be pissed, huh?”
“Ouch!” Dani winced as Kayla fiddled with the hairpiece but then answered all of her new friend’s questions. “And Sam is awesome. You would love her. We’ve been friends since we were little kids.” As Dani continued to describe Sam with all the warmth she felt for her best girlfriend, she thought about how much Sam would adore this luxurious evening. She would have to call her tomorrow and fill her in without sounding like she was bragging about her California trip.
“The funny thing is,” Dani continued, “Sam has been a huge fan of Mark’s for ages and he turns out to be my father!” She detailed the unpleasant paparazzi attack outside of her high school and the subsequent discussions with her mother. “Sam is the one who really encouraged me to come out and see Mark.”
“I’m glad she did. But someone must have spoken to the tabloids. Who do you think it was?” asked Chelsea.
“Honestly, I can’t imagine.” Dani shook her head. “My mom swears that practically no one knew. I’m not sure that I’ll ever find out. It’s pretty twisted, though, that someone would do this to me. I mean having my paternity revealed on E!, Entertainment Tonight, and Access Hollywood wasn’t particularly delightful.”