Take My Breath Away

Debbie had her keen eyes locked on Stephanie's face, looking closely at the tiniest shift in her expression.

'The cold look in her eyes reminds me of Carlos, ' Stephanie thought and shivered. She bit her lips and retorted, "Carlos and I are in love."

Debbie stood up, lifted a knee, and pushed Stephanie into the water with her leg. Ignoring her shrieking, Debbie looked down at her and snapped, "You're lying! He never loved you. The only reason you're with him now is thanks to James Huo!

Just leave him, or you'll end up like Megan."

Stephanie raised her head all of a sudden, panic obvious in her eyes. "You killed her?"

A weird smile hung over her face as Debbie said, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"I'll call the cops! I'll tell them you killed Megan." Stephanie stood up and staggered towards the beach.

Arms crossed, Debbie sneered and said coldly, "Go ahead. Call them. Meanwhile, I'll be with Carlos."

At that moment, she heard the sound of water splashing behind her.

Debbie turned around and saw Carlos surface. He looked back and forth between the two women and felt the atmosphere was rather tense. "What's up?" he asked.

Stephanie took a deep breath and said, "Carlos, she killed Megan!"

Debbie said with a raised eyebrow, "Really, Miss Li? That's slander, and I can sue you."

With a deep frown, Carlos scolded Stephanie, "Quit it!"

"It's true. She just admitted it!" Stephanie ran towards Carlos and held onto his arm tightly.

Debbie looked at her, her eyes full of scorn. "When did I admit anything? Are you hearing voices?"

"You..." She thought about it and then realized Debbie hadn't admitted to killing Megan.

Carlos shook Stephanie's hands off and told her coldly, "I've already had my men look into it. Debbie didn't kill Megan. Quit saying that."

Stephanie gritted her teeth as Carlos scolded her. That wasn't in the plan at all. She turned to look at the other woman and saw her wrap herself in a clean towel and leave.

Carlos tagged along as if they were a couple. He requested an iced coconut from a waiter, inserted a straw in it and handed it to Debbie.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He said impatiently, "I can't stand sweet foods."

'So he's giving his coconut drink to me? Not his fiancee?'

Debbie looked at Stephanie and their eyes met. With a smug smile, she took the coconut from Carlos and took a huge mouthful of the coconut water through the straw.

"Wow! So good!" she said, settling herself into a deck chair.

'Sweeter than the previous one, ' she thought. 'He gave his coconut drink to me. So he didn't care if he pissed Stephanie off?'

Carlos lay down in another deck chair next to hers and said abruptly, "Don't wear a bikini again."

Debbie was shocked speechless. 'Is he talking to me?'

She looked around and found they were the only ones close by. Stephanie still stood where they left her, sulking.

"Your fiancee is wearing one too. Go talk to her." 'He's so bossy, and I hate that!' she cursed in her mind.

Carlos, whose eyes were shut, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. Staring at her with his dark eyes, he said through gritted teeth, "If you talk back to me, I'll bang you right here and now!"

Debbie's jaw dropped.

Her face was as red as a tomato.

She tightened her towel by instinct and cursed, "You jerk!"

Meanwhile, Blair rushed in Debbie's direction, shrieking. She finally managed to get away from Wesley. Carlos lay back, acting as if nothing had happened.

Blair stood before Debbie, gasping for air. She grabbed a clean towel to dry her wet hair and pointed at Wesley, who was approaching them leisurely. "You're good at tae kwon do, right? Can you kill him? Once he's dead, I'm all yours."

Trying to suppress her giggles, Debbie feigned terror and said, "Sis, Wesley's the toughest guy in the city. Even if I was a black belt, I'd be no match for him."

"I can't get away from him, ever," Blair blurted out as she watched his approaching figure, feeling so frustrated. She had asked herself why tons of times.

Debbie handed the coconut drink she'd been working on to Blair and coaxed, "Here. Have some coconut water. It'll cool you down."

Sitting next to Debbie, Blair reached out her hands and took it over. She didn't mind Debbie's germs, and drank a large mouthful.

Sizing Wesley up, Debbie whispered in Blair's ear, "Look at him. Handsome, rich. Why keep turning him down? Just say yes! You don't want him dating someone else, believe me."

Blair pouted and said, "I want to be with him, but...it's complicated."

There didn't seem to be anything else to say, so Debbie had to drop it.

After the supper, Kinsley suggested, "Who wants a foot massage?"

Niles raised his hand immediately. "Count me in. It feels so good. And the masseuses here are all pretty."

"Ewww! Stop leering. It's gross!" Debbie rolled her eyes at Niles.

Niles scratched the back of his head and said, "You guys must be exhausted. How about a whole body massage? Come on! Don't be killjoys!"

"No kidding. Hurry up. And we can grab some handsome masseurs for the ladies," said Kinsley as he put his arms around Ivan's and Carlos' shoulders, leading them to a nearby spa.

Niles grabbed Wesley's arm and shouted at the others, "Let's go, ladies. Keep an eye on your men. Otherwise, they might..." He stopped in mid-sentence and smiled slyly.

The ladies rolled their eyes and followed after them.

Kinsley booked them all with Carlos' money. The four women sat in a row, while five men sat opposite them.

Then, nine masseuses came over.

Debbie looked them up and down. All of them had perfect figures and pretty faces—probably a requirement to work here. With a professional smile, each of them placed a wooden basin in front of every guest and put the guest's feet into the medicated water.

Niles and Kinsley were both single. They chatted with their masseuses cheerfully, flirting with them and laughing.

With his eyes shut, Carlos leaned back on his sofa. Ivan and Wesley talked about whatever struck their fancy. They were all used to this.

Debbie felt uncomfortable for some reason. She turned to look at Blair and found she wore a similar expression.

But Stephanie's demeanor matched that of the men. She played on her phone while enjoying the foot massage.

Debbie stole glances at Carlos from time to time. 'Mr. Huo, aren't you a germophobe? Why do you let a strange woman massage your feet?' she cursed inwardly.