The top score was ten.
* * *
Catie put the cover-up back on for the party. Stupid tradition dictated that the competitors wear their swimwear to the outdoor festivities held poolside at the hotel. She’d tossed the stilettos and was wandering around in bare feet. The light pink toenail polish Angie had applied made her feel conspicuous, but Amber had fire-engine red on, so Catie decided she was being silly. She chatted with some of the other contestants and a few friends from town. The spread was fabulous, but she couldn’t eat. She was still fighting nausea from her nerves. She felt naked. Like she was having one of those naked dreams when she was a kid. Didn’t make sense. All the other girls were dressed just as she was, many more skimpily.
Still, goose bumps erupted on her flesh, despite the heat.
This wasn’t really her.
But she’d gotten into this, and she was determined to see it through.
When the McCray brothers arrived, the contestants flocked to them, offering to freshen their drinks, their plates, kiss their muscular asses… Well, not quite.
Catie thought she might hurl again.
Amber, of course, hung all over Chad. Was it possible he’d taken her to bed since they’d been together?
Catie’s heart fell at the thought. No. He wouldn’t do that, if for no other reason than it would be unethical to bed one of the contestants when he was a judge.
Of course, it hadn’t stopped him from bedding her, which meant he really hadn’t believed she’d enter. No one thought she’d go through with it.
He hadn’t contacted her at all. She sighed. He’d made it quite clear they had no future. And she had accepted it. At least she thought she had. At the time, it had seemed a small price to pay to be loved by him once.
How was she to know that once with Chad McCray would never be enough?
“Hey, you looked gorgeous.”
Catie turned and faced Annie’s pretty face. “Oh, thanks. I couldn’t have done it without your tips. Or Angie’s fashion advice.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I feel like a deer caught in headlights, Annie. How do those other girls walk around nearly naked without a constant blush on their faces? I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, I never liked the swimsuit part of pageantry either,” Annie agreed. “But you have to admit it tests your poise. It’s not easy strutting your stuff dressed in next to nothing.”
“No kidding. So, did I…”
“Did you what?”
“Did I look poised? I mean, I was fighting back puke the whole time, Annie, and I should have taken your advice about the Vaseline. My lips stuck to my teeth something awful.”
Annie laughed in her boisterous way. “You looked beautiful, hon. Just gorgeous. And I didn’t notice anything off about your smile. You did a great job of holding the contents of your belly in. Every man around me couldn’t take his eyes off you. The women either, for that matter.”
“I just never thought of myself as pageant material.”
“I know. Neither did I, but I did okay. And so can you.”
“You still can, Annie. Your exotic looks are timeless.”
“Hon, I’m an old married woman of thirty-four with two babies.”
“There are scads of pageants for older women.”
“Not for me.” She laughed. “But I appreciate the compliment. You, however, are young enough to make a go of this. You’ve got the height, the looks, the poise. You were absolutely amazing out there. You’re going to win this thing, Catie.”
“Well, if I win this one, it’ll be because of my horsemanship and equestrian knowledge. Not how g
ood I look in a bikini,” she said flatly. “I can ride circles around these other girls.”
“I’ve no doubt of that,” Annie said. “With the McCray boys judging, they’ll put lots of stock in the horse part, much more than the bikini part.” She winked. “Except maybe for the youngest.”
Catie warmed under her friend’s violet gaze. “Yeah, he does love the ladies,” she said wistfully.