She had just come down from London. Ruby was smarter than Zack gave her credit for, and it explained the alligator handbag from Hermès.
She was quiet for the rest of the evening after that, and when he invited the whole group to the boat the next day for a day sail she didn’t comment. But when they got back to the Ruby Moon, she turned to him with an icy look.
“Tell me, how does this work, just so I know the ground rules for tomorrow. You sneak off with Marlene, while I entertain your other guests? Or I turn a blind eye and pretend I don’t know what’s going on while she hangs all over you in plain sight?” She had watched them lean toward each other at dinner and touch arms several times, sitting close together.
“What are you talking about?” He’d had a lot to drink at dinner, and he wasn’t as smooth as he would have liked when he responded.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” She imitated Marlene’s voice perfectly then. “ ‘It was fun in London, darling, wasn’t it?’ Do you actually think I’m going to sit here and let you make a fool of me while you play out the charade tomorrow? I thought dinner in Saint Tropez was going to be fun. As it turns out, it was carefully planned, and I was the fool there. You’re not very subtle, Zack. Or very smart.”
“Fine,” he said angrily. “Do you want me to call and cancel them for tomorrow? I will if that’s what you want.” Ruby suspected that he wouldn’t deprive himself of the chance to see her. He was still the boy in the candy store, who wanted it all and could afford it, and thought he could pull it off. And he was still so young. Too young to have a wife and two kids and his colossal success. Ruby realized now that she’d been a fool to think all that money wouldn’t matter and it wouldn’t change him. It had.
“That’s up to you,” she said, about canceling the guests for the next day, and went downstairs to their cabin.
As it turned out, he didn’t cancel, and the whole group turned up at noon, excited to be spending a day on their fabulous yacht. One of the deckhands gave it away, when he said “Nice to see you again, miss” to Marlene as she came on board. Ruby didn’t say a word and let the whole scenario play out. Everyone went swimming topless before lunch, and then they sat down to a lively lunch. Marlene just happened to sit next to Zack, again, with Ruby at the other end of the table. Zack offered her a tour of the boat, which he didn’t offer the others, and they disappeared for half an hour, and returned looking flushed and a little disheveled. She would have laughed if Zack had his shorts on backward or inside out. He didn’t need to. It was obvious what they’d been doing, and he had a small lipstick smudge on his neck, which Ruby spotted immediately and pretended not to notice.
She got through the day somehow, with her heart aching. At six o’clock, they got back to their spot outside the port, and all the guests got in the tender. Marlene had swum topless all afternoon, and Zack could barely contain himself. They both waved as the guests departed back to the port, Zack enthusiastically and Ruby with a sad, defeated look. He had won for the day, but lost so much more in the process.
As soon as they left, Ruby headed downstairs to their cabin and started to pack. Zack followed her a minute later, sensing a showdown in the offing.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing,” she said, filling her suitcase as quickly as she could, tossing her shoes in, and the assortment of beach clothes she’d brought with her. She said nothing.
“Why are you doing that?” He tried to look innocent but wasn’t convincing.
“You must be joking. Other than Billy the deckhand telling Marlene that he was happy to see her again, her tits in my face all day, and your giving her a tour of the boat for half an hour, where you both came back hot and sweaty with her lipstick on your neck.” She pointed and it was still there when he glanced in the mirror and looked mortified. “I can’t imagine why I’d be packing, but maybe you can. Just how dumb