Chapter 4

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Kara shot up at the sound of someone hammering on her door. For a minute she was disoriented, trying to figure out where she was, and then the events of yesterday came crashing back down.

Danny.

Last night he had surprised her. She was certain that he would make a pass once they were back in her room. Probably with some lame excuse like "practicing." And, if she being completely honest, Kara was a little disappointed that he hadn't. Instead, he made no effort to stop her when Kara pulled the wall between them closed, leaving her staring at the ceiling for hours, unable to fall asleep.

The knocking got louder, and then Kara heard Nina's voice. "Let's go, Foster! I know that you are in there! I'll get Maya to pick the lock if I have to."

Rolling out of bed with a groan, Kara pushed open the wall, positioning it back the way it had been when she first arrived. She was momentarily surprised to see the front room empty, but then she registered the sound in the shower. Danny had left his neatly folded sheet and blanket on top of his pillow, and Kara took a minute to toss those onto her bed. Alisha had an uncanny ability to notice anything out of place and, while she knew that Al would keep her secret if asked, Kara was reluctant to tell anyone about her arrangement with Danny.

Reaching the door, Kara swung it open to reveal Alisha, Sarah, Nina and Maya. She crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"

Nina pushed past Kara into the room. She glanced over her shoulder at Alisha. "Told you that Kara was fine." Nina turned back to Kara, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. "I told them that you were in here curled up with a good book and that's why you skipped out on dinner. But Alisha is a total worrywart. Come on. Get changed and we're going to the beach. You can even bring a book."

Before anyone else could respond, Kara heard the bathroom door opening, and then a deep voice behind her. "Hey, Kara, do you have an extra toothbrush?"

Despite knowing that he must have left the bathroom deliberately - the toothbrush thing was a dead giveaway, given that the hotel stocked extra soap, contact solution, toothpaste and toothbrushes in all of the bathrooms - Kara felt herself turning red as four sets of eyes bounced from her to Danny and back. Kara spun to say...something, and had to stop her mouth from dropping open. Danny was standing in the doorway to the bathroom with a towel loosely wrapped around his waist, another one in his hand as he dried his face and hair. Which left a broad chest, sculptured abs, and a sprinkling of hair that quickly disappeared under his towel on full display.

Had she really missed out on that deliberately? Honestly, maybe Nina had a point about Kara needing to get out more.

Trying to pull herself together, Kara waved a hand between the her friends and Danny. "Danny, these are my friends. Alisha Granderson, Sarah Hanson, Maya Gibson, and Nina Mir. Ladies, this is Danny Green. We ran into each other yesterday. Turns out we have a mutual friend. Javier Cruz is dating his sister."

Behind Kara, Nina gave a low whistle. "Holy fuck Foster, next time you decide to read a book, I'm coming." Raising her voice, she directed her next question at Danny. "Nice to meet you, Danny. Do you happen to be here with friends?"

Now that wasn't a development that Kara was prepared for but Danny seemed unperturbed, shooting Nina a smile. Not, Kara immediately noticed, the smile he gave her yesterday, the one that made his face light up. Rather, this smile was the same closed mouth, rather generic smile that he gave the hostess at the restaurant who took their order. Kara found herself glancing at Nina with a satisfied smirk, one that she quickly squashed. After all, Nina was her friend. The fact that she could also be a complete pain in the ass was no reason to be catty.

"As it happens, I am," Danny replied. "Let me just grab my clothes and I'll get out of you ladies' hair."

Danny disappeared into the bathroom as suddenly as he had appeared and Kara turned back to her friends, hoping to get rid of them before Danny finished getting ready, suddenly panicking that he would walk out of her room and she would never see him again. "So what are you all planning to do today?"

Maya chuckled. "Mikey and I are headed out for a little exploration. I only came by because Alisha was worried. But seems to me you've got it all under control." With a jaunty salute, she disappeared out the door.

Alisha and Sarah exchanged glances. "We were going to the beach but I think we'll wait for a few minutes."

"I'm going wherever you are, Foster," Nina replied, planting herself on Kara's couch.

Just then Danny reappeared, back in the board shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops he had been wearing yesterday. Unfortunately, now that she knew what was underneath, Kara was having trouble not picturing him that way. Ignoring their visitors, Danny walked towards Kara, reaching down to press a kiss to the corner of her lips before his mouth moved to her ear. "I don't think that glowering at me is giving them the right impression. Try smiling. Picture me using chopsticks."

Kara found herself laughing as Danny squeezed past Alisha and Sarah and made his way out the door, where he paused. "I'll swing by in thirty minutes with the guys."

The second the door closed, Alisha shot around. "Okay, I'm going to need some more information. Stat."

Kara shrugged. "I was reading in the lobby and he sat down next to me. It turns out that he had read the same book and we got to talking. One thing lead to another and we had dinner and then came back here."

Nina snorted. "You're telling me that you bonded with hottie over a book? That's the most ridiculous lie I think I've ever heard."

Kara could see that Alisha's face was equally skeptical, and Sarah, otherwise known as Miss Gullible, wasn't meeting Kara's eyes. Heart sinking, Kara wished that she had thought to come up with a better story. But for most of last night, Kara had forgotten that it was all a cover, simply enjoying the time with Danny. As though it had been a real date. The girls' skepticism was a good reminder of why she came up with this plan in the first place. She might be able to knock the nipples off a chicken from a thousand yards and run CIC in her sleep, but when it came to relationships, Kara's record was a solid F.

"Believe me," Kara muttered. "If I was going to lie, I would have come up with something better."

Alisha gave her that assessing look again, before turning to Sarah. "Hey, babe, can you go get us some coffee? Nina, go with her."

"But I want to wait for hottie," Nina pouted. "He is coming back, right?"

"He said he would be back in thirty minutes," Kara pointed out.

"Great," Alisha said firmly. "Kara and I will wait for Danny and his friends and meet the two of you in the lobby for brunch then."

Nina stood, still pouting. "Fine, but I expect to hear details later. And by details I mean size, length and stamina."

Face burning, Kara waited until the two women were gone. "Do I get to take a shower or is this an interrogation?"

"Go ahead," Alisha waved her towards the bathroom. "I'll just talk through the curtain."

And that was the problem with serving with someone for so long. Niceties such as privacy went right out the door. Kara walked towards the bed and pulled out another bikini, a red one that Jeremy once said made her boobs look huge. Scowling, Kara threw the offending piece of clothing back and pulled out a dark green tankini, wishing that she had bought some new clothes for the trip. Wearing the red one around Danny felt slightly icky.

"I saw that!" Alisha called from the other room. "What's wrong?"

Kara sighed as she headed towards the bathroom and snapped on the shower, quickly stripping and stepping inside. "I need new clothes. Ones without memories attached."

"Ah. Well, I agree about that. A complete purge is in order." There was a pause before Alisha went on. "I was worried last night. I don't blame you for taking off, Nina was being a complete dick. I came by a few times but you were gone. Next time leave me a note or something."

Kara snapped off the shower, wrapping a towel around herself and then beginning to lather on sunscreen. "I'm sorry, Alisha. I know that it sounds kind of ridiculous but Danny and I got dinner and walked on the beach and it didn't really occur to me to check in."

"I'm glad you met someone, Kara." The sincerity in her voice was almost enough for Kara to crack and confess, until Alisha added. "Although I liked him better before I saw the dog tags. You did notice those, right?"

Kara finished toweling off and began sliding into her bathing suit. "He's a Marine. About as far from CIC as you can get."

"You have a type, Kara," Alisha cautioned. "And self-absorbed, emotionally stunted assholes might make for good one-night stands, but that's about all they're good for. It's like you deliberately pick guys who are going to treat you like crap."

Kara felt a flash of anger as she pushed open the curtain, deciding that she had enough time to quickly flatiron her hair. Probably pointless since she was bound to go swimming at some point today but she wanted to look half decent when Danny came back with his friends. Nina's skepticism was bad enough, Kara wasn't sure she could stand seeing the same speculation in Danny's friends. She took a minute to calm herself. After all, Alisha wasn't wrong. Kara did have a type. But Danny wasn't Jeremy. Or Rob. Or Tim.

"I'm aware of my poor track record with men," she said finally. "But this is my vacation too and I'm planning to spend the day with Danny. So you can either accept that and we can go to brunch or you can take off now and find Sarah. I'll make your excuses."

Alisha raised an eyebrow as she hopped down from the counter. "Okay, fine, I'll give Danny a chance. Just promise me that you'll be careful. Okay?"

Kara felt a flash of guilt, although she suspected that learning the truth wouldn't make Al feel any better about the situation. Sighing, Kara set down the straightener. "I'm sorry to snap at you. I know that this is just a vacation thing and I'm not under any illusion that Danny wants more than a fling. Honest. And, really, that's all I want. Once we leave here it's up to the Arctic for five months dealing with Cisco mooning over Nina and Wright being an ass. I'd like a few days to relax first."

"I get it. If this is what you want, I won't say anything else." Alisha reached over to give Kara a quick hug. "Anyway, finish your hair. We only have five more minutes and I have a feeling that your new friend is the punctual type."