Game Over. Fern Michaels

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СКАЧАТЬ the pole. Her left leg followed suit. Her jaw tight, her eyes closed, she straightened her back, took a deep breath, and started to rotate her hips to the beat of the music. Somehow or other, she managed to command her body to slither upward, then downward. And then she stunned everyone by doing three full swings around the pole before she allowed herself to slide all the way down in a crumpled heap.

      Roars of approval and clapping hands made Nikki burst out laughing. She rolled over and clutched at her ribs. “That’s it,” she gasped. “I am never, ever going to touch that pole again! You’ll have to kill me first.”

      The others seconded her declaration as they all managed somehow to get to their feet, moaning and groaning at the pain in their abused muscles.

      It normally would have taken the Sisters five minutes to slip into their outer gear for the trek across the compound to the main dining room and kitchen, but this time it took almost twenty. They were through the door when Annie’s cell phone chirped. She flipped it open and heard a voice command her to send the cable car to the base of the mountain. The Sisters stopped in their tracks when they heard Annie say, “But there’s ice on the cable. All right, Charles. I’ll do it.”

      Their pain forgotten for the moment, the Sisters all started talking at once.

      “They can’t be back already!”

      “What kind of honeymoon is over that quick?”

      “Maybe something happened!”

      “What if the cable car gets stalled?”

      “This is not good!”

      Kathryn summed it all up by saying, “Now it’s Myra’s turn on the pole.”

      Annie was already halfway to the cable car and didn’t hear Kathryn’s comment.

      Annie’s hand was on the switch to send the car to the base of the mountain when Nikki reached out. “What if the car gets stuck halfway down?”

      “At least it will get stuck going down, not coming up. The trip down will melt the ice. Coming up should be a breeze. It was an order from Charles, dear,” Annie said, shrugging off Nikki’s hand. She pressed the power button, and the hydraulics came to life.

      The cable car slid out of its nest and started down the mountain. The women could see shards of ice flying right and left as the car made its slow, steady descent. All eyes were on the control panel, which marked its progress.

      Annie’s fist shot in the air when the cable car made contact with the hidden platform built into the base of the mountain. The Sisters sucked in their breath as one when the control panel showed the car was on the way up.

      “I sure hope that guy Reggie, who Charles had working on the cable car, knew his business,” Annie whispered.

      “I remember Charles saying he was up on the latest on cable cars and that he worked on them in the Swiss Alps and this sort of thing happens all the time over there,” Isabelle whispered in return.

      “Why are we whispering?” Alexis whispered.

      “Because we’re afraid, and talking loud might…might…Oh, I don’t know,” Yoko said in a hushed voice.

      “Trigger an avalanche of snow?” Nikki said, her voice short of hysterical.

      “Anything is possible. However, I think it unlikely,” Annie snapped in a normal tone of voice.

      And then the cable car slid into its nest, and everyone heaved a huge sigh of relief.

      The Sisters rushed to embrace the newlyweds and chastise them at the same time for their early return. Everyone started talking at once as the girls struggled to carry Myra’s and Charles’s luggage back to the main building through the snow.

      Inside, the babble continued as Annie made her way to the kitchen to remove two long trays of brownies she’d set the timer to bake while she and the others worked the pole. She turned on the burner on the stove to heat the hot chocolate she’d prepared ahead of time.

      The Sisters did their best to ignore their aches and pains, their bruises and abrasions, by bombarding the newlyweds with questions about their honeymoon.

      “It was pleasant,” Charles said.

      “No, it wasn’t. It was boring,” Myra said.

      “We ate a lot and walked on the beach,” Charles said.

      “Charles ate a lot, whereas I ate healthfully and sparingly, and we trudged on the beach,” Myra said, correcting her new husband.

      “We read a lot,” Charles said.

      “That’s not quite true, dear. I read a lot. Somehow Charles found someone who allowed him to use his fax machine, and he read reports that came in to him at the speed of light.”

      “You look tired, Charles,” Annie said pointedly.

      Charles looked around. Well, he didn’t just fall off the watermelon truck. He knew when he wasn’t wanted. He pretended to huff and puff as he pulled on his jacket and made his way to the door. He was halfway there when he turned and came back. He kissed his wife soundly on the cheek and said, “Now, don’t be giving away what we really did on our honeymoon. Some things should remain sacred, old girl.”

      Myra blushed a rosy hue as she waved her husband toward the door. The minute the door closed, she said, “It was a water bed! Do you believe that? We couldn’t…what I mean is…We got seasick. We slept on the floor after…well, after we found out it was a water bed. Charles was so…inept.”

      Annie poured the hot chocolate. She sniffed. “That’s probably more than we really need to know, dear.”

      “Hogwash. That’s all you really wanted to know, dear, and you know it,” Myra retorted. “Let me sum it up for you, Annie. The sex end of the honeymoon was a disaster. Charles has a bad back. He had most of the blankets and covers. One night I slept on the beach, because the sand was soft. But, I got sand in every orifice of my body, and I will never do that again.”

      “My-raaa!” Annie screeched.

      “Oh, hush, Annie. You are reveling in the details of my honeymoon. But I am now willing to make a wager with you. I will wager my pearls against your pearls that I can master that…that stripper pole with all the lights in it. I’m ready and willing to take on all comers. Do we have a date for the recital yet?”

      The Sisters’ eyes popped, their jaws dropped, and Annie sat down with a thump and immediately regretted it.

      “Your…heirloom pearls! Your one-of-a-kind, priceless pearls? The pearls you feel naked without? Those pearls?” Annie managed to gasp.

      “Yes, Countess de Silva, those pearls,” said Myra.

      “Are you telling us you…you practiced on a stripper pole while you were on your honeymoon?” Nikki managed to squeak out as she recalled her own dismal performance and the aches and pains that had followed her efforts.

      “I am saying no such thing. Charles was glued to me the entire time, except for the night I slept on the beach. I wouldn’t have even СКАЧАТЬ