Dudes Down Under by Suzannah Burke

priceless!”
    She was right, it was. He threw back his head and joined in the laughter.
    The woman walking along the path below heard the sound. That laugh was very familiar. It must be Tony and Karen’s bungalow. She was about to continue along the pathway when another laugh caught her attention. She’d bet her bottom dollar that wasn’t the deep laugh of Karen Brown.
    There was another buggy parked out front. Obviously Tony and Karen had company. She walked on a few paces and stopped, remembering that she had not long ago seen Karen standing by the pool's edge not far from her own bungalow. Why would she go all that way when the pool here was so close by?
    She was curious, in spite of feeling like an eavesdropper. She stepped back a few paces into the darkness and waited to see if she could see or hear anything more.
    Tony and Vanessa had managed to rouse Kylie sufficiently to towel her dry and dress her in a loose-flowing negligée of Vanessa’s.   They laid her on the guest bed, covered her with a cool cotton sheet, turned out the light and closed the guest-room door.
    The woman downstairs walked across to the buggy outside. Two buggies per bungalow, and this one had three. She took note of the number on the roof of the buggy and smiled in satisfaction. She would have to check with reception to find out whose bungalow it was.
    She quickly stepped back into the darkness as she heard the sliding glass doors of the bungalow slide open. She had no idea whose bungalow this was either but she had a feeling she was about to find out.
    “ Bring me out a drink, would you?" Vanessa asked.
    “ Yeah, after that I need one as well. Are you still drinking Manhattans?”
    “ Uh-huh.”
    The woman below caught her breath; this wasn’t at all what she had even remotely suspected.
    Vanessa Dayton was silhouetted by the light of the inside bar. She wore only the briefest of lingerie, and her hair was down and mussed up. Tony Brown came out onto the balcony with his hair dripping wet. He was   wearing only a tiny pair of briefs. He handed a cocktail to his beautiful, half-naked, ex-wife.
    The queen of daytime television was stunned, and then delighted. Well, well, well. This holiday was certainly getting more interesting by the second.
    She hurried away, shielded by the darkness.
     
     

Chapter 7
     
    Tony arrived back at his own bungalow. He switched on the light, expecting to find his wife Karen in bed and probably asleep. He was surprised to find her sitting in the dark. She was sipping on some form of drink and not looking at all impressed with life.
    She looked even less happy when she took in the fact that he was only wearing his jocks. His hair was wet and he smelled faintly of lavender and pine-scented soap.
    “ Where the hell have you been? How could you leave me alone like this for so long? And what the fuck are you doing with next to nothing on?”
    Tony had the distinct feeling she would not even begin to believe his explanation. Shit!
    Lana Peters returned to her bungalow knowing full well that sometimes things were not as they first appeared. She wasn’t a bad person - in fact she was a damned good friend to have - so no matter what she had seen, she kind of hoped it was easily explainable. Yet she was enough of a woman to admit to herself with a smile that it would require one hell of an explanation.
     
    *  *  *
     
    Kylie Andrews awoke and carefully looked around her. Someone had changed the décor in her bungalow. Alternatively, she had gotten totally drunk outta her brain again and that meant she could be in anyone’s bed. She could only hope it wasn’t the crocodile’s.
    She didn’t usually get hangovers and today was no different, thank God. She took a sniff at the air closest to her. She mustn’t have been sick this time. Good. She sat up and realized she was wearing a beautiful negligée and it wasn't one of hers.
    Oh, hell. She hadn’t gone down that road before. She was still trying to make