The corner of his sensual mouth lifted in a lazy half-smile, revealing a sexy dimple in his right cheek.
“What about my clothes?”
He held up a brown paper package tied by a string. “Any more objections?”
Cami smiled. She wanted Gina to see her walk into the hotel dressed in high Victorian fashion and with Seth. Shecouldhave fun.
Seth offered her his arm. Cami wrapped her arm through his.
“I’ll give you an hour.”
Cami walked with Seth down Pacific Avenue, relieved that the other actors were similarly dressed in period costumes. They turned right on to Kentucky Avenue which brought them to a wide wooden footpath. The famous Atlantic City Boardwalk. Yet it wasn’t. At least not the boardwalk she knew.
Nothing looked familiar. They walked past several hotels, some under construction, their signage identifying them as The Ambassador and Chalfonte House. Where were the larger casinos on the Boardwalk – Bally’s, the Taj Mahal and the Showboat? She understood the streets close to the hotel were made to look Victorian as part of the reality-show set, but they were well away from there.
A flicker of apprehension twisted her stomach. Something wasn’t right.
Cami studied the planks of the walkway. “These boards look new. I’d think they would be made to look old, like everything else.”
Seth looked at her speculatively. “Why would you think everything here is old? This city is the height of fashion and innovation.”
“Let’s just say it’s not what I expected.”
“The Boardwalkisnew. A hurricane a few years back destroyed the old one. The city only recently finished its rebuilding.”
Hurricane? She hadn’t heard of a hurricane destroying Atlantic City. That would have made the national news, like New Orleans. She wiped her damp palms on her dress.
Seth led Cami across the wooden footpath to walk along the ocean side of the boardwalk. She said, “You must live here. You seem to know the city well.”
“No, I have small farm near New York City. I’ve made several excursions to the Boardwalk recently. Where do you call home?”
“Iowa, a little town near Des Moines.”
“You are very far from home. Little wonder that at the hotel you looked lost.”
Cami watched the waves welling up from the deep blue ocean, lapping at the ankles of sunbathers wading in the surf. The women and girls wore dresses, stockings and shoes, even in the water. The men had rolled up the legs of their trousers or wore knee-length knickers and suspenders. They couldn’t be part of any reality show. It was too far from the hotel and the people playing in the water were not acting.
A thought hit her. What if she wasn’t in her world any more, but in theirs?
Cami stumbled and then doubled over, a whalebone from the corset jabbing her in the ribs. Seth’s grip on her arm tightened.
“Are you ill?”
“Yes. No. I’m not sure. Let me catch my breath.”
“On your left.” The voice called out close behind.
Seth’s gut clenched. He grabbed Cami and whirled her away in time to avoid being run over by a cart on wheels racing down the boardwalk at breakneck speed.
“Hey, slow down,” she yelled at their backs. “Give me your cell phone. I’m calling the police. They’re going to kill someone.”
Seth nestled her closer to him, enjoying her pliant body. He could feel her heart racing. “Do you always attract so much trouble?”
“Apparently.”
“I don’t know what you meant by cellophone, but the police are not necessary.” He tipped her chin to meet his gaze. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Safe maybe, but what about sane?”
