Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Right, yeah. We’ll do it the simple way,” I insist, feeling defensive.
“Will you even see each other again before you depart?”
He made me promise—swear, actually—that I would come to his suite once I was finished with Sienna, no matter the time.
“What if it’s two a.m.?”
“I don’t care,” he said in a no-nonsense tone.
“Three a.m.?” I teased.
He leveled an unamused glower at me.
“Three thirty?”
I kept right on going until he sealed his lips to mine and then told me with a succinct, finite finish, “Come to me no matter the time, Casey. Swear it.”
I smiled against his lips. “I swear it.”
Now, as Sienna and I walk to dinner, my stomach squeezes tight again. It’s ached all day. Maybe something was off with my breakfast . . . or maybe that picnic lunch by the waterfall was spoiled . . . or maybe it’s because you’re leaving Phillip tomorrow, and the doom of it all is making your tummy hurt!
I press the button for the elevator and rearrange my clutch.
Sienna glances toward me with a curious expression, and I force a smile.
“I’m starving,” she groans. “I bet you are, too, after that hike.”
Hike = waterfall = Phillip’s face between my legs.
I gulp and nod, choosing to keep my mouth shut so she doesn’t look over and notice the flush creeping up my neck. That’s good, red dress, red lips, red skin. At least I match.
Tonight in the dining room, they’re doing something special called the Flavors of Aurelia. All the chefs on board have banded together to work alongside Executive Chef Thomas Keller to create a multicourse tasting menu similar to what they offer at Michelin Star restaurants. Each course is paired with a wine offering, and as far as I know, the reservations for the evening booked up months ago. We only got in because Sienna sweet-talked the host, flirting shamelessly with him over the phone until he promised he’d work us into the schedule.
I’m sure I could have pulled strings with Phillip, but this seems to have worked out just fine. When we show up, our names are on the reservation list, and we’re immediately whisked toward a table for two near the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows.
Almost as soon as I walk into the dining room, I feel tingles run the length of my spine, and I turn to look over my shoulder. Phillip sits at a secluded table in the far corner alongside Captain Neal and Devin, the chief engineer. As he reaches for his drink, he lifts his gaze, and our eyes meet across the crowded space.
We were just together, intimate only a few hours ago, and yet it feels all new again—tight, hot, heavy. It’s like my lungs don’t want to fully expand; my heart doesn’t want to slow its pace; my hands can’t seem to stop trembling.
It’s adrenaline, nothing more.
Oh, really?
God, his eyes eat me alive. There’s no smile or arched brow. Nothing too obvious, but his gaze still consumes me as I trek across the dining room behind Sienna and take my seat, my back to him.
It’s hard to keep my attention focused straight ahead. I want to look back and see him again.
After I leave the ship tomorrow, I won’t have another chance like this.
“Okay, you have to be honest with me. You’re sad about Phillip, aren’t you?”
I blink and shake my head, trying to push, push, push everything down. I don’t want to be a shitty friend to Sienna. It’s not fair to her.
“It’s almost insulting if you try and cover it up, you know. Just tell me.”
“Yes,” I say hurriedly. “It’s complicated between us. All the advice you gave earlier concerning Javier just doesn’t seem to apply. You kept your wits about you, and I’ve apparently lost all of mine. I feel weird and strange, and I’ve been trying to ignore it, but well . . . I guess I’m not doing such a great job.”
I peer up to find she’s not annoyed with me. She has a soft smile and sympathetic eyes as she listens to me try and explain it. “You’ve really done it, haven’t you? Broken all the cardinal rules. You weren’t supposed to fall for him.”
“I haven’t!” I rush out, though at this point, maybe even I don’t believe it.
She laughs with a shake of her head. “Okay.”
I look down, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach.
“What should we eat?” I say, quickly changing the subject.
“We don’t get to choose, remember?” Sienna says with a laugh. “It’s a tasting menu. They’ll just start bringing the courses.”
Right.
As a waiter comes around to give us wine, I ask Sienna about her family and friends back home. She tells me all about her gran. While she didn’t raise Sienna, like my grandmother raised me, they’re extremely close.
“She’s the one who encouraged me to start taking my social media career seriously. Funny, considering she doesn’t even have a smartphone, but yeah, she really believed in me when everyone else was telling me that it’d be much better in the long run if I just settled down and got a normal job, or better yet, married and changed nappies all day!”