Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Then I’d learned about his lie, and my entire world had crumbled in on me.
Pain caused me to force my eyes away from him and focus on the beautiful scenery of the ocean all around us. Today was a day at sea, so there was nothing but ocean for as far as the eye could see. Being on a cruise like this with Ari had been a fantasy of mine for many years. Being on a cruise like this with Ari hating me…not so much.
Before the unease of Ari’s betrayal wormed its way back into my heart, the object of my affection returned—his plate piled high with fresh fruit and some chocolate sauce to dip it in. From the looks of his plate, the bracelets and patches were a definite success in easing his motion sickness. Watching him dip the fruit in the thick, creamy chocolate and then shoving it between his lips caused a different sort of motion altogether to happen with me…inside my tight swimming trunks.
“So,” he said between mouthfuls of strawberries and pineapple, “I guess I’m not sea-sick anymore. It must have been the alcohol.”
I laughed. “Probably not, angel. You’re wearing motion sickness wrist bracelets and patches behind your right ear. I’m pretty sure you’d still be sick if you didn’t have those anchoring you.”
He looked at the rainbow-colored wrist bands like he was noticing them for the first time. “Oh. That’s what these are? I thought they were some sort of 80’s party favors.” He shrugged. “Okay, that’ll work for me. That means I can have more cocktails, right?”
Underage drinking was wrong and illegal. His father might very well kill me. On the other hand, I wasn’t there to be a game warden—just to keep him safe from the kidnappers if they happened to return. On the other, other hand, I didn’t want him intoxicated. I needed him completely sober as I hoped to rebuild our broken relationship. “Let’s lay off the cocktails until we know for certain,” I answered cautiously. “I don’t want you to miss out on anymore of the fun.”
He frowned in between bites. “What kind of fun? What did I cause us to miss last night?”
I felt my heart do a bit of a flip-flop inside my chest when Ari referred to us…it had been the first time in so damn long. The one innocently tiny word caused a huge grin to spread across my face. “No biggie, really. It was a Wizard of Oz themed party—not very exciting. Tonight, we have a pirate theme, and I can’t wait to see you decked out as a pirate.” I shrugged. “What can I say? It’s been a fantasy of mine since I saw the lineup of nightly parties and festivities.”
Ari’s excited face plummeted in dismay. “Where did you read all this stuff? I didn’t see it…so, I didn’t bring any costumes. I can’t go to the parties dressed like,” he looked down at himself and muttered, “a go-go dancer.”
Laughing, I answered, “Well, there actually is a go-go dancer night, so you’ll have it covered. For the other nights, I brought us both costumes. I was afraid that in your…haste to make reservations, you might miss some of the trip’s highlights.” I’d had to pull every trick in the book, call in every favor owed to me, and promise my first born to Satan in order to get costumes for both of us on such short notice. No need to tell Ari that, though. Just seeing him in some of the things I’d chosen would be well worth the extravagant amount of money I’d paid to have everything shipped overnight and directly to the ship. A friend of a friend of a friend helped out on getting the ship to accept the packages. Well, a friend of a friend of a friend and a few Benjamins was what really helped.
“I hate you,” he grumbled. “I really, really do.”
There was absolutely no conviction to his voice, though. None. Not even a hint, so hope blossomed in my chest. “Well, let’s see what I can do to change your perception of me while we’re on this cruise, shall we?” I stood up and stretched. Since he’d cleaned his third plate of breakfast foods, I assumed he was finished. “It’s still pretty early, but the sun’s out. Let’s lounge around the pool for a while, let the food settle and talk about old times. When we get that itty-bitty bit of a mega lie worked through, we can talk about what all you had planned to do on your vacation cruise.”
His bottom lip puckered out the same way it used to do when he was upset about something or if he wasn’t getting his way. Like a total fool, I’d fallen for it every time…and felt myself falling for the same trick again. Yep, bottom lip pucker equaled me giving him the world if he asked for it. Using the sternest voice I was capable of, I asked, “What’s wrong now?”