Mom and Aaron both guffawed, and Josh’s face flamed hotter.
“Just shoot me now,” he said out loud.
Nathan laughed and stood. “You guys have fun. I’ll see you later.” He pointed at Josh. “And you, mister, still owe me a dance.” With that, he sauntered off.
“O-M-F-G,” Clare declared. “He is so into you, I can’t even stand it!”
“Yeah, but….” Ramona made a face. “Maybe we should still keep looking. I mean, an artist?”
“What’s wrong with being an artist?” Josh demanded, defensive. The artistic part of Nathan was one of Josh’s favorite things about him. Nathan actually listened last night to one of Josh’s favorite songs, like he wanted to know why it was a favorite. As if he wanted to know more about Josh himself.
“Because artists are usually poor.” Ramona whispered the last word.
“Whoa, that’s harsh, babe,” Luke said, brows up.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she insisted. “I’m only thinking of Josh. What if he gets stuck footing the bills for some starving artist? Does he know you’re a CPA?”
“He has a job, Ramona. He’s not looking for a meal ticket,” Josh snapped, taking a hefty swig of the Bloody Mary.
“And you’re far too nice and trusting for your own good sometimes,” Ramona said with a kind smile—that felt utterly patronizing.
“He is,” Mom agreed.
“We’re just looking out for you. If we’re going to find you the best boyfriend possible, we have to consider every angle,” Ramona went on. “I don’t want some guy taking advantage of you.”
“Maybe Josh wants to be taken advantage of,” Aaron said, laughing. He stretched out on the lounger, hands behind his head, soaking up the sun.
“The most important thing right now is that the plan is working. We got him a date,” Mom said. “Maybe Nathan will be a practice date?”
“Yeah, he’s just a practice date, for sure. I mean, he lives on a ship. Nothing will come of that.”
“True,” Mom agreed. “We need a guy who lives in the Midwest.”
Josh felt like they’d just sucker punched him.
“And I think we can find him someone taller too, Mom,” Ramona said. “Don’t you think?”
“Yes, and he should like to read. You know Josh loves to read.”
“And he should know how to cook too,” Ramona added. “And have an excellent sense of humor. And be a sharp dresser. No slouches.”
“And everything you just said describes Nathan perfectly.” Josh tried not to sound too annoyed, because he had no idea if Nathan knew how to cook or liked reading.
And they were right.
Nathan lived on a ship and Josh lived in Indiana.
Nothing would come of it, and he knew that.
But why couldn’t Josh just wait and see what happened?
Tired of this conversation, Josh held up his hands for quiet. “Would you guys just stop? You’re acting like there’s some menu you can order the perfect boyfriend from.”
“Ooh, don’t you wish there was a boyfriend menu?” Aaron crooned. “I’ll take the tall, dark, and handsome, please.”
Ramona clapped her hands, playing along. “Excellent choice, sir. That’s exactly what I ordered and I’m quite pleased with my selection.” She gave her husband a wink. Then she pretended to hold a pen, taking Aaron’s order on her magazine. “What sides would you like with that?”
“How many do I get?”
“The tall, dark, and handsome comes with two sides, everything else is extra.”
Aaron patted his chin with a finger. “Hmmm, I’ll have sexual stamina and good sense of humor, please. How much extra is it to add loves cats?”
Ramona, Mom, and Aaron were all laughing now. Even Dad and Luke were chuckling. Clare looked as queasy as Josh felt.
“Seriously, you guys.” Josh fought a grin at Aaron’s boyfriend menu. “I don’t need your help finding a boyfriend. I just wanna enjoy my vacation.”
And get to know Nathan.
Even though nothing will probably come of it.
“Well, I think it’s great, Josh,” Clare said, sipping a cup of tea. Maybe she was hungover too. “Nathan seems very nice.”
“Thank you, Clare,” he said, pointedly glaring at the rest of them.
“Can we talk about something else besides Josh?” Luke demanded. “You know, I have interesting things going on in my life too.”
“Oh yeah, like what?” Mom challenged.
Luke’s face fell. “Well, um. I don’t know.”
The whole family busted up laughing, and even Josh couldn’t help but join in.
Surprisingly, after Josh drank the Bloody Mary, any and all hungover feelings left.
Magic ingredient, indeed.
“HEY, MY earring is gone,” Mom suddenly cried.
Startled from dozing in the sun, Josh looked over at her.
She sat up and fingered her naked earlobe. One of her diamond studs was gone. She patted her beach towel in a panic. “Start looking!”
They’d all been relaxing and enjoying the sun, but Mom’s cry spurred them into action. Josh joined in the hunt, calling for Aaron to come out of the pool and help too. Mom even managed to get a whole bunch of people to help her. After about twenty minutes of fruitless searching, the earring was officially declared lost.
Mom was devastated. “Oh, Jerry, you bought those for me for our thirtieth wedding anniversary.”
“We’ll report it to the lost and found, dear,” he assured her. “And if no one turns it in, then we have insurance, remember? We’ll get you a new one.”
“But the set won’t be the same,” she said, still very upset. “It won’t be the one you surprised me with.”
While Dad attempted to soothe Mom, Josh realized that he felt human enough to think about eating, so he headed over to the buffet. He helped himself to a fruit plate. He needed to flush out all the sodium if he would see Nathan tonight. Maybe if he ate all fruit, he’d lose a pound or two before Nathan saw him naked.
He grinned at the prospect of what Nathan seeing him naked would mean.
It would mean they were having sex!
Finally, it might happen.
While Ramona and Mom’s oh-so-not-helpful reminder that Nathan lived on a ship had stirred up his natural worrywart nature, he was not going to let it affect him this time. He was determined to enjoy himself in every way possible on this trip.
Aaron was right, Josh needed to get out there and—
“I said give that to me right now,” a man growled from around the corner.
Josh flinched out of his musings.
“Ow, you’re hurting me,” a young girl responded.
Concerned, Josh followed the sound of the argument.
To his surprise, one of the men from the elevator last night was arguing with his daughter, who’d worn the too-sexy Mrs. Claus outfit.
The man wrestled to get something out of her hand, and the girl looked scared.
“Hey,” Josh said, startled by the authority in his voice. “Is everything okay?”
They both flinched, and the girl took the chance to run away.
The dad scowled at Josh, then watched his daughter flee. “We’re fine,” he snapped at Josh, then chased after his daughter.
Josh watched them until they disappeared down a corridor.
He wondered if he should follow.
But if he was hurting his daughter, what could Josh do about it?
The man was twice his size.
The ship probably had a security team trained to handle such situations.
He spied Roxy at the tiki hut bar, serving milkshakes to a pair of teenagers, and he headed over. Maybe she would know whom he could talk to about the girl.
“Hey there again, sailor,” she said when she spied him. “Ready for another gingerbread martini?”
Chuckling, he raised his hands. “No, thank you. They’re delicious, but I had a few too many last night.”
“Hopefully you didn’t do anything you regret.”
“Other than embarrass myself in front of a gorgeous man, no,” he told her honestly. “But I must not have been too bad, because the same gorgeous man brought me a Bloody Mary this morning.”
“What a romantic,” she teased.
“True, it wasn’t roses and a box of chocolates, but I needed it. If it weren’t for that drink, I don’t know how I’d be functioning right now.”
“Ah, must’ve been one of Adam’s Bloody Marys. He’s a real magic worker.”
“Yeah, I think so. Um, I have something to ask you.”
She tipped her head, studying him carefully. “You’re upset. What’s wrong?”
A bit taken aback by her intuitiveness, he quickly explained what he’d just witnessed. “I saw them arguing last night too. Their cabin is on the Fiesta deck, three doors down from the elevators. I think her name is Sarah, and maybe the one dad is named Winston? Or something like that. Is there someone I should report it to? You know, just in case.”
Roxy nodded, taking it all in. “Actually, I know who you’re talking about. I’ll mention it to the cruise director. He’ll take care of it.”
“Oh, okay, thanks, Roxy.” He was glad he’d said something.
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling. “Don’t worry, if something is going on, the crew knows how to handle it.”
Feeling better about the whole situation, Josh returned to his family circus beside the pool.
“Hey, guys, you’ll never guess what I just saw,” he told them, taking his seat.
“More people wearing fairy wings?” Ramona asked. “Last count there were sixteen.”
“What’s up with all the people wearing wings? And they look really fancy, like movie props,” Aaron said, somewhat incredulous.
Ramona’s eyes widened. “I know! Luke and I started counting how many there were. I even looked on the itinerary to see if they were performers or if some sort of fairy convention was happening on board.”
“Maybe fairy costuming is a fetish we don’t know about,” Aaron whispered.
“Nothing would surprise me,” Luke said.
“Google it,” Ramona insisted.
Aaron pulled out his phone. “On it.”
“No, it’s not those people,” Josh said, and then he told them what he’d witnessed.
“You did the right thing, Josh,” Dad said. “Hopefully it was just an argument and they’re not hurting their daughter.”
Josh nodded. “Yeah, I hope so.”
Though Roxy told him the crew would take care of it, he’d still keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
“Check out that guy,” Ramona said, grabbing Josh’s arm and shaking him. “The really tall one next to those hairy guys.”
Josh followed her gaze to two men with backs so hairy they were more like pelts. Beside them, a tall brunet guy sipped a strawberry daiquiri, looking right at Josh.
“He’s been watching you.” She raised her hand and called out, “Yoo-hoo! Cutie with the blue swim trunks! Come on over here!”
“Ramona!” Josh cried.
The man pointed at himself in question.
“Yeah, you,” Ramona insisted. “I want you to meet my brother. He’s single.”
Josh buried his face in his hands when the man headed over.
This was going to be a long day.
Chapter Seven
AARON, OF course, did not listen to Nathan’s advice to reapply sunblock.
He was currently lying in their suite, moaning and whimpering… and as red as a lobster.
Before dinner, Josh applied white vinegar to his scorched skin. The ship’s doctor also gave them a homemade salve and ibuprofen for the inflammation. Although the doctor assured Aaron he would be as good as new tomorrow, Josh wasn’t so sure.
He hoped his friend hadn’t ruined his vacation.
Mom and Dad went to bed early so they could be first off the ship when they docked in St. Thomas tomorrow. Mom was still upset about her lost earring. Luke and Ramona had booked a private dinner in their suite, so Clare and Josh hit the Caribbean Club by themselves.
Josh returned from the bar with a light beer and a gingerbread martini. He handed the martini to Clare. “These are super delicious, but only have one. I had too many last night, because I can’t tell you if I had three or four.”
“I can’t have that,” Clare said at once.
“Why not?”
Clare bit her lip… the way she always did when she had a secret.
“What is it?”
When she didn’t say anything, the answer hit him. “Oh my God!” Josh cried. “You’re pregnant!”
“Shut up,” she hissed, trying to put her hand over his mouth. “I haven’t told anybody. William doesn’t even know.”
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Josh cried, jumping up and down and splashing martini on his hand. “I’m the first person you told?”
“I wasn’t gonna tell anybody until I told William. But then Mom and Dad surprised us with this cruise. It’s been hard as hell pretending to drink in front of you guys. I’m supposed to have a video call with William on Christmas, so I was gonna tell him then. And I feel bad about flaunting it in Ramona’s and Luke’s faces. They’ve been trying so hard to have a baby, but one night of margaritas and bam! I’m knocked up without trying. You can’t tell anyone!”
Josh jumped up and down again, and then shook his hips in a goofy dance move. “Oh my God! I’m so excited!”
“Wow, I thought you would’ve laid off those gingerbread martinis after last night,” Nathan said from behind.
Josh whirled, too excited to worry about looking like a total goober doing a victory dance. “Nathan!”
Nathan had his hand on one jutted-out hip. “You got the dance moves, don’t you?”
Clare laughed.
“No, I wasn’t dancing,” Josh clarified, not as embarrassed as he should’ve been. Nathan had the power to put Josh at ease. “I was celebrating.” He looked at Clare. “Can I tell him? Please?”
“Oh my God, this is gonna be such a disaster,” Clare announced. “You are the worst secret keeper in the world.”
“Please let me tell?” Josh begged. “Then I won’t tell anyone else. If you let me tell Nathan, I’ll get it out of my system. Then I won’t tell Mom and Dad or Aaron or anybody else until you tell them.”
She gestured flippantly. “Fine.”
“She’s pregnant!” he burst out. Josh did his goofy dance move one more time. “I’m so excited. I’m the only person who knows. Well, now you know, but her husband doesn’t even know!”
Nathan laughed at Josh’s enthusiasm. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty excited.”
“How far along are you?” Josh wanted to know.
“Ten weeks.”
“You know, I thought you looked a little fat,” Josh said.
“Asshole,” she snapped, smacking him on the arm.
Josh laughed.
“Do you guys wanna dance?” Nathan asked when the DJ spun a Justin Timberlake song.
“Sure!” Josh set the drinks on a nearby table. He’d already splashed the martini half-empty and wasn’t sure how the beer’s carbonation would mix with the Nathan-butterflies in his stomach.
“I’m gonna bounce, guys,” Clare announced. “I can’t dance sober. And since I don’t have to pretend to be drinking, maybe I’ll go to that comedy show I heard about.”
“That’s in Alexander’s, the piano bar. Should be starting right about now,” Nathan said, glancing at his watch.
“Okay, I’m gonna go do that,” she said, and then she pointed in Josh’s face. “And you keep your pie hole shut, blabbermouth.”
Josh laughed and gave his sister a big hug. “I won’t say anything. I promise.” He let out a squeak. “I’m finally gonna be an uncle!”
Laughing, she shook her head. “I’ll see you guys later.”
And then Josh was alone with
Nathan.
At last.
“Care to dance?” Nathan stretched out a hand, his head tipped to the side in the cutest way as he backed toward the dance floor.
Chewing his lower lip, Josh followed.
Nathan took Josh by the hand and led him out onto the dance floor.
It was so much better holding Nathan’s hand sober. Now Josh could remember every moment, memorize the feel of his soft skin.
The song pulsed around them, and Josh’s heartbeat thumped in time with the music. He didn’t know if they would dance by themselves with a little touching or in each other’s arms, but he let out an excited gasp when Nathan pulled their bodies flush. Grinning and holding Josh tight, Nathan swayed their hips in a seductive rhythm. The dance floor was packed with solo dancers, mixed-gender couples, and more people in wings and costumes. Some guy even had on a wolf mask like it was Halloween. But everyone was having fun.
As if they belonged there, Josh placed his arms around Nathan’s neck. Nathan had spectacular rhythm, and he led them around the dance floor, pulling Josh closer, then pushing him away and dipping him a little. More than once, Josh had to cling to him as he spun them around. He felt like Baby in Dirty Dancing, uncoordinated and nervous, but dancing with the sexiest man at the party and having the time of his life.
“You’re a great dancer.” Josh leaned close to his ear so Nathan could hear.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” Nathan said, grinding his groin against Josh in time with the thump thump thump of the song.
No surprise, halfway through the first song, Josh’s dick went hard as a rock. When Nathan shifted against him, the condition was mutual.
Boldly, Josh let his hands roam up and down Nathan’s back, caressing his butt for the briefest moment. Nathan didn’t have any inhibitions, and he snaked both hands down Josh’s back to squeeze his butt, never stopping his hips rocking into Josh.
Then Nathan pulled Josh’s asscheeks apart, ever so slightly. Josh gasped as desire tore through his middle.
“You like?” Nathan whispered, leaning close and inhaling from Josh’s neck.
Josh let his head drop onto Nathan’s chest, and he nodded quickly.
Oh yes… he liked.
The Boyfriend Cruise Page 7
