Indina waved off her apology. “Don’t worry about us. We’re going to take a self-guided tour. We’ll see you all at dinner tonight. That is, if you aren’t too stuffed from your galley tour.”
“We won’t be,” Sienna called over her shoulder.
“It was nice to officially meet you,” Monica said to Griffin. “I look forward to chatting later.”
“Enjoy your tour,” Indina said, stepping between them. She could see those matchmaker wheels turning behind Monica’s eyes.
As she and Griffin entered the corridor, he asked, “Exactly how many people are in your family?”
Indina chuckled. “Too many. I know it’s pretty overwhelming. But when I think about it, our family is small compared to most families in New Orleans. My dad and my late uncle Wesley were my grandparents’ only children. Uncle Wesley and Margo had three sons—Alex, Eli and Toby. My mom and dad had four kids.”
“So I still have a brother to meet,” Griffin stated.
She nodded. “Ezra was the tall one with the wire-rimmed glasses. You’ll get to meet him eventually.”
“They’re all the size of oak trees,” Griffin said.
“That seems to be a trait of the Holmes men,” Indina said.
“And you’re the only girl,” he said. “Where do you fit in the line?”
“Harrison’s the oldest, with me next. We’re fourteen months apart. Mom and dad waited a few years before they had Ezra.”
“What about the youngest? His name is Reid, right?”
She nodded. “Reid was the surprise of the bunch. My mom found out she was pregnant when I was twelve. It was so embarrassing.”
Griffin chuckled. “Why is that?”
“Because I was in the seventh grade, and by that time we all knew how babies were made. Knowing what my parents had to do in order to make a baby grossed me out.” Indina did an exaggerated shudder, and Griffin laughed harder.
“I guess that’s enough to scar any kid.”
“Totally and completely,” Indina said. “It took months before I could look either of them in the eye.”
Indina stopped to look at a cute bathing suit in the window of one of the gift shops aboard the ship.
“So, where’s your mom?” Griffin asked. “I just realize I haven’t met her yet.”
Indina looked over at him and frowned. “She died earlier this year.”
His head jerked back in surprise. “This year? When?”
“Early March,” Indina answered.
A blanket of astonishment still covering his face, Griffin backed into an alcove that held several purple, velvet-covered chairs.
“How did I not know you lost your mother?” he asked as he took a seat.
That was a good question. “I guess the topic never came up,” Indina said, settling into the chair next to his.
It was suddenly painful for her to swallow. It didn’t have as much to do with talking about her mother’s death as it did with the bewildering question swirling around in her head. How could she be intimate with someone for as long as she and Griffin had been, yet not share such a crucial detail of her life?
Granted, her mother died only a few months after she and Griffin started sleeping together, but it was startling to realize a man she’d shared her body with countless times didn’t even know that she’d suffered the single most significant loss of her life earlier this year. How had this topic never come up?
But, then again, why would it? When it came to their personal lives, they never shared all that much. She had no idea if his parents were dead or alive. The thought left an uncomfortable knot lodged in Indina’s throat. She knew more about her mailman’s background than she did about Griffin’s.
“I’m sorry about your mom.” Griffin took her left hand in his and caressed her palm with his thumb. “How did she die?”
“Heart disease,” Indina answered.
“The silent killer.”
She nodded. “That’s exactly what it is. My mom walked three miles every morning, tried to eat as healthy as one can while living in New Orleans, and took her blood pressure medication religiously. Yet it still got her.” Indina shook her head. “So many people don’t realize that heart disease is the number one killer of black women. My brothers and I have been trying to figure out what we can do to raise awareness in my mom’s name. We’re leaning toward setting up a foundation with a goal of educating more women about their risks.”
“That would be a beautiful legacy,” he said.
“Thank you,” Indina replied. She’d come to terms with her mother’s death but sometimes, when she least expected it, it hit her that she was gone. The pain could be overwhelming.
“So, was it rough growing up the only girl in the family?” Griffin asked, as if he sensed that she wanted to change the subject.
Indina gratefully latched on to the new topic. “Not at all.” She looked over at him and grinned. “I was spoiled rotten. When I said I never got whippings, it wasn’t because I didn’t deserve any. I definitely deserved a few. But my dad never once gave me so much as a swat on the butt. It used to drive my brothers nuts because they never got off that easy. I’m lucky they still don’t hold it against me.”
“It seems as if you all get along okay,” he said.
“The entire Holmes family is close-knit. Honestly, I don’t know why they’re even calling this a reunion at all. It’s not as if we all don’t see each other on a regular basis. We’re together for every holiday, and if there’s too much time between holidays, someone will throw a picnic in their backyard for no reason other than getting the family together.”
“Sounds pretty great to me,” Griffin said. There was a note of longing in his voice. She’d go so far as to call it envy. It sparked Indina’s curiosity.
“What about your family?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Much smaller than yours. It’s just me, my parents and my older brother. They’re all still in Milwaukee.”
“Any extended family?”
“Yeah, but they’re mostly scattered around the country. I haven’t seen my cousins in years.”
Indina frowned. It occurred to her that in the year she’d known him, Griffin had never visited his family or, as far as she knew, had them down to visit him. An entire year without seeing his family?
So much of her time—outside of the hours she spent at work and hanging out with a few close friends—was cannibalized by one Holmes gathering after another, but Indina couldn’t imagine life any other way. As much as she complained about her family’s clinginess, she would hate it if she didn’t get to see them on a regular basis. Hearing Griffin talk about his made her appreciate her rambunctious, sometimes annoying, often too nosy clan.
She and Griffin continued down the cruise ship’s broad main corridor, with its floors that were so polished they looked wet, and its dozens of shops. There was a high-end boutique with formalwear for the cruise’s dress-up night, several souvenir gift shops, even a coffee bar and a salon. The most crowded room looked to be the duty-free liquor store.
“You can live on this cruise ship if you wanted to,” Griffin said. “They have everything.”
“I hear that’s becoming a thing.”
“Living on a cruise ship?”
She nodded. “Especially for retirees. Just think about it. You don’t have to worry about cooking or cleaning, and you get to travel the world. Sounds like a pretty sweet life to me.”
Amusement brightened his deep brown eyes. “Not sure I can handle being on the water that long, but I can be persuaded,” he said with a wink.
Okay, exactly what was going on here? This wasn’t the first time he’d hit her with that sexy wink, but for some reason it spawned a new, unfamiliar flutter in her belly.
Indina pushed the odd feeling out of her head with the promise to revisit it later, when she had time to unpack and fully examine the inexplicable awareness Griffin’s single wink had elicited.
She pointed to the sliding doors leading
to the outside deck. “I think there’s a stairway that leads to the upper deck,” she said.
They went outside and walked up a set of wooden stairs. It brought them directly to one of the pools where they encountered another gaggle of Holmeses. All of the kids were there, along with Harrison and Alexander. Indina made introductions.
“Alex here is my grandparents’ eldest grandchild,” Indina said. “He’s the reason Eli and Toby both had such a hard time living up to their big brother’s example.”
“They did okay,” Alex said, reaching over to shake Griffin’s hand.
She tried pointing out the kids in the pool, but gave up.
“You’ll meet them eventually,” she said. “And then promptly forget their names because there’s just too many of them these days.” She turned to her brother. “Have you seen Ezra? I need to talk to him.”
“Last I heard, he and Reid were going down to the concierge to book a Jet Ski excursion for our afternoon in Progresso.”
“I thought we were all going out to see the Mayan ruins?”
“We are, but they went down to see if there’s a way for them to fit in the Jet Skis on the same day.” Harrison shook his head. “They won’t be able to, but I’ll let the people at the excursion desk break it to them. Knowing those two, they’ll waste their money on the second excursion anyway.”
Griffin turned to her. “I didn’t realize the excursions were extra. Who do I pay for that?”
“It’s included with the price of the cruise,” Indina said.
“No, it isn’t,” Harrison said. Indina turned to him and gave him an annoyed look. “What?” her brother asked.
She turned her attention back to Griffin. “Don’t worry about the excursion. I’ve got you covered.”
“Wait a minute—” Griffin started, but Alex cut him off.
Clamping a hand on Griffin’s back, he said, “I don’t even know you, but you’re already my hero. You’ve acquired what many a man could only hope to find: a sugar mama.”
“Oh, shut up,” Indina said with a laugh. “It’s not like that. I invited Griffin to come along. He shouldn’t have to pay for anything.”
“But I will,” Griffin said. He turned to Harrison, as if her brother was the one he was most afraid of offending. “I’m paying my own way.”
Harrison held his hands up. “It’s not my business.”
Indina rolled her eyes. “We’ll catch up with you all later,” she said. “We still have to visit the forward and midship areas of this deck.”
“Check out the ice cream shop,” Alex called.
As soon as they stepped away from the pool area, Griffin turned to her.
“Okay, that wasn’t cool,” he said.
“What?”
“First of all, you’re not paying for my cruise. Let’s establish that right here and right now.” Indina folded her arms across her chest but remained silent. “Secondly, why would you even say those things in front of your brother and cousin? They probably think I’m some kind of mooch living off of you or something.”
She shrugged. “They think I’m your sugar mama. Alex is impressed, and it takes a lot to impressed that one.”
“Indina—”
“Come on,” she said, capturing his wrist and tugging. “We still have a lot of boat to see.”
A few minutes later they reached a quiet sundeck in the middle of the ship. The serene atmosphere was the polar opposite of the mayhem on the lido deck and main pool area.
“Now this is how you relax,” she said, pointing to a couple of plush lounge chairs. “Finding the time to sit out here with my book just became my number one priority.”
“Can we finish the conversation we were just having?” Griffin asked.
“And what conversation was that?”
“The one where we assure your family that I’m not a gold digger taking advantage of their sweet little Indina?”
She stared at him for a moment before she burst out laughing, interrupting the peacefulness surrounding them. She laughed until she felt a pinch in her side. Then she looked up at Griffin’s deadpan expression and laughed even harder.
Once she was finally able to catch her breath, she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes and held up both hands.
“Let me assure you that no one in my family would ever think that. They know that sweet little Indina can take care of herself.” She swiped again at the moisture on her cheeks. “Look, if you want to pay for your excursion, that’s fine, but I am paying for your cruise. I would have had to pay for the cabin whether you were here or not.”
Griffin stuck his hands in his pockets and tipped his head to the side. His dark brown eyes crinkled at the corners with the wry grin that curved at the edges of his lips.
“You seem amused,” Indina said. “Don’t keep it all to yourself. What’s so funny?”
“I just realized that there hasn’t been an occasion this past year where you had the chance to see just how stubborn I am.”
Her brows arched. “Oh, so you think you can out stubborn me?”
“Over this? No doubt.” Griffin leaned forward. “When it comes to a battle of wills, I always win, Indina. Always.”
Indina couldn’t stop the smile from traveling across her lips. “We’ll see about that.”
Chapter 3
By the time he and Indina arrived at dinner, nearly all of the seats were taken at the three tables the Holmes family occupied on the far left side of the massive dining room. There were two open spots next to her aunt Margo, but Indina walked past that table, instead going to where her brothers sat, along with Eli and Monica.
Damn. So much for a nice, relaxing dinner. He would have much preferred engaging in easy conversation with her aunt. Being stuck at a table with her intimidating as hell brothers, he was guaranteed to be on edge the entire time.
Griffin pulled out Indina’s chair, and then took the one next to the window, which afforded a view of the inky black night. A thumbnail slice of moon provided the only glimmer of light as it cut across the water.
“So, what were you two doing to have you showing up so late?” Monica asked. Indina told him earlier that Monica was an ER doctor at the same hospital where Eli served as the head of obstetrics.
“Napping,” Indina answered her.
“Napping?” Monica’s brows arched. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”
Harrison Holmes cleared his throat. “For the record, I don’t want to hear about anything you two were doing, napping or otherwise.”
“You’re damn right about that,” said the brother Griffin had yet to officially meet.
“Don’t start,” Indina said. She turned to Harrison. “Where’s Willow?”
“She decided to skip dinner,” he answered. “Said she had a headache.”
Indina turned to Griffin. “Willow is my sister-in-law. I’ll always be indebted to her for marrying this one and bringing a little more estrogen into the family. I’ll introduce you to her tomorrow.”
“So, I’m not worth an introduction?” Indina’s middle brother asked as he rose slightly out of his chair and stuck a hand out at Griffin. “I’m Ezra.”
“Griffin Sims,” he answered. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I heard you’re her…uh…coworker, is it?” he asked, tipping his head toward his sister. The smirk on his lips indicated that he’d heard more than that. Apparently, that sugar mama rumor was making the rounds. Griffin would be damned if he let them all continue to think he was mooching off of Indina.
“I’m one of the head structural engineers at a top engineering firm downtown. We take on mostly large city and state government projects,” Griffin explained. “Extremely large and lucrative contracts.”
He was prepared to show them his damn bank balance if that’s what it took to convince the men in her family that he could pay for both his and Indina’s cruises.
“I wonder if we’ve worked on any,” her youngest brother, Reid, asked. “Holmes Construc
tion just bid on several city projects.”
Griffin glanced around the table. “Wait a minute. Is the guy who owns Holmes Construction a relative?”
“He’s the one who thinks I’m your sugar mama,” Indina said.
Reid nodded toward the other table. “Alex owns Holmes Construction. I’m the lead plumber and sometime general foreman, depending on the size of the project.”
“You guys did the renovations on the Sewage and Water Board building. That was some nice work.” Griffin looked over at Indina. “How come you never mentioned you were related to those Holmeses.”
“I’m related to those Holmeses,” she said, her smile cheeky as hell.
He could only laugh at her flippant response. He could have guessed that she had this sassy side, but he rarely got to see it. Indina was the consummate professional during work hours, and outside of work they were usually otherwise occupied. He liked this side of her.
Hell, he liked every side of her. Except for the side that couldn’t seem to see them as nothing more than coworkers with benefits.
Reid, who sat next to Indina, reached over his sister and stuck his hand out to Griffin. “Well, I’m happy to have you around,” he said. “Especially after running into Timothy and his—hey! What the hell? Why’d you kick me, man?”
Ezra Holmes stared at his brother from across the table with downright murder in his eyes.
“What were you saying?” Indina asked Reid, even though her gaze remained on Ezra.
“He wasn’t saying anything,” Ezra said.
The rest of the table had become eerily quiet.
It took Griffin less than five seconds to put these puzzle pieces together. This Timothy person Reid had run into had a connection to Indina—probably an ex-boyfriend—which shot Griffin’s curiosity to skyscraper levels. He knew as much about Indina’s exes as she knew about his, which was hardly anything. He wanted to know whatever he could about the kind of guy she regarded worthy of the title significant other.
“Just spit it out,” Indina said. “You ran into Timothy and…?”
“And his fiancée,” Ezra said.
“Is that all?” she asked with a nonchalant wave. “Do you think I care that Timothy is getting married?”
Chase Me Page 5
