by Katee Robert
“Kendall?”
Oh god. She was so busy focusing on her illicit attraction to a near-stranger that she wasn’t focusing on the friend in need right next to her. She shoved her hair back and tried for a smile. “I’m sorry. I guess my mind is still all preoccupied with how I’m going to make this all up to you and the others.”
Grace gave her a strange look. “We can start with finding me some clothes.”
She glanced at the clothes her friend currently wore. A sleeveless blouse and a pencil skirt. They weren’t bad, as such things went. Grace always had an impeccable sense of style, even when they were in college. She just looked…buttoned up…but then Grace always looked buttoned up. Despite her angst about her pants theft, she still looked perfectly put together today, if a little restrained.
Kendall cleared her throat. “I know Aubrey took your pants, and I agree that was kind of a dick move.” Even if she silently agreed that someone had to take intervention, she’d never been one to trample boundaries like that. Some days she wished she was that brave. “But since we’re all determined to make the best of this trip despite all the issues… Why don’t you buy shorts instead of pants?”
Grace wouldn’t quite meet her gaze. “I’ll think about it.”
She wanted to press for confirmation, but Kendall forced the words back. It wasn’t right for her to hyper focus on fixing Grace just to distract herself from her issues. Or, rather, from one issue in particular.
As they went through the shops to find clothing that Grace would be content in, Kendall found herself thinking about Alex again and again. He was so unlike the other guys she’d met over the years when she went through fits of loneliness dark enough to try the various dating apps. Some of them had been losers, for sure, but there were nice ones thrown into the mix. A few even turned into third and fourth dates before they drifted apart. She hadn’t cared enough to fight to stay close, and they obviously felt the same.
But Alex?
She really couldn’t imagine that man using a dating app, or sitting through an awkward first meeting, or sending a dick pic. He was too cool, too confident, too at home in his skin. He had to draw people to him like flies to honey.
Kendall made a face. Guess that made her a fly. It wasn’t the most flattering comparison, but how else to explain her fascination with the man? She dragged her fingers through her hair and tried to focus as she and Grace headed back toward their cabins. She was being a bad friend by thinking of herself while Grace was in crisis mode. At least Grace seemed calmer now that they were done shopping, more settled on the idea of not replacing her pants.
She had barely closed the door to her cabin when her gaze landed on the bed. On what she’d done there while thinking about him. Kendall’s body gave a pulse and she shivered. She had no business wanting this man, especially considering how she’d freaked out on him in the gym. He wouldn’t want her anymore.
She took a deep breath. Yes, that’s exactly right. Better to focus on that than on her confusing impulses around Alex. She just needed to deal with this trip and the rest would figure itself out.
Feeling settled for the first time since yesterday, she changed into her swimsuit and pulled on her floral cover-up. A quick stop by the others’ cabins let them know where to find her. Then she went up to the pool deck and staked out a few chairs. Not the most difficult thing to do. Even at mid-morning, the place was mostly deserted. If she was a betting woman, she’d bet that most of the people took advantage of the party part of the party cruise last night and were sleeping it off.
Just as well.
Kendall lathered herself up with sunscreen and pulled her floppy hat out of her tote bag. Holding it in her hands made her chest pang. Her grandmother had one just like it when Kendall was growing up. Whenever the stress of life—and raising her three granddaughters—got to her, she’d throw on her silly floppy hat and go spend time in the garden. When Kendall was old enough to understand that her grandmother didn’t want conversation during those times, she was allowed to work beside her. When she pictured peace, she pictured the warmth of those days, the coarse dirt against her fingertips, and the joy of seeing plants she’d cultivated growing enough to bear fruit and vegetables.
Her little kitchen garden in New York wasn’t the same thing at all.
God, she missed her grandmother. Had been missing her every day in the years since she’d passed. She just knew if Gram were still alive, she’d have words of wisdom that would help Kendall make sense of where her life had gotten so messed up. Maybe she’d even be able to pinpoint the exact moment Kendall zigged when she should have zagged. Maybe she’d even have advice on how to get back on the right path.
Except Kendall didn’t know what the right path was. Not anymore.
She could call Gretchen. Her older sister was full of sage wisdom, even if she was only a few years older than Kendall. She didn’t exactly resent her sister for living a charmed life—marrying her high school sweetheart, being totally happy in the small town they grew up in, beloved by most people she came across. It just wasn’t Kendall’s path. She’d mostly made her peace with that over the years, but it meant Gretchen’s advice came with a big dose of salt. They were different people who wanted different things, and sometimes her big sister forgot that.
She plopped the hat on her head and sank onto the lounge chair. Figuring out her life would have to wait. Right now, she had some intense relaxing to do. The others would hopefully show up later, but right now she could let her guard down a little and sink into a good book. Kendall adjusted her sunglasses and pulled her e-reader from the tote bag. She’d gone on a book-buying binge before leaving for the trip, so she had approximately twenty romance novels waiting and nothing but time for reading in her future. This might not be the perfect vacation she’d planned, but she was determined for the rest of it to go off without a hitch.
Surely that wasn’t too much to ask? Yes, there were two people who appeared to be having sex on a lounge chair on the other side of the deck, but she didn’t have to look at them. Or listen.
Oh god, this was a nightmare.
Chapter 4
Alex wandered the ship for hours. It really was a floating city, and maybe if he was at a different point in his life, he’d be more impressed. As it was, he couldn’t quite distract himself from worrying about the bar back home. Not even knowing how disappointed Pop would be was enough to snap him out of it.
Pop’s intentions were good. They always had been. But he and Alex were just different people. Pop might be content to hand his pride and joy off to another person, even if it was Alex, but Alex couldn’t stand the thought of everything that would inevitably go wrong without him present. Cherry was good at her job—he wouldn’t have hired her if she wasn’t—but she wasn’t Alex.
He stepped out onto the deck and took a long breath. They’d moved south far enough to leave behind the cold of the upper East Coast, and the sun seemed so much bigger here. Warmer. Closer to what it was like at home. He considered calling the bar again, but Cherry had stopped answering after the third call today, when she told him she had it handled and to kindly fuck right off. He wished it was that easy.
Alex moved from one deck to another, a meandering path that he’d have to end at some point. He should check in with Lucas, though his friend hadn’t responded when he’d knocked on his door earlier. Maybe Lucas actually was getting in on some of the party cruise action. Good for him. Alex actually kind of hoped he was, because it would make his leaving in Orlando easier if Lucas had a reason to stay on the ship.
He stopped short, his attention landing on the woman hidden beneath an atrocious hat. Even without seeing her long dark hair, he recognized Kendall. He had the sudden thought that he’d recognize her anywhere, but that was bullshit. It had to be. He barely knew this woman.
Even as he told himself to keep walking, to not linger where he wasn’t wanted, Alex drank in the sight of her in a bright red bikini. Her skin was pale enough that either she
didn’t get out much, or she religiously applied sunscreen. He suspected it was a combo. The empty chairs on either side of her held a bag and a towel, as if she wanted to reserve them for some of her friends. Judging from the way her skin glistened, she’d been out here for quite some time.
Something twisted in his gut at the thought of this woman waiting for people who never showed. She already felt like a person who stood apart. She didn’t need more isolation.
Alex veered toward her before he could think of all the reasons it was a bad idea. She looked up as he sank onto the chair next to her and groaned. “Oh god, I thought this couldn’t get any more embarrassing, and then you show up to prove me wrong. Again. Is that a super power of yours? Because it’s a really crappy one to have.”
He blinked. Her words weren’t quite slurring, but she’d just spilled them as if they were a river inside her, instead of biting them out like she normally seemed to do in his presence. “You doing okay?” Alex asked carefully.
“That’s a stupid question.” She flopped back onto her lounge chair, her large hat temporarily concealing her entire face.
He took the opportunity to lean down and sniff her drink. Something fruity that most definitely had alcohol in it. A lot of alcohol.
“What are you doing?”
Alex lifted his head. From this angle, he was looking up at her and… Damn, Kendall really was something. Her cheeks were rosy, whether from drink or the heat, and she pursed her lips at him in a disapproving frown he suddenly wanted to kiss off her face. “How long have you been drinking?” The juice in there wouldn’t be enough to combat the alcohol and heat when it came to hydration, and the sugar just fucked stuff up more.
“I’m on a party cruise, Alex.” She waved a wobbling hand at the rest of the deck. It was still early enough that most people out there were either hungover and recovering or just getting started, so the deck was still half deserted. “I’ve watched no fewer than four couples have sex in the last two hours. Honestly, you’d think they’d be worried about sunburn or people knowing exactly what they’re doing under that towel, but nope. They just go at it. It’s a party cruise.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that.”
She hiccupped. “I’m just embracing the party, since I don’t have another freaking choice.”
Wow, she was totally wasted. “Kendall, how long have you been out here?”
“I don’t know. A while.”
He’d seen her in the gym hours ago. Surely she hadn’t come straight here? Shit. Alex looked around, but no one materialized who seemed to know her. No, her friends would be no help right now. “We need to get you some water and out of the sun.” Some food wouldn’t hurt, either, depending on how her stomach handled the water.
“I’m fine.”
“Tell me that again when you stand up.” He pushed to his feet and held out a hand. “Come on. If you keep going, you’re going to be in a world of hurt for the rest of the day and most of the night. You need a nap.”
“Is that a euphemism?” She stumbled over the word, rolling it over her tongue until she found its shape. “Because I am not sure I want to have sex with you right now?”
Alex cursed the bolt of lust that shot straight through him. This woman needed help, not him drooling over her like a horny college kid. He wiggled his fingers. “Come on, Kendall. Or I’m going to have to track down one of your friends. Don’t think it’ll be easy since I don’t know their names or anything about them. It’ll probably require a ship-wide announcement for the friends of Kendall—What’s your last name, sweetheart?”
“Barnes.” She slapped her hands over her mouth. “Wait, no. I didn’t mean to say that.”
He injected a little authority into his tone. “Would the travel companions of Kendall Barnes please come to collect her?”
Her jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t dare.”
That told him everything he needed to know. Kendall would do anything to avoid causing a scene. He might be a bastard to use that against her, but it was for her own good right now. “I one hundred percent would dare.”
“Oh, you…” She fumbled around, shoving her things into the tote bag that looked big enough to cart several medium sized animals around in. “You jerk.”
She really was too precious. Alex took her bag and helped her to her feet. He watched her closely, which paid off when she took one step and tilted wildly. “Hold up.” He caught her around the waist and barely kept them from toppling over two lounge chairs as they made their way off the deck.
“You could, you know.”
He glanced down at her. “Could what?”
“Seduce me.” Kendall blinked at him, but he couldn’t tell if she was trying to be seductive or attempting not to pass out.
He swallowed past his suddenly dry throat. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Not right now, while she was drunk as a skunk, but maybe she didn’t see him as quite the mistake she’d acted like last night.
“It was supposed to be a nice cruise.” She leaned heavily on him, her head lolling against his shoulder. “Nice. Relaxing. Really nice.”
“A nice cruise. Got it.” He had to adjust his grip around her waist, and it was impossible not to notice how good she felt against him. His hand slid against her skin and he had to scramble to keep her on her feet. “Sweetheart, we’re taking a right turn.”
She immediately veered left, and he had to tug her in the opposite direction. “The other right.”
“Right, right, left, right, left.” She giggled. “Left my wife with twenty-one kids and thought it was right, right, left, right, left.”
This woman was just full of surprises. “Is that a marching cadence?”
“Yep. Grams had a gentleman friend who was a veteran when I was ten and he taught it to us.” She giggled. “Grams was far more amused than she should have been, but then Grams was really fond of dirty limericks, so I suppose she wasn’t one to throw stones at what was child appropriate.”
He picked apart that sentence as he guided them through the doors and toward the elevators. “Your Grams sounds like quite the character.”
“She was.” She released a long breath. “I miss her.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She frowned. “Is that pizza?” Suddenly, Kendall wasn’t leaning on him quite so hard. “I could really go for about six slices right now.”
Alex fought down a laugh. “Let’s start with one and see how it goes.” He guided her to a table and eased her into a chair. “Sit here. I’ll get you pizza and some water.” He eyed her. The icy blast of air conditioning already had goosebumps rising in a wave across her skin. “You have one of those swimsuit things?”
“A swimsuit thing?” She blinked big green eyes at him. “I’m wearing one right now.” Kendall looked around. “Oh god, is there a dress code? I’ll take it off.” She fumbled for the straps.
“No!” He caught her hands. Holy shit, his heart was beating entirely too hard for this shit. Alex was no stranger to dealing with drunk people, but he usually didn’t worry overmuch if they made asses of themselves. His job wasn’t to preserve their dignity; it was to ensure they weren’t harmed while they were in the bar, and to get them home safely if at all possible. That was it.
But he knew without a shadow of doubt that Kendall would die of mortification if she did something like take off her top while drunk. In the few encounters they’d had to date, she came across as wound so tightly, she was one wrong move away from bursting her seams. He shouldn’t care. Hell, Alex’s entire morning had been wrapped up in worrying about the bar. He had a lot on his plate, and didn’t need to add this woman, too.
And yet…
“Cover-up.” That’s what it was called. “Where’s your cover-up?”
“Oh!” She brightened, giving him a sunny smile. “Right!” Kendall wiggled her hands out of his and pulled a floral piece of cloth from her giant bag. She stood, weaving a little, and wrapped it around her body. Between one blink and the next, it be
came a dress. Somehow. With another bright smile, she pointed at the counter. “Food!”
“Your wish is my command.” It took him a few short minutes to place her order and return with the food and water. He dropped into the chair across from her and slid the water over. “First, water. Drink slow.”
“I’m not an amateur, Alex.” She bent down for the straw and missed. “Silly straw.” Kendall cupped her drink in two hands and brought it to her lips with the carefulness of a person just realizing how shit-faced they were. “I’m drunk.”
“Yes, sweetheart, you really, really are.”
“I never get drunk. Ever.”
He leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table. They’d got her out of the sun and she was taking small sips of water without any issue, so he could afford to relax a little. In theory. “Why not?”
“It’s messy.”
No arguing that. “Sometimes it’s good to let loose.”
Kendall’s face fell. It might have been amusing if it didn’t break his heart the tiniest bit. “I don’t know how to do that. I’m too uptight. A planner. The responsible one that everyone depends on.” She rattled off the descriptors with the familiarity of someone who heard them enough times for the traits to be printed on her soul. As if they made her a little sad.
It wasn’t his business. This woman wasn’t his business. He had every intention of leaving the ship tomorrow when they docked in Orlando. If Alex was smart, he’d hand her off to one of the staff and go on his way without looking back.
But would that staff member be invested in her safety? They’d drop her in her room and that would be that. Or, more horrifying to even think of, they might… take liberties. No. Fuck that. Alex would ensure she sobered up safely and then he’d go to his room and double check that he hadn’t forgotten to repack everything. At least if he knew Kendall was delivered safely to her bed, he could stop worrying about her.
Probably.
