"I thought they threw streamers," said Jeannie.
"Only in movies," Hunter said.
"This should be festive and exciting," she continued, undaunted by his lack of interest. "Going on a cruise is a big deal for most people. Where are the bon voyage parties and the glamour?"
"Like the Love Boat, I suppose?"
"Absolutely. Cruises are about fantasy." She glanced at him with curiosity. "I'm surprised you didn't think of that, Hunter, being in advertising and all."
He grunted something noncommittal. He wasn't in the mood to admit it to her, but she had a point. A little pomp and circumstance wouldn't hurt. He'd have to remember to add that to his report after they got settled in their suite.
"Why don't we check out the cabin?" he asked as a light rain began to fall.
"Good idea," said Jeannie. "I'd like to get unpacked and let Daisy adjust to her new bed before nap-time."
Finding their way through the labyrinthine corridors required a compass and a guide.
"We're on the wrong deck," said Jeannie, checking her yellow ticket. "This is B. We want C."
"This is C," said Hunter. "The walls are painted green."
"The green walls are on B deck. C has yellow walls." She waved her ticket at him. "See? They're color-coordinated."
Hunter muttered something dark.
"I wish you'd stop that," Jeannie said as they made their way up the carpeted staircase to C deck.
"Stop what?"
"Muttering under your breath. It's rude."
He held the door for her. "Don't push it, Ross. We still have four days to go."
She stopped in the doorway. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't ask."
"I am asking. It's not my fault I got here late. It's yours."
He said nothing. The truth was, the sight of her in her short red skirt and white tank top had him sweating bullets. Who would've thought a tiny woman would have such long legs?
And who would have imagined she'd fill out that skimpy top in such an alarming fashion.
Over the past few days he'd done his best to convince himself that Jeannie Ross was just your everyday average woman. He'd had himself believing it, too. He'd told himself her hair was just an average dark brown, not shimmering black satin, that her eyes were run of the mill blue, and not the color of faceted sapphires. Droplets of rain glistened on her cheeks and trembled on her lashes. He wondered what she would do if he licked them off.
She was walking ahead of him down the corridor, her fanny swaying from side to side, making promises she didn't even know about.
Make it a big suite, he prayed. Steel doors between their bedrooms. Separate bathrooms so he wouldn't have to see her pantyhose drying on the shower rod.
Of course, maybe she didn't wear pantyhose. Maybe she wore one of those frilly garter belts with roses embroidered on them and sleek black silk stockings made to be seen by a man who--
"Daah?" Daisy tugged hard at his ear. It was almost as effective as a cold shower.
"Here it is." Jeannie stopped in front of a door. "Do you have the key?"
He reached in his shirt pocket, then withdrew one of those credit-card style keys. He inserted it in the slot, waited a moment for the green light to appear, then swung open the door.
"Omigod!" Jeannie sounded the way he felt.
"We've got a problem," said Hunter.
Jeannie glanced around. "I'll say we do."
"I told them the other day that we weren't--I mean, that we're not--" Sleeping together. Why didn't he just say it?
"I know what you mean," said Jeannie, plucking Daisy from his backpack. "Too bad they didn't." This suite definitely had been designed for a couple that knew each other in the Biblical sense--or was about to. Rough seas could put them in a compromising position.
He sank down onto one of the tiny chairs flanking the even tinier couch. "Who'd they think were planning to stay here--a pair of Munchkins?"
She ran a hand across a minuscule desk bolted to the wall beneath the porthole. "At least Daisy will be right at home." She met Hunter's eyes. "What are we going to do? We can't possibly stay here together." The suite did have two bedrooms, but they might as well knock down the thin wall between them for all the privacy it offered. She and Hunter would be in each other's hair every moment of the day.
"I'll go talk to the purser. There has to be something else available."
There wasn't.
"We've given you the finest accommodations we have," the purser said, not looking up from his computer terminal.
"I realize that," Hunter said, struggling with his temper. "Maybe you could give us two cheap rooms, next to each other."
"We're booked up," the purser said sternly. "The Cruise-to-Nowhere is our most popular event."
Hunter offered the man a crisp hundred-dollar bill but the purser remained adamant. He considered offering the purser a condo in Hawaii in exchange for another cabin, but he had the distinct feeling the guy was enjoying his troubles.
Hunter made his way back to the cabin feeling like he was on the last leg of the Bataan Death March.
Great, he thought as he approached the suite where Jeannie and Daisy were waiting for him. Here he was, telling her the trip was strictly business, when everything about the tiny cabin screamed otherwise--and now he had to tell her they were stuck there. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place....
"No dice," he said as he stepped inside the drawing room. "I wouldn't blame you if you jumped overboard."
She stared at him in horror. "Do you mean we're stuck in this floating phone booth?"
"Afraid so."
She slumped back on the chair while Daisy crawled happily about the room.
"I screwed up," he said, still standing in the doorway. "I'll use the suite during the day and sleep in the lounge at night."
Jeannie had been ready to read him the riot act. Living in such close proximity with a stranger and an eight-month-old baby was a surefire prescription for disaster. She'd expected him to storm back to the room, all male bluster and outrage, casting blame everywhere but where it belonged: on himself.
Did he have to be so accommodating? So understanding?
So gorgeous....
"You can't sleep in the lounge, Hunter." Even though any sane person would certainly think about it. "This suite is yours, not mine."
"You're not going to sleep in the lounge, Jeannie."
"I wasn't suggesting that." She leaned forward. "We're both adults. We should be able to co-exist for a few days, wouldn't you say?"
He looked like a man who'd received a stay of execution. "I should've known," he said, shaking his head. "I can't believe I fell for advertising hype."
Jeannie laughed as she reached down to guide Daisy away from a basket of flowers resting on the floor. "Poetic justice, I'd say." They both knew advertising was all about illusion. Promise 'em everything but deliver the bare minimum.
"Their ad copy calls this a 'spacious suite.'"
"'Spacious' is in the eye of the beholder."
"I'd like to get my hands around the beholder's neck." There was barely room to take a deep breath in the hallway.
"We need a system," said Jeannie. "Why don't you check your schedule and we can figure out a way to save our privacy." And our sanity.
He rummaged through his briefcase, then withdrew a battered leather organizer. "Son of a--we'll have to talk later," he said, heading for the door. "Got a meeting with the activities director."
"Great schedule, Phillips," Jeannie muttered as the door closed behind him.
"Daaah?" said Daisy.
Jeannie looked down at the golden-haired baby. "You're right, Daisy. He fights dirty."
By the time Jeannie unpacked both her things and Daisy's, Hunter had returned to the suite to work. Sitting on the edge of the bed in the room she shared with Daisy, she listened as he grumbled and tossed papers around. She had to use the bathroom, which was on the opposite side of the suite, b
ut decided she'd rather die than use it while he was around. The fact that that could prove problematic before the trip was over wasn't lost on her.
"You're lucky," she said to Daisy who was sitting in the middle of the bed, playing with her ring of plastic keys. "Diapers can solve a multitude of problems."
She got up and walked to the door. Hunter was hunched over a growing stack of papers, looking harried and unhappy. If the situation weren't so downright weird, she'd actually feel sorry for him. "I'm going to change Daisy and go exploring." And maybe find a bathroom.
"Great," Hunter mumbled, absorbed in the paper he was reading.
"We might check out the indoor wading pool."
"Mmmph," said Hunter.
"I might strip naked, jump in, and do the back stroke."
"Have fun."
See, Kate? she thought as she went back into the bedroom. I could be Winston Churchill for all he cares.
Which made things a lot easier. She should thank her lucky stars he was going to keep his part of their bargain.
She dressed Daisy in a pink t-shirt, headband, and hot pink ruffled pants pulled on over her diaper. She slipped out of her skirt and tank top and donned a simple bright red swimsuit and cover-up.
"We're leaving," she said as she and Daisy headed for the door. "I don't know when we'll be back."
He barely looked up. "Have fun."
"We'll do our best."
Hunter waited until the door closed behind her and he heard her footsteps fading away. A vision of how she'd looked in that snug swimsuit sizzled before his eyes. That short robe of hers hadn't quite covered the rounded curves of her derriere.
She looked too damn good. She should be thirty years older and thirty pounds heavier. Maybe then living together in this crackerbox cabin wouldn't be the exercise in torture that he suspected it was going to be.
"Get a grip, man," he said out loud. Centuries of evolution had made it possible for a male to sublimate his desire for a female--at least long enough to build a civilization or two. He could hang onto his hormones long enough to put together an ad campaign.
By that time they'd be back in New York. He'd go his way. She'd go hers.
And life would be back to normal.
Chapter 4
It worked for an hour.
Hunter was able to put Jeannie out of his mind while he roughed out a sketch for a print ad based on his conversation with the activities director. He also made a few notes on bon voyage celebrations, per Jeannie's comments earlier that morning.
He told himself that it wasn't Jeannie he was thinking about; it was Daisy. He could count on one hand the times he'd been separated from her. It wouldn't hurt to wander down to the indoor pool and check up on them both. If he happened to catch Jeannie wandering around in that second-skin bathing suit of hers--well, you can't be convicted for your thoughts, could you?
Besides, he'd been working hard all morning. He deserved a break. He didn't have another meeting until after lunch.
The indoor pool was situated two floors below deck in an enormous, glassed-in area featuring real palm trees, island music, and manufactured sunshine. A lone lap swimmer was Australian-crawling his way from one end of the pool to the other. Two teenage girls in skimpy bathing suits sat at one end, feet dangling in the water. They cast a limpid glance in his direction, then giggled uproariously.
The wading pool was at the far end of the room. Daisy's babyish giggles floated across the humid air, mingling with Jeannie's throaty woman's laugh. Jeannie was seated in the pool with Daisy held firmly on her lap. Lucky Daisy, he thought with a grin. All in all, he would mind trading places with her.
He couldn't make out the words Jeannie was saying to Daisy, but he understood the gentle sound of her voice as she encouraged Daisy in her play. His little girl splashed gleefully, bringing her chubby hands down flat against the surface of the water, then laughing as the spray soaked her and Jeannie both.
"Looks like she's having fun," he said, noting the outline of her nipples, taut and hard, against the wet bathing suit.
"She's not the only one." She brushed her dark hair off her forehead. "Care to join us?"
He motioned toward his slacks and shirt. "I'm not dressed for wading pools."
"Sure you are. Kick off your shoes and roll up your pant legs."
First the Armani jacket, now his best pants. Another year of parenthood and he'd be reduced to wearing rags and begging on street corners.
"What the hell," he said, doing as Jeannie suggested.
Daisy squealed in delight as he sat down on the edge
She brought her hand down hard and the next second Hunter was soaked from head to toe.
"I can't believe she did that to me," he said, in amazement. "She's only eight months old."
"Your little girl's growing up, Hunter. Before you know it she'll be walking and talking and asking for the keys to the car."
He shuddered and Jeannie laughed.
"I'll settle for getting her toilet trained. I'm not in a rush for the rest of it."
"It happens in the blink of an eye," she said, as he sat Daisy on his knee. "But you'll be so busy you won't even realize it's happening."
"You sound like the voice of experience. On the job training?"
She wrapped her arms about her knees. He couldn't help but notice her skin was that same shade of pale peach all over. "That and eight nieces and nephews."
"Eight?" He whistled low. "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"
"Four," she said. "Three brothers, one sister."
"Still up in Minnesota?"
"Every single one of them, except me. I've been just about everywhere the past few years with the job."
She told him about her brothers who owned a factory up in Lake of the Woods, and her parents, who were retired but ran a bed-and-breakfast each summer just for fun. "And then there's Angie," she said, smiling at the thought of her older sister. "Wife, mother, and mayor of Landview Township."
"Do you get back there often?"
Her smile faltered but before that fact could register on him, she was her bright and breezy self again. "With my schedule, I'm lucky I get back to the apartment every night."
It occurred to Hunter that with six weeks off she could travel around the world, much less find her way back to northern Minnesota.
None of your business, Phillips. For all he knew, her family was as fractured as his.
"You know what I'd love?" she asked, a big smile on her face. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a woman this lovely without makeup.
"Your own cabin," he said wryly.
"Besides that." She scrambled to her feet. He followed the line of her body from ankle to shapely calf to firm thigh then stopped. The simple one-piece red swimsuit managed to reveal more than it concealed, a fact for which he would be forever grateful.
"Five minutes in that gorgeous pool."
"Go ahead," he said. He was disappointed, but he did his best to hide it. The odds of her saying, "Take me, master," had been pretty slim. He'd promised she'd have free time whenever he was available to care for Daisy. He couldn't reneg on the deal just because he was enjoying her company.
Jeannie was a pleasure to watch. She pierced the water cleanly, propelling herself with swift sure strokes that left barely a ripple in her wake. He liked the way she swam, all grace and assurance and lithe strength. Some men said you could tell how a woman would be in bed if you watched how they moved and, from where he sat, Jeannie's moves were pretty damn good.
He stood up, Daisy tucked in the crook of his arm. Not even twenty-four hours into their arrangement and he was entertaining X-rated fantasies about Daisy's babysitter. Dangerous territory. He thought he'd put that whole issue aside, but there it was, staring him right in the face. He'd have to keep his libido in check, even if it meant lots of cold showers over the next few days.
He made his way to the side of the pool and waited until Jeannie reached the edge where he was standing.
"I'll go back to the cabin and get Daisy cleaned up."
She began to scramble from the pool.
"Stay," he said. Please. "I have a four o'clock meeting. Just be back by then."
She shook the water from her eyes with a quick toss of her head. "There's no reason we can't make this work, Hunter." She fixed him with one of those direct looks with which he was becoming accustomed. "We should be able to stay out of each other's way for a few days." Her arms glistened with droplets of water as she rested her elbows on the ledge.
"So do I," said Hunter, amazed a bolt of lightning didn't strike him dead right there on the spot. "We're both adults, right?"
Jeannie nodded. "Right."
Jeannie watched as Hunter and Daisy headed back to the cabin the three of them shared.
"I lied," she said as the door swung shut behind them. "It's not going to be easy at all."
And the fact that they were adults was the problem.
He was tall, dark, and handsome; successful, single, and father of a beautiful little girl who was quickly wrapping Jeannie around her tiny finger.
The fact that he could be obnoxious and overbearing was beginning to matter less and less.
But you're not his type, she thought, pushing off from the wall and into the speed lane. He likes them big and blond.
"Who cares?" she said, climbing from the pool at the opposite end. This was business. She hated people who mixed pleasure with business, using every opportunity to turn a simple conversation into a flirtation.
And she'd really hate herself if she was the one doing it.
She slipped into her cover-up and flip-flops and walked slowly back to the cabin. Face the truth, Jeannie. It's finally happened. Her sister had said that one day it would. So had her brothers. And her parents had promised that the time would come when her heart would welcome a new love. A new life.
Until today Jeannie hadn't believed a word of it.
Of course, she couldn't do a thing about it. Why he'd probably laugh if he knew what she was thinking. Big joke. Lonely baby wrangler has the hots for sexy ad exec with adorable baby. It probably happened all the time.
Daddy's Girl (Bachelor Fathers) Page 5
