Aiden frowned. “That was disappointing. Come on. You’re newlyweds. Kiss like you mean it.”
The crowd laughed and cheered, whistling and hooting for more. Miranda turned to look at Drew. He stared at her, his gaze almost a caress. He put his arms around her and pulled her to him. Her hands shook as she reached up and placed them on his shoulders.
Drew leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was tentative. Slow. Almost like he was asking permission. She returned the kiss, the feeling of his lips on hers sending her heart racing and making her dizzy. She couldn’t believe she was kissing Drew . . . and it felt amazing!
Her hands involuntarily threaded through his hair, and she found herself pulling him closer. She no longer wanted to breathe. She wanted more Drew. How had she never kissed him before? The kiss grew more passionate and heat enveloped Miranda. Tingles exploded through her and she couldn’t let go. She’d never experienced a kiss like this before. She couldn’t get enough. Kissing Drew was like holding onto a live wire. It was hot and exciting, and felt a little dangerous.
The crowd went wild, and too soon Drew pulled back. He stared at her and she felt her face grow warm again. She dropped her gaze. Had she just made out with Drew? In front of everyone? Humiliation burned through her.
“Now that’s more like it,” Aiden said. The room filled with cheers. “You can escort your wife off the stage. And don’t forget her prize.”
Miranda blindly followed Drew to Gina, who handed him the blaster. Somehow she made it down the stage and to her seat, although she wasn’t quite sure how, as her legs didn’t want to work right. She sat down and Carol stared at her, a look of pity on her face.
Miranda wanted to crawl under her seat. She dared a glance at Drew, but he wasn’t looking. Angelica, on the other hand, was staring daggers at her. Murderous, hot daggers full of hate.
Great. Not only did she embarrass herself in front of the entire ship, now Angelica wanted to kill her as well.
She sank down into her chair and placed her hand on the side of her face in a lame attempt to shield herself from any more wrath. She watched the rest of the show, counting down the seconds until the whole thing was done and she could hide herself in her cabin.
As soon as the show ended, Miranda shot out of her seat and sprinted up the aisle.
“Miranda! Wait.”
She turned to see Zachary running after her. “Hey,” he said when he caught up to her. “Where are you going? Aren’t we going to have drinks tonight?”
Miranda placed her hand on her cheek, trying to cool it down. People pushed past them to exit the theater. “I don’t think I’m up for it tonight.”
Zachary studied her. “Are you okay? Are you embarrassed they thought you were a newlywed? Because I can totally set everyone straight, and they won’t say anything more about it.” Concern laced his gaze.
“Really?” Hope lightened her mood. “You’d do that?”
“Yeah, I can explain everything.” He put his arm around her. “I’ll take care of it. You don’t worry about a thing.”
She looked up at him, relief making her shoulders light. “Thank you.”
“Let me get this makeup off and I’ll meet you at the Venture Club.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze and headed in the opposite direction of the throng of people.
Drew, Angelica, and Carol caught up to her. Angelica was hanging on Drew like he was a life preserver. “Was that Zachary?” Drew asked. He looked uncomfortable.
“Yes. He’s meeting me at the Venture Club for drinks.”
“That’s where we’re headed,” Carol said. “Come on, let’s hurry before all the good seats are taken.”
Carol started down the aisle, and all Miranda could do was follow her, even though the last thing she wanted to do was spend the evening with Drew and Angelica.
Chapter 13
When they got to the club, the only empty seats were at the bar. Drew sat next to Angelica and swallowed his embarrassment at how he’d kissed Miranda on stage. He hadn’t meant to make such a scene. He just wanted to get Aiden off his back. Kissing Miranda like that hadn’t been the plan, but he couldn’t stop himself once it started. He’d dreamed of getting a second chance to show Miranda how he felt through a proper kiss. Too bad it was up on a stage with everyone watching. She was obviously mortified by the whole thing.
And that’s how things with Miranda always went. Just when he thought something good was coming, everything went wrong. His first real kiss with Miranda and she’d been too embarrassed to even look at him afterward.
Angelica nudged him. “What do you want?”
Drew realized the bartender was standing before them. “Diet Coke.”
“Why don’t you loosen up?” Angelica grabbed her fruity-looking drink and picked the umbrella out of it. “Have some fun. You can’t get a buzz from Diet Coke.”
Miranda leaned forward. “I’ll have a Diet Coke as well.”
Angelica made a face and sipped her drink.
Zachary walked up to the bar and slid onto a stool next to Miranda. “I’ll have a Johnnie Walker.”
“He knows how to have fun,” Angelica said under her breath.
Drew didn’t want to argue with her. He knew Miranda didn’t drink, and he wanted to support her decision. But he didn’t want to explain that, so he just sipped his Coke and kept quiet. The band started up a slow song and Drew took Angelica’s hand. “Let’s dance.”
Angelica hopped down. “I’d love to.”
When they were out on the dance floor, Angelica snuggled close, her head on his shoulder. “You smell nice,” she said.
“Thanks.”
After a moment she said, “So, you kissed Miranda. Do you think she liked it?”
Pain swelled in his chest and his throat grew dry. “I embarrassed her.”
“I could kind of see that.” Angelica looked up at him, her gaze penetrating. “Maybe we need to go farther. Make it look more like you’re really into me.”
Drew swallowed. He was starting to dislike the whole ruse he had going on with Angelica. “Like how?”
Angelica smiled. “Like maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time with her. If we were really dating, you’d be spending that time with me.” She snuggled to him again. “You should talk to her about that tonight.”
“What do you mean? Tell her we’re no longer friends?”
“Oh, no. You don’t have to say that. Just start moving back a little. Maybe tell her you want some alone time with me. She should see how it feels to not have you around so much. Then maybe she’d realize she likes you.”
Drew mulled the thought over in his mind. If Miranda saw he was backing away from her, would she go after him? Maybe it would wake her up. Maybe Angelica was onto something. “You’re right.”
“Of course I’m right.” Angelica grinned up at him. “And while we’re together, I’ll help heal your wounded soul.” She pulled his head down and kissed him.
Someone bumped into Drew and he broke the kiss. A guy clapped him on the back. “Sorry, man. Hey, aren’t you the guy who was up on stage? Married to that other woman?”
Drew shook his head. “I’m not married.”
“Oh, sorry. You look just like him.” The guy staggered a little and smiled. “See ya around.” He weaved his way through the dancing couples.
Angelica made a scoffing noise.
Drew spent the rest of the night dancing with Angelica and trying to see if it was making Miranda jealous. A few times she looked at him and he thought maybe it was working, but the rest of the time he thought maybe he was just making a fool of himself. When he grew tired, he turned to Angelica. “I’m beat. I’ll see you at breakfast in the morning.”
“Good night, sweetie,” she said, giving him a kiss. “Are you going to talk to Miranda, like we talked about?”
Oh, right. He’d said he was going to do that. “Okay.” The word made his shoulders tense.
“Perfect. Then we can spend the day in Roatan toge
ther, just the two of us.” She grinned at him, and his stomach felt sour. But maybe her plan would work.
He nodded and left the dance floor. Miranda was sitting at the bar, her head resting on her arms. Zachary wasn’t around anymore. “Where did Zachary go?”
Miranda lifted her head. “He left ten minutes ago,” she said, a drowsy tone to her voice.
Drew shoved his hands in his pockets. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” Miranda slid off the stool. She looked like she was going to fall asleep standing up.
“You okay?” Drew put his arm around her waist.
“Yeah, I just got a little motion sick, so I took a couple of pills. They made me really tired.” She gave him a small smile.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yep. Just drowsy.” She clung to him as he guided her out of the club and through the hallway to the lobby. She closed her eyes as they waited for the elevator. He quietly breathed in the smell of her hair. It made his heart beat faster.
When they got to her room, she slid her card in and opened her door. She turned to look at him, and no one spoke for a moment. He looked into her eyes and his world tilted a little. “We should talk,” she finally said.
His stomach clenched, and he nodded.
He followed her into the cabin and she sat on the bed. The teddy bear Zachary had sent her was sitting on the desk. She kicked off her shoes as he sat next to her. She didn’t meet his gaze. “About earlier. . .” she said, pausing.
“Yeah, I wanted to apologize. I didn’t mean to embarrass you in front of everyone.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered.
He swallowed. How could he tell her that he’d gotten so wrapped up in the kiss he’d forgotten they were on stage?
She laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. “And that’s not really what I wanted to talk about.”
He laid down as well and turned on his side to look at her. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I don’t know.” She closed her eyes. “Maybe we should talk tomorrow. I’m so tired.”
He totally agreed. The gentle rocking of the ship was lulling him into sleep. “That’s fine.”
She curled up next to him, her eyes still closed. He knew he should get up, tuck her in, and let her fall asleep, but something held him in place. He watched her as her breathing evened out, her face relaxed. The light smattering of freckles across her cheeks called to him, and before he could stop himself, he pressed his lips to the tip of her nose.
“Mmm,” she said.
Drew jerked back. He didn’t think she was still awake, and his heart pounded.
“Drew?” she said, her voice low and sleepy.
“What?” he whispered.
“Why have we never kissed before today? That was nice.”
Completely awake now, he stared at her. What was he supposed to say to that? “We did kiss,” he said, the memory surfacing.
“What? When?” She didn’t open her eyes.
“When we were fifteen.”
“Did I kiss you, or did you kiss me?”
The pain from that day swelled in him and he propped his head up on his elbow to look at her. Did she really not remember? “I kissed you,” he said, his chest constricting with the memory.
“What did I say?”
Her words from that day rang in his ears and he swallowed, hard. “You said,” he started, then couldn’t go on. He couldn’t say the words.
“What?”
He whispered, “You said, ‘We’re so not meant for each other.’” Hearing them now, from his own mouth, still ripped his heart in two.
“Oh,” Miranda said. She rolled over and snuggled into his chest. He didn’t know what else to do, so he put his arms around her.
“That’s not true anymore, is it?” she mumbled.
His pulse raced and he stared at the back of her head. Was she asleep? Or was she aware of what she was saying? He couldn’t tell. He pulled her closer, smelling her hair. She was right. The statement wasn’t true anymore, but he didn’t say it out loud.
“Drew?”
He closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of being close to her. “What?”
“Don’t go.”
He froze. Miranda was asleep. She had to be. Why else would she be saying such things? He tried to imagine what it would be like to wake up tomorrow, next to Miranda, and all he could think was how shocked and upset she would be if she woke up and he was in her bed.
His throat swelled. He kissed the back of her head and slid his arm out from under her. “I have to,” he whispered.
When she didn’t move or say anything else, he climbed out of her bed and covered her with the blanket. He flicked off the light and slipped out of her cabin.
He entered his own cabin and got ready for bed. As the ship rocked, he lay awake, thinking about Miranda and what she’d said in her sleep. Could she possibly have feelings for him? Or was she just mumbling incoherently?
After going over and over it in his mind, he decided she was simply talking in her sleep, and it didn’t mean anything. Tomorrow morning he would have the conversation Angelica wanted him to have. He would tell Miranda he wanted to spend the day alone with his new girlfriend.
Chapter 14
Miranda shut off the water and stepped out of the tiny shower. Her heart climbed into her throat as she thought about what she had said to Drew last night. How could she have asked him to stay? What was she thinking? She stared at her reflection in the mirror. That was the problem. She wasn’t thinking. She just wanted to be close to him. His rejection still stung.
She toweled off and got dressed. They’d be spending the day off the boat, snorkeling and lazing around on the beach. If she pretended she’d been talking in her sleep, maybe she could face Drew without getting mortified all over again.
A knock on her door sounded. Crud. She wasn’t ready to talk to him. She quickly let Drew in. “Hi. I’m almost ready,” she said, trying to keep her voice light. “Just need to finish my hair.”
“Okay.” He leaned up against the desk and waited for her.
She went into the bathroom and stalled for a couple of minutes. It really was sad that their relationship had deteriorated to her hiding out in the bathroom so she wouldn’t have to deal with her feelings. When she could no longer put off talking to him, she came out of the bathroom. “Man, I was tired last night. I don’t even remember going to bed.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “You don’t remember?”
“Nope. Everything after the Venture Club is blank. Hopefully I didn’t do anything embarrassing.” A nervous giggle escaped, and she clamped her lips shut.
Drew studied her for a moment before shaking his head. “Nope.”
“I was so tired I fell asleep with my clothes on.”
His gaze held hers. “Did you?”
“Yes. I guess that motion sickness pill zonked me out. Tonight I’ll have to go to bed early.”
Drew straightened and ran his hand through his hair. “Miranda, we should talk.”
A nervous energy surged through her. Was he going to talk about what she’d said last night? She really didn’t want to face that. “I thought we were talking.”
He folded his arms and exhaled. “Angelica wants to spend the day with me.”
She had not expected that. Relieved, she smiled. “Great. I think that’s a good idea.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “Yes. You spend the day with Angelica and get to know her better.” Wait, what was she saying? His words hadn’t fully sunk in yet, but now she was starting to understand. He was ditching her.
Oh well. At least he wasn’t probing her about what she’d said last night. She’d practically come out and said she enjoyed his kiss . . . the one he was forced to give her because she couldn’t tell Peter Walker she’d been left at the altar. She was so lame.
“Alright, then.” Drew opened her cabin door for her. She grabbed her purse and
they walked in silence to breakfast.
Angelica and Carol were already seated when they got to the table. Miranda forced a smile and sat down. Drew slid his arm around Angelica and picked up his menu.
Angelica patted his shoulder. “I went to get tickets for the snorkeling excursion, but they were sold out, so we’ll have to find something else to do today.”
Snorkeling. She and Walt had bought tickets for that. But now that Drew was ditching her, she didn’t want to go alone. “Here,” she said, digging in her purse. She produced the tickets and handed them to Drew. “You and Angelica can take these.”
“Thank you,” Drew said, eyeing her.
Angelica snatched the tickets and grinned. “You’re the best, Miranda.”
It didn’t take long for their orders to be taken and food to be brought to the table. Breakfast smelled good, but it had no taste to Miranda. She sipped her water and tried not to think about the fun Drew and Angelica would have together. At least she wouldn’t be forced to watch them flirting with each other all day. Maybe she’d stay in her cabin and read her Nicholas Sparks book.
When her eggs were cold, she scooted her chair back. “Well, you two have fun. I’ll see you later.”
Drew wiped his mouth with his napkin and looked up at her. “See you tonight. You’re going to the Captain Crosby Party, right?”
Angelica leaned over and whispered, “You’re not inviting her to come with us, are you?”
Miranda clenched her hands, digging her fingernails into her palms. “Yes, I’ll be there, but I’m going with Zachary. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
She turned and stalked out of the restaurant. How did things go so far downhill with her and Drew? They’d always been good friends, despite who was dating who. She’d always been able to juggle a friendship and a relationship. Why was this different?
Angelica. That had to be it. Angelica was ruining things between her and Drew. Heat seared her cheeks and her vision blurred as she unlocked her cabin door. A notecard lay on the middle of her floor. She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall.
I have the day off. Want to spend it together? Wait for me here. Zachary
Her Big Fat Foxy Billionaire Best Friend Page 9
