“What?” she asked self-consciously.
“You do know that every thought you have is etched all over your face, don’t you?” he said, grinning at her discomfort.
Feeling exposed, she grunted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir. Now, if there isn’t anything I can help you with I should get on with my work.”
“Oh you mean chatting with old couples and listening to their ridiculous stories is work?” he asked crudely.
“It is my job to make the customers happy and if listening to their stories accomplishes that then all the better,” she answered defensively.
“Well, I know of a few things you could do to make me a very happy customer,” he said suggestively, winking at her.
Miranda wanted to slap him for the comment but as always she controlled her anger and said, “If it is related to our menu or food I am sure I can get someone to help you.”
“I make you uncomfortable, don’t I?” Alec asked, raising an eyebrow as if daring her to answer. “Have you never been flirted with or is it just me?”
Unable to control her anger any longer, she let the mock smile fall from her face and replied in a voice that barely hid her disgust, “Any fool who thinks he’s god’s gift to mankind and flirts with anything that walks doesn’t deserve a second thought. The truth is, Mr. Bane, you don’t make me uncomfortable, you repulse me. You have a girl sitting a few tables away but you keep making crude suggestions. What kind of a gentleman does something like that?”
“Well, good thing I’m not a gentleman then,” he replied unfazed, smile still in place. “So, I guess it’s not that I’m trying to hit on you that’s bothering you, it’s that I brought a girl with me. You’d definitely be up for anything if I was alone.”
“I wouldn’t be up for a drink of water with you, Mr. Alec, even if you were the last man on earth,” she practically growled, revulsion pouring from her voice. Taking a huge breath, she said, “I have work so unless there is something you need…”
“No thanks,” he said with a mischievous grin. “I got what I came for.” He looked deep into her eyes and she couldn’t help but feel her legs begin to sway much to her dismay. “You’ll come to me sooner or later. You women always do.” And with that he turned around and went back towards the table where his girlfriend sat. The girlfriend looked from Miranda to Alec before giving him a huge smile and bouncing her chest about the place.
How arrogant he was to say something like that, she thought. He thought that he was so amazingly handsome that no one would be able to resist him. And even though he was good-looking and his eyes did strange things to her legs, she would never fall for him or go to him as he suggested. She had more self-respect than that. Ugh, why was she letting him get to her? She couldn’t let him ruin her day or distract her from her work. She needed to put him out of her mind and concentrate on her work.
For the rest of the time that Alec was in the restaurant, Miranda busied herself in the kitchen making sure everything was running smoothly in there. When there was absolutely nothing more to do there and only after Jenny came in twice to inform her that customers had requested to speak to the manager did she finally go back out.
Her eyes couldn’t help but zero in on the man that infuriated her and made her react to him at the same time. He was busy ogling the fine chest his blond girlfriend had on display. She was laughing a pitched tune as she told him some story he was clearly not listening to. Miranda watched as his eyes swiveled from his girlfriend’s front to a passing lady’s fine bottom. His eyes seemed to devour her appreciatively. The lady took a seat at the opposite table and made eyes at him which he repaid with a smirk of his own. The lady wrote something on a napkin and let it slip off the table. Seeing it, Alec knocked his fork over and it went flying over toward her table. Excusing himself from his date, he went over to retrieve it. He quickly bent down and swiped, grabbing the napkin as well. He winked at the woman who was almost bouncing with joy and went back to his table. While his girlfriend prattled on, he quickly snuck a look at the napkin in his hand. Reading whatever was on it, he grinned and nodded his head at the woman who had written it. She gave a seductive smile, got up and left the restaurant. His girlfriend remained oblivious throughout the exchange as she droned on.
Miranda had been watching the whole exchange rooted right outside the kitchen door. As the napkin lady left, Alec’s eyes came to rest on her and she felt her whole face heat up and her body freeze as if she had been caught eavesdropping or something. He looked at her a moment before his lips parted in an open grin. He gave her a shrug as if to say what can I do, I am that irresistible and winked at her. She mentally shook herself and quickly turned away from him, not wanting to give him an opening to come talk to her again. She went up to a group of ladies in their forties who had asked for the manager to help them with whatever it was they needed. She was talking to one of the ladies when she saw through the corner of her eye that Alec and his girlfriend were leaving the restaurant. She finally let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding in and relaxing a bit she continued with her job. Whatever Alec Bane was up to was no business of hers and she wanted to stay as far away from the womanizing man as she could.
Curiosity however got the best of her and she couldn’t help but pass by the table he had been sitting at to see if the napkin was still there. It was indeed and before she could think twice, Miranda had grabbed it and quickly shuffled into the kitchen. Once inside she looked down to see the napkin in her hand. Upon it in red lipstick was the room number of the lady in question. Chuckling, she shook her head and threw the napkin in the trash bin. No wonder he was giving her a grin that suggested he was getting lucky. She had just been too daft to understand it at the moment. Shaking her head, she moved back out to get to work and admonished herself to stop thinking about him.
***
Thankfully, Alec did not show up for lunch much to Miranda’s relief. She knew that letting someone have so much power over her wasn’t healthy but she couldn’t help it. There was something about Alec Bane that really rattled her and try as she might, she couldn’t help but be affected by him. He infuriated her that was for sure.
Miranda did see his girlfriend sitting there alone but that didn’t last long either. Pretty soon she had one of the tennis instructors on the cruise sitting across from her and the amount of flirt she was putting on him was remarkable. Miranda had always believed in monogamy and seeing both Alec and his girlfriend behave in such a callous way made her wonder why someone would be in a relationship at all if they couldn’t respect it.
Miranda herself came from a broken family. Her father had walked out on her and her mother after being caught cheating with his secretary. Ever since then she had sworn that she would only be in a relationship if she was truly convinced that both of them were in it only for each other. She didn’t believe in dating multiple people at once and she was very selective of the people she did date. Perhaps that was why she had such a small amount of relationships and had instead dedicated a considerable amount of her time and energy to her work.
As she looked at Alec’s girlfriend, she turned and looked Miranda straight in the eye. Miranda couldn’t help but blush and look away. When she glanced again, her eyes popped out when she saw that she was heading right towards her. It was too late to dive into the kitchen even though that was racing through Miranda’s mind as she saw her approach. Keeping her professional smile in place, she put on a calm façade and waited for her to come up to her.
When she finally reached Miranda, Alec’s girlfriend said, “You’re the girl Alec has a fascination with these days.”
Miranda was flabbergasted and floundered for something to say. Before she could think of anything, Alec’s girlfriend continued, “I’m Sandy. We aren’t exclusive so I’m okay with sharing but don’t expect it to go anywhere.”
Finding her voice, Miranda spoke up. “I think you’re mistaken, ma’am. I have no interest in Mr. Bane and I’m sure he too has no interest in me. Yo
u don’t need to share anything with me because I most certainly don’t want to have anything to do with him.”
Sandy looked her up and down for a minute before saying, “You don’t now but you will. We women always do. He is quite persistent and I noticed he’s taken quite the liking to you. It will only be a matter of time before you too fall for his bewitching charms. All I want to warn you is that it won’t last very long so don’t get your hopes up, honey.” After delivering her speech, she swiveled around and with a coy smile she moved back to the tennis coach, swaying her hips from side to side for emphasis.
Miranda watched on, astounded by what had just transpired. She couldn’t believe that Alec’s own girlfriend had come to give her blessing and to warn her to not set herself up for disappointment. Well, Miranda had received the advice loud and clear. Even if she hadn’t already decided that she would rather eat a raw eel than ever give in to Mr. Bane’s advances this sure as hell put her off the idea for good. He was more than welcome to any lady who gave him a room number written on a napkin but she wouldn’t be one of them.
Chapter 3
Over the next two days, Miranda avoided being in any position that left an opportunity for Alec to approach her. When she wasn’t attending to other guests and customers she would often retire to the kitchen and keep an eye on things outside from there. She knew she was being a coward by hiding out there but she didn’t like the way her body reacted to him. She was also afraid that if he made one more inappropriate comment she would be forced to remove her fist from his face.
The next day was her day off. She was free to roam the cruise ship, avail herself of all its facilities, participate in any activities that took her fancy and enjoy the sun. These were the perks of working on a cruise ship and Miranda loved her one day of the week off. As the morning sun rose full of light, she smiled to herself. Finally, she didn’t have to worry about Alec looming behind her ready to pounce at any second. She could just relax and take in some UV rays, get a good tan and not think about dark blue eyes and smug smiles.
She went to the Olympic-sized pool at the top deck. The pool came furnished with a tall slide and a whirly one as well, and a bunch of kids as well as adults were taking turns going down them over and over again. Miranda spread out her towel on a pool chair and lay down to relish in the sun. She had brought with her a romance novel to read as she lazed around. She applied a light sunscreen over her body and stretched out on her towel. She closed her eyes and reveled in the warmth of the sun’s rays falling on her skin.
Suddenly her peace was disturbed by a familiar clearing of the throat. With an involuntary groan, she opened her eyes to find Alec Bane smirking as he traced his eyes across her body appreciatively. She rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Go away.”
“Well hello to you too,” he said, sitting down on a chair next to her. She thought of getting up and leaving but decided against it. She was enjoying herself too much to spoil it because of some arrogant jerk. She resolved to ignore him until he tired out and left her alone.
“It’s nice to finally see you out of that uniform of yours. And I get to see so much more of you than I had hoped. Still not enough though. This flimsy white bikini of yours hides all the good stuff.”
Miranda bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from answering or saying anything at all. A single word would be all the encouragement he would need. She was indeed wearing a white bikini that had lots of strings and cross-overs. She had bought it just before the cruise took off and she had been waiting for an opportunity to wear it. His comments were flattering her and ruining the bikini for her at the same time. Suddenly she felt exposed.
“Oh come on, don’t be like that,” he exclaimed. “That lip biting technique is a good way of getting me riled up. You look bitable; I have to admit. Absolutely tasty, I would assume.”
Miranda’s eyes flew open at his comment and she couldn’t help but say, “Bitable? Really? You couldn’t find a better pickup line?”
He grinned at her as if she were praising him and said, “Hey, I tell it like I see it and I had to say something to get you to stop ignoring me. Judging from your past record, you would’ve ignored me all the way till sunset. Out of all the options here, I’ve been coming to your restaurant for the last two days for every single meal and you’ve been hiding out in the back. What’s that all about?”
Miranda gaped at him a moment before replying, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Even as she said that, her face turned red and she looked anywhere but at his face.
“Love, I think we both know what I’m talking about. I affect you whether you admit it or not. You are attracted to me so why are you fighting this? Give in to it and see what fun you can really have.”
She could hear the smirk in his voice. It was true that he was attractive but any attraction was snuffed out the minute he opened that mouth of his. Opening her eyes wide, she glared at him. He quickly backed away from her as if scorched. She scowled at him before saying, “You are a pig! I wouldn’t have anything to do with you if you paid me a million dollars. You are a vile, pathetic excuse of a man and I will be damned if I ever let the day come when I feel anything but disgust for you.”
“Whoa, woman, relax. What did I ever do to you that you dislike me that much? I’m just having a bit of fun. What’s wrong in that?” he asked, putting his hands up in surrender or to placate her she wasn’t sure.
“What’s wrong is that you think that you can have whatever you want. You don’t think about what you are doing or who gets affected in the process. You think having fun is alright and don’t think about the consequences or if you might end up hurting someone. You prance around flirting with every walking thing, hooking up with whoever grabs your fancy without a moment’s thought. To you everything is a game and I’ll be damned before I let you make a game out of me.”
“You need a vacation,” he said. “You’re way too wound up; it’s not healthy. You seem to think you know me very well even though you only met me a few times. I don’t play games people don’t want me to play. It’s not like I pretend to be something I’m not. Everyone knows what I am before they get into it with me and I don’t make any promises I won’t keep. So, whatever your problem is I’m pretty sure it’s not with me. You need to figure it out and when you do, you know where to find me.” He got up after that and sauntered off to hit on his newest target. Another blond woman stood not too far away in a flimsy red bikini that hardly covered anything. She had been eyeing him the entire time he sat beside Miranda and now beamed with happiness as he bestowed his attention upon her. As Miranda watched she couldn’t help but realize that what he had said was in fact true. All the women he flirted with, even Sandy, had wanted him to give them his attention, to make them feel special in some way. With women like these, men like Alec were bound to get an ego the size of Russia. But that still didn’t make it right for him to pursue her the way he did. She had not asked for his attention, nor did she encourage it. The other women might’ve asked to be played with but she had made it clear time and time again that she was not the least bit interested. So, his persistence didn’t make sense. If he thought that she would ever go to him then he would be waiting a very long time. Sighing heavily, she picked up her book and cursing herself for getting pulled into this whole fiasco in the first place. She tried to drown out her churning mind in the beautiful world of the characters of her book. She would make the most of her day off and nothing or nobody was going to spoil that for her.
***
Over the next week Alec did not once come in to dine at the restaurant. There were several more options on the cruise so she wasn’t surprised. But she couldn’t help but wonder if their interaction that day at the poolside was the reason for that. She was relieved no doubt but at the same time she felt an emptiness like something was missing. Even though he exasperated her to no end, still it was more lively with him around.
She did however see him again on her next break. She spent another day
tanning and relaxing by the gigantic pool, watching families and old couples having a good time. And once again, she saw Alec Bane without his girlfriend. He was wrapped around another blonde and she was drooling all over him. Miranda looked on in disgust as the two of them forgot all decorum and continued with their public display of affection. Thankfully though, he did not come up to her and try to start flirting again. It seemed he was done with Miranda and for that she was glad. She really didn’t want a self-absorbed man like him to pay any attention to her even if being wanted for a moment did feel good. She shook her head, chastising herself for letting these kinds of thoughts creep in. He was an egotistical pig and any woman who was shallow enough to want his advances was welcome to them.
She left the pool soon after and after a quick shower she met up with Sam, Jenny and a few other friends of hers from the cruise outside the club. It was one of the hotspots on the cruise for dancing. Jenny had decked herself up really nicely and her skin-tight sequined short dress was clinging to her body, highlighting her curves. Miranda looked down at her own floral knee-length dress and raised an eyebrow at her best friend. “You’re awfully dressed up. What’s the occasion and why wasn’t I told about it?”
Priceless Love Page 2
