Shared & Protected

by J P Books

  “Just show up,” he answers. “It’s usually pretty popular, so if you want to get first pick at the songs come an hour or so before the contest starts and ask the DJ to put your name down. His name is Chaz and he never lets anyone repeat songs.”

  “Thanks!” I grin, feeling like I’ve won already.

  Screw Peter and his dirty, cheating cock and his patronizing judgments. I’m going to get dressed up, drunken up, and sing myself some karaoke!

  For the first time since getting on the boat, I’m finally starting to feel a little excited.

  I’m definitely going to need more drinks.

  *****

  Alcohol and a woman’s raging scorn are the perfect tools to convince an otherwise shy, wallflower-y type girl to get dressed up and enter a karaoke contest.

  Lights dimming, as the contest itself is announced in the busiest bar I’ve seen so far on this cruise, is the exact antidote.

  Standing at the bar, wearing the barely there silver, sequined dress Alicia forced me to pack, with my hair curled and eyeliner dark, I start to feel more like a trying-too-hard, socially awkward wannabe than the confident rockstar I was when I left my room.

  Oh god, what am I doing?!?

  I’ve been to enough karaoke nights to know that song selection is absolutely crucial, so I had been at the bar an hour early, just like I was told to do.

  When I asked Chaz, the DJ, if I could sign up for my songs he gave me a look that – at the time – I took for impressed. I was taking charge! Now I realize he was probably embarrassed for me like I was the girl who showed up to a party not just on time, but early.

  Groaning inwardly, I told myself that at least I will have my songs. And I had spent that buffer hour drinking down all the liquid courage I could.

  There are three rounds, and you choose all three songs upfront. If you don’t make it through, you don’t get to sing your other songs.

  I planned my approach with perfect strategy.

  My first two songs are crowd-pleasers that are easy to rock out, everyone knows them, but not many people think to sing: Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walking” and “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette.

  If I make it to the final round I’ll bring out my heavy hitter: “Un-break My Heart,” by Toni Braxton.

  I thought about that one a lot. I know I can sing the heck out of it, and in my current emotional state, I’m pretty sure I can bring a lot of feeling to stage with me. But I’m not sure that it’s good for my recovery journey. I guess if I end up winning – or even if I just simply get through the entire contest – it’ll give me a way to look at my breakup with a victory.

  Plus, I was already getting drunk when I signed up and who doesn’t want to belt out Toni when they’re 3 Gin & Tonics deep?

  Those dimming lights are really making me think twice though…

  The contest begins. Thankfully, they don’t call my name first. As the first performers get on stage, I watch the audience, trying to pick up on the mood.

  Most people are smiling kind of indulgently, but there is an air of anticipation…as if everyone knew it was about to start getting better.

  My eyes roam the room and stop dead when I see the two gorgeous men I’ve been ogling at the entire cruise so far.

  They look as delicious as ever.

  One seems a bit younger than the other, but they are both in their early 30s, I’d guess. They sit side by side, watching the show. They must be a couple if they’re on a cruise together like this and I’ve not once seen them with anyone but each other, but they don’t look… romantic.

  The one on the left, the slightly younger one, has dark stubble that contrasts against his lighter blonde hair. It makes him look like one of those princes from a romantic comedy who tries to escape from royal life to hide amongst the commoners. Charming, a little bit of trouble, but with chivalry at his core. I imagine my hand holding his face, feeling the prickle of his beard, and running the fingers of my other hand through his long hair.

  I feel flush and check out the man sitting beside him. He’s a different kind of sexy; darker and more sensual than playful. He has the look of someone so completely confident that he can’t be bothered to pay attention to what people are thinking of him. Anything would look good on him, including the white linen button-down shirt that is button-opened enough to show off his smooth, tan, muscular chest.

  The first guy has a smile that would win over anyone it was flashed at, but this man could penetrate your soul with his eyes. What it would be like to have them locked on mine as his hands explored my body…

  He glances up, just as I imagine where his hands would explore, and I snap back to reality.

  I’m not usually the kind of girl who thinks like this, but man I need to get laid!

  Trying to get my heart rate to return to normal after my little flash fantasy, I hear my name called. It’s time to get on stage.

  This is your time, Janice.

  CHAPTER 4

  Janice

  The last hour went by in such a blur I couldn’t honestly even tell you what happened. I made it to the stage, sang my little heart out, and found my way back to the bar. As soon as the music started, my love of singing had come pouring back into me and I remembered what it felt like to just let loose and enjoy myself.

  I breezed through the first round, and then the second round and before I knew it, it was down to me and my Barbie lookalike nemesis. Apparently, she was, in fact, 16 but as long as she didn’t drink she was allowed to participate.

  She was actually really good, and a huge crowd-pleaser.

  My two dream men didn’t react noticeably to any of the performers but chatted between themselves and looked like they were having a good time, if not overly exciting. The men on the staff and the old men in the audience though, they loved Barbie.

  There’s no way I would stand a chance against her, but I was going to drain every last moment of fun from this night because I might never do anything like this again. I didn’t care that I wouldn’t win, I was just so happy that I decided to do it.

  Thank you, gin, you’ve been a real pal tonight.

  Toni’s song was the hit I thought it would be, and I grinned and bowed to a cheering audience and made my way back to the bar once more to watch my competition seal the deal. Of course, Barbie sang “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany. The only way she could have got these old men any harder would be if she sang “I Touch Myself.” I wonder if her parents are watching.

  In any case, I’m not surprised when the judges announce her as the winner. I’m still well beyond drunk and plan to ride my euphoric high as long as I can.

  I turn back to the bartender to order another drink and he’s there waiting with a bottle of very fancy looking champagne. I figure he’s serving someone else, so I keep quiet, waiting for my turn.

  “A gift, from your fans,” he says, looking directly at me. I stare at him confused, knowing that I’m not too drunk to understand the simple thing he’s telling me, but nonetheless too drunk to figure it out.

  He nods over my shoulder and I follow his glance.

  The two men – the make-my-panties-wet gorgeous men – are both looking directly at me. The blonde is smiling like a naughty schoolboy and the dark one is smoldering at me.

  Smoldering at me? What the heck am I thinking?

  I turn to look at the bartender again, still completely unable to understand what’s going on. There’s no way the looks I’m seeing from those men mean what I want them to mean. I’m drunk.

  The bartender shrugs and asks, “should I bring 3 glasses?”

  “I’m sure they just feel bad for me, for not winning against a kid. They don’t want to drink with me…” I hesitate, looking to the bartender for confirmation. “Do they?”

  “That’s usually how these things work. When someone orders a bottle of expensive champagne for you, they probably want to use it as a conversation starter
, at the very least.”

  Feeling shy and all of a sudden too drunk/not nearly drunk enough, I shrug back. “Ok. Let’s do this.” I start walking to the table, looking back over my shoulder to make sure the bartender is following me with his eyes as if he were my wingman or something.

  God, I suck at this.

  I get to the table and manage to smile at the two most beautiful men on the ship.

  “Thanks for the champagne,” I say. “Will you share it with me? I wouldn’t want any of it to go to waste.” I sound like such an idiot.

  But they smile and nod to the bartender. The blonde stands up to hold out a chair for me, flashing that boyish smile at me. The full force of it makes my legs shaky and I sit down quickly.

  “I’m Leonard,” he says. “Leo.”

  “Janice,” I reply in barely more than a whisper.

  Oh my god, I have got to grow up. Clearing my throat, I try again.

  “Sorry, I think the contest might have used the last of my voice. How come you guys didn’t get up there and sing?”

  Leo laughs. “I would’ve loved to see Oliver up there, belting out to Frankie or Dean, but he’s better at watching than participating, and I can’t hold a tune for the life of me,” he says, with a little wink.

  Not quite sure what to make of the participation comment, I shift my glance to the darker man. “You must be Oliver then?” I ask.

  “I am.” His voice sends chills through me. “You’re quite the singer. You should’ve won. Are you a professional by any chance?”

  “Me?” I squeak, shocked. “No. No, no. No, definitely not. I used to do a lot of karaoke a few years ago, but…” I trail off, not sure what to say. “But I love to sing more than singing loves me, I guess.”

  “What do you mean?” Oliver asks, looking at me so intently that I remember my flash fantasy from earlier tonight. And I start imagining once again how his hands would move over my body as he looked at me, just like he’s looking at me right now.

  Surely they both can tell exactly where my dirty mind has gone. I feel my face heat up and I start to babble to cover my embarrassment.

  “My boyfriend,” I begin, then emphasize, “my ex-boyfriend always told me that I sounded like I was trying too hard to be good, instead of just having fun like people were supposed to at karaoke. So I stopped singing. He’s probably right, but I can’t help myself, I just get swept away by the songs.”

  “He sounds like an idiot to me,” Leo comments. “We thought you were incredible. There’s nothing sexier than a truly talented singer ‘being swept away by the songs’. You were fantastic up there. As Oliver said, you should have won. The judges are crazy.”

  Leo’s smile is just as captivating as Oliver’s eyes. I feel myself smiling back, unable to stop. Everything about him is open and inviting and again I imagine myself running my fingers through his hair.

  Good lord, I need to keep track of my mind! Leo’s smile widens as if he could tell what I’m thinking.

  “We saw you by the pool yesterday. You were alone…who are you on the cruise with?” he asks, saving me from another embarrassment.

  “Just me,” I reply instantly. As soon as it’s out of my mouth, I see his eyebrow go up and I feel like that awkward wallflower-y girl again. Who goes on a cruise solo?

  “My friend was supposed to come, but she broke her leg last week and isn’t out of the hospital yet.” It’s quite the whole truth, but it’s close enough to make it sound like I’m just some total loser on a cruise by herself on purpose. “I needed to get away,” I say, “so I figured I may as well come anyway.”

  Leo looks at Oliver as if he’s saying “told you so.” I feel even more awkward because it seems like they’ve been talking about me already.

  “There’s an overnight stop in Haiti tomorrow,” Oliver starts. “A crew member told Leo about a beach that’s an hour or so away from the town, and not many tourists go there. We were planning on checking it out. If you don’t have plans already, would you like to join us?”

  Join them? Go to a remote sexy beach alone with two stunningly beautiful men?

  “I’d love to,” I hear myself answer before I have time to think about it.

  Leo’s smile grows bigger. Oliver’s eyes get darker. My entire body feels hotter.

  This trip is going to be something!

  CHAPTER 5

  Leo

  Oliver made an excuse to end the night a few minutes after Janice had agreed to come with us to the secret beach, and we went back to our cabin after saying goodnight.

  I couldn’t help teasing him on our way. I could tell he’s into her, but, as usual, he just gave me a non-committal look and said, “We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

  That man does not say much.

  I’m sure as hell into her though. The way she moved on stage in that slip of a dress made me want to feel her body moving on top of mine, her sexy voice moaning my name instead of song lyrics.

  Our cabin is massive…for a ship. But it’s still small enough that I know Oliver could hear me as I played out my fantasy, and I knew he liked hearing it too.

  Today is going to be interesting.

  We agreed to meet Janice at the café at 11 am, half an hour before the ship is supposed to dock, and we are on our way there now. I think about how she looked at the pool the other day. She’d been wearing this high-waist royal blue bikini. I remember thinking that even though it covered so much more than I’m used to seeing on women these days – love this new trend of thong bikinis and topless beaches, by the way – somehow it made her look sexier than any other woman I’ve ever seen. Because her ass was fully covered, I wanted so badly to uncover it.

  My cock twitches, just thinking about it.

  I look over at Oliver to see his reaction. His eyes have darkened and he’s giving her what I call his “come hither” stare. Oh yeah, he’s into her.

  “Hi guys,” she says cheerfully as she walks up. Oliver pushes over the coffee we had grabbed for her and nods.

  “How’re you feeling today, Miss Karaoke Star?” I ask, giving her a knowing grin.

  She grimaces, as I figured she would. “Oh my god,” she says, “I was so thankful for the greasy hangover breakfast buffet. I’m not sure I could have gotten out of bed for anything less this morning. But it did the trick, I feel much better now.”

  I laugh. “I’m glad to hear it. We’ve got a lot of R&R planned for today and I want to make sure you’re feeling good enough to appreciate it all. Should we get going?”

  The three of us pack up our bags of beach necessities and head down to the exit so we can beat the mobs trying to get off the ship.

  Indeed, we are pretty much the first ones off, and Oliver flags down a driver for private hire as soon as we make our way off the dock.

  He gives the driver the directions of the private beach and we are off, leaving the port behind us.

  The beach is just as secluded and gorgeous as we were promised. We are the only ones there, but there’s a private resort that has been notified we are coming ahead of time, so the swim up bar is open and ready for us, and the beach beds are perfectly shaded.

  We drop off all our stuff and I immediately start taking off my damp shirt. It’s beach time, baby.

  I catch Janice checking me out and I smile at her. Ok, I know I’m sexy – why try to pretend I’m not? She can look all she wants; I’m not going to stop myself from checking her out right back. She blushes immediately and looks away shyly.

  As she turns her head, Oliver is right in her eye line. He’s watching her intensely, and I can tell Janice’s taken in by that look of his. She may have blushed when I caught her checking me out, but the flush she gets for him is entirely different.

  Interesting…

  “Leo has the right idea. Let’s cool off. Will you come with us to the bar?” he asks Janice, ever the gentleman.

  As if his easy comment broke some sort of spell, she recollects
herself and nods. “Yes, absolutely. That water looks fantastic and I think my hangover could use a drink.”

  She begins to take her dress off and Oliver and I both just stare at her, watching like perverted peeping Toms.

  She notices both sets of our eyes on her and I can see she’s making some sort of decision. Instead of letting the moment get awkward, she straightens her shoulders and casually, slowly pulls her “dress” over her head. She moves as if she knows we are watching and likes it. She’s giving us a little show to start the day on the beach and none of us can complain.

  I lick my lips. Oh yes, today is going to be fun.

  *****

  The rum punches start just after noon and continue until the sun starts to set somewhere around 7 PM. Thankfully the resort had stocked the bar with snacks, so we have something in our stomachs, but mine is rumbling loudly now and I want real food.

  I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of Janice all day. As much as I have enjoyed her full coverage bikini from the other day, her choice today seemed so much better. It isn’t a thong bikini exactly, but it isn’t far off. And the more she drinks, the less she worries about whether or not it stays in its rightful position.

  I take every opportunity I can to brush her arm with mine or touch her thigh. Eventually, as the drinks flow, I place my hand on the small of her back and let it dip lower.

  She leans into it and touches me often as well. She keeps looking at Oliver though, almost as if she is trying to see if it bothers him. It doesn’t. He’s watching the two of us flirt and innocently stroke each other and I can tell that every time a flame of desire takes over me, he seems to feel it himself.

  All day, he offers her his look. I know she wants him just as much as she wants me, even though they haven’t made a physical connection yet. His eyes really are impossible to deny.

  My stomach complains loudly again, breaking through my slightly drunken day-dreaming. Janice and Oliver are talking about our restaurant business, which just makes me hungrier.