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  “Wow. Someone in your family must be related to the president or something.”

  “Or something. My new stepdad. He has influence.” It was all that I wanted to say. I didn’t want to brag about Walter.

  “He must. He and your mom are going to want some serious alone time.”

  “I’m counting on it.” Mom and Walter spending more time together would give me more time to myself.

  She laughed. “My parents are celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. I can’t believe they’ve been married for that long. I had to practically beg them to bring me along. I wasn’t about to spend time at home when I could be on a cruise meeting loads of single guys.”

  “So you don’t have a boyfriend?”

  “We just broke up. He was great in the sack, but out of it he was a total loser. You know what I mean?”

  Theoretically I did. But I wasn’t going to admit that I’d never had “great in the sack,” or anything in the sack for that matter. Some things you didn’t share with total strangers.

  “Absolutely,” I said, hoping she would accept my answer and not prod me for details.

  “Why are guys like that?” she asked. “Why can’t they bring their bedroom personalities along with them when they get out of bed?”

  I shrugged. “I haven’t a clue.”

  And I really didn’t. My sole experience with sleeping with a guy had been last night. And it certainly hadn’t taught me anything. Except that guys snored.

  “Don’t you hate the way they hog the bed?”

  Ryan hadn’t exactly hogged the bed. He’d been snuggled up against me. It had actually been very nice. Caring. Protective. Comforting.

  “I guess that’s the reason they invented king-sized beds,” I offered.

  Not really an answer, Lindsay.

  “You’ve got that right. Still, it’s not much fun sleeping alone. I’m going to find someone to take my mind off him. Or someonessss,” she said, stressing the plural, and sounding a bit like a snake in the process.

  “Good luck,” I said.

  “Have you got a boyfriend?” she asked.

  “Nope.”

  “So you want to hang out together? Maybe we’ll both find someone.”

  Hanging out with someone who wasn’t Ryan had definite advantages. I wouldn’t stick out like a lonely sore thumb. “Sure. You bet.”

  “We’ll hit the first island, St. Thomas, tomorrow. I plan to shop until I drop.”

  The Virgin Islands. It seemed a little ironic to me that I was a virgin heading to the Virgin Islands, hoping that by the time I left the ship my status would be vastly different.

  “They’re supposed to have terrific jewelry,” I offered.

  “That’s what I hear. I also hear that most of the singles onboard hang out at Cruisin’. Do you want to go tonight? Scope it out?”

  Cruisin’ was one of the clubs on the ship that catered to those between seventeen and twenty-four years old. I’d read about it in the brochure, but hadn’t had a chance to check it out. “Sure, sounds like fun.”

  “Cool. There is nothing worse than hanging out at a singles place as a single.”

  “I thought that was the point.”

  “No way. You don’t want to look desperate.” She leaned toward me. “Even if you are.”

  Did I look desperate? She’d already guessed that this was my first cruise. The next thing I knew she’d be announcing that I was a virgin.

  “I’m not—”

  “Oh, hunk alert,” Brooke interrupted before I could finish announcing that I wasn’t desperate. Although in a manner of speaking, I suppose I was.

  Smiling broadly she sat up a little straighter on her chair, and shook her chest so it jutted out a little farther. Apparently she wasn’t waiting until tonight to reel in her first catch.

  I had very little to jut out with. I was practically a plank of wood compared to her. I’d never been self-conscious about not being well-endowed, but sitting here next to Brooke I was beginning to seriously consider the benefits of implants.

  I glanced in the direction she was looking, and my breath caught. Ryan was striding toward me, and he didn’t look particularly happy.

  He plopped down on the end of my lounge chair. His swim trunk–covered thigh was against my bare leg. His shirt was unbuttoned. Between his thumb and forefinger, right in front of my nose, he was dangling one of my earrings.

  “Found this in my bed this morning after you left.”

  Having never been in a situation like this one, I may have overreacted. I snatched it away from him. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  “Well, isn’t this an interesting development,” Brooke said. “Lindsay, I think you were holding out on me.”

  Ryan jerked his attention to her. “Who are you?”

  “Lindsay’s new best bud. And you are…”

  She left the sentence dangling, almost like an invitation. I didn’t want her to think that there was anything between me and Ryan, or that I’d been holding out on her.

  “Ryan was the best man at my mother’s wedding,” I explained.

  “If you’re going to have a man, you want the best,” Brooke said.

  Ryan gave her a crooked grin. “That’s me. The best.”

  “I’ll just bet,” she purred.

  Not that I could blame her. Ryan was hot. And she wasn’t connected to him through Walter. Besides, it was obvious that he wasn’t interested in me. Sure he’d grinned at me a time or two last night, but nothing like the way he was grinning at Brooke right now.

  I didn’t appreciate their coming on to each other with me sitting right between them…and I was feeling a little left out.

  “Thanks for returning my earring,” I said, bringing everyone back to Ryan’s original reason for stopping by.

  “Not a problem.”

  He grinned, tugged on the brim of my floppy hat, got up, and walked away. Just like that. Gone as abruptly as he’d arrived.

  Leaving me even more irritated. Tugging on my hat was something a guy would do to his kid sister—to bug her. And his grin was nothing like the one he gave Brooke. The one he gave her sent signals—“Come over here, and I’ll show you a good time” kind of signals.

  “You slept with that hunk?” Brooke demanded to know.

  I certainly didn’t want to admit that all I’d done was sleep with Ryan. Not when Brooke knew all the ins and outs of guys’ sleeping habits. So I fudged the truth a little.

  “It’s really not a big deal. It was just a one-night thing.”

  “So you’re not going to hang out with him anymore?”

  “No. It didn’t work out.”

  “That’s a surprise. He sure looked like he could show a girl a good time.”

  “When I met him I thought the same thing.” I immediately felt guilty about what I’d said. Ryan had shown me a good time. He’d been attentive during the reception. He’d talked with me and danced with me. But he was just a little too close to Walter for comfort.

  “I honor territoriality,” Brooke said. “But if you’re not interested in him…”

  What? What was she going to do if I wasn’t sleeping with him? Go after him herself?

  “I’m not interested in him,” I said, although the words didn’t sound quite right. Under other circumstances if I weren’t on a quest to lose my virginity with a guy I’d never see again, I might have been interested in him. No, I’d definitely be interested in him. “But I’d be uncomfortable—”

  “If he and I became an item?” she finished. “That’s cool. There are lots of other guys onboard, and it’s fun to have someone to hang around with.”

  I was incredibly relieved to hear her say that. I really would feel more comfortable if Ryan wasn’t with us, because he might feel obligated to do as Walter asked, and watch out for me. I so didn’t want to be watched out for. I wanted to be wild and have some uninhibited fun.

  “So do you have any plans for the day?” I asked.