Caribbean Cruising Read online

  I looked around, but I didn’t see Brooke anywhere so I figured she was meeting her parents at another restaurant. I was constantly amazed by all that this ship had to offer. It had everything I could think of, anything I could possibly ever need.

  I was even fairly certain that the guy of my dreams was somewhere onboard, simply waiting for me to find him. And I was pretty sure that he wasn’t the guy who was with me now. I should have expected Ryan to be here, but it still took me by surprise. I suppose I’d thought it would be like it always was: me and Mom. Only now there was Walter. And with Walter came Ryan.

  Mom looked more than happy. She looked joyous. She and Walter were smiling at each other so much that it made my jaws ache, and also made me wonder why they’d wanted to get together for dinner when it was so obvious that they only had eyes for each other.

  Corny, I know, but that’s how it really seemed.

  But here I was, ordering food that I could barely pronounce, sitting beside a guy I’d spent the night with. I really hoped that subject didn’t come up during dinner.

  “How are you enjoying the cruise so far?” Walter asked, smiling.

  “Fine,” Ryan and I said at the same time.

  “Ryan, did I tell you that Lindsay is going to the University of Texas in the fall?” Walter asked.

  Ryan glanced over at me. “No, sir, but Lindsay mentioned it last night.”

  Walter looked at me now. “So that gives you something in common. And you’re bound to run into each other—”

  “It’s a big campus,” Ryan said. “I don’t even run into my roommates.”

  “What have you done so far on the cruise?” Mom asked.

  Slept with Ryan.

  Wouldn’t she love that?

  I told her about meeting Brooke and spending the afternoon at the spa.

  “I got a massage. It was called a Four Hands Muscle Melt. It was fabulous. If you can find the time, Mom, you should get one.”

  “That does sound wonderful,” Mom said. “I think I’ll try to book one in the morning.”

  “I want you two to have loads of fun while you’re on this cruise,” Walter said. He reached into his jacket pocket, and handed an envelope to Ryan. “I got you tickets to the show.”

  I leaned toward Ryan. “Which movie?”

  Laughing, Ryan handed me a ticket. “Not a movie, but a dance show. Kinda like a cabaret.”

  I looked at the ticket. Eight o’clock tonight. That was not going to work.

  I lifted my eyes to Walter. He was beaming like he’d just handed me a diamond. I knew he meant well, and I simply didn’t have the heart to disappoint him.

  “Thank you.”

  He reached over and patted my hand. “You’re more than welcome. You’re my daughter now, and anything you want is yours.”

  Dinner seemed to go on forever. Walter and Ryan talked about the upcoming Tour de France. I spent my time reassuring Mom that I would be fine exploring the islands with Brooke, and that she really didn’t need to worry about me anymore. After all, I was old enough to vote.

  When we finally finished with dinner, Walter and Mom headed off in one direction. Ryan and I turned in the direction of our rooms.

  “Come on and smile,” Ryan urged. “Dinner wasn’t that bad.”

  I held up the ticket that Walter had generously bought for me. “I had plans for tonight. Brooke and I were going to Cruisin’. I was supposed to meet her at eight.”

  Ryan snatched the ticket out of my hand. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ll trade them in for another night and time. Tomorrow night we’ll be in St. Thomas. How about the night after?”

  It seemed I was destined to keep changing my plans on this cruise, but I found it difficult to turn down Ryan’s offer. I really felt like I owed it to Walter to go see the show. But I had worked myself up into looking forward to spending tonight at the nightclub.

  “The night after tomorrow will be fine,” I told him. “Do you think we could get an extra ticket for Brooke?”

  “Your new best friend?”

  I grinned. “Yeah.”

  “Sure. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Thanks, Ryan.”

  “I’d better go take care of these before tonight’s show starts, or they might not exchange them. I’ll see you later.”

  I watched him walk off, then made my way to my cabin. I’d dressed up a little for the fancy dinner, and I wanted to dress down just a bit for tonight. I slipped into a pair of comfortable jeans and a white blouse that laced up the front and had billowy sleeves. It had a medieval look about it that I just loved.

  I sat down at the table and made some notations for the night.

  + Drink margaritas by the pitcher.

  + Dance all night.

  + Meet some guys.

  I slipped the key to my room into my jeans’ pocket, along with the credit card Walter had given me to use when purchasing items on the ship. I put my purse into the safe in my closet, then headed for the club. I was so glad that I’d met Brooke. Going by myself would have really made me look desperate.

  And even though I was…I didn’t want to look that way.

  CHAPTER 10

  Cruisin’ was a happening place. Colored spotlights roamed over the dance floor. Even with all the lights flashing here and there, the place still seemed dark and mysterious.

  It took me almost ten minutes of weaving through the crowd and peering around people to find Brooke. And then we had to yell in each other’s ear to be heard.

  “Hey!” I yelled.

  “Hey! Let’s find a table.”

  Her suggestion was easier said than done. We wended our way around full tables and standing people. I decided that next time it would be a good idea if we got here a little earlier.

  We finally located an empty table at the back, not nearly as close to the action as I’d like to have been.

  “Getting picked up is like real estate!” Brooke shouted. “Location, location, location. Keep your eyes open for a table opening up closer to the dance floor.”

  The waitress came over. Brooke and I each ordered a frozen daiquiri. It would be my first daiquiri that wasn’t a virgin, which may be a mistake considering how I handle champagne. But it seemed a little too much to be a virgin, drinking a virgin daiquiri, and heading to the Virgin Islands. I could see some country singer turning my vacation into a twangy song.

  As soon as the waitress brought the frozen concoction over and walked away, Brooke tapped her glass against mine.

  “To good times and hot guys!”

  “I’ll drink to that.”

  I looked out over the dance floor.

  A lot of people were dancing to the music provided by the live band. I saw immediately that dancing here was way different from dancing at the prom.

  Here, no teacher was going to tap me on the shoulder for dancing too closely or too provocatively.

  “Drink up!” Brooke shouted at me.

  I dropped my gaze to her glass. Half empty.

  Mine was one sip short of full.

  I sucked through the straw…too much, too fast.

  Brain freeze!

  Oh! I pressed my hand to my head. When the pain eased, I was hot. I didn’t know if it was because of the rum, or the crowds in the place. It was like there suddenly was no air.

  The music stopped, and the abrupt silence was almost deafening. Then conversations started buzzing around us.

  “We’ll never meet anyone way over here,” Brooke said. She tapped my arm. “Come on.”

  I grabbed my drink, and followed Brooke through the crowd as the music started up again. I wanted to be on the dance floor, to be having a good time.

  Having never frequented bars or nightclubs, being surrounded by strangers was a little harder than I had expected it to be. I nearly bumped into Brooke before I realized that she’d come to an abrupt halt. I peered around her. A table. Three guys. No girls.

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