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"Yes, I am."
"Do you enjoy what you do?"
"Most days, I do. I've tried a few things throughout my life, but nothing has brought me as much satisfaction as being on the force and saving innocents from bad people, so I came back."
He was perfect. The guy was a protector, and that was precisely the type of male she needed. Someone who would want to take care of her.
"Can you tell me a little about what you do as a Guardian, or is it a secret?"
"It is a secret, but you are going to get your memories wiped after the cruise is over, so it doesn't matter."
That wasn't good. Her plan was to make the immortal fall in love with her, or at least care deeply for her, and invite her to live with him in the village.
"Why would they want to erase our memories? There is no need for that. We are under compulsion to keep the existence of Kra-ell and immortals a secret."
He shrugged. "I'm not the boss, and it's not my decision, so perhaps I'm wrong about that. It's just what they usually do to humans they employ after the job is done."
She let out a breath. "I hope you are wrong because I don't want to forget you."
It was almost jarring to see the change that her words evoked in him. Suddenly, there was desire in his eyes that hadn't been there a moment ago.
Leaning over the table, Peter reached for her hand. "Are you flirting with me, Marina?"
She gave him a coquettish smile. "What if I am?"
5
MARGO
While waiting for her new friend to return, Margo watched the clouds over the horizon. They were outlined in brilliant gold, looking majestic against the backdrop of the darkening sky. It was as if the world was putting on a show to celebrate the final moments of the day.
It would have been a tranquil and relaxing time if not for the unease churning in her stomach and the raucous sounds coming from the pool bar.
Margo had no doubt that the guy who had pestered Jasmine before was part of that bachelor party's rowdy and obnoxious crowd. The snippets of their conversations reaching her were a mix of brash jokes and boisterous toasts that were intermingled with bursts of loud laughter.
Ironically, the laughter was what sounded the most threatening to her. It was tinged with aggression, and she imagined that in that drunken and exuberant state, the men could be easily incited to do harm. She tried to rationalize that they were just having fun and that they might be decent men when they weren't drunk and away from the women in their lives, but right now, the members of that group were sad representatives of the male gender and further validation of why she was still single.
It was better to be alone than settle for a buffoon who spouted chauvinistic crap when in the company of other buffoons who laughed at his crude comments.
"Another round!" one of the men shouted, his voice booming over the others. "To Chuck's last night of freedom! It's drudgery and misery from now on!"
Margo's options to escape the unpleasant sounds were to put in her earbuds and blast music to tune the men out, or to leave.
The pool deck was mostly deserted, and if not for the waiters still circling the area, she might have felt uncomfortable there with all those drunks only fifty or so feet away. If she hadn't had to wait for Jasmine, Margo would have gone to her room.
Not that she would have had any peace and quiet there. Sharing it with Beatrice meant listening to the woman constantly talking loudly on the phone with her kids, with her husband, and mostly with her girlfriends back home.
How could one woman have so many friends?
Margo had only two, but they were the best.
Right now, Frankie and Mia were enjoying an all-expenses-paid vacation and mingling with Perfect Match employees, and she could have been there with them if not for Lynda's bachelorette party that she had been forced to attend.
The Perfect Match Virtual Studios company was supposed to be her next grand adventure. Becoming a beta tester for their revolutionary software was a dream that had kept her awake at night, imagining the possibilities. The beta testing would only be the first stage, an entry-level job that would hopefully give her a chance to present her ideas to whomever was running their marketing department.
Yeah, as if that had worked so well in her current job. She'd accepted an assistant position in an advertising agency in hopes of getting promoted to something more lucrative, but after nearly three years, she was still doing the same job she'd been hired to do initially.
She looked in the direction Jasmine had disappeared to, but there was no sign of her. Her things were still there, including her bag, so she had to return for them, and until she did, Margo was stuck watching them.
