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CHAPTERONE
“Umm Ashley,is there something you forgot to tell me about this cruise?” Courtney stared at the banner hanging above the baggage check. The wordsLove at Seastared back at her in bright fuck-me-red.
The smile melted from Ashley’s face. She gave her head a quick shake. “Nope. Nope, we’re going to have a great time on a cruise that my company paid for. I think I told you all you need to know.”
Courtney glared at her friend. “Love at Sea, Ashley? That doesn’t sound like a company cruise. That sounds like a ploy to get me . . . what was it you said, back in the land of the living?”
Ashley had the good sense to blush. She opened her mouth, no doubt to defend herself, before slamming it shut again. Courtney rolled her eyes and reached for her bag. She should’ve known Ashley was up to something. Although a good friend, why else would the other woman invite Courtney along on a cruise? She had other friends. Other single friends who would love to join her for a week sailing from New Orleans to Jamaica to Grand Cayman to Mexico. Just thinking of all that Courtney would now be missing out on swamped her with regret. With her bag in hand, she turned toward the exit.
Ashley jumped in front of her, stopping her retreat. “Wait. What are you doing? Where are you going?”
“Ash, I can’t go on a singles cruise. I’m not single.”
Ashley’s blue doe eyes teared up. “It’s not just for singles. It’s for couples—”
“I’m not a couple either,” she reminded her friend. Not anymore. She was somewhere between the two. And she hated it.
Ashley placed her small hands on Courtney’s shoulders. “You don’t have to be either. It’s an adults-only cruise, does that work better? You are an adult, right?”
Courtney sighed. Yes, she was an adult, even if she sometimes didn’t want to be. “I know how this works,” she told her friend. “There will be games and dancing and lovey stuff. I don’t know if I can handle that.”
Ashley nodded.
“I should have never agreed to come. I thought this was for your job.”
“It is. It was an incentive for hitting our quota, and I guess since we’re all single . . .” She shrugged.
“I thought you needed someone here. Like a partner or something.” Ashley had sounded so nervous about this trip. Courtney had assumed her role would be emotional support.
“I do.” Ashley smiled. “I need a wing woman.”
Courtney shook her head. “Ashley, I’m not a wing woman, I’m a widow.”
Ashley lifted a shoulder without concern for Courtney’s words. “That makes you the perfect wing woman. You’re the only one of us who’s ever been able to catch a man.”
Yeah, Courtney had caught a man. But she hadn’t been able to keep him—not long enough. Less than two years after she and Kyle had stood at the front of the church and exchanged vows, she’d stood at the front of that same church and told him goodbye. If she’d have known the day she met him how things would end for them, she would’ve walked away. She’d mourned him now longer than she’d ever loved him.
“You don’t have to do anything dating related,” Ashley told her. “Just come with me. You can go to the spa, take yoga classes, drink. All the things you were going to do before you realized it was a . . .”
“Floating orgasm machine.” After all, wasn’t that the point of these cruises? You found someone, hooked up with them for a week, and then went your separate ways.
“That’s very crass of you.” Ashley tried for prim and disapproving but broke out into a wide grin instead. “Come on, Corey. You do need to get out. Not to date, just to have some fun.”
Internally Courtney cringed at the use of her childhood nickname. Ashley used it to remind her of who she used to be, but she couldn’t be that girl anymore. Corey was young and fearless. She’d never loved and never lost. No matter how much Courtney might want to be that girl again, she never would be. Still, maybe she could embrace some of the old Corey’s fire for a week.
“Fine.” Shaking her head, she turned back to the baggage line. “But I’m telling you, I’m not looking for love. That ship has sailed.”
* * *
Seth watched the bodies writhing on the dance floor and once again wondered what the hell he was doing here. Okay, maybe he didn’t actually have to wonder. This summer’s wildfire season had been hellacious, so when Zack, his oldest friend, had called to say he had an extra spot on a cruise, Seth hadn’t hesitated to accept the reprieve. He wanted nothing more than to get as far away as possible from forests engulfed in flames and smoke. Unfortunately, Zack had failed to mention it was a singles cruise. Just the thought made Seth cringe. He’d never been great at dating. As a teen, he’d been awkward and focused on his riding. As an adult, he was too busy. The one time he’d tried to settle down and have a lasting relationship had turned out just as he would’ve expected if he’d ever read a romance novel or watched a chick flick—his fiancée had cheated on him because he didn’t give her enough attention. Fucking cliché.
He wasn’t made for long-term, at least not right now. In the summer he lived in his van, following the fires, jumping into the heart of them and battling them down. In the fall and winter, he followed the snow, competing in snowboard competitions in the north. One day, he’d retire. Then he could settle down, get married, and maybe have a kid or two. For now . . . he scanned the club. For the most part men and women were broken into same sex groups taking stock of everyone else.
Zack nudged his arm. “I think I’m going to go say hello.”
Seth followed his friend’s gaze across the room to where two women had just sat down. Immediately he recognized the small blonde in a bright pink dress as Ashley, one of the marketing agents for the company Zack worked for. Seth had hung out with her several times over the years when visiting Zack. But he’d never seen the brunette sitting beside her. Something coiled in his stomach as he looked at her. Despite the way she kept her gaze fixed to the table, he could already tell she was a looker like her friend.
Deciding he might as well go over and say hello instead of sitting by himself, he pushed away from the bar and followed Zack across the dance floor to where the women sat. But by the time he and Zack reached the table, only Ashley remained.
