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“Yeah, my treat.” He grinned.
“It’s an all-inclusive cruise. The meals are free.”
His grin only grew. “Come with me. I want to apologize for last night.”
Her stomach dropped. “You don’t have to do that. Really. I—”
“Courtney, just have breakfast with me. You let me apologize and then I’ll let you tell me why I shouldn’t. Deal?”
She sighed. She’d been on her way to get breakfast anyway. Having company wouldn’t be a terrible way to start her day. Still. . . “I don’t want to be indebted to you. I’ll pay for my own meal.”
This time his grin reached all the way to his eyes, causing little laugh lines to appear. “Deal.”
* * *
Seth watched Courtney as she sat across the small table from him nibbling on her strawberry. He did not think about what those little nibbles would feel like on his neck or his chest or his . . .
“Is this your first cruise?” he asked. He needed to get them talking about something innocent or he’d start hitting on her soon, and that wasn’t what she needed. Or what he’d intended to do. Courtney was an attractive woman, probably the most attractive on this ship. Certainly the most appealing. But he couldn’t hit on her. If what Ashley said was right, Courtney was still suffering the loss of her husband. The man may have died over two years ago, but that didn’t matter when you were the person suffering. Seth’s father had died almost a decade ago, and his mother still mourned him every day. Death didn’t erase love or any of those other complicated emotions that came along with it.
She shook her head. “I went on one a few years ago. The Bahamas.”
“With you husband?”
Her face fell. Why the hell had he said that?
“I’m sorry. I just—”
“Yes. Kyle and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon.”
He nodded. “Ashley told me about him. Well, not abouthim, just that you’d been married and that . . .”
“That he died?” Her gaze never wavered as she studied him. “You can say the word. Saying it or not saying it doesn’t change the circumstances.”
“Okay. Yeah. She told me that he died. I’m sorry.”
She raised a brow. “Did you cause his heart to stop?”
She knew he hadn’t. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, that you have to live your life without the man you thought you’d spend it with.”
Her gray eyes filled with tears, but she blinked before they could fall. “I appreciate that. It’s definitely not something I ever thought I’d face. At least not yet, you know?”
That he could understand. He wasn’t sure how old Courtney was, but he’d guess she was in her early thirties like him. They were too young to be worried about death, to think it could come for them or the people they loved. Death was a far-off entity, something they’d face someday. Not today.
“I’m also sorry for what I said.” He waited for her to raise her gaze to his. “You’re not a biddie, and I’m sure you don’t have an actual horde of cats.”
When she smiled, the knots in his stomach loosened marginally.
“None actually. I moved around so much years ago that it’s always just been easier to not have pets, but now that you’ve put the thought in my head.” She smiled again. Her entire face lit up with the gesture.
“I guess I just got peeved last night because I was kind of hoping you’d checked me off on your sheet, since you were the only woman I selected.”
The smile melted from her face.
Oh shit.What had he said wrong? “I’m sorry, I—”
“I threw my paper away.”
Of course she did, she’d only met overgrown man-children, she wouldn’t want her information being shared with any of them.
