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Courtney cocked her head. “What do you mean?” The cruise ended tomorrow. Even if she did think she was in love with him, she wouldn’t see him again after they disembarked. She’d make sure of it.
Ashley stared at her blankly as if telepathically imparting some wisdom Courtney was too stupid to receive. Finally, she rolled her eyes. “You could keep seeing him after this cruise, you know.”
Immediately Courtney shook her head. “We live in different places.”
Another eye roll from Ashley. Courtney was getting tired of seeing the whites of her friend’s eyes. “You both have pretty flexible commitments. You could work anywhere—”
Courtney pushed up from her chair. “Like the middle of a wildfire? No.”
Ashley’s gaze darted around the pool deck. They were drawing attention. Courtney dropped back onto the lounger, pushing her face closer to Ashley’s. “He jumps into fires, Ashley. He’s asking to get himself killed. I can’t . . . I can’t love a man like that.”
Ashley pinned her with a glare. Not a sad look or a sympathetic smile. No, her friend was glaring at her. “You already do,” she told her.
Before she could respond, Ashley pushed up from her seat and walked away, leaving Courtney alone with her spinning thoughts.
She couldn’t love Seth. If she loved him and lost him, she’d never recover. The only choice she had was to force herself not to love him. Stealing a glance at him over her shoulder, she thought that task may prove impossible.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Seth held Courtney close.He couldn’t explain why, but he couldn’t shake the gut-wrenching feeling tonight was his last night with her. Although he’d asked her to stay with him in New Orleans and travel with him to his next competition, she still hadn’t accepted or declined the invitation. He kept waiting for her to say she wanted to keep seeing him after the cruise, but she never did. Which only made him that much more reluctant to mention their future himself. Especially when the night was going so well. They’d decided to attend the masquerade, and from the way bodies were smashed together in the club tonight, so had almost everyone else. When he and Zack had shown up at the girls’ cabin, he'd been prepared for Courtney to look sexy as sin. Without even trying, she always spiked his heart rate. Butholy fuck. Apparently when the woman did try, she damn near put him in cardiac arrest. The dress she wore was a color he’d heard referred to as fuck-me-red. It was clasped behind her neck and came over her shoulders to hug her breasts in two strips of satin that didn’t meet until they reached her left hip, leaving her breasts barely covered and her chest exposed and begging to be licked. The dress pulled his mind in too many directions for him to think clearly. He wanted to cover her up, so no one else could see the sexy curves of the sides of her exposed breasts, while at the same time he wanted to rip the damn thing off her and feast on the tiny bit she kept from his sight. How the hell was a man supposed to attempt a conversation about a possible future when he was holding a living flame in his arms? Something told him no matter what he did tonight, he’d end up getting burned.
When the song ended, slipping into a song he’d never heard before but definitely made him think of sex, Courtney pulled away. “I’m a little thirsty.” She didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke. “You want to go to the bar?”
No. He wanted to stay on the dance floor with her pressed against him and their bodies moving together like several of the other couples who’d obviously taken advantage of the free dance lessons he and Courtney had skipped. Instead of telling her this though, he nodded and followed her to the bar, watching as her ass moved back and forth under the tight silk. She couldn’t possibly be wearing panties. Even a thong would show with the way the fabric clung to her curves. The thought excited him, while at the same time he couldn’t shake the feeling Courtney wasn’t quite acting herself tonight.
He caught the eye of a bartender who finished with a couple and then made his way down the bar to them. As Seth ordered their drinks, he heard a man greet Courtney. When he turned, the two of them were hugging. Jealousy spiked in his veins for a moment before the man pulled away and he got a look at his face. The guy had just been all over a beautiful brunette on the dance floor. In fact, he’d been glued to the other woman’s side all week. Though, in Seth’s eyes, no one was sexier than Courtney, from the way the other man kept looking back to where his date danced with another guy, Seth didn’t think he was trying to put the moves on Courtney.
“Hey Seth, this is Tate. We met at—”
“Speed Dating,” Seth finished, slipping one hand around Courtney’s waist and extending the other.
Tate grinned, shaking Seth’s hand. “That’s right. You saved me from the girl with the thing.” He raised his hand, wiggling a finger in front of his eye.
Seth chuckled. That night seemed so far away. How had his thoughts on love and his future changed so much in such a short time?
“Are you talking about that poor girl you made cry?” Courtney playfully smacked his arm. “You two should not be laughing at her expense.” Her words were nullified by the grin that split her face.
Tate’s date approached with the large man she’d been dancing with. Tate pulled her to his side and dropped a kiss on her head. The two of them looked so happy together. Like two people who were in love and planning a future. Did people see something similar when they looked at Seth and Courtney?
“This is Macy,” Tate announced, turning to her with a smile. Damn, the man was hooked. “Mace, this is Seth and Courtney. We met during speed dating.”
Macy smiled. “Seems like it went well for you.”
Seth couldn’t help but look at Courtney, as if asking for confirmation of the other woman’s words. Had things gone well for them or did Courtney have regrets? Was she about to break his heart?
Courtney turned back to the woman with a laugh. “Something like that.”
Seth’s heart sank. Not the answer he’d hoped for. The rest of the conversation was drowned out as his thoughts swirled in his mind. So what if Courtney had said only buddies at the beginning. They were well beyond that now.
When the bartender slid their drinks across the bar, Courtney excused herself from the group and Seth followed her lead.
“Everything okay?”
Her gaze darted around the packed club. Although he knew Courtney preferred small groups, she’d been the one to suggest they come tonight. And until the conversation with Tate and Macy and their friends, he’d thought she’d been enjoying herself.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he offered.
She nodded. “Maybe just for a few minutes. Just to get some air.”
