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CHAPTER 1
Emerald Queen of the Seas, Royal Lineage Cruise Lines
Itinerary
18 night Hawaiian cruise (back on the 19th day)
Day one Los Angeles departure 4:00
5 nights at sea
Night 6 and 7 Honolulu (Oahu)
Night 8 and 9 Lahaina (Maui) (Tender)
Night 10 and 11 Hilo (Big Island)
Night 12 Kona (Big Island) (Tender)
Night 13, 14 Nawiliwili Harbor (Kauai)
Night 15, 16, 17 time at sea!
Day 18 Los Angeles
Aloha!
Who’s tall, dark, sexy—and looks lethal as a bullet while wearing a throwback suit from the seventies? My boyfriend.
A smile rides up my face, unstoppable as the Los Angeles sun shining up above. Okay, so it’s almost evening in L.A., and I have never once referred to the man before me as my boyfriend—not out loud anyway— but we’re practically inseparable, and those magical kisses he doles out my way suggest we’re far more than just friends.
My eyes ride down his body as we make our way toward one another amidst the throngs of people lining the promenade deck for the bon voyage.
The Emerald Queen of the Seas is a massive, stately, cruise ship with the capacity to hold approximately six thousand passengers. She’s just set sail from the L.A. Harbor with her nose pointed toward the South Pacific—the Hawaiian islands to be exact—and the excitement in the air is electric.
That denim suit from the seventies is barreling my way so effortlessly you’d think he was floating in it. And yes, I said denim—yards of pale denim accentuated with long, floppy-eared collars, paired with a slate gray shirt peeking out from underneath.
“Hey, handsome,” I say, wrapping my arms around him as soon as he’s within reach.
Handsome would be a play on his formal moniker, Ransom Courtland Baxter.
He has a thick head of jet-black hair, steel blue eyes, and a body made for hunting down the bad guys, which would explain his career as the head of vessel security right here on the Emerald Queen.
Ransom worked with the FBI on their Behavioral Analysis Unit before he retired from the feds and began a new chapter of his life, sailing the ocean blue for a living.
“Hello yourself, beautiful.” He cocks his head while inspecting me. “Have we met?”
A gurgle of a laugh strums from me. “Two can play at that game, stranger.” I wink his way. “What’s with the suit? Is there a costume party on board?” I run my hands up and down his back and take in the polyester feel. Ransom is practically infamous for his fitted Italian suits that he has custom-made in Italy. And believe you me, they are fitted in all the right places. They’ve been known to cause women to faint and men to scowl, but in all honesty, Ransom could do that without a stitch of clothing on—not that I’m aware of what’s happening under those stitches, at least not all of them.
“Costume party?” He leans back a notch. “Honey, I don’t know a thing about a costume party. But now that you’ve brought it up, I’d love to see you in your birthday suit.”
I blink up at him a moment.
Ransom and I have yet to take that intimate step in our relationship, so I’m more than caught off guard by the quasi-carnal conversation. Not that I’m against it either, but one thing has yet to lead to another. In fact, Ransom has been nothing but a gentleman and he’s never made mention of my birthday suit before this moment.
Although, I guess he is a man and he does have needs. Maybe this is his way of telling me that we need to take things from slow to go.
On second thought, I am a woman, and boy, do I ever have needs myself. Lucky for me, I’m more than in the mood to take things from slow to go. I think.
