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"Is it really there, Marge, or are you lying?" I looked back at her, hoping for the latter.
"Move your hand and I'll look." Sylvie craned in closer.
"No! If it's there, I'm not letting anyone else see it!"
Marge clucked her cheek. "It's there. Swear to God. My friend, Hairy Potter, is a long sucker too. Been growing for a while. Weeks at least. Maybe a month."
I made a mental note to slaughter my waxer when I got home. Even though I'd never admit it aloud, just like the other widows, the older I got, the more course hairs sprouted out of my chin and neck. It was the ultimate horror in this nightmare of aging I was battling so hard against.
"Oh, my God!" I jumped up and ran through the pool area, my neck covered like I had a gaping wound and would bleed out if I removed my hand. As I beelined toward my room to find my trusty tweezers, I turned the corner and slammed into a man coming toward me. The force of my speed against the wall of solid muscle sent me flying backward with a shriek.
"Whoa!" his deep voice said just before he caught me around the small of my back, yanking me against him and preventing my fall. "Are you okay?"
As I looked up, my knees weakened when my eyes connected with his.
My lion.
I didn't respond, my lungs filling up with the air the shock of his presence trapped inside them.
"We have to stop meeting like this, Single and Horny. I mean, Alice." He grinned, and the flash of straight, white teeth and those dimples that deepened with his smile finally pushed the air out of my lungs with a girlish sigh.
"I'm so sorry," I finally managed out. "I was in a hurry."
"I'll say." He softened his grip on me and set me back up on my feet. "Where's the fire?"
Instantly, I remembered why I was running. I gasped and slapped a hand across my neck, hoping my rogue hair hadn't been waving in the wind like a flag announcing my progressing age and capturing the attention of those amber orbs staring back at me.
Did he see it? Oh, God. He saw it. What if he saw it the other night? Maybe that's why he didn't track me down like I expected! I'm a monster. He thinks I'm an old, disgusting, hairy monster.
The voice in my mind ran wild as I struggled to answer him.
"Are you okay? Did you hurt your neck?" he asked, reaching for my hand. "Let me see."
"No!" I shouted too loudly, taking a hefty step back and out of his reach. "I'm fine. It's ... a bug. Something bit me."
"Do you want me to check it out?" He stepped toward me again.
I stepped back, this time hitting the rail separating me from the ocean below. "I'm fine. It's fine. I just ... I need to get to my room."
"Careful." He gestured to the railing. "Don't go falling overboard now. If I have to jump in and save you, there won't be a Captain on the ship."
I glanced behind me, still holding my neck tight. "Thanks. I ... I won't. Okay. Gotta go. Nice to see you, Alejandro."
I started to hurry off, but he caught me by my arm and spun me around. "Wait. Hold on there."
The force of his grab pulled my hand from my neck, and I had visions of the hair breaking free and taking his eye out. I quickly tucked my chin to my chest, hoping to trap it. Then, realizing how many chins I'd just created, I slapped my hand back on my neck and lifted my head back up.
"Yes?" I asked, trying to make my hand on my neck look as natural as possible.
It didn't.
"I, uh ... I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight?"
My eyes lit up with the question I was having trouble not screaming"Yes!"to. Instead, I pinched my lips and gave a casual shrug. "I had plans, but I suppose I could put them off. I would love to hear more about what it takes to run this ship."
Alejandro's sexy smile lit up my world. "Good. I'll come by around six. What room are you in?"
I rattled off the number, happy it hadn't fluttered out of my mind with all the other thoughts that didn't involve the visions of a heated encounter on the controls of the cruise ship.
