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The lack of a smile on her face led him to wonder if he was in trouble. “I saw the guy bothering you.” The guy had been bothering her, hadn’t he? He hadn’t misread her agitation with the young guy, had he? “You weren’t interested in him, were you?”
For a moment, Stasia didn’t respond. Roberto started to worry he was going to have to track that guy down and apologize. That was about the last thing he wanted to do on this trip.
At last, she shook her head. “I think he was hitting on any available woman on the cruise. I tried to tell him I wasn’t interested, but he was the type that didn’t take no for an answer.” And then her gaze narrowed in on him. “And you couldn’t think of any other way to get rid of him other than to act like we’re a couple?”
Roberto smiled. “It worked, didn’t it?”
She sent him a funny look as though she wasn’t sure what to say. Luckily, she didn’t know how that innocent kiss had affected him. He’d make sure not to do that again. Getting sucked into Stasia’s orbit did strange things to his mind.
* * *
Had that just happened?
Stasia resisted the urge to touch her cheek where just moments ago Roberto’s lips had been. They’d known each other for years, but they’d never shared a hug, much less a kiss. Usually, it was a passing hello or a nod of recognition.
And it wasn’t like he was the first man to kiss her cheek. Why was she letting it get to her like this? When he’d kissed her, her heart had pounded, her mouth had gone dry and her palms had dampened. Sheesh! She really needed to get out more.
She assured herself that it was just the shock of Roberto acting like her significant other. It had caught her completely off guard. Everything would be fine now.
Stasia’s mouth suddenly felt dry. She took a large gulp of the strong coffee. That might not have been her brightest idea. She coughed.
Roberto sent her a concerned look. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, then coughed again. “Swallowed the wrong way.”
She took a more conservative sip and it calmed her throat. “I should be going. There’s so much on the ship to explore. I’m not even sure where to begin.”
“They have an app. Did you load it to your phone?” When she looked at him with a blank look, he said, “Could I have your phone?”
She pulled it from a pocket in her black purse and handed it over. He quickly downloaded the app and handed it back to her. “There you go. It’ll give you a schedule so you know what’s available. Oh, I almost forgot. You should switch your phone to airplane mode to avoid premium roaming charges.”
She swiped her finger over the phone until she had the right screen. “Got it.”
“And one more thing. You’ll want to hook up to the ship’s Wi-Fi.”
He talked her through the process, and in no time, she was set to go. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have thought of that. You must go on a lot of cruises.”
“Actually, this is my second. But I do a lot of research. It’s one of my hobbies. I research locations, periods in history, all sorts of things. I guess you could say my mind is filled with all sorts of trivia.”
“That will come in handy for you.”
Lukos had always known how to do those types of things for her. It was just one more thing that she needed to learn to do for herself. The more she did for herself, the more confident she felt.
She smiled at Roberto. “Thank you. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
“I’d like that.”
She reluctantly walked away. If given the opportunity, she would have liked to sit and talk the rest of the morning. Roberto had always been easy to be around.
But she had a life plan to brainstorm. Socializing would have to wait for another time. Besides, she couldn’t impose on Roberto’s time with his family.
DAY TWO
Katakolon, Greece
SO FAR THE TRIP was okay.
Stasia’s image came to mind. Maybe the trip was better than okay. Roberto smiled. Much better.
But then there was his grandmother. She was a lady who didn’t accept the word no from anyone, including him. And right now, she was more interested in his love life than he found comfortable.
