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He hurries through the kitchen, spotting Georgi making breakfast on the cooktop.
"Hey, I have to go. I'll return for a few days next week before going home to London."
"I was hoping you would since this is your last cruise, and I'll be moving home after graduation." Georgi turns back to the stove and takes his fried eggs out of the pan.
"So you decided not to stay in Budapest."
"I did. I can get a job in Sofia after I get my degree."
Dane nods at Georgi's change in plans. "I'm glad you're going back home, and I can always see you there when I visit the family. Anyway, we can talk more about this next week. I have to get to work." Dane leaves the apartment and hustles across the street. After a brisk jog, he crosses a set of train tracks and reaches the sidewalk along the river. Following it to one of the docks, he hurries down the gangway and onto the ship.
"You better hurry. You've got two minutes to spare," Stefi yells from the reception desk as Dane rushes up the stairs.
He can hear her laughter echoing behind him as he dodges through the glass sliding door and slips behind the bar in the lounge with one minute to spare.
"You're late." Luis swivels in place and arches a brow at Dane.
Dane points to his watch and grins. "Sorry, boss. I still have one minute, so my record remains perfect."
"So it does," Luis laughs. "How was your day off? Do anything special?"
"I had dinner with an intriguing lady last night."
"Intriguing, huh? How so?"
"Besides gorgeous, she's quirky and fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed her company."
"Is she from Budapest?"
"Nah, she's an American. She's here on vacation."
"An American? How's that going to work? Of course, that's assuming you were interested in seeing her again." Luis leans against the counter, folding the bar towel in his hand as he eyes Dane.
"Honestly, I would love to see her again, but she'll be flying home when we finish in Regensburg. She'll be gone by the time I get back to Budapest." Although Dane is known to guard his privacy, he doesn't mind sharing some parts of his personal life with Luis, but he does have his limits—his sexual endeavors and true identity being two of them.
"That's too bad. You need to find yourself a nice young lady. Look at me. I'll be celebrating my twentieth wedding anniversary in three weeks, and even though Dora and I have had our share of rough spots, I don't regret a thing."
"Don't you find the time you're away from your wife and family difficult? I mean, I can't imagine it would be easy," Dane says, homesick after his first month on the ship.
"It was in the beginning," Luis sighs. "But I've gotten used to it after eighteen years with the company. Plus, it seems worth itwhen the season ends, and I get to stay home for three months straight."
"I can see how that would be a big plus and make up for being away for months at a time."
"It is, and it does. But now, my friend, we need to get some work done." Luis tosses his bar towel at Dane. "Right now, I need you to assist Mitre with the continental breakfast buffet and get anything he's missing from the kitchen while he finishes setting tables. A few more people are trickling in here than I expected, and it looks like Mitre will have his hands full. Afterward, I'll need you to restock the shelves with the boxes of liquor I brought up from storage. Everything needs to be sparkling clean and shiny for the new group of passengers coming on board today. As usual, we should see most of the departing guests leaving between nine and eleven and the new guests trickling in from noon onward. I'll need you to stay in the lounge to serve wine and anything else the guests might want before and during the safety meeting. You'll stay here during lunch, but Bernard will need you downstairs in the dining room during dinner."
"You got it." Dane tosses his backpack underneath the bar, which he'll stow in the cabin he shares with Luka when he takes his break.
He hustles over to the buffet counter in the small glass-enclosed dining area at the far end of the lounge. A quick scan reveals he needs to stock cereal and yogurt, and a trip to the kitchen on the deck below remedies the situation. After wiping down the counter and clearing dishes from a couple of tables, he checks in with Mitre. Given the nod that all is okay, Dane goes back to the bar and works on restocking the alcohol.
Humming to himself as he works, his mind drifts to Brittany. Funny, down to earth, and quirky, she's different from most of the women he's dated while living in London. She didn't appear arrogant or high-maintenance like Eloise, and she didn't run tothe ladies' room to freshen her makeup every twenty minutes or constantly scan the dining room to ensure she was the center of attention. She was refreshing, and he enjoyed her company at dinner. More than that, he savored the sexual feast they shared afterward.
A feast he'd love to share with her again if it were an available option.
Dane's body tightens as he visualizes Brittany standing naked in her room, her fingers peeling her scanty thong down her thighs. Christ, that was sexy, her pussy smooth and slick underneath his touch, her body squirming. And, dear God, the taste of her clit on his tongue, which he had the pleasure of experiencing in the middle of the night. She was deliciously sweet and drove him fucking wild. When she told him what she wanted, he wanted to give it to her, his lips and hands eagerly pleasuring her until he made her come. And the way she rode him, teasing his cock and then thrusting herself down on him, was like stoking a fire in his veins. And he couldn't get enough. He'd never been with anyone like her. She was a wild one, an equal to him in bed, and a far cry from the cold and reserved Eloise.
Dane sighs and tries to shake the memories from his head. Now is not the time or place for such thoughts, especially with the way they're making his cock hard.
Pulling a bottle of scotch whiskey from the box on top of the stack, he suddenly has a thought. What if he can talk Brittany into delaying her flight home by a few days? He'd offer to pay for any change in airfare if that would help. That would allow him to savor her luscious body again and replay the erotic things they did in bed. But his plan would only work if she wanted to see him again—no strings attached, just sex. Anything beyond that wouldn't work; the two of them living an ocean apart and him too busy and focused on the company to fit Brittany into his life.He already failed in the relationship department with Eloise and doesn't want to hurt anyone else.
