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"I'm Brittany. It's nice to meet all of you."
"Is this you and your husband's first cruise?" Rose asks from her spot on the love seat next to Iris.
"It is, and there's no husband. I'm here by myself."
"You left him at home?" Marigold asks from her seat across from Rose.
"No, no. I'm not married. I'm single and here to simply enjoy the cruise." It's best to keep my work assignment a secret, knowing it would cause nothing but problems if anyone knew about it. Natalia wants a story from the perspective of the paying passenger regarding the services received and whether the value is worth the cost. It would skew everything if the captain or crew knew I was doing a story about the cruise and the company.
"How fascinating." Rose gives me an approving smile. "When we were young, women didn't usually vacation alone. These days, statistically speaking, women travel solo more often than men."
"It's probably because of the pampering." Marigold's voice is so quiet it's almost like she's whispering. "We rarely see men by themselves when we cruise. The singles are mostly women. I like the attention, but it makes it difficult to leave and go home."
"Don't forget the eye candy among the crew. You can't turn around on a ship without feeling like you're at some heavenly banquet," Iris says with a suggestive tilt of her mouth.
"Hussy," Dahlia barks.
"And again, proud of it," Iris shoots back with a lift of her shoulder. Her eyes light up as she looks behind me. "Oh, yes. Talk about a perfect example. Here comes some eye candy right now, and he has wine." She reaches behind me, and there's a glass in her hand when she retracts her arm.
"And you, madam. Would you care for a glass of wine?" A deep, silky voice says from behind me.
I cock my head and stare at the floor, analyzing the voice.
"I certainly do, and keep them coming." Rose reaches her arm out and takes a glass.
My brain finally connects the dots, and I suck in my breath.Although my mind screams in denial, I know who's standing behind me with an arm brushing my shoulder. I abruptly swivel in my chair, and the man with the wine and I call out in unison, "It's you!"
Dane nearly drops his tray, panic on his face as his fingers race to grab the stem of his remaining wineglass.
"What are you doing here?" I blurt before noticing his uniform and name tag. "What the hell. You're a waiter. On my ship?"
"Um…yes." Dane pales and has the oddest look on his face.
"But I thought you were—"
A voice cuts me off as it fills the lounge, magnified by a microphone. "Hello. I need everyone to find an empty chair and take a seat. We need to get started. Take a seat, please. If you can't find one, there are two empty tables over here."A handsome man, probably in his forties, with a shaved head, stands by the bar. He's pointing to two empty tables in front of him. Bringing the microphone back to his mouth, he says, "I'm Beckett Edwards, the ship's cruise manager. I need everyone to be quiet, please. We need to get started. This is our mandatory safety meeting, which we are required to have at the start of every cruise."
"Excuse me." Dane hands Dahlia his last glass, then steps backward, swivels in place, and heads toward the bar.
I stare after him, shocked, although I can feel the anger creeping into my consciousness. The more I stare, the faster my pulse races until I'm ready to scream, "Liar," to his retreating back.
Dane nervously peeks at me while he stands behind the bar, filling wineglasses and setting them on trays for staff to distribute around the lounge.
I'm vaguely aware of the gentleman speaking since I'm too upset to listen. I turn an ear to his spiel when I realize he's introducing the ship's captain and management staff, but then my focus shoots back to Dane.Liar, liar, liar, I scream in my head. He said he's the owner of some multinational company. That's hardly the case since he's a waiter on a cruise ship. Plus, he made himself sound financially well off with his comments about being self-employed, well traveled, multilingual, and a graduate of Oxford University. It seems I was wrong on that one. Not that the money part matters, because it doesn't. It's that he portrayed himself to be someone he's not.
"My dear, are you all right?" Iris lightly touches my arm. "You've been staring at that young man for half an hour. The meeting is over, and it's time for lunch. Since you're alone, you're welcome to join us."
"I'm…I'm fine." I take another look toward the bar. Although several crew members stand there, none are the liar who seemsto have disappeared as soon as I looked away. I turn back toward the ladies to see the concern on their faces. "I apologize for my outburst. I met Dane yesterday. I believe we were both surprised to see each other on the ship."
"That's all right, dear. Your handsome gentleman friend makes for a nice surprise. Now, let's go to lunch. I'm famished." Iris pushes her chair back and stands.
Dahlia leads our little group downstairs to the dining room and selects a round table for six against the window. It's midway between the entrance and the kitchen and near what looks like a buffet station in the center of the room. The table is covered in white linen and set with porcelain bread plates, silverware, and stemware, the chairs upholstered in light gray fabric. The room is bustling with activity as guests fill the tables and staff attentively take care of their needs.
I pick up the menu on the table in front of me but can't seem to concentrate, my mind a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts. Part of me is thrilled to see Dane since we shared a wild and sex-crazed night together, which I'll never be able to forget. And I can feel my body flutter and my core tighten when I think about what we did. But the other part of me is reeling, blindsided by his deception, and making me pissed. Setting the menu back down, I angrily scan the room and come up empty.
The little liar has disappeared.
Chapter Seven
