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Ransom and Quinn are the two onboard detectives. Ransom is also in charge of all of the security officers on the ship as well, so it keeps him busy almost around the clock.
“I’ll be back”—he pulls me in close, landing his lips to my ear—“and we can continue that conversation about—”
“My birthday suit?” I whisper and he squints my way.
“I was going to say Honey Hollow, but I’m intrigued where you might be going.” He lands another kiss to my lips. “Hold onto that thought.”
He takes off and I look to my left where Wes and Tinsley seem to have drifted as they speak to a trio of women. Both Bess and Nettie have taken off and hit the buffet, a carnal display of seafood in its every delicious iteration. Personally, I’m eyeing the shrimp cocktail.
The ship is notorious for serving prawns the size of your hand and I, for one, can’t wait to take a bite out of six or twelve of them. If the ship has done anything for me, it’s grown my appetite. Not only do I need three square meals to make it through the day, but I need two square meals nestled between those formal sit-downs to accommodate my budding appetite.
Wait a minute… I glance in the direction Ransom sped off in. Did he say he’s had that suit on all day? Although, to be fair, I can see how he’d like to forget that denim disaster.
“Trixie”—Wes waves me over and I head his way—“I’d love to introduce you to a few of our new guests. He nods to the trio of women, a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, all of which look about my age or thereabouts. “Ladies, this is Trixie Troublefield, our resident artist. She’s only been with us a short amount of time, but each day is a whole new treasure with her in it.”
My face heats just hearing Wes sing my praises. I know for a fact that the torch he’s holding for me is still burning bright. Which is exactly why I feel more than a little awkward.
Tinsley clears her throat. “Don’t worry, ladies. You’ll be notified of all of the activities on board through the Seabreeze Daily Newsletter. You can have early access to it via downloading the ship’s app, and a paper version will be delivered to your cabin bright and early each morning. There are plenty of interesting things to keep you occupied here on the Emerald Queen other than drawing a few stick figures.” A satisfying smile curls her lips with the barb.
After the nudist exposition my ex put me through, she’ll have to try a lot harder than that to offend me.
“Well, I love art,” the blonde bubbles. Her eyes have enlarged just enough to let me know she senses the awkwardness Tinsley just brought to the jealous table. The woman’s hair is short and permed, and she has delicate features and tiny drawn-in pink frosted lips. She’s wearing a hot pink wrap dress that looks as if it’s made of the most exquisite silk, and her shoes glow in the same riot of color. “Julia Edwards.” She extends her hand to me, and I shake it. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I tell her.
Julia’s short blonde hair rings a bell, and a breath hitches in my throat.
It’s the woman Ransom was looking at earlier on the promenade deck. I wonder what he wanted with her?
“Jane Hunt,” the brunette wearing a peacock blue gown offers as she extends her hand my way. She has a pleasant smile, clear glossy lips, dark bushy brows that match her shoulder-length dark hair, and there’s enough mischief in her eyes to let you know she’s the instigator of the bunch. I like her already. “I’m an artist at heart myself. In fact, I brought my sketch pad. And don’t worry, Captain”—she nods his way—“I won’t leave a mark on your ship. I promise.”
He chuckles at the thought. “Don’t hold back on my account. The ship has weathered far more than a few pen marks.”
Yeah, like bloodshed.
Wes shoots me a knowing look as if he heard and we share a simple nod.
“I can’t wait to see your work,” I tell the woman.
“Of course, I’m here for the food, too.” Jane laughs as she pats her stomach. “My mouth has been watering for a month just thinking about all the delicious meals I’m about to wolf down.”
“Oh, you’re going to love it,” I tell her. “I was just eyeing that seafood buffet. The ship’s buffets are notoriously delicious. The Emerald Queen has a midnight buffet every single night. And don’t forget to stop by the lido deck where the Blue Water Café is located. I head there first thing every morning when I wake up and have a fresh croissant loaded with smoked gouda, eggs, and sausages. It’s something I personally put together at the breakfast bar, but I can’t get enough of it. Of course, I still head down to the formal dining room for my eggs and hollandaise sauce. Nobody can outdo the chef on that one. Then there’s a full cheesecake bar that you can’t miss that’s available all day. Lunch is fantastic in the dining room as is dinner, but don’t let that stop you from exploring one of the dozens of restaurants we have on board the ship. And in the evenings, the Blue Water Café rolls out their to-die-for masterpiece—hot mocha lava cake. If you love chocolate brownies drenched in chocolate fudge, then you’re in luck.”
Tinsley clears her throat and shoots me a look, letting me know the tales of my culinary escapades have gone too far.
The redhead extends her hand as well. “Nadine Dixon.” Her bright red lipstick matches her hair, but that tan dress she’s wearing looks rather demure—although from afar I can see how she would look as if she were in the nude. I can’t help the thought, I’ve got “birthday suit” on the brain. “The captain was just telling us about your blog before you stepped over. I used to run my own show, In the Know with Nadine.” Her eyes flit to the door a moment. “But anyway, it’s nice to see you’re doing so well. If the three of us can agree on anything, it’s that we love to see women succeed.”
“Amen to that,” Jane says, tucking a dark lock behind her ear. “In fact, the three of us are embarking on a new business ve—”
“Jane,” Julia hisses and shakes her head at the woman.
“What?” Jane laughs it off. “Oh, come on. The whole world is going to know about it as soon as we dock back in L.A.”
“She’s right.” Nadine shrugs before looking at Wes, Tinsley, and me. “Since life gave the three of us lemons, we’ve decided to make lemonade—thus the name of our new joint business venture, Lemonade Lipstick. We thought we’d start with the mouth since it was the undoing of so many of us.” Her eyes shift to Julia. “But we’ll be expanding with a full cosmetics line, come next year.”
“We’ll see about that.” Julia laughs. “It’s a costly effort,” she says. “And we need to really crunch the numbers. Some of us are better at math than others.” She tips her head to Nadine and the three of them share a warm laugh.
Jane nods. “And some of us might be colorblind.” She shakes her head at Julia. “Some of your ideas needed to be burned for the sake of humanity.” She looks my way. “Forest green lipstick shouldn’t be allowed.”
