“If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going.” She gave me a small nod, still red-eyed and red-nosed, and took off.
I gathered my things and zipped up my bag.
But I couldn’t leave.
The question in Alex’s eyes haunted me. I couldn’t leave without letting him know how I felt. I grabbed a notepad and started scribbling.
Captain Bailey asked me to stay away from you.
I don’t want you to get into any more trouble, so if I avoid you, it’s not because of Nikos or his flowers.
I’m meeting him tomorrow. It sucks, but it can’t be avoided.
I need you to know that.
I need you to know I’ve never been happier than the time I spent with you.
I drew three heart-eye emojis and slipped the note under his pillow.
My eyes swept over the room and I saw Alex dropping his clothes that first night before he realized I was in the room—his hair tumbling around his shoulders, his naked silhouette outlined against the bathroom light.
Alex, dangling my bra on his finger.I get in the shower and your bra bitch-slaps me in the face.
His jaw hanging open, watching me gyrate against the frame of the bathroom door.
I could hear our voices in the dark.
Alex?
I’m listening…
I stood in silence for a few minutes, soaking in the echoes.
Then I clicked the door shut and left.
It was much cooler in the guest suite than the crew’s quarters and I reached for another blanket. Dolly snored softly beside me. I stared at the ceiling, wishing I was looking at the bottom of Alex’s bunk bed. Too restless to sleep, I tiptoed out of the room and clicked the door shut.
The hallways were empty, the lights dimmed. When the elevator doors glided open on the main deck, I stepped out, not expecting to run into a plate of cheese and olives.
“Whoops, look out,” Thomas said.
“I’m so sorry!” I intercepted a runaway olive with my foot. “Midnight snack attack?”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “Just wiped out the snacking station.” He flashed the other plate he was holding, proud of his midnight foraging.
“You mean the kitchen?”
“The snacking station,” he repeated, declining the olive I’d rescued. “You know, the small room off the main salon.” He got into the elevator and hit the button with his elbow. “Isabelle and I are having a party in the jacuzzi.”
“Have fun.” I tossed the olive into the receptacle by the elevator as the doors closed.
Ugh. Offering a billionaire an olive that had rolled off the floor.
To his credit, Thomas was sweet and down-to-earth. Plus, he tipped me off to the snacking station. I rounded the main salon and found a small room off the corridor. Thickly carpeted with plush seats, it looked like a mini-movie theater, except the main attraction was the buffet table, topped with all kinds of platters. Most had already been picked over. Apparently, everyone was onto this smorgasbord of munchies. I’d missed orientation on the first day and Alex had kept me out of the loop with his private midnight snacks. Our little game. A silent conversation.
My feet started making their way to the galley. Tonight, separated from him, I needed to know we were okay, that he got the note I left him and understood why I had agreed to meet Nikos.
Please be there.
