“Fancy winding up on a cruise like this together.” Chris seems highly amused, and I wonder if his girlfriend knows what he did to stay safe during the two years he spent in prison.
“It was a last-minute decision for us,” I say. “Our first vacation as a couple. Shannon teaches at an American school here in Cologne so we hopped on a day late because of her final exam schedule.”
“How fun.” Aubrey smiles. “How do you know Chris?”
I look to him, since I have no idea what Aubrey knows.
“It’s okay,” he says quietly. “Aubrey knows everything.”
Now Shannon is the one looking confused.
“Chris was in prison,” Aubrey says to Shannon, when neither Chris nor I continue. Then she turns to Chris knowingly. “I’m assuming this is the Ace who kept you safe while you were there.”
He gives her a brief nod.
Shannon frowns. “But…”
“I’ll tell you about it privately,” I tell her. “Let’s not talk about it here in such a public place.”
“We’ve been out all day, so we need to freshen up,” Chris says, “but how about we share a table at dinner? I’d love to catch up.”
“Sounds great.” I nod, glancing at Shannon. “Okay with you?”
“Of course.”
Chris and Aubrey head off, and Shannon sits down again, leaning against me. “They seem nice. Dare I ask why he went to prison?”
“He beat the shit out of the man who raped his sister.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh. Well, good for him. I hope prison wasn’t too terrible. There aren’t a lot of honorable men in prisons, I don’t think.”
“I made sure he was protected.” I speak quietly, right into her ear. “There was a very bad man at the prison with him, and I needed someone to watch him. Everyone he spoke to, what he ate, who he hung out with, everything. Chris did that and more, but the details don’t matter. He got me information I couldn’t get anywhere else, and I kept him safe. Over the course of about eighteen months of visits, we got to know each other pretty well, and he’s a good guy. I’m glad he got his happy ending.”
“Are we telling them about my stalker?” she asks.
I hesitate. “Let’s see how it goes. If it comes up and you feel it’s pertinent, I trust Chris completely. So, I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Okay.” She looks down. “I’m in jeans and a T-shirt. Should I get dressed up for dinner?”
“The info they gave us didn’t say anything about formal attire, but you can change if you want. I have a pair of dress pants and a button-down shirt I can wear.”
“We may have to go shopping,” she says, grinning at me. “I can’t have you wearing the same slacks and dress shirt every night.”
I chuckle. “We can go shopping if you want. Tomorrow we’re in Rüdesheim. I don’t know much about it, but they must have stores.”
“I’m sure they do.”
We head down to dinner promptly at seven, and I’m having a hard time thinking about anything except Shannon. She’s wearing a calf-length black dress that hugs her curves. Especially her spectacular ass. She has a fantastic body in general, but this dress leaves very little to the imagination. Everything is covered, of course, but the cleavage peeking out of her low neckline and the way it shows every detail of her slim figure has me imagining her naked.
Very naked.
Very soon.
Chris and Aubrey come down the stairs just as we get to the restaurant, and we walk inside together.
“Welcome.” One of the waiters approached us. “Would you like to sit where you sat this morning or somewhere else?”
“We’d like to sit with Mr. Ross and his girlfriend,” Chris said. “Is that all right?”
