Destination Love

“Thank you, sir. One of my examiners is demanding that I revise my conclusions, and I have to comply.”

“That’s true, and I am so terribly sorry. Needless to say, I wish you the best.”

“You’re so pensive all of a sudden, Wright. Is anything the matter?” Sheri asked him.

“I just remembered something that wasn’t too pleasant, but let’s not dwell on anything negative. When I signed on for this cruise, I decided to enjoy everything it offered outside of the gaming rooms, and that definitely includes this delicious breakfast.” Which consisted of a stack of four waffles and a ring of sausage around them. He’d seen the time when the food in his plate would have fed the members of his family and left them grateful. Fortunately, both he and his younger brother were able to ensure their parents a comfortable living, and they had surely earned the right to it.

“How are you planning to spend the day, Sheri? I want to write for at least a couple of hours.”

“If you write this morning while I’m at the hairdresser, we could meet for lunch. I told myself I was going to take clogging lessons this afternoon. Don’t ask me why.”

“Clogging? Good idea. The exercise will rid me of the calories I’m ingesting. What time are the classes?”

“Three to four this afternoon and nine to eleven in the morning. If we eat at twelve or twelve-thirty, it should be all right to clog at three.”

“Right. I’ll meet you here at twelve-thirty,” he said. “Stay away from that guy in the yellow T-shirt.”

Her frown surprised him. She shouldn’t have taken that comment seriously. He’d have to be more careful.

“Why should I stay away from him?” she asked. “So far, he’s seemed harmless.”

He flashed a grin. “No man is completely harmless. Don’t forget that.”

He held her hand as they left the dining room. “I’ll see you here at twelve-thirty. Have fun at the spa. I’ll be writing out there on the back deck. Nobody goes there. It’s so peaceful, and the view is great.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. When she stood on tiptoe to make it easier for him, he stifled a laugh. It hadn’t taken her long to get used to it.

Sheri rushed back to her stateroom and phoned the spa for an appointment with a hairdresser. “Do you have a hairdresser who’s familiar with processed African-American hair?”

“Of course, madam,” a man said. “What time would you like to come?”

“Right now.”

She got the appointment and walked into what she would have described as a silver cove with crystal chandeliers, white floors and red roses. This looks like the perfect setting for debauchery, she said to herself. A few months earlier, she would most certainly have turned around and walked out.

“For two hundred fifty dollars, madam may have a massage, mud bath and facial in addition to a shampoo, trim and style.” A man dressed in a black T-shirt, skintight black pants and black sneakers told her.

“I don’t have that much time,” she said. “I only want my hair done.”

She got back to the dining room at exactly twelve-thirty. But, to her chagrin, Brian King waylaid her. “I’m sorry, Mr. King, but I’m meeting someone for lunch, and I’m about to be late.”

“For a woman like you, it ought to be his pleasure to wait. Will you have a drink with me at six this evening, since we have fixed dinner arrangements?”

She glanced toward the table that she and Wright shared that morning and saw that he leaned back in his chair observing them. “I’m sorry, but this amounts to rudeness on my part. I’m late, and he sees me talking with you. Goodbye.”

Wright stood as she approached. His smile eliminated some of her anxiety. “Sorry, but I got waylaid.”

“So I saw. Are you interested in him?”

“I’ve gotten the impression, wrongly or not, that he’s interested in getting me in bed, and I—”

He grabbed her left hand. “Wait a minute. And you think I’m not? You think I’m not attracted to you?”

“W-well, I d-didn’t th-think about it,” she stammered.

He grinned, winked and put his hand on his chest as if to decelerate his heartbeat. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“At least you’re not blatant about it.”

His gaze roamed over her. “Your hair is beautiful. That style really suits you. But then, you’d look good if you never went to a hairdresser,” he said.

She told herself not to believe him, but having a man who looked like Wright tell her that he liked her looks made her want to preen. “Thanks, but I’ve got a mirror.”

He leaned forward. “In that case, you should use it. What else do they do in that spa?” She told him. “Let’s take that whirlpool treatment together tomorrow morning,” he said. She noticed that when he said it, his food got his undivided attention. “It could be fun. Is it bigger than a Jacuzzi?”

“I was told that the water gives you a massage.”

“Then let’s do it.”

“Okay, but we have to make a reservation.” He told her that he would. “If the water’s moving around that much, couldn’t it be dangerous?”

His face mirrored an expression of concern. “I doubt the ship company would offer a dangerous form of relaxation. If you won’t be comfortable with it, we won’t do that.”

“But I think I’d enjoy it.”

That wink again. “Then I’ll make our reservation for around eleven. An hour in that thing should be more than enough, and we can have lunch at twelve-thirty.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Provided I’m not too sleepy to eat.”

He went to the buffet table and returned with a dish of frozen banana yogurt for himself and a cherry cream cake for her.

“You remembered,” she said when she saw what he brought for her. “Thanks.”

“I will always remember everything about you,” he said. “You are not a woman that I could ever forget.”

She knew that her entire demeanor showed her pleasure at his remarks. “I don’t think I could forget you, either, Wright.” And she wouldn’t. She wasn’t a virgin, but she hadn’t been made to feel that she had anything special to give to a man. Furthermore, she hadn’t met a man who treated her as if she was a woman he could love and care for. Maybe that was her fault. Until this cruise, she hadn’t realized how lacking she was in social skills and that those skills were as important as her academic abilities.

She noticed that her comment drew a raised eyebrow from Wright. But she’d told the truth, and he’d have to deal with it. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed to her that he was looking at her differently. His eyes seemed warmer or…If math and statistics had taught her anything, it was the folly of guessing at facts. Still, something about him drew her right then, and she reached out. Embarrassed, she patted his hand and then withdrew her own.

Why was he looking at her that way? “I think I’ll have a rest before we go clogging,” she said, needing to escape.

He walked around to her side of the table, held her chair and, before she could get up, he leaned over her and kissed the side of her mouth. Shocked, she turned her head and met his mouth with her lips parted. Thank God he had the presence of mind not to push it, she thought. He grasped her shoulders as she stood.

“I didn’t intend to do that, Wright.”

She’d never seen such fiery eyes.

“Trust me, I certainly didn’t do what I wanted to do. If we’d had a modicum of privacy, I’d have kissed you thoroughly. Meet you at the bar at three. Did you sign up for the clogging lessons?”

She said she did. “The classes are around the corner from the bar. See you then.”