Destination Love

He kissed her cheek. “Behave yourself.”

“What? What else would I do?”

He pointed to the entrance. “Does that guy always wear the same T-shirt? See you later.”

“How would I know?” she said, feeling irritated at both men.

“Hi,” Brian said. “I have not been waiting here for you, but I saw you were about to leave—”

She interrupted him. “I’m not having a drink with you, Brian.”

“Why not? I pay my taxes, I’m good to my mother, I’m not married and I’ve got a decent job. What’s wrong with me?”

“I don’t know that anything is wrong with you, but I can only deal with one man at a time.”

“And right now you’re dealing with what’s-his-name over there?”

“I have to go, Brian. Bye.” She ducked around him and headed for the escalator. Maybe he was a nice guy who had originally misrepresented himself, but he did not make her pulse race as Wright did when he’d kissed her a few minutes earlier. What would it be like if he really kissed her?

“Watch out, girl. Thinking things like that will get you in big trouble.”

She set her alarm for two-thirty and stretched out on the bed. She could feel his mouth on her, and he didn’t stop at her lips. And, Lord, he was so wonderfully greedy. Her nipples ached, and her hot blood heated her loins. She awoke and sat up abruptly at the sound of the alarm clock.

“Good grief! I promised to be at the bar at three o’clock.” She slipped into a pair of white shorts, a pale blue T-shirt and a pair of low-heel flats, grabbed her bag and raced to the bar.

Wright watched as Sheri paused to speak with Brian King. The man was handsome and a charmer, and he’d rather not have the guy playing on his turf. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. He’d been fooling around as usual, playing a game—though, admittedly, he hadn’t had previous experience at being a player. He didn’t believe she’d intentionally kiss him on the mouth, because she was not an aggressive woman. At least, not with him. But if she felt what he felt, they’d have a time of reckoning before the boat docked again in Manchester.

Isn’t that what you planned? his conscience nagged. When he learned that I wouldn’t graduate with my class, my dad cried, he reminded himself.

In his room, he finished the chapter on the loss of his family’s house during his childhood and how his father built a log cabin for his family to live in. Precisely what I need to keep my head straight about Sheri Stephens, he said to himself as he was putting his writing pad away. He hadn’t used his laptop for that passage because he knew the writing would be difficult, and he thought best with a pen in his hand. One more short chapter, and he’d put the final period to it.

“Hi. I meant to be on time, but I fell asleep.”

He took her hand and walked with her to the dance floor. “Thanks for telling me. I was afraid that yellow T-shirt had hijacked you. That guy is tenacious.”

“Maybe he’s not such a bad person.”

“No? What changed your mind?”

“Nothing. It’s just…what harm can he do on a boat out in the Atlantic?”

“Sheri, I don’t believe you said that. You cannot be that naive.” Her stare reminded him of a child who’d been unjustly accused. Her vulnerability got to him deep inside, and before he realized what he did, he hugged her and stroked her back in a gesture of genuine caring and affection.

The sound of Earl Scruggs’s “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” saved them the need to acknowledge the moment’s reality. “Relax your shoulders, drop your hands to your sides and give yourself to the music,” the teacher called.

The fast pace of the music exhilarated him, and he felt as if he could soar. “Come on, sweetheart, let it fly,” he said to Sheri. “Loosen up.”

She caught the steps, and very soon she put her body into the dance. She fascinated him. He looked at the T-shirt that hugged her body as if it were glued there and sucked in his breath. His mother had always cautioned him against playing with fire for fear he’d get burned. But as her ample breasts bounced to the rhythm of the dance, he wanted to get his mouth on one of them. She had a nice pair of legs, too, he noted, and decided that he would enjoy seeing her get into that whirlpool the next morning. The lady had some lovely attributes, and he meant to enjoy them.

Chapter 2

“Can we take clogging lessons again tomorrow?” Sheri asked at the end of the first lesson. “The ship’s made stops at several ports where we couldn’t disembark, and I’m going to enjoy a few hours on land for a change. When do we get to Halifax?”

He looked at his tour guide. “Tomorrow morning. Do you still want to go in the whirlpool, or shall we do that on the next leg? We’ll have a full day on ship.”

She wasn’t sure that he liked the idea of spending the whole day with her, so she said, “I don’t care which we do.”

He gaze seemed to pierce her. “Why can’t we do both? Are you saving time for the yellow T-shirt? Is that it?”

That was what she wanted to hear. “I’d love to do both, but I didn’t want to presume to occupy all your time.”

“If I didn’t enjoy your company, I’d find a way to avoid it. You’re making this trip an enjoyable one for me.”

What should she say to that? She reached for his hand. “Let’s get some lemonade. The clogging practically winded me.”

He dropped her hand and slung an arm around her waist. “I think I’d like a smoothie. Let’s go to the fruit bar. You can get lemonade there, and I can get my smoothie.” He squeezed her a little closer, and when she glanced up at him, she saw the same warmth—what else could she call it?—that she’d seen in his eyes at lunch. Yet, she didn’t think it wise to take his interest in her as permanent. She didn’t know much about him, but what she had observed of him pleased her. Still, she wasn’t much of a chance taker, and he certainly represented a gamble.

“There’s a museum in Halifax that I’d like to visit, but I’m not sure of its name,” she said. “Also, I’d like to see the citadel and that famous cemetery for blacks. Nova Scotia has a sorry history in regard to blacks.”

He had a way of frowning when displeased, she’d noticed. “Yeah,” he said. “Tell me about it. The British sold the slaves a bill of goods, promising free land to the black soldiers who fought on their side during the American Revolution. Of course, they got land that was unsuitable for farming, when they got any at all.

“A group of U.S. blacks arrived in Halifax in 1783 aboard the Amistad. They didn’t fare too well. Canada was British at the time, and it didn’t outlaw slavery until 1834. So free blacks had a rough time.”

Shaking his head, Wright opened his travel guide. “Man’s inhumanity to man. I wonder how far it is from Halifax to Birchtown. At one time, Birchtown had the largest population of free blacks outside of Africa. I wonder what it looks like today.”

“Is it close enough that we could go there while the ship’s in port?”

“From this map, I’d say that would be impossible. Suppose we see what we can of Halifax and come back early enough to get a shower and a nap before dinner.”

“That’ll do it for me,” she said

“May I see you to your room?”

“Yes. If you’d like.” Was that calm voice hers? It seemed as if every nerve in her body had decided to stand on end. She opened her mouth to tell him to turn left from the bottom of the escalator, and her lips trembled so badly that she pressed them together and said nothing. She looked at him to see if he noticed, but she couldn’t be sure. Where was her famous aplomb, and what had happened to her ability to stare down anything that wasn’t a rattlesnake?

“I don’t think you want me to go in,” he said, standing with her at her door. When his arms went around her, she looked up at him, expectantly and eager. But she wasn’t prepared for the intoxicating power of his kiss. How was she to know that he wanted his tongue in her mouth? He rimmed the seams of her lips with the tip of his tongue.

“Open up and let me kiss you,” he whispered with the urgency of one clamoring for life.

She parted her lips, and he went into her, grabbed her hips and lifted her to fit him. Holding him as tightly as she could, she sucked his tongue as deeply into her as he’d let her and let him know she wanted more. She shifted her body from side to side, rubbing against him. What was wrong with her? Every nerve in her body seemed to stand on end, and every inch of her skin burned as if he’d singed it. She gripped him tighter and her hips moved into him, undulating. When she would have locked her legs around his hips, he eased her to the floor.

His gaze seemed to darken almost as if he were trying to see into her. “I’ll meet you at six-thirty. Same place,” he said and turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” she yelled at him. Seemingly stunned, he stood still for a second. “You do this to me and then walk off as if nothing happened?” Sheri taunted with her knuckles locked to her hips. “Damned if I’ll take that from you. I’ll eat dinner at my regular table.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked back to her. “You couldn’t be angry after the way you kissed me. Could you? We were standing in the hall. With a little privacy, you won’t have one thing to complain about.” He kissed her on the mouth. “See you at six-thirty.”

She opened the door, locked it behind her and dumped herself on the bed. What had that man done to her? In that moment when he had his tongue in her mouth, holding her so tight that pain settled in her nipples, she’d wanted him worse than she wanted to breathe. She knew she would have let him have anything he wanted. She’d never known such a feeling. Where have I been all my life? She said the words again aloud and then wondered at their truth.