Читать книгу Give Me More - P.J. Mellor - Страница 13

Something nudged Maggie awake. She stretched, relishing the inner aches she hadn’t felt in a long time. The action pulled the sheet from her breasts, bathing the puckering tips in the cooler air of the stateroom. She smiled, enjoying the sensation.

“I’m not sure I trust that smile,” a male voice said close to her ear.

With a shriek, she clutched the sheet to her chest and scrambled to a sitting position; then she relaxed when she recognized her intruder.

“Drew,” she said, willing her heart to resume beating.

“Sorry to startle you,” he said with a grin that said he wasn’t all that sorry as he tugged the sheet from her grasp. He leaned forward and licked each nipple before sitting back on the side of the bed. “I love your breasts.”

“Really?” The money for the instant-cleavage bra had been wasted. Who knew?

“Yep.” He tapped the tip of her nose. “I’d love to crawl back in bed with you, and if you don’t cover up that bodacious body, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

She let the sheet slip to her waist.

He groaned. “Maggie, I mean it.” He primly pulled the sheet back up and tucked it beneath her. “I don’t have time to do anything but frustrate us both. I just wanted to come back to get that jungle beat quieted and invite you to have dinner with me tonight. At eight. There’s dancing after dinner.”

“Are you allowed to dance with the passengers?” She tried not to squirm at the fire in his eyes brought on by her innocent question.

“Are you kidding? It’s required. Lucky for you, everyone is paired up—”

“Already?” Wow, while she’d been cleaning and sleeping, the gusto had passed her by?

“What?” He shook his head. “Never mind.” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned. “My point was we’ll be stuck dancing with each other. I guess we’ll just have to come up with something to amuse ourselves.” He leaned in to brush a kiss across her lips. “See you at eight.”

Stunned. Before she could think of an appropriate answer, he was gone.

Precisely at eight, Maggie entered the dining room. The tables, with their starched white linen cloths, reminded her of little islands, the colorfully dressed diners their surrounding sea.

Smoothing the skirt of her blue silk sundress, her gorgeous new scarf tied in a jaunty bow at her neck, she glanced around, more than a little anxious to find Drew amid the roomful of strangers.

A tall man in a blinding white uniform caught her attention when he walked toward her. Drew. She gave a little inward sigh. The sight made her mouth water—and not for food. His uniform was impressive, but knowing what was beneath it had her impatient for the first part of their evening to be completed.

Drew smiled, his teeth a flash of white in his tanned face, his hand touching her elbow to guide her to his table. Along the way, several passengers greeted him. In response, he nodded or mumbled a pleasantry but kept walking.

At their table, he introduced her to three other couples. Boy, he hadn’t been kidding when he said everyone had already hooked up.

She glanced at Drew and said a silent prayer of thanks. Not only was he by far the most handsome man on the cruise, he appeared to be the only one who was unattached. Good thing she had staked her claim early.

Her smile faltered. She had staked her claim, hadn’t she?

Everyone gaped at her, no doubt due to her added color, thanks to her up-close-and-personal experience in the grotto.

She touched the swelling by her eye as she claimed a seat next to a man with a bad comb-over and smiled. “You should see the other guy.” Unfortunately she was the only one who laughed. Tough crowd.

After an awkward silence, Drew cleared his throat. “So, how is everyone enjoying the cruise? Let’s start, while we wait for the appetizers, by saying a little bit about ourselves to break the ice.”

The comb-over directly to her left, Oliver, droned on about the island they were married on.

What? Married?

“Excuse me. Did you say married? You and Sue are married?” While not especially attractive or a sparkling wit, even Oliver would have to be a special kind of stupid to take a singles cruise on his honeymoon.

Sue, who wasn’t all that attractive either, nodded and flashed a sappy smile at Oliver. “Three whole days.”

Maggie managed a weak smile. Gag me. What were they thinking?

Gamely, she turned to the other closest couple, Dave and Debbie. “Can you believe they’re married?” She smiled and rolled her eyes. “So what about you two? What’s the story with you?” She’d noticed Dave at check-in. Tall, athletic looking. Good hair and teeth, which was becoming more and more important in her search for Mr. Right. And a great butt. Also a desirable quality. Maybe she should have made a move. Who knew Deb would snap him up so quickly?

Unfortunately the way he grinned down at the ever-present Debbie said he was going down for the count. Scratch good old Dave off her list of potential victims, er, candidates.

Yeah, it was a good thing she’d found Drew when she did. He was so hot she had no doubt he wouldn’t have been single for more than a day. All the ways she wanted to use him—rather, cement their fledgling relationship—sprang to mind.

“So, where did you two get married?” Oliver asked, looking down the table at the third couple, Beth and Micah.

“Oh, we’ve been married a year already,” Micah answered. “We never had a honeymoon, so—”

“Then why did you choose this cruise?” Maggie knew she interrupted but couldn’t contain her curiosity another second. How weird was it to be at a table with not one but three couples? It was a singles cruise, for Pete’s sake! Had no one else read the brochure?

Six sets of eyes stared at her.

“Um…because it’s a honeymoon cruise?” Oliver ventured a guess.

Maggie snorted her laughter, “Yeah, right!” She looked around the table. No one appeared to be sharing her humor. Her gaze sought Drew. His look did nothing to reassure her as she took a bite of her now tasteless meal.

He leaned close and whispered, “It is a honeymoon cruise, Maggie. That’s why I kept asking if you were married. I—”

The last bite of roast duck lodged in her throat.

Drew was on his feet immediately, thumping her on the back.

Debbie advised her to drink some water.

Sue said that wouldn’t help; instead, she should put Maggie’s hands over her head.

Maggie glared at Sue. If Sue didn’t shut up, Maggie would put her hands around Sue’s throat and squeeze.

Wheezing in air, she finally stopped her coughing fit. Drew, still at her side, continued to rub her back.

“Are you okay?” His warm breath fanned her ear.

Are you insane? Of course I’m not okay! Instead she managed to rasp out, “I need to get out of here.”

He helped her up. “I’m going to take her outside for some air. Please, go ahead with your meal.”

On the deck, she whirled to face him. “A honeymoon cruise? Are you kidding? It has to be a joke.” She glanced around the deserted deck. “Are we on hidden camera or something?”

Drew managed a feeble smile. “’Fraid not.”

“But—but it can’t be a honeymoon cruise!” Memories of all her sacrifices and saving flashed through her mind. “I did my registration myself. I signed up for the singles cruise. The Fun in the Sun package! There has to be some mistake!” However, one look at his solemn face told her there was no mistake. And if there was, it was hers. Her shoulders slumped. “Why does stuff like this keep happening to me?” Did she wear a sign that said LOSER? “Turn the boat around. I want a refund.”

He clamped his lips together as though he were biting back a smile. “It’s a ship.”

“I don’t care! It has a reverse, doesn’t it?”

“Maggie, we’re already at sea. You may as well relax and enjoy the cruise.” He tilted up her face with the tip of his finger and said in a low voice, “You have to admit, it hasn’t been all bad. I mean, we’ve had some fun.” He pulled her into his embrace and smiled down at her. “We could enjoy each other’s company for the next three days and four nights. Besides, I’d appreciate having you around.”

“What’s the big deal? I’m just another passenger.” She made a halfhearted effort to disengage his embrace.

He bent his knees to look into her eyes. “Maggie, believe me, you’re not ‘just another passenger.’ I already told you I’ve never—and I mean never—had any sort of personal contact with a passenger. Until you.”

When she didn’t respond, just blinked her incredible eyes—okay, her incredible eye, because the other was still swollen almost shut—he had to act.

No way were those pretty pink nipple clamps going to continue doing laundry duty tonight.