All Hands Below (6 page)

She wrenched her lips away, stomped on his foot with her sandal, and marched to the other side of the enclosure. “You, sir, are not allowed to touch this…” she waved a hand grandly down her body, “…
ever
again.”

He rubbed his lips and gazed at her beneath those devilish lashes. “I realize I’ve got some ground to make up with you.”

Ground to make
up
? “Don’t bother, Liam. You burned that bridge the night you left me hanging. Besides, I’m after a lot more than what you can give me.”

His gaze slitted. “Technically,
I
was the one left hanging, Evangeline. Now, admit it. You know and I know there are things I can give you. Things that you’d love receiving from no other man but me. Why dismiss me for what I can’t give?”

“Gee, how about the most important reason: I’m not a seven-night stand kind of girl!”

The elevator stopped. He jabbed a finger at the button that would take them back down five decks.

“What are you doing? That was my floor—”

“Be careful, Evangeline. I wouldn’t want to see you hurt. At least you know where I stand and what you could gain from a relationship with me.”

“A cruise hook-up, but how about what I stand to lose?”

“Like?” he prompted, as if unable to fathom why docking his tugboat in her canal would be such a problem.

“Like the chance to meet someone who likes the same things I do
outside
the bedroom?”

“A woman like you will always meet men. I can give you what you need now
if
we agree on boundaries.”

“Screw your boundaries! And there was never a doubt that you could give me
some things on this cruise. But what about after?”

“Evangeline,” he said, his voice flush with exasperation. “Worry about after
later
. What makes you think you’ll find Mr. Right on this cruise, anyway?”

“I don’t. Not really, but if I don’t try, then I won’t know.”

He shook his head. “I would hate to see you hurt.”

“Too late for that, Liam,” she told him softly. He flinched. “And since when was wanting a husband considered dangerous?”

“According to sources, two have died on you—ah, shit. I can’t believe I said that. That was out of line. Evangeline—”

“Let me tell you something,” she fired at him, angry that even on this cruise she couldn’t get away from her past. “I loved my first husband. He was a dream—my first lover. He’d been deployed to Afghanistan and was home on leave when he died in a car accident. He was driving to pick me up from class at the university, and a distracted driver was t-texting—
ohh
!” An upsurge of emotion crippled her mouth.

“I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize, Liam. And,” she swallowed back the hurt that curdled in her throat, “I won’t apologize to you for the things I want. For what I
need
.”

“Evangeline, I want you to know…I find you very tempting. I find…” he clamped his eyes shut for two seconds, “I can’t seem to stay away from you, despite your plans and schemes.”

Evangeline gulped, melting inside even as indignation bubbled on. “Hopes and dreams,” she sniffed.

“Okay—hopes and dreams.” His hand curved around her arm. His eyes searched hers. “Will you do me one favor?”

“No. Maybe.”

“There are as many weirdos on a floating city as there are on shore. While the ship is equipped with security measures, you are still a woman traveling alone. I couldn’t bear to see you hurt while on your—er, quest.”

“Husband hunt, you mean?” she huffed, further offended by the addictive heat of his palm. Dislodging his touch from her skin, she took a breath and pulled herself together. “I’m taking a break from my
quest
to explore the ruins in Tulum tomorrow. I’ll try to keep out of trouble while I’m in Mexico.”

She didn’t like the thoughtful assessment of his gaze. “Stop looking at me like that. I have no regrets about the way I’ve lived my life. And if what you’ve learned about me hasn’t been to your liking? Well, I’m
not
sorry!”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Do I act like a man avoiding you? Afraid of you?”

That tugged a little smile out of her. If anything, he was now a man in pursuit.

“What I did to you on that deck was wrong.” His mouth tightened. “Rather, what I didn’t do. I see that now—and frankly? I love that you’re woman enough to hold out for what you really want. You may not believe this, but I thought I was doing the right thing at the time, for reasons of my own.”

“Well, spare me your reasons. It’s not important now.”

“Would you like some company tomorrow?”

“No,” she lied, but knew it was the best answer.

His smile was tinged with regret. As it should be, she thought, trying to be a hard-ass, even as she longed to take him up on his offer. She didn’t trust him, and she trusted herself far less.

“Make sure you wear lots of sunblock. Take care of that beautiful skin of yours.”

“Well, there goes my topless tan,” she sighed. “Despite what you think, there is more to me than the airhead out to snare a husband.”

“I don’t think of you as an airhead,” he murmured. “And for the record—masturbating after denying myself your pussy? It sucked.”

The elevator stopped. Her heart skipped a beat.

She wished the elevator doors wouldn’t open. That the ship would lose power and leave them stuck inside. As her mind urged her to run from him and the outrageous things he was saying, the rest of her ached for an excuse to linger in his wicked presence. “Wow. That makes me feel so much better, Liam.”

He chuckled. “If you don’t find what you’re looking for, come see me, hmm?”

“If every man on board dies from a plague, I’ll think about it.” Was he crazy? She’d see him all right—as a last resort!

Evangeline swallowed back her longing to take him up on his offer. There’d be other cruises. Other opportunities. But what if her Christmas wishes could come true on this cruise? She stood to gain everything she ever wanted—if she could just stay away from him.

The elevator doors slid apart.

“Enjoy your day,” he called after her as she slipped away.

****

Evangeline found Maisy back in her stateroom.

“I waited an hour for you, Evangeline. When you didn’t show, I returned to my suite to get into my swimsuit, which I seem to have misplaced.” Maisy bustled around in search of her swimsuit. “They’re offering aqua exercise classes that I don’t want to miss.”

“I’m sorry I let you down, Maisy. I overslept. Then I went to the Veranda Café instead of the International Bistro.”

The older woman studied the shadows under her eyes, curious. “What on earth were you up to last night?”

Evangeline sighed. “You don’t want to know. Anyway, let me make it up to you. I made reservations for a mani-pedi and a spa treatment. How about you join me?”

“I’d love to! But I don’t have reservations.”

“I do. For two.”

“For two?” frowned the older woman.

Evangeline blushed. “I made them in advance. Just in case I hooked up with someone.”

“By day two? Ha! You think ahead, I like that. It’ll be my pleasure to join you.”

“Did you know,” said Maisy an hour later as they applied warm, richly colored
chakra
mud all over their skin, “of these Mayan ruins—Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Coba, Coba boasts the tallest of the temple pyramids in the Yucatan. It’s called the Nohoch Mul and stands twelve stories high. You can climb the steps to the top.”

“Ah, but Tulum has what Coba doesn’t have—a cute little beach. Besides, I’d rather swim than climb.”

Evangeline breathed in the eucalyptus and clove-infused steam filling the exotic bath, tiled in magnificent blue mosaic designs.

While glad for Maisy’s company, she’d hoped to connect with someone to share the couples’ treatment sooner. They’d be rubbing the mineral-rich mud into each other’s bodies right now, she mused, feeling her skin come alive from the mud’s detoxifying elements.

While it pleased her to see Maisy enjoy the perks meant for someone Evangeline hadn’t met yet, she had to admit…Liam Rossi cornering her in the elevator today had boosted her spirits.

He made her feel alive from
inside.
He helped her see herself in a different light—as a woman who had the ability to twist a man like him up in knots.

“Why didn’t you book the Mayan tour, Maisy?”

“Because, my dear, while everyone else is off exploring, I’ll have the ship’s pool and amenities all to myself.”

“Very clever.” Evangeline hadn’t given the other woman enough credit. Maisy was no scatty-headed sweetheart. She was glad to know she wouldn’t have to Maisy-sit on her first shore tour, either.

After all, she could very well meet someone special.

Chapter Five

Day 3

Any thoughts about meeting someone took a back seat to Evangeline’s shore tour of the cliff-side ruins in Tulum.

She roamed the immense, sunbaked landscape and explored ancient temples and structures long since dug out from the surrounding jungle. A tour inside some of the larger buildings wasn’t an option as much of the area had been roped off.

The former glory of an ancient civilization was far from anything she’d yet to see in Portland, she thought, gazing up at the mysterious carved masks of the Temple of the Frescoes, their ancient faces pointing out from the temple’s corners.

While an occasional breeze swept through the ruins, the sun beat down without mercy, getting her hot, sweaty, and eager to jump into the crystalline waters below the limestone cliffs the city was built on.

Only when she felt like a roasting pepper in need of a hosing did she make her way down the staircase that led to a charming beach below
El
Castillo.
The Castle, an imposing structure, loomed over land and the very sea that Spanish expeditions sailed upon when reaching the Yucatan peninsula.

On her way to the beach, she noticed a small army of lizards basking in the sun. Sprawled out on sand and stones, a few more lurked in the shade of rocky nooks.

As interesting as the ruins, some looked monstrous enough to dwarf a small dog, but their
I am the king
posturing didn’t stop her from her mission of sinking her feet into the buff-colored sand.

Hoards of people had the same idea about a cooling swim, but Evangeline and her towel managed to find a spot along the shore. Moments later, she was swimming in a turquoise sea so pristine that when she opened her eyes underwater, grains of sand reflected the shimmering sunlight.

After taking a break to reapply sunblock all over her skin, she sprawled out on her towel and dreamed of a fearless corsair, a dark pirate dazzling her pussy with his cock along the shoreline, where the sea wasn’t the only thing licking at her body.

“If we want to make it back to the ship in time, we need to get moving.”

Evangeline opened her eyes. No cute pirate loomed over her with a cock in hand.

Instead, a present-day male gazed down at her with rugged blue eyes that contrasted nicely with his full crop of spiky brown hair. She placed him in his mid-thirties and liked his smile right away.

He held out a hand to her, and she took it, grateful for the help up.

“I didn’t realize what time it was.” She shook out her towel, tossing sand everywhere. “Thanks again.”

“Um, watch the iguana—”

She scurried into the stranger’s arms as a lizard loped across the beach in a flash of green. His arms curled around her in a firm, muscled embrace.

“Sorry about that.” She pulled away slowly. “Thanks for waking me up. I would have slept the day away in this beautiful place.”

He grinned. “No problem.”

Hurrying after the group in front of them, Evangeline felt pleased to find herself the focus of his interested gaze.

Encouraged by his smile, she said, “My name is Evangeline Spencer. You’re not on tour with the gay choir, are you?”

His laughter rang out. He took her hand, shook it, then held on to it for several beats. “No, but I’ll take that as a compliment. Those guys are pretty damned hot if I may say so myself.”

Evangeline’s smile broadened. A sense of humor, too, she thought, thrilled to think she might gain more than a tan on the beach at Tulum.

“Eli Buckelew, Evangeline. Very nice to meet you.”

They arrived at the ship only to be greeted by a slew of unhappy faces waiting for them on the other side of the gangway.

Liam, dressed in stone-gray pleated pants, a black shirt, and a black leather belt, added a shot of masculine chic to the uniformed crew. The frown he turned on Evangeline deepened. His gaze narrowed to lethal blades when he noticed the male strolling next to her.

“Okay, you rebels,” the cruise director scolded. “Cutting it a little close here! Don’t let this happen again. We sure would hate to sail without you.”

Of course, when it was Evangeline’s turn to produce her sea pass to board, she couldn’t locate it.

“Could it have fallen out of your bag?” Eli asked.

A minute went by. Two, then three. She rifled frantically through her beach bag. Liam now watched her from behind aviator sunglasses.

She shook her towel out again, praying for her sea pass to miraculously appear. Only after dousing everyone with a fresh sprinkle of sand did Liam snarl, “I’ll vouch for Miss Spencer.”

“Of course, sir,” a crewmember said.

Evangeline gazed at him in wonder. He must have some clout on board ship. “Thank you.”

“See Guest Services and get another pass issued immediately,” he barked at her before stalking off.

“Well,” Eli breathed. “He sure told you.”

“He sure did, didn’t he?” she murmured. Her skin prickled with tiny starbursts at the masterful way Liam commanded those around him.