All Hands Below (7 page)

“So how do you feel about after-dinner drinks and dancing?”

She blinked and focused on the potential suitor at hand. “I’d love that, Eli.”

He smiled. “Ten o’clock at the Wheelhouse Bar?”

“I’ll be there.” She didn’t anticipate the kiss he pressed on her cheek, but felt pleased by the gesture.

“See you tonight.”

“See you.” Her excited gaze trailed after him as he strode off.

****

Liam watched from Captain Rudolph’s table as Evangeline made her way down the stairs leading into the formal dining room, an upbeat bounce in her four-inch heels.

He longed to unwrap the plum velvet strapless gown from the sunny glow of her skin. Then he’d kiss her and demand to know what the hell took the tour so long to get back to the ship. Since the shore excursion was organized by the cruise line, the Sea Sapphire had no choice but to wait on them.

What had she been up to? And the guy who’d been up to it with her, who the hell was he? At least one partially hidden cove existed around the ruins where they could have indulged in some sex-play.

He bounced the possibilities from his thoughts. She’d made it back on board. That’s what mattered.

She paused at the foot of the staircase where many male eyes were glued. His heart rapped in his chest as his gaze stroked over her hair, trailing the shimmer of silk that spilled down her shoulders in rich browns and then shading to summery blonde lights.

She’d also accepted the regal blue rose he’d sent her—fresh and in bloom from the ship’s flower shop—with a note he’d handwritten that said
I’m sorry.

Restless, he’d squirmed in his seat in anticipation, waiting to see if she’d wear his rose, and he got his answer. Except…she hadn’t picked an ear to place the rose behind, to let him know whether or not she was available. She’d tucked it in her dress—centered it in the buoyant pout between her breasts.

Look on the bright side, Rossi.
The florist didn’t screw up and send her a red rose. That would mean
love.
The blue rose meant the
impossible
and
unattainable
. Obviously she knew the meaning of the color blue.

Message sent. Reply received, darling,
Liam thought with heightened admiration.

“Popular girl, isn’t she?” Kerri tapped him on the shoulder.

Her effort to capture his attention couldn’t clear his mind of the vixen across the room. He said nothing, but caught a swish of Kerri’s perfume—modern, chic, and unlike the spicy tea rose he’d developed a preference for lately.

He battened down the urge to look up again and smiled at Kerri, instead. He should stop being stupid. Kerri was a sexual partner guaranteed to please.

On the other hand, Evangeline Spencer would blow him right out of the water in a heaving orgy of senses he couldn’t begin to fathom. And shouldn’t.

“Is this seat taken?”

Liam looked up and found himself face-to-gorgeous-face with the object of his desire.

She arched a sleek brow. Her eyes glinted with laughter, enjoying the idiotic expression he surely had plastered on his face.

Liam glanced at the empty seat to the left of him. “That seat is reserved. The guest happens to be late—”

“Ah, Miss Spencer!” Captain Rudolph boomed. A jovial grin lit his face as he stood up to greet her. “Glad you could make it.”

Liam rose. So, Christmas Beauty had been invited to dine at the captain’s table tonight. He pulled out the empty chair between himself and the captain.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“What else is new?” he murmured in her ear.

She moved into the seat he withdrew for her. Her arm brushed against his.

“Sorry,” she apologized sweetly.

Liam’s cock leaped, a hair-trigger reaction. Quickly he took his seat, but not before he smelled his rose on her. His gaze flicked to its brazen placement between her succulent tits and his mouth flooded with want. Her nipples had felt like knotted silk when he’d rolled each one around on the tip of his tongue.

He caught her staring at him. Or was it that she caught him staring at her
and
her rose?

She smiled like a crafty jungle cat, lowered her lashes, flicked a glance at the rose tucked in her décolletage…and never looked at him again for the rest of the meal.

****

“How does someone so young and pretty have two men die on her like that?” Kerri pondered over drinks in the Wheelhouse Bar.

Liam shrugged. “Perhaps she’s…misunderstood.”

She studied him, a thoughtful glint in her eyes. “You’re attracted to her. I sensed it at dinner.”

“She is an attractive woman,” he affirmed, irked at how easily his ex saw through him. Not about to discuss Evangeline with Kerri, he asked, “Would you like to dance? Or do you just want to sit there and talk about another woman all night?”

She laughed and followed his lead when he stood. “Liam, Liam.” She floated into his arms. “How ever did I let you get away from me?”

He shrugged, his thoughts in conflict as he swung her onto the dance floor.

A man. She’d returned to the ship with a man.
Well, what’d you think, genius? That a woman like Evie would go unnoticed wandering around a crumbling archeological site?

“Earth to Liam. You’re quiet.”

“Just thinking. Am I supposed to talk while I’m dancing?”

Kerri ran her palms warmly along the taut muscles of his back. “That could be dangerous. Don’t think. Just do,” she said, and kissed him.

He accepted the familiarity of her lips, but didn’t get a chance to enjoy it. Someone bumped into him from behind. Liam lifted his head.

“Sorry,” apologized the man as he escorted his partner past them.

It was Kerri’s turn to stiffen as Evangeline walked by. She caught Liam’s eye and stopped.

“Well, hello, Mr. Rossi. Eli and I were just going to grab that table over there,” Evangeline said, and made introductions. “You two are more than welcome to join us.”

“No, thank you,” Kerri declined snippily.

Evangeline smiled at her. “It was nice meeting you this evening, Kerri.”

When Kerri didn’t reply, Evangeline’s gaze met Liam’s. A playful gleam shimmied in their depths. Something hip-hopped in his gut, and every muscle in his body vibrated with helpless want.

“Good to see you as well, Mr. Rossi.” Evangeline smiled up at him.

“Glad you received an invitation to join us this evening,” Liam replied. Longing hooked at something deep in his chest.

“You know,” Kerri piped in, “guests are not randomly picked to dine with the captain. You must be very special, Evangeline. Or lucky.”

The glow on Evangeline’s face waned. A hurt look edged out the happiness that had lit up her eyes just seconds ago. “It’s been a while since I felt special, Kerri. Or lucky. Being invited to dine at the captain’s table made me feel I was a little bit of both. How nice of you to spoil that for me.”

“Kerri, there’s no magic formula for being invited to dine with the captain.” The words snapped from Liam’s lips in an icy stream. “But, if being beautiful and intriguing is a requirement, I’d say Miss Spencer meets the criteria. In spades.”

Evangeline’s gaze whipped to his face, her eyes wide. Searching.

“Have a wonderful evening, Miss Spencer,” he told her softly.

She nodded, her eyes appreciative and warming up once again.

“You too, Mr. Rossi,” Evangeline replied, and walked off with her companion.

Liam marched Kerri out of the Wheelhouse Bar and said nothing in the tight silence it took for him to walk her to her cabin door. “That was downright bitchy of you, Kerri.”

She sighed. “Sorry, Liam. I guess it’s pointless inviting you in?”

“It is. And I hope that’s not the reason you came on board.”

Kerri’s lower lip trembled. “If it was, I should just kiss my hopes goodbye, then.”

“Goodnight,” he said, and turned to go.

“You want her, and you’re going after her, aren’t you, Liam?”

Liam stilled. “I hadn’t planned to,” came his rough admission.

“Liam, you might try to strictly plan your world, but you don’t plan attraction. It plans
you
.”

Liam shook his head and left her standing alone at her cabin door, staring after him.

Chapter Six

Day 4

“Female passenger. Injured. Neptune’s Grotto.”

Liam was on the bridge when one of the ship’s plain-clothes security personnel radioed in. He moved to the video console and migrated to a close-up of the activity on one of the passenger decks.

Minutes later, he was striding out of the bridge wing and making his way to the grotto. Liam arrived just as a deck steward scooped the woman up in his arms and started tottering in the direction of the ship’s infirmary.

“I’ll take her to the ship’s doctor,” Liam said.

“Yes, sir.” The deck steward deposited the injured passenger in Liam’s arms.

Evangeline looked up at him, her eyes woozy. “I keep telling you guys that I can walk,” she said, running her fingers along the taut ridge of his shoulder.

“Evangeline,” Liam sighed, his skin goose-bumping beneath her touch. “What have you been up to? You smell like…rum.”

“I was on the jogging track. I tripped and fell.”

“What were you doing? Chasing after a man?”

“Uh, jogging, Liam.”

He frowned and looked over at the large scrape that razed her knee.

“I tripped when I stepped on a pair of sunglasses and then I did a splendid power slide right into someone’s drink.”

He shook his head. “There goes your entry for the Cheeky Bum-Bums and Sexy Legs competition tonight.”

“You saw my name on the sign-up list?”

“I did.”

Liam strode through the infirmary’s reception area and into an empty room. Before she could ask if he was spying on her activities—and he was—he plopped her on the examining bench.

“Stay,” he ordered, and left her in search of the ship’s doctor. He walked back in shortly with the MD in tow.

While she was being examined, Liam left again, only to return with a chilled water bottle.

“What’s the diagnosis?” He pressed the bottle into Evangeline’s limp hand.

“An ankle sprain,” she volunteered. “I also scraped my knee.”

“It’ll be swollen and sore for a couple of days,” said the doctor. “I’m going to put you in a splint for now to keep your ankle stable, and the day after tomorrow you can wear a post-op boot. Let’s wash that scrape up and get some anti-bacterial ointment on it. You banged yourself up pretty good when you hit the deck, Miss Spencer.”

Liam frowned when he noticed the wet streak down the side of her cheek.

“You’re in a lot of pain, aren’t you, sweetheart?” he asked. His insides tugged with sympathy.

Her lower lip trembled as she struggled to keep from crying. Her chest shuddered. She nodded.

He took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“I’ll give her something for the pain, Liam,” said the ship’s doctor. “It’ll help her sleep, too.”

“Dammit. That means I’ll have to make it an early night, too!”

Liam squeezed her hand hard this time and glowered down at her. “That’s right. No alcohol. No partying.”

Evangeline peeped up at him, her eyes devilish all of a sudden. “I can have a party in my room. Invite some company.”

“I’m sure you will,” Liam muttered, and the challenge in her eyes sent darts of jealousy stabbing around his heart.

The idea of Eli, the man she was with in the Wheelhouse Bar, tucking her in for the night was something Liam couldn’t stomach at that particular moment. His mouth thinned. Why should he care? Who she bedded shouldn’t make a difference to him. She was a single, unattached woman.

“Like my friend, Maisy,” she sighed, rebutting his thoughts.

He relented with a smile and stroked her jaw. “Now that’s a good idea,” he murmured.

The thought of her loving anyone with her gorgeous body left a metallic taste in his mouth. Especially when the person he imagined her legs wrapped around was himself. And he’d be damned if
her
sweet cheeks were going on display!

Cheeky Bum-Bums, indeed.

He planned to have a word with the Activities Director. This might be a singles’ cruise but there were rules of decorum, for God’s sake.

He brushed her hair back from her forehead. “Do you need anything?”

“Mmm…” She gazed into his eyes and his heart tensed to see the depth of emotion in them. To know she was laying bare the impact he had on her. “A husband.”

Liam sighed, fighting the riptide pull she had on him. The doctor’s chuckle kept him from caving in to his need to reach out, wrap her up in his arms, and smother her mouth with a big juicy kiss.

“Call the hospitality line,” Liam said brusquely. “They’ll see that you get whatever you want.” He turned away, then paused to add with a reluctant smile, “Except a husband. We’re all out.”

****

1600 hours

Liam pushed the decorative panel of golden walnut back into the base of a raised planter filled with privet hedges.

The sound of a chaise being dragged around grabbed his attention. He stood up and peered through a cluster of leaves. Evangeline, her one knee bandaged and wrapped, moved awkwardly around with the help of her crutches.

Her hair had been twisted and pinned atop her head with a bronze clip, exposing her neck and the sleek line of her shoulders. When she bent over to adjust the backrest, Liam’s offer to help was cut off by the lump growing in his throat, and another filling out his trousers.

Her body, in turquoise hip-waisted short-shorts with white lace overlay and a matching bandeau top, arrested his gaze. His jaw bunched. Her features, locked in thought, set his heart pounding with excitement.

Everything about her engaged him, filled him with an itch that could only be scratched two ways. With her. In bed.

He couldn’t peel his gaze from her body. Her taut waist, the way her hips tapered to full, sexy thighs captured his imagination. Nor could he brush her exquisite taste from his tongue.