Perfect Timing (4 page)

M
ya Rivers's mind went blank. She couldn't believe what her boss, Mr. Lee, was saying. She looked at the man again. “Excuse me, sir. Would you repeat that?”

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair when he smiled. Mr. Lee never smiled. “Why certainly, Ms. Rivers. I said the reports from the past six months have been so impressive that my partners and I agree that you should be promoted, and we've decided to do just that. Therefore, effective today you are now Senior Financial Analyst. Congratulations.”

Mya took a deep breath. Mr. Lee had just handed her the position she'd been aspiring to since coming to work for the company, and one that normally took two years at most to achieve. And that was only if you had landed and retained some big name accounts.

“Can I assume that you're happy about this promotion, Ms. Rivers?”

A smile covered Mya's face. “Yes, yes. I'm very happy about it, sir. You'll never know how much.”

“I'm glad to hear it. As you know, with this promotion comes a new territory.”

The smile on Mya's face dimmed. The territory she was presently working included New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. They were states that weren't too far from Texas and required little travel time. “Do you have any idea what my new territory will be?”

“Yes, we're assigning you to handle one of our newest accounts on the east coast. The company is located in Orlando and is an account we want to give special attention to and feel you're just the person to handle things.”

Mya nodded. She didn't want to think about how she would break the news to Garrett about an increase in travel when he really didn't want her traveling at all.

“Will the increase in travel be a problem for you, Ms. Rivers?”

Mr. Lee's question interrupted her thoughts. Evidently the expression on her face had been a dead giveaway. “No. I'll have to make arrangements with my children's nanny. As you know my husband plays major league sports and sometimes he has to be gone away from home a lot, especially when football season begins. I need to make sure the lady who keeps my sons will always be available.”

Mr. Lee nodded. “And if she isn't, you may want to find someone else. With this job comes a fifty thousand dollar increase in your annual salary, not to mention the bonuses you'll be able to earn.”

Mya nodded. The promotion was a dream come true. She stood. “I appreciate the company's faith in my abilities.” She then turned and walked out of Mr. Lee's office.

 

Later that evening Mya heard the hollering and crying the moment she entered the kitchen from the garage. She took one look at the kitchen and knew the Rivers boys had misbehaved. Tonight was Mrs. Butler's night off and Garrett had come straight home from football practice to feed the twins dinner. Evidently while he'd been preparing their meal, the two precious darlings had decided to throw the eggs she had boiled that morning against the wall.

“I'm home,” she called out.

Garrett entered the kitchen with one son under each of his arms, like a sack of potatoes. The angry look that met hers challenged her to say something, anything. She refused to do so. She didn't even walk across the room to take her screaming sons from their father's clutches.

“Just look at the mess they made, Mya.”

She glanced around. “I see. And I think the best thing to do is to make them clean it up. Don't you?”

Her voice had been soft and calm. So soft and calm that her sons immediately stopped screaming. Thinking it safe to do so, she walked over to Garrett and kissed his cheek. “Rough day, huh?”

“You don't know the half of it.”

She looked up at him. What he wasn't saying and what he was probably thinking was that she should have been at home cooking dinner and watching the boys. He always claimed they behaved a lot better for her anyway. “How about if you leave these two with me and just go in the bathroom, run water in the tub, and relax. Let me finish dinner.”

Garrett studied her for a moment. He was tempted to do just what she suggested. But then he glanced around the room and looked at the mess the twins had made. “No, that wouldn't be fair. You worked today just like I did. We'll clean this up together then I'll help you fix dinner.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “And once these two hoodlums are fed and in bed, you and I will both get in the tub, and relax. How does that sound?”

She smiled at him. “Sounds like a wonderful idea,” she said taking their sons from his arms. “You may want to consider the fact that the reason David and Daniel like throwing things is because they watch you throw footballs all the time and think it's okay to throw whatever they can get their grubby little hands on.”

Garrett smiled at the thought of his sons trying to imitate him. “You think so?”

“Yes, but don't get all giddy over it. We have to find a way to explain to them the difference between throwing a football and throwing other things.”

Garrett nodded. “Yeah, you're right.” He reached out and took one of the twins, David, from out of her arms. “How was work today?”

Mya decided that now would not be a good time to tell him about her promotion. She wasn't sure when would be a good time. Since she wouldn't start traveling for another month or so, she decided to wait until after the cruise. “Work was fine. How was practice?”

“Things went okay. I think we're going to have a good season. We're going to try like hell to make it to the Super Bowl.”

“And you will.”

After David and Daniel had been placed in their chairs at the table with strict orders not to touch anything, Mya went into her husband's arms for the kiss she knew awaited her. She didn't like keeping secrets from him but the one about her promotion was a secret she was keeping in the name of peace.

M
axi Chandler buried her head in the pillow feeling sick. The ship had barely left dock and already queasiness had settled in her stomach. This was her first cruise and if she didn't start feeling better it would definitely be her last. She hoped she wasn't like some people who were sick the entire while. Seven days was a long time to be miserable.

She was counting on the medication the ship's doctor had given her taking effect before dinnertime. If nothing else it was making her feel drowsy. She had not seen any of her former classmates and she was grateful for that. She didn't want anyone to see her looking like she had a foot in death's door.

Evidently the ship had given her an upgrade since the cabin was larger than she had expected. And she couldn't help wondering why there was a double bed instead of two singles when she would be sharing it with a cabinmate, although she had no idea who the person was. That information had not been available when she'd checked in a few hours ago. Whoever the woman was, she must have decided to join the Bon Voyage party being held on deck. A party was the last thing on Maxi's mind. Surviving this cruise was.

She buried her face deeper into the pillow when another bout of queasiness settled deep in her stomach. She hoped she wasn't about to throw up. She doubted she had the energy to make it to the bathroom if she was. She tightened her eyes shut and hoped and prayed for relief, and at the moment she thought that nothing could get worse than this.

 

Christopher stood in the doorway of his cabin and gazed upon the woman who was in his bed. Lying flat on her stomach with her face buried in the pillow, he couldn't see her features. But his gaze did a quick study of the delectable curves the shorts and tank top she was wearing couldn't hide. Not a bad view, he thought.

He then shrugged. It seemed that women getting into his bed uninvited were becoming a norm. He walked into the cabin closing the door behind him and glanced around. The cabin was modest by most means and he had selected it that way intentionally. His former classmates not knowing that he was now pretty well off financially would make the cruise interesting.

When he heard a slight moan he remembered the woman asleep on his bed. Or had she passed out from too much to drink? She must have begun partying before the ship had left Tampa. Somehow she had made it to the wrong cabin, and he intended to get her out.

He walked over to the bed, leaned over and tapped her on her shoulder. He thought about tapping her on her curvy backside then decided against it. “Hey, you. Wake up. I think you're in the wrong cabin.”

Getting annoyed when he didn't get a response, he tapped her again and repeated himself.
Finally
, he thought, when he noticed her body shifting as she tried raising her head off the pillow but had a hard time doing so. Christopher lifted a brow wondering just how many drinks she'd had. “Look here, lady, you can indulge in your hangover someplace else. I'd like to enjoy my cabin alone.”

When she didn't give any type of response he decided to take matters into his own hands and flipped her over onto her back. He frowned. Even with her eyes tightly shut, her features looked awfully familiar. His gaze studied the roundness of her face, the firmness of her cheekbones, and the fullness of her lips. Christopher was caught off guard when at that very moment she forced her eyes open and looked up at him, straight into his direct gaze. Even after ten years recognition hit him immediately. It was hard for a guy to forget the girl he had fancied himself in love with through most of his adolescent years. “Maxi?”

Barely conscious from her drug-induced sleep, Maxi continued looking up at the man towering over her. She blinked once, then twice. He seemed to know who she was but at the moment everything appeared foggy and she couldn't make out who he was and why he was in her cabin.

“Maxi, are you all right?”

The sound of his voice was soothing, assuring. She attempted to nod but couldn't. She tried getting words out of her mouth but settled on the one word that described exactly how she felt. “Sick.”

“You're sick?”

She tried nodding again but couldn't. She blinked a third time and the blurring in her eyes began clearing as her gaze stayed focussed on the man. She took in his facial features. Although she felt half-dead, and probably looked it as well, she could definitely make out the fact that he was attractive. Very attractive. And he looked very familiar.

“Like what you see, Maxine Chandler?”

She blinked again when she remembered that same husky voice and those identical words spoken to her one day years ago in school when she'd been caught staring. She forced herself to study his features more intently. “Christopher Chandler?”

He smiled down at her. “Yes, in the flesh.”

She wished she had the energy to tell him he wasn't in the flesh when he had clothes on. Questions immediately began flooding her mind. But then another bout of queasiness hit her, this one worse than the others. She closed her eyes after mumbling softly. “I'm going to throw up, Christopher.”

Her words prompted him into action when she placed her hand over her mouth. He quickly picked her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom and lowered her in front of the commode where she immediately released her lunch from earlier that day. When her stomach was completely empty the first thing she thought was that maybe she would live after all—if she didn't die of embarrassment first. Of all the people to find her in such a sickly state and come to her aid, it had to be Christopher Chandler, the boy she'd had a crush on during her entire senior year of high school.

All thoughts fled from her mind when she heard the sound of the toilet being flushed, and felt strong firm hands picking her up off the floor and a warm washcloth wiping her face.

“Feeling better now, Maxi?”

“Yes, much better, thanks,” she replied, as she looked into the face of the man who had been her rescuer. It had been ten years since she'd seen it last but those years seemed to have agreed with him. He was handsome as ever. “Christopher, what are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

She frowned. “I'm here for the class reunion cruise.”

“So am I.”

That information surprised Maxi. In fact if she hadn't been feeling so bad she would have laughed out loud at the absurdity of what he'd just said. He would have been the last person she would have expected to attend the class reunion since he'd never gotten along with the majority of their classmates. Most of them had been outright mean to him which made him retaliate with his anger, fists, or both. She'd always thought their mistreatment of him downright cruel and on numerous occasions had told them so, especially Ronald Swindel who'd been the class bully and who'd gone out of his way to make Christopher's life at school a living hell. Local rumor claimed that Christopher's mother had gotten pregnant from some sailor passing through town. Deborah Chandler, who had always lived on the wild and reckless side, found solace in other men, staying out late at night and at times gone for days, leaving Christopher to fend for himself. Since the kind of life he'd been born into hadn't been his fault, Maxi had never treated him the way the others had. Therefore, she felt completely comfortable in saying her next words. “I'm glad you came. It's good seeing you again, Christopher.”

Christopher smiled as he stared down at her, looking for signs that somehow she'd changed over the years. But deep down he knew she'd remained, as she'd always been—a person who'd gotten along with everyone. A part of him felt the sincerity of her words. “It's good seeing you too, Maxi, but what's wrong with you?”

Maxi was grateful he had gotten her to the bathroom before she had thrown up on herself. “Motion sickness. I've never been on a cruise before. The ship's doctor gave me some pills to take and—”

“Why are you in my cabin?”

Maxi blinked. “I'm not in your cabin. This is my cabin.”

Christopher frowned. “Are you sharing it alone?”

“No, I have a cabinmate. What about you?”

“I'm alone. That's the reason for the one bed.”

“Oh. Do you think there could have been some sort of a mix-up?”

He couldn't help but grin. “Possibly. It wouldn't be the first time where you and I were concerned now would it?”

She shook her head, remembering. “Like the time the substitute teacher sent me to the principal's office to get a paddling you were supposed to get because she got our names mixed up?”

“Yeah, and like the time Mrs. Meadows gave you my grades and gave me yours. Boy, was that comical,” he said laughing. The one thing he remembered about Maxine Chandler was that she was different from any of the kids in school. She had been one of the smartest but she had never acted stuck-up like the other kids had. Nor had she ever treated him like he was some sort of disease that might be contagious. He remembered the day Mr. Thompson had assigned the two of them to work together on a science project in their senior year. The other kids had teased her by saying working with him was an automatic zero. Instead of asking the teacher for another partner, she had ignored their classmates' words and jotted down the directions to her house for him, like there was nothing wrong with bad boy Chandler from ghettoville visiting her side of town where most of the middle and upper-class Blacks lived. Because Maxi had not put him down or asked that he be removed from the project, he had worked his butt off to make sure they had gotten a decent grade. He'd been just as surprised as she had when they made first place. Of course everyone figured she had done all the work and said as much. She tried convincing them otherwise, stating it had been a joint venture. But just the thought that she didn't try taking all the credit for the project had earned her his respect and admiration. It had also made him that much more infatuated with her. Leaving town after graduation had been for the best. There was no way that Maxine Chandler, the smartest girl at school—and he'd always thought, the prettiest—would have gotten involved with him.

“Let me get you back in bed while I find out what's the deal with our cabins.”

Maxi marveled at how easily he was able to carry her in his arms as he gently placed her on the bed. She watched him cross the room and pick up the phone, thinking how good he looked in his designer jeans and shirt. They were a far cry from the tattered and worn-torn clothes he used to wear to school.

She studied his transition from boy to man. He had changed. Grown older. In her opinion his features had always been chiseled masculine perfection. Now they were even more so with his high cheekbones, strong chin, full lips, and straight nose. And there were lines around his eyes that hadn't been there before. He had gotten taller and the breadth of his chest and shoulders radiated power and strength. And as impossible as it may seem, he was more handsome than ever before. He'd said he was on the cruise alone. Did that mean he was still single? He wasn't wearing a wedding ring but that didn't mean anything these days.

He was so absorbed in making the phone call that he didn't look up for a long moment. It was long enough for her to continue her close study of him. His nose was slightly crooked from the time Ronald Swindel had broken it. Some say the two had been fighting over Lorraine Brown. Christopher had gotten a broken nose and Ronald had gotten a broken arm.

Maxi's gaze moved over him, downward. He was firm at his stomach and hip, and his muscular thighs were like tempered steel and looked like the type that could wrap themselves around a woman's waist and hips real tight while they made love. A deep tint covered Maxi's face. This was the first time she'd thought of a man in a sexual way since Jason's death. She inhaled deeply, thinking her racy thoughts must be the result of the medication she'd taken.

She forced her mind back to the real issue at hand—the mix-up of their cabins. From the conversation he was having on the phone with the cruise ship director, she got the distinct impression that he was a man who was use to being in authority, in control, and having his concerns taken care of to his satisfaction immediately.

“What did they say?” she asked when he had hung up the phone. She could see the frustrations outlined in his features. Evidently whomever he'd spoken to had told him something he hadn't wanted to hear.

“There was some sort of computer glitch. Since we have the same last name and were booked under the class reunion group, the system apparently assumed we were married and placed us in the same cabin.”

“Oh,” Maxi said. “But they are finding me another cabin, right?”

“They indicated they will try but according to the person I spoke with, this ship is booked to capacity. Their only hope is if there have been ‘no shows,' and they won't know that until later this evening.”

Maxi lifted a brow. “And if there aren't?”

Christopher sighed deeply before answering. “Then they will check to see if anyone who is paying for a single cabin wants a cabinmate.”

“And what if no one does?” she asked, desperately.

He shook his head. A lot about Maxine Chandler hadn't changed. She still believed in asking a lot of questions. She used to drive their teachers batty with her constant stream of inquiries. But her endless questions had never bothered him. In fact those were the times he'd actually paid attention in class because he'd always liked hearing the sound of her voice, low-pitched and smooth. And then when he'd gotten to the age where he appreciated the opposite sex, he would enjoy watching her mouth move when she would ask her questions. Her mouth had the most delectable set of lips that he had ever seen on a woman. They were full, luscious, and soft and he'd always imagined, kissable. Even now the sight of them was holding his gaze captive.

“Christopher? What if no one does?” Maxi repeated, reclaiming his attention.