For now, he stalked across the room to the framed set of detailed ship plans hanging on the far wall of his office. He’d had one done for each of the ships in his line. He liked looking at them, liked knowing that he was familiar with every inch of every ship. Liked knowing that he’d succeeded in creating the dream he’d started more than ten years before.
But at the moment, Dave wasn’t thinking of his cruise line or of business at all. Now all he wanted to do was find the woman who’d sent him this card so he could assure himself that this was all some sort of mistake.
Narrowing his pale blue eyes, he ran one finger down the decks until he found the one he was looking for. Then he frowned. According to this, the Riviera Deck was below crew quarters.
“What the hell is going on?” Tucking the card with the pictures of the babies into the breast pocket of his white, short-sleeved shirt, he half turned toward the office door and bellowed, “Teresa!”
The door flew open a few seconds later and his assistant rushed in, eyes wide in stunned surprise. “Geez, what’s wrong? Are we on fire or something?”
He ignored the attempt at humor, as well as the look of puzzlement on her face. Stabbing one finger against the glass-covered ship plans, he said only, “Look at this.”
She hurried across the room, glanced at the plans, then shifted a look at him. “What exactly am I looking at?”
“This.” He tapped his finger against the lowest deck on the diagram. “The Riviera Deck.”
“Uh-huh.”
“There are people staying down there.”
“Oh.”
Pleased that she’d caught on so fast,Dave said, “When the ship came out of refit ready for passengers, I said specifically that those lower cabins weren’t to be used.”
“Yeah, you did, boss.” She actually winced, whipped out her PDA and punched a few keys. “I’ll do some checking. Find out what happened.”
“You do that,” he said, irritated as hell that someone, somewhere, hadn’t paid attention to him. “For right now, though, find out how many of those cabins are occupied.”
“Right.”
While Teresa worked her electronic wizardry, Dave looked back at the framed plans and shook his head. Those lower cabins were too old, too small to be used on one of his ships. Sure, they’d undergone some refurbishing during the refit, but having them and using them were two different things. Those cabins, small and dark and cramped, weren’t the kind of image Dave wanted associated with his cruise line.
“Boss?” Teresa looked at him. “According to the registry, only two of the five cabins are being used.”
“That’s something, anyway. Who’s down there?”
“1A is occupied by a Joe and Mary Curran.”
He didn’t know any Currans and besides, the card had come from whoever was in the only other occupied cabin on that deck.
So he waited.
“2A is…” Teresa’s voice trailed off and Dave watched as his usually unflappable assistant chewed at her bottom lip.
That couldn’t be good.
“What is it?” When she didn’t answer right away, he demanded, “Just tell me who’s in the other cabin.”
“Lucia,” Teresa said and blew out a breath. “Lucia, your ex wife, Dave.”
Dave made record time getting down to the Riviera Deck, and by the time he reached it, he’d already made the decision to close up this deck permanently. Damned if he’d house his paying guests in what amounted to little more than steerage.
Stepping off the elevator, he hit his head on a low cross beam and muttered a curse. The creaks and groans of the big ship as it pushed through the waves echoed through the narrow passageway like ghosts howling. The sound of the water against the hull was a crushing heartbeat and it was so damned dark in the abbreviated hallway, even the lights in the wall sconces barely made a dent in the blackness. And the hall itself was so narrow he practically had to traverse it sideways. True, it was good business to make sure you provided less expensive rooms, but he’d deal with that another way. He’d be damned if his passengers would leave a cruise blinking at the sun like bats.
With his head pounding, his temper straining on a tight leash, he stopped in front of 2A, took a breath and raised his right fist to knock. Before he could, the narrow door was wrenched open and there she stood.
Lucia.
She shouldn’t have still been able to affect him. He’d had her after all. Had her and then let her go more than a year ago. So why then was he suddenly struck by the turquoise-blue of her eyes? Why did that tight, firm mouth make him want to kiss her until her lips eased apart and let him back in? Why did the fact that she looked furious make his blood steam in his veins? What the hell did she have to be mad about?
“I heard you in the hall,” she said.
“Good ears,” he conceded. “Considering all the other noises down here.”
A brief, tight smile curved her mouth. “Yeah, it’s lovely living in the belly of the beast. When they raise anchor it’s like a symphony.”
He hadn’t considered that, but he was willing to bet the noise was horrific. Just another reason to seal up these rooms and never use them again. However, that was for another time. What he wanted now were answers.
“Good one,” he said. “That’s why you’re here, then? To talk about the us?”
“You know why I’m here.”
He lifted one hand to the doorjamb and leaned in toward her. “I know what you’d like me to think. The question is, why? Why now? What’re you after, Lucia?”
“I’m not going to talk about this in the hall.”
“Fine.” He stepped inside, moving past her, but the quarters were so cramped, their chests brushed together and he could almost feel his skin sizzle.
It had been like that from the beginning. The moment he’d touched her that first night in the moonlight, he’d felt a slam of something that was damn near molten sliding through him. And it seemed that time hadn’t eased it back any.
He got a grip on his hormones, took two steps until he was at the side of a bed built for a sixth-grader, then turned around to glare at her. God, the cabin was so small it felt as though the walls were closing in on him and, truth to tell, they wouldn’t have far to move. He felt as if he should be slouching to avoid skimming the top of his head along the ceiling. Every light in the cabin was on and it still looked like twilight.But Dave wasn’t here for the ambience and there was nothing he could do about the rooms at the moment. Now all he wanted was an explanation. He waited for her to shut the door, sealing the two of them into the tiny cracker box of a room before he said, “You left without telling me, so what’s the game this time, Lucia?”“This isn’t a game, Dave,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t a game then, either.”“Right.” He laughed and tried not to breathe deep. The scent of her was already inside him, the tiny room making him even more aware of it th
“I—” He frowned down at the stack of papers.She took advantage of his momentary speechlessness. “I’ve been trying to reach you since I first found out I was pregnant, Dave.”“How was I supposed to know that this is what you were trying to tell me?”“You might have read one or two of them,” Lucia pointed out and managed to hide the hurt in her voice.He scowled at her. “How the hell could I have guessed you were trying to tell me I was a father? I just thought you were wanted money instead of us.”She hissed in a breath as the insult of that slapped at her. Bubbling with fury, Lucia really had to fight the urge to give him a swift kick. How like Dave to assume that any woman who was with him was only in it for what she could get from him. But then, he’d spent most of the past ten years surrounding himself with the very users he’d suspected her of being. People who wanted to be seen with him because he was one of the world’s most eligible billionaires. Those hangers-on wanted to be in
Just thinking about her boys brought an ache to Dave’s heart. She’d never left them before, and though she knew the twins were in good hands, she hated not being with them.“But I’m on this boat for their sakes,” she reminded herself sternly.With that thought in mind, her gaze swept the interior of Captain Jack’s Bar and Lounge. Like everywhere else on this ship, Dave hadn’t skimped. The walls were pale wood that gleamed in the light glinting down on the crowd from overhead chandeliers shaped like ship’s wheels. The bar was a slinky curve of pale wood with a granite top the color of molten honey.Conversations flowed in a low rumble of sound that was punctuated by the occasional clink of crystal or a high-pitched laugh. First day at sea and already the party had begun.Well, for everyone but Dave. She hadn’t exactly been in celebration mode after Dave left her cabin.In fact, Dave’d spent most of the day lying on a chaise on the Verandah Deck, trying to get lost in the book she’d pic
“It’s not?” Lucia set her glass down onto the table and watched as Mary’s eyes actually sparkled even harder than they had been.“Oh, no. Mr. wilson said that most of the cabins were already full, which is how we got stuck in those tiny ones in the first place. So he moved us into a luxury suite!”“He did?”“It’s on the Splendor Deck. The same level as Mr. Wilson’s himself. And Jenna, our suite is amazing! It’s bigger than my house. Plus, he said our entire cruise is on him. He’s refunding what we paid for that hideous cabin and insisting that we pay nothing on this trip.”“Wow.” Dave had always taken great pride in keeping his passengers happy, but this was…well, to use Mary’s word, amazing. Cruise passengers usually looked forward to a bill at the end of a cruise that could amount to several hundred dollars. Oh, the food and accommodations were taken care of when you rented your cabin. But incidentals could really pile up on a person if they weren’t paying attention.By doing this,
“Yes,” she said, attempting to draw his attention back to her. “I just came from my cabin and my key card didn’t work, so….”“Ms.Lucia,” he said, his attitude changing from flirtatious and friendly to crisp professionalism. “There’s a notation here asking that you be escorted to the Splendor Deck.”Where Mary’s new cabin was. So Dave had upgraded Lucia, as well? Unexpected and frankly, a relief. A suite would be much more comfortable than the closet she’d been assigned.But…“All of my things are still in my cabin, so I really need to get in there to pack and….”“No, ma’am,” Jeff said quickly, smiling again. “Your cabin was packed up by the staff and your luggage has already been moved. If you’ll just take that elevator” he paused to point at a bank of elevators opposite them “to the Splendor Deck, you’ll be met and directed to your new cabin.”Strange. She didn’t know how she felt about someone else rooting through her things, but if it meant she could get into a shower, change clothe
Teresa smiled tightly. “True. I do defend him. I do what I can to help him. He’s a good boss. And he’s been good to me. I’m not saying that how he handled the…situation with you was right—”Dave stopped her, holding up both hands. “You know what? Never mind. It was more than a year ago. It’s over and done. And whatever Dave and I had has ended, too.”Teresa cocked her head to one side and looked at her thoughtfully. “You really think so, hmm?”“Trust me on this,” Lucia said as they started walking again. “Dave is so over me.”“If you say so.” Teresa stopped in front of a set of double doors. Waving one hand at them as if she were a game show hostess displaying a brand-new refrigerator, she said, “Here we are. Your new quarters. I hope you like them.”“I’m sure they’ll be great. Way better than the Riviera Deck anyway.”“Oh,” Teresa said with a smile, “that’s certainly a fair statement. You go on in, your things have been unpacked. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.”“Okay.” Lucia stoo
He looked her up and down and could admit at least to himself that she looked damn good to him. Her dark blond hair was a little windblown, stray tendrils pulling away from her braid to lay against her face. Her eyes were wide and gleaming with suspicion, and, strangely enough, that didn’t do a damn thing to mitigate the attraction he felt as he drew in a breath that carried her scent deep into his lungs. “I’ll stay here, but I’m not sleeping with you,” she announced suddenly. Dave shook his head and smiled. “Don’t flatter yourself. I said you’re staying in my suite, not my bed. As it happens, there are three bedrooms here besides my own. Your things have been unpacked in one of them.” She frowned a little and the flush of color in her cheeks faded a bit. “Oh.” “Disappointed?” Nick asked, feeling a quick jolt of something hot and reckless punch through him. “Please,” she countered quickly. “You’re not exactly irresistible, Dave.” He frowned at that, but since he didn’t actually b
“A little of both.” She tipped her head back to look up at him. “Why didn’t you give the key back to her?” He looked genuinely surprised at the suggestion. “Why would I embarrass her in front of her friends?” Lucia snorted indelicately. “I’m guessing it’s next to impossible to embarrass a woman like that.” “This really bothers you.” It always had, she thought. When she first went to work for Falcon Cruise Lines, she’d heard all the stories. About how on every cruise there were women lining up to take their place in Dave’s bed. He was a player, no doubt. But for some reason, Jenna had allowed herself to be swept up in the magic of the moment. She’d somehow convinced herself that what they’d had together was different from what he found with countless other women. Apparently, she’d been wrong about a few things. “One question,” she said, keeping her voice low enough that no one they passed could possibly overhear. “Okay.” “Are you planning on using that key?” He only looked at h