Don't Read in the Closet: Volume Four (144 page)

superstore.

He strode past the store and, at the corner, he paused. The bright,

colorful lights of the ship’s casino flashed through the room, but no

one stood at the machines. They wouldn’t be activated until the ship

left port, and while every boat carried the die-hard gamblers, none

waited nearby. Tad wove through the machines and, on the far side,

found a wall of windows overlooking the sparkling blue water. He

paused to take it all in, and then decided he should do so where he

could get some fresh air as well. He followed the line of windows to

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the cafeteria where a half dozen people in uniforms bustled around

buffet tables with carts of food, ice, and serving utensils. A few guests

had arrived to explore the welcoming smorgasbord, but Tad bypassed

the offerings, making a beeline for the glass door brightened by

sunshine. He pushed out onto the deck, a light breeze grabbing at his

hair and tossing it around his face. He strode out to the end of the deck

and glanced along the rail. At the front end, passengers gathered,

some pointing at things on shore, while others admired the view of the

water and the nearby cruise ships.

Tad turned the other way, walking briskly towards the back of the

ship. As he neared, he spotted a number of people gathering on that

end too. He veered up a flight of stairs and found a small walkway

only wide enough for one row of chairs. Behind the chairs the ship

rose further, but no one gathered on that upper level, and the path

between chairs and railing hadn’t attracted any vacationers with the

odd desire to wave good-bye to Miami. Tad slid his bag under a chair,

kicked off his shoes, shrugged out of his shirt, and flopped down with

his book. He moved his sunglasses from the top of his head to his face

and surrendered to the warm sun and the fictional world of the thriller

he’d picked up at the used book store just last week.

****

“This place is great.” Maggie trotted ahead and ducked around

another corner. Nick couldn’t deny the beauty of the ship, the day, and

the glow of his sister as they explored each deck. When he rounded

the corner, Maggie stood at a bar smiling up at a bald, but muscular

man with fiercely dark skin and shining laughing eyes. She inched her

rear onto a seat and glanced over her shoulder. She waved at Nick and

patted the stool next to her.

As he approached the bartender greeted him and asked, “Would

you like a daiquiri too?” His grin felt like a gentle tease and Nick

couldn’t help but smile back. The man was handsome and seemed

genuinely friendly. Nick shook his head and glanced over the bottles

lined up along the back shelves. “I’ll have a…”

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“Rum runner?” offered the bartender. “Bloody Mary?”

“Gin and tonic,” Nick said. “Juniper.”

The bartender nodded. “Good choice, my man.” He mixed up a

frozen drink for Maggie, and then served the gin to Nick.

Maggie gave him her room card and then tucked the receipt in her

pocket. She sipped her drink, gave the bartender a thumb’s up and

then slid off the stool. “Let’s explore more,” she said. Without waiting

for Nick’s reply, she skirted the edge of the bar, veering toward the

next door.

When he caught up with her, Maggie clung to the railing, hanging

over the edge, looking down at the water. “It’s beautiful, Nick.” She

swung up straight and spun around to face him. “I’m so glad we’re

finally here.”

He nodded, gazing down the deck. Wow, he thought, now there’s

a view. Lounging in a deck chair, already stripped down to shorts and

sunglasses, a man read from a well-worn paperback. Nick’s artistic

mind mapped out the strong, muscular legs, one straight, one bent,

with a thigh supporting the book; strong shoulders, and a broad chest

with a splash of hair a touch lighter than the ashy brown hair slightly

mused on his head; the planes of his abs, curved into the chair, but

still clearly defined; and strong facial features that spiked Nick’s

testosterone and sent his blood flowing south.

“Hey, Nicky.” Maggie punched his arm.

“Yeah,” he said turning a frown on her that he couldn’t hold. “I’m

listening. It’s beautiful, yes.”

“What’s got your attention really?” She stepped to the side to see

around him. Her eyes widened slightly and her smile pulled out her

dimples. “Oh, I see.” She looked up at Nick. “Go talk to him.”

“I’m not going to hit on a stranger on a cruise ship. Everyone

comes here with someone.” He wanted to sketch the man, even if the

other things coming to mind wouldn’t be appropriate.

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“You’re single,” Maggie pointed out. “I’m single.”

“We’re freaky anomalies.”

“Fine,” she said crossing her arms under her breasts. “Then I’ll go

talk to him.”

“Wait, Maggie—” He grabbed for her arm, but she shrugged out of

his grasp and bounced up to the man Nick had been admiring.

The man sat alone in a deck chair reading a book, and taking no

notice of them. His shirt waded under his feet, and his bare chest

already glistening in the afternoon heat, Nick didn’t need to talk to

him. He could stand where he was, listen to Maggie chatter about the

weather, and wonder why men like that didn’t hang around in Nick’s

favorite gay club back home.

As Maggie sat down beside him, the man looked up at her. He

stuck a finger between the pages of his book, and wiped his hand over

his khaki shorts before shaking her hand. Nick couldn’t hear their

words, but knowing his sister, he expected her to say something along

the lines of: “Hi, I’m Maggie, and my brother back there was drooling

over you. You should have dinner with us, so he can drool in person.”

Before she could completely embarrass him, Nick turned his back

and headed down the first set of stairs he found. On the deck below,

he strolled in the shade until he reached the pool. Several people were

already in the water, swimming, floating, or playing. He passed them

by and headed to the bar under the next overhang. He ordered a fresh

gin and tonic and then slipped inside to enjoy the air conditioning.

CHAPTER TWO

Nick wandered the halls below deck trying to find his stateroom.

Distracted by thoughts of facing Maggie’s summary of the sexy guy

he’d left her talking to, he walked the wrong direction out of the

elevator and didn’t realize it until he reached the end of the long

hallway. He glanced up at the number on the door, and then to the one

next to it.

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“Sonova…” He shoved his hands in his pockets and stormed

down the hall, this time in the right direction.

When he found their room, Nick eased the door open, hoping

Maggie would be somewhere on deck enjoying the sun.

“Are you still mad at me?” Maggie called from the bathroom.

Nick leaned back against the wall. How she heard him with her

hair dryer blasting in her ear, he had no clue. He peeked cautiously

through the bathroom door, found her dressed, and then leaned against

the door frame. “It depends,” he said. “Should I avoid that guy all

week?”

She laughed, and over the hair dryer he barely heard it. She shut

off the dryer and picked up her flat iron. As she ran it through her

hair, she glanced at him in the mirror. “No, Nicky, I’m not that mean.

I just went over there and introduced myself. I made small talk for a

minute or two, and then he says to me, ‘Don’t get me wrong. You’re

cute and all, but I saw your boyfriend in the airport and I don’t get in

the middle of things.’

She set down the iron and turned to face Nick fully. “Get that?”

She laughed. “He thought we were a thing.” She giggled and shook

her head. “I told him you were my brother, and then – get this – he

gets all shy as he asks me your name and what you do and stuff like

that.”

Nick flushed despite the air conditioning in the room. He bit his

lower lip. Maybe it meant what he thought – what Maggie thought –

but more likely, the man had been trying to deflect her flirting. “It

doesn’t mean anything,” Nick said.

She shrugged a shoulder and picked up the iron again. As she ran

it through her hair, carefully tugging locks straight along her face, she

said, “It doesn’t mean he’s straight either. And by the way, he’s here

alone.”

He’d been on the verge of leaving her until she said that. “Excuse

me?”

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“Alone. Single. And, asking about you more than me. Really

Nicky, I don’t need a gaydar to pick up on that.”

Nick shook his head and turned away, not wanting to reveal the

hope he felt. He hadn’t joined her on this trip to find a sexy man to

hook-up with. He’d come because she wouldn’t go alone, and he

promised his business partner they’d try to take breaks and relax once

in a while.

“Fine,” she shouted from the bathroom. “Don’t believe me. It’s

your loss.”

Nick smiled, but said nothing. He swung a suitcase up on to one

of the small single beds and flipped its latches.

“Are you going to shower before dinner?” She poked her head out

the door.

“Yes, if I can pry you out of the bathroom first.”

She threw her brush at him and ducked back through the door. A

moment later, she bounced down on the bed with a bottle of

moisturizer. “Go shower,” she said as she squeezed a dollop on her

shin. “And hurry, I’m starving.”

“I have a half hour,” he teased. She couldn’t make it into the

shower in a half hour, let alone finish and dress.

“Go!” She said feigning anger, but her widened eyes and hint of a

right dimple gave away the fact that she fought a smile.

****

A tall, slender woman with a British accent led them to their table.

She told them that they’d be at the same four-person booth for the

duration of their stay and they were welcome to walk right in for

dinners, but to wait for a hostess for breakfast and lunch where they’d

be sat with other guests who arrived at the same time.

Nick slid into one side of the booth, expecting Maggie to take the

other side. When she dropped down beside him, he gave her a little

shove. “What are you doing?” he asked.

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“Someone else will sit on that side,” she said. “Probably a cute

couple that we can hang out with.”

“Oh joy,” Nick said with a moan.

“Stop it.” She pushed him and he slid over giving her some space.

“You’ll have fun, if you let yourself have fun.”

“Okay, okay. Don’t nag me,
mom.
” He gave in to the smile she

inspired. “Just promise me one thing.”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What?”

“Don’t call me Nicky in front of them.”

“But that’s your name.”

“Okay, Margaret.”

She gasped and leaned back as if he slapped her.

“Deal?” he asked with a smirk.

She nodded, and then her smile returned, but she wasn’t looking at

Nick. Maggie stood as the hostess stopped at their table with another

menu, and another diner. “Oh my goodness, this is wonderful,”

Maggie said.

Nick’s jaw dropped, as Maggie gushed something about

coincidences and fate. He stood, his first reaction to flee, but Maggie

caught his arm and dragged him forward, face to face with the man

he’d been checking out on the deck – the man she’d said God knows

what to when she thought Nick was being a chicken shit about talking

to him himself.

Dressed in navy blue twill pants, polished shoes, and a perfectly

pressed cream-colored button down shirt, he looked even more

attractive fully clothed than on deck. No, Nick corrected his thoughts,

as
attractive. He was dying to slowly peel the man out of those clothes

and trace every inch of his flesh with his tongue. He snapped his

mouth shut forcing himself not to drool as he examined the freshly