What can go wrong being stuck on a cruise ship with your ex and entering into a fake relationship with a sexy coworker? It might not be the Titanic, thank goodness, but Eve Richard’s heart is sinking by the minute and love is definitely going down.
Pulitzer-prize-winning war journalist turned small-town newspaperman, Adam Seager, has given up a lot for his work, country, and family, but not this time. He knows what he wants, and it’s his coworker, Eve. Her smile is the brightest part of his day and a daily reminder that more adventures are yet to come. When they are both assigned a travel feature on board a new cruise ship, it’s the perfect opportunity to let his feelings set sail.
Eve will never date another coworker or writer again. Been there, done that. Time to pursue her own writing dreams, even if it means bunking with the infuriating and complicated Adam Seager. So what if the butterflies he sets off in her belly can rival the waves outside their cabin. She intends to keep things strictly professional … that is, as much as they can be while also pretending to be a couple. Their relationship might be fake, but the pull to get to know more of him is real. Her reporter’s gut says there is more to uncover than meets the eye. But what will happen when they are back on dry land?
Adam was duly impressed as he exited the gang plank and boarded
the ship. Stopping short in the grand piazza, he took in the cathedral ceiling,
a kaleidoscope of stained-glass colors and blown-glass shapes ornamenting it.
From the corner of his eye, he could see glass-paneled elevators with golden
railings zipping passengers up and down. He felt as if he’d just walked into a
luxury mall, not a boat. Families and guests of all ages passed by him. It
wasn’t the cattle drive of seniors he’d been imagining. This was more like a
floating palace.
He took a mental picture of the space and tried to memorize the
feeling of awe he’d just experienced so he could describe it on paper. Wasn’t
that what Eve would do?
“Well, what do you think?” she asked, coming through the security
checkpoint. She stood alongside him, readjusting her backpack and glancing
around the great hall.
“It’s not what I was expecting,” he admitted, fidgeting with his
askew credentials’ lanyard that displayed his name, title, and publication. He tugged
it off, untangled a knot, and then put it back on straight.
“It is pretty impressive. I think most people who haven’t
cruised before have all these stereotypes and preconceived notions built up in
their heads, but once they step onto a real, quality cruise liner like this,
they change their minds.”
“Well, I admit, my mind is blown.” He brought a fist up toward his
temple and then opened it slowly to mimic his words. He was rewarded with
another one of her smiles.
Adam followed her to the center of the atrium and tried to
concentrate on what Eve was saying as she pointed out different highlights, but
seeing her light up with enthusiasm and having it all directed at him was
overwhelming. He stuffed his fists into the pockets of his trousers just to
keep from pulling her into his arms to absorb some of her sweetness. Good God!
He wanted to kiss her right there in the middle of the ship with tourists all
around them.
Yup, he had it bad. He was beyond denying it any longer. Even
though falling for a woman who would eventually be moving on to bigger and
better publications, while he was forced to stay in Naples for the foreseeable
future, wasn’t the best of ideas. Falling? Ha! Too late for that. It didn’t
matter. He’d figure that stuff out later. First, he had to see if she even felt
the same way. He knew what he had to do, too. He needed to open up and show her
the out-of-office Adam and pray she didn’t laugh in his face.
Operation Garden of Eden was a go, and he had seven days to make
headway or return home a lonely failure. What did he have to lose? His aching
heart was already in her lovely hands, which were now rifling through a folder
of papers.
Adam bobbed his head, which Eve seemed to take as encouragement
regarding whatever she was saying about the atrium café in the corner, but
really, he’d been agreeing with himself to initiate full-on pursuit mode.
“What’s your cabin number?” she asked, pulling him back to the
present and right into her aqua eyes.
“Um …” he trailed off, trying to recall his own name. “Caribe
deck, room four-oh-four.”
“Ha-ha, very funny,” she said with a roll of her eyes, slapping
him lightly on the shoulder with the folder she was still holding.
He stared, dumbfounded. What had he missed? “What’s funny?”
“I don’t know how you keep ferreting out this information, but you
need to teach me your ways, Master Yoda.”
“Huh?” He definitely wasn’t following, nor had he pegged her for a
Star Wars fangirl. He liked it, and being called master by Eve … well,
that was another fantasy entirely.
Eve crossed her arms over her chest. “Not only do you know what
community I live in, you’ve somehow uncovered what room I’m staying in on the
ship?”
Pulling his embarkation papers out from his laptop bag, Adam
handed them to her. “I didn’t uncover anything. Look,” he said, pointing to the
document, “that’s my cabin number.”
“There has to be some mistake,” Eve sputtered. Her alarmed
expression was almost comical. “Let me double-check.”
Eve fished through her own forms again only to reveal the same
cabin number on her embarkation slip. She leaned forward to scrutinize the paperwork
as if it would magically change, and he took the liberty of breathing in her
bewitching, sweet-and-earthy scent—cherry blossom and almonds.
“Maybe we just have connecting rooms or something? Let’s go see.”
“Roger
that,” he said, already enjoying the trip and it had barely begun.
Fueled by an IV of green tea and Prosecco, Tara is finally writing the happily ever after tales she's been dreaming about. Proud mom to twins and four cats, she also blogs over at When Tara Met Blog @tarametblog, a lifestyle and parenting blog of 16 years.
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2 comments:
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for being part of the tour and sharing my excerpt! :)
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