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He had on a short-sleeved white Oxford shirt that was tucked into pleated blue slacks. The breeze fluttered his shirt along his firm arms up to his broad shoulders, and his top buttons opened to a peek at his hard chest. He was talking with his friends, but all the while he was looking her way.
The brashness of his scrutiny sent shivers through Angelina’s body, and her insides buzzed with nervous energy. As self-conscious as she was under his open gaze, something in those eyes made her pulse skip. She had never had such a visceral reaction to anyone before and hoped that it couldn’t be read in her features. She pressed her palm against her midriff to calm herself but had to look away.
Angelina had been called her sister’s name all afternoon. Now, on an impulse, she decided to be a little like her baby sis. She took a breath and turned back to the simmering brown eyes and met their gaze, deliberately staring back with an audacious smile on her lips.
She was startled that she was being so brazen.
He seemed to hold her gaze, just as he did before, but nothing else changed. Then, when one of his friends said something, he turned toward the speaker and laughed, breaking his link with her. She certainly couldn’t pull it off the way Safire could. So much for the attempt.
Angelina shifted the load on her shoulder and stepped from the railing. Unfortunately, her laptop bag had gotten wedged between the rungs of the railing and toppled her back. She unhooked the bag and launched herself from the banister. No, she certainly couldn’t pull off what Safire could.
Had he seen her fumble? Embarrassed, she looked toward the warm brown eyes, but the face that held them was directed elsewhere. Well, she was no Safire. She didn’t know what had gotten into her in the first place.
She walked to the elevator, pulled out her key and went to find her cabin.
Angelina’s stateroom had everything she would have expected and more, including a balcony on the water. And luckily, she wasn’t sharing; she had an oasis all to herself. The first thing on her list was unpacking before dinner, and her suitcase had been delivered so she had only to plop it on the footrest to begin.
The pieces she’d added were on top, so she pulled out a couple of capris, a couple of skirts, a few blouses, a dress and some light tops to go over whatever nonsense Safire had packed for herself. And thank goodness. Safire’s clothes were much as she expected.
There were several cocktail dresses, all low-cut and thigh-high. Angelina couldn’t imagine herself strutting around in them. The shorts were okay, but Safire had packed skimpy tank tops and racerback T-shirts to go with them. The skirts were all mini and the tops were off-the-shoulder blouses or camisoles. Even the nightclothes she’d packed were sheer, midthigh numbers.
No wonder the case was only half-full when Safire brought it. Everything in it was tiny—just as she’d expected. The last piece of clothing she pulled out was Safire’s swimsuit. Such a pity she hadn’t remembered her own. She could ball up Safire’s bikini and make it disappear inside her fist.
Angelina stood in front of the closet taking inventory. She didn’t have enough of her own stuff, so she would have to make do with Safire’s pieces. She might have to get another swimsuit on the ship and perhaps a couple of oversize T-shirts to sleep in.
She hadn’t budgeted for extra clothes—at least not at what they would cost in floating boutiques. The light cover-ups she’d brought would supplement the dresses and tank tops, and she didn’t plan to go to many events, so she should be okay. After all, it was a cruise. She could be a little like her sister for a little while. She probably wouldn’t see anyone here again in life.
This made her think again of those warm brown eyes. What had she been thinking trying to send a signal from across the deck? He probably thought she was a loon. No, he probably wasn’t giving her a second thought at all. He could have been looking at the horizon the whole time. In any case, there were several thousand people on the ship. Chances of running into him again didn’t seem great, a fact that made her feel both disappointed and relieved.
Angelina turned to the rest of the suitcase and her carry-on—her work. She set up her laptop on the table and piled around it the books and papers she’d brought. She also pulled out all the cruise information: the docking schedule, the brochure for singles, coupons for the tours and a spa day, a separate booklet describing the ship’s amenities, pamphlets for events and movies.
The next thing to do was to find a place for dinner; she didn’t want to change, so nothing fancy. She found a café-style restaurant and had a sandwich. Then she went back to her room and called to check in at home. Safire was there, and all was well. She started to tell her sister a thing or two about packing such outrageous clothing, but she gave it a second thought. Safire wasn’t actually packing for her when she’d made those selections, so it didn’t make sense to accuse her of anything willful.
The rest of the evening she was going to lounge on the balcony and read. That, however, didn’t last long. She started Ellory Patterman’s history of the involvement of Black women in the World War I effort, and enjoying the book as she was, she drifted into sleep. Angelina woke up a couple of hours later to find her book on the floor and her neck stretched precariously to one side.
She got up and went into her room to change for bed but had only Safire’s short, silky nightgowns. There was nothing to be done about it right then, so she put one on and crawled into bed. For a few minutes, she watched the cruise ship’s information station on television, but before long, she clicked the television off. It was a little early, but she was tired; she’d been tired for some time, and the luxury of the space let her give in to what she needed most—rest.
If nothing else, she would get to relax a bit over the next nine days. She might even be able to take her sister’s advice and let loose a little. There could be a little Safire in her yet.
She curled up in bed, letting herself sink into the cool, crisp sheets. Perhaps it was the enchantment of being aboard a ship on the way to the Caribbean, or perhaps it was the sumptuous feel of the gown she had on, but she drifted off thinking of a warm pair of brown eyes.
Chapter 2
Jeremy Bell had noticed her before she’d even stepped onto the gangway. She was behind his group in the line to board the ship, and she was gorgeous. He could hardly keep from staring at her and hoped that she was one of the members of the singles cruise. She seemed to be. She didn’t seem to be with any of the people around her.
She had on a casual yellow sundress and strappy sandals with low wooden heels. The dress was simple enough, but it didn’t fully hide the voluptuous curves of her body. When the ocean breeze caught it, he could see the succulent shape of her buttock and the heavy sway of her ripe breasts.
There was something hesitant about her stance, an ongoing inquiry in her expression. She had probably never been on a cruise before. The uncertainty gave her a vulnerable quality that drew his gaze to her even more.
He lost her around a bend, but he was delighted to find that they’d been guided to the same deck for the departure. While he chatted with his friends across the deck, he got a look at her as she hung over the railing, delight and excitement written over her expression.
That, and the way her garment fluttered around her, made his own body react. And he hadn’t even met her yet. He was getting ahead of himself, so he settled against the railing to cool down and enjoy the departure with his friends.
They might tease him for trying to talk to a woman on the first day, but he still intended to go over and introduce himself once they were underway. If he didn’t, he might lose her in the multitude of people aboard the Palace of the Seas.
When he found her looking back at him, he was pleased, but not surprised. He was in his early thirties, and he still had it going on. For a while she looked away, and he was a little concerned. That wasn’t usually the reaction he got from women. He actually sighed in relief when she turned back to him, smiling at him from the banister. That was more like it.
Of course, that was when he lost her. He’d turned to Alistair, who was joking about being the odd man out, and when he turned back she was gone.
He went to three singles functions that night to see if she’d come out to any of them. He took time out to have dinner with his boys—Alistair, Myron and Rudy—at the singles reception in the Senator’s Quarters. Then he ditched them to check out a couple of the smaller singles mixers—the one in the Luau Bar and the one in the Messenger Lounge. He didn’t see her and had no way of knowing if he’d missed her.
If she wasn’t there on the singles cruise, he had no real way to find her again. There were thousands of people on the ship. That’s when he remembered the brochure. He pulled it out and rummaged through the pages. Each of them had had to submit a bio and picture for it, and it had come a couple of days before they were set to depart.
Unfortunately, there were dozens of pages of singles listings, and not everyone had sent in a picture. But there weren’t that many African-American women in the lineup, either. He found one that seemed to be her. The picture was small, so he couldn’t be sure. She was wearing a bikini and waving toward shore from the back of a motorboat. Her name was Safire Lewis, and she was twenty-three, hailing from North Miami. The woman he saw seemed to be older than twenty-three, but then women never told the truth on these things anyway. Right?
Safire Lewis was extroverted and outgoing. She liked swimming and jazz clubs, and she was looking for a man who thought he could tame her urges with tender loving care. She described her style as sophisticated but a bit risqué, and she defined herself as a sensual woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to get it—a little rambunctious but genial, sometimes saucy but always sweet.
She was looking forward to the singles cruise so that she could relax, kick back and meet some great guys. Her turn-ons were broad shoulders, confidence and someone who knew how to have a good time. Jeremy thought he fit that description. To describe herself in five words or less, she wrote “naughty and nice.”
It didn’t say much more than that, but that was more than enough.
Jeremy looked back at the picture. Her description of herself turned him on as much as seeing her had done. It made him more determined than ever to find her again the next day, when they would be at sea.
Easier said than done, however. The ship had fourteen decks, twenty restaurants, five spas, four movie theaters, gardens, pools, a casino, a carnival, a shopping district, a sports zone and numerous bars, lounges and cafés.
“You’re looking for whom?” Alistair asked.
“A woman I saw in line yesterday.”
“And you expect to find her how?”
“I think she’s listed in the singles brochure. I’m going to scout out the singles events.”
“I’ll go with you to the singles stuff,” Myron said.
“Me too,” Rudy said.
“I, on the other hand, will be at the pool.” Alistair wasn’t there for the singles mixers; he had a partner back home. He’d come to relax and enjoy. “I’ll meet you guys for lunch. Where?”
They were in Myron’s stateroom, and he picked up the booklet for the ship. “Okay. We have about thirty pages of options here.”
The other men laughed.
“Is there a singles luncheon venue today?” Rudy asked.
“Oh, joy,” Alistair said with a note of sarcasm.
Myron picked up the singles brochure. “In fact, there are three.”
“Pick one,” Jeremy said.
Myron shrugged. “The Onyx sounds good.”
“The Onyx it is. One o’clock.”
Jeremy, Myron and Rudy did a round of the singles events listed for that morning. Myron had started talking to a woman at the Pool and Cabana mixer, so they left him behind and headed to the Café mixer. She wasn’t there, and they didn’t want to go to the Date for the Day event, so Rudy left him to join Alistair, and Jeremy continued on alone.
Before heading to the Onyx, he stopped at the concierge to see if he could get Safire Lewis’s cabin number or telephone, which turned out to be the same thing. He tried calling the number they gave him but got no answer. At least he knew that if it was her—if the woman he saw was Safire Lewis—he could hope to reach her by phone. That much discovered, he joined his boys for lunch, still keeping an eye out for her.
He called her again before dinner—no luck. He called again after dinner—eureka.
“Hello.”
He had no idea what her voice sounded like.
“Hi, I’m trying to reach Safire Lewis.”
There was a pause on the other end. “Yes, this is she.”
“My name is Jeremy Bell, and I think I saw you when I was boarding the ship. I was wondering if you might want to get together for coffee or dancing or—”
“Who is this?” she asked.
Jeremy laughed out loud.
“I’m sorry. That’s a fair question. I’m on the singles cruise, and I think I saw you when we boarded. You had on a yellow dress. I wanted to meet you.”
“And you were wearing?”
“What was I wearing? I had on a white shirt and blue pants, I think. Let me check my closet. Yes, that was it. I thought you might have noticed me, too.”
“I remember you. But how did you get my name, my number?”
“After looking for you all day, I checked the singles listing. Luckily, there aren’t that many Black women on this cruise, so I took a chance that you were the one I saw.”
“Oh.” There was a pause.
“Look, you probably already have plans for tonight because it’s New Year’s Eve, but if you don’t, maybe we can meet at one of the mixers.”
“I hadn’t actually planned on going out tonight. I brought some work with me and was in for the night. But maybe...”
He could hear her hesitation, but at least she was thinking about it.
“I had planned on going to the Peacock Lounge for their New Year’s Eve party. Maybe we could meet there.”
He didn’t get a response right away.
“I’m not sure. Let me see how much I get done, and I’ll consider.”
“Well, no pressure. I’ll be there, and if you don’t recognize me, I’m sure I’ll recognize you. I hope you can come.”
“I’ll see,” she said.
It was clear that she didn’t want to commit, so he decided not to push it.
“It would be great to meet you, so I’ll keep a lookout.”
“Okay, then.”
“Goodbye.”
Clearly, he hadn’t made the impression he thought he’d made. When she looked back at him and smiled, he thought that they’d connected. Now she seemed unsure if she wanted to meet him.
To be fair, she didn’t know him from Adam; he could be a serial murderer. She seemed more cautious than her bio had led him to believe. That, or she was swamped with something for work. Or she simply wasn’t that interested in him from what she saw. He had no way of knowing.
At least she remembered him. And she might come tonight. He wasn’t sure what he would be doing until he spoke to her. In fact, he probably would have rung in the New Year at one of the sports bars with his boys if he hadn’t spoken to her. Now, he had time to change and catch up with the guys to let them know his new plans.
He met up with Alistair and Rudy at a sports bar around ten o’clock. Myron had a date with the woman that he’d met at the Pool and Cabana mixer, and Jeremy would be meeting them in the Peacock Lounge at eleven.
“I’ll be back before twelve-thirty if she doesn’t show.”
“She’ll show,” said Alistair. “Hottie that you are.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
When he got to the Peacock Lounge, he was given a mask made of peacock feathers. He didn’t know that everyone would have them on, and he hoped he could still tell who she was. At least there wouldn’t be that many choices.
The champagne was already flowing from towers of crystal glasses arranged on silver platters. An elaborate ball was rigged to drop, and the countdown was already ticking down on a monitor. Whistles and party favors were piled up on tables skirting the room.
He found Myron and his date on the dance floor and nodded to his friend. Myron had a thick frame and wore a loose yellow panama shirt with a pair of brown slacks. He had tracked Jeremy’s entrance with one lazy eye and nodded at Jeremy over his date’s shoulder.
After a couple of songs, they came over, and Myron introduced him to Verniece. She had a pleasant smile and seemed completely unassuming. Her tall, full figure matched Myron’s thickness, and even her yellow skirt set with French dots blended with Myron’s attire. The two seemed evenly paired.
The three chatted for a while, and then he left the couple to enjoy their evening together, wandering over to the array of cheeses and breads. Nearing midnight he began to get a little disappointed, but he still held out. Safire had been noncommittal, but she at least seemed to consider his invitation. He would give her until half past midnight, maybe even longer, because she seemed well worth the wait.
He recognized her the moment she hit the doorway, and what he saw made his body pulse. She had on a strapless red cocktail dress that hit her midthigh and hugged every delicious curve of her body. Over that she wore a sheer red wrap with a floral burnout pattern. It was almost as long as the dress, but so translucent that it hid nothing of her shapely curves.
When she stepped down into the lounge, he saw that she had on black pumps that showed off her taut calves and supple rear. As she rounded the banister, he walked toward her.
Her face was partially hidden by the peacock mask, but the pretense of anonymity only made her look sexier than ever. Her lips were red and smiling, and she’d piled her hair on top of her head in cascading black curls.
She seemed a little hesitant in a way that made her seem vulnerable, but then she hadn’t seen him as yet, and she didn’t know him.
“Safire?”
“Jeremy?”
He lifted his mask so that she could see his face. “Yes, it’s me. I’m glad that you could make it. When it got close to midnight, I began to worry.”
