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Angelina turned to Myron and Jeremy. “Weren’t you two with other gentlemen?”
“Alistair and Rudy,” Myron said. “They decided to go to one of the singles lounges for dinner and let the couples be by themselves.”
Once dinner arrived, the conversation quieted down a little. It turned out that the older couple was used to cruising, so they gave some advice about when to arrive and how to get discounts.
After dinner, Jeremy, Angelina, Myron and Verniece lingered in the atrium of the Starlight, trying to decide on the next thing they would do.
“I really should be getting back,” said Angelina. “I was gone all day and didn’t do anything I brought with me to get done.”
Jeremy put his palm against her back. It sent another shiver through her body that she tried once again to hide.
“Come dancing with us, Safire. You don’t have to stay long.”
“Dancing sounds great,” Verniece said.
“There’s a place called the Silhouette Lounge,” Jeremy said. “They have desserts, drinks, dancing. Please.”
“For a little while,” Angelina said.
When they got to the Silhouette Lounge, Angelina picked up immediately on the romantic theme; it was a hangout for couples, replete with low lighting, soft seating and slow music.
Myron and Verniece stopped at the bar for drinks, but Jeremy drew her onto the dance floor, slid his hands around her waist and began to sway.
Angelina’s palms came up to his chest. She thought it would keep a polite distance between them; instead, she could feel how hard his body was through his panama shirt, and that made the gesture seem even more intimate.
Angelina let herself rock to the music—something slow and Italian. As he held her closer, she moved her arms to his shoulders, bringing her chest against his. The sensation sent a tingle through her body, and she it hoped wasn’t noticeable.
Angelina was five-eleven, and in her two-inch heels, she was almost Jeremy’s height. When he lowered his head just a bit, it brought their cheeks together. She rested her head against his, closed her eyes and finally just let herself enjoy their dance.
The next song was in Spanish and just as intoxicating. When she opened her eyes briefly, she found that she had slipped her arms around his neck, not remembering when she had done so. When she turned to him, he was smiling at her.
“I love dancing with you this way,” he said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve danced like this.”
“You’re not rusty at all. I love the way your body feels against mine.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say. His low bass voice in her ear sent goose bumps down her back and made her body twitch. She couldn’t tell whether this was apparent or not.
The next song was in Portuguese, she thought, something of a tango. She snuggled closer to his shoulder and swayed with his movement. His hands tightened around her back, bringing her body closer to his.
The thin knit of her sister’s gown did almost nothing to shield Angelina from the intimate contact of Jeremy’s body. She could feel his manhood pressing against her hip, and she sucked in a breath. He only held her closer and moved himself along her until he was nestled at the center of her body. Her sex started to throb, and her breath became heavier.
As he swayed against her, his body rubbed against her center and sent delicious prickles through her sex and into her breasts. Of their own volition, her hips tilted forward, bringing her into greater contact with the onslaught of his manhood. She caught herself and stopped the vulgar thrust, but she could feel herself growing damp, growing needy. Her arms gripped his neck tighter, and she bent her face toward his shoulder, not wanting to be seen.
Jeremy left one hand pressed against her back and drew the other up to her nape. The gentle fingers exploring her neck made her shiver and twist in his embrace, and the sensations running through her body made her gasp for air. Her mouth was already open when he turned to her and found her lips with his own, pressing his tongue deep inside.
A murmur escaped her and was trapped by his mouth. She hoped that he hadn’t heard it over the music, but in response, he pressed even closer to her and held her in place, running his chest against her breasts and his manhood along her sex. Angelina pulled herself from his lips as the sensations poured over her. Her core throbbed, wanting more, and she winced, sucking in her breath. She knew he could hear her, but she couldn’t help it.
He put his lips to her ear. “Your body has been responsive to my touch all evening, Safire.”
Angelina was mortified that he had noticed. She didn’t know what to say, and she could barely think with his deep voice sending shivers down her spine.
“Let me come back to your room with you. Let me make love to you.”
Angelina stepped back, unsure how to answer. Her body was crying out to be loved by this man, but she wasn’t Safire. She didn’t just go to bed with men. They were still strangers. And she wasn’t that daring.
“I—I don’t think I can. I don’t really know you yet.”
All she really knew was how good he made her feel. She was still catching her breath just from his touch and his body. For once, she wished she was Safire. But she wasn’t. She wasn’t ready for this.
“I can’t. Really.” She wanted to, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it—to walk back to her room with a stranger and... “I can’t.”
Jeremy seemed a bit confused and definitely let down. He sighed heavily, conceding to her answer.
“Okay. Get to know me tomorrow. We go to St. Thomas. I wanted to do a bit of shopping. Why don’t we go together? Shop, have lunch, get to know each other.”
“Okay, if I’m not booked for a tour. I can’t remember.”
She laughed at herself, and he joined in, breaking the tension between them.
“I need to be going, anyway,” she said. “How about if I call you when I get back to my room and let you know?”
“Let me walk you.”
“No, no. I know the way from here.”
In fact, she didn’t, but she could find it. She just didn’t trust herself alone in her room with him. As much as her body was turned on, anything could happen. Her hesitancy registered, and he let it go.
“Call me as soon as you get back.”
“I will.”
He kissed her good-night. The look of desire in his eyes was palpable and made her catch her breath. She had to turn away before she said something she couldn’t retract. She hurried to the elevator and pressed the button for her floor.
What was she doing? She had a beautiful man who wanted to come to her room and make love to her, and she had said no. Was she being reasonable, or was she just being afraid? She didn’t know, but she had to figure it out and soon.
She got to her room and checked the schedule that Safire had given her. She wasn’t booked into a tour of St. Thomas, and they would be there two days. She checked the cruise guide and found a couple of things she would like to do, but they could wait for the second day.
She pulled out his card—Jeremy Bell.
“Hi, it’s me.”
“I’m glad. I was about to come looking for you.” He chuckled.
“I had to look through the brochure to see if there was anything else I wanted to do in St. Thomas. I’m not booked for a tour, but I wanted to go to Coral World and ride the submarine and see some of the castles and...”
He was laughing before she finished.
“What?”
“You don’t get out much, do you?”
“Maybe I don’t. And who knows when I’ll get back to St. Thomas?”
“I’ll bring you there on our honeymoon. How’s that?”
She could play, too.
“Maybe I want to see Hawaii on our honeymoon. Betcha didn’t think about that.”
They were both laughing.
“Okay,” he said. “Anything you want to do in St. Thomas is fine with me. Just save us a couple of hours on one day to do some shopping. Deal?”
“Deal. What time should we meet?”
“Well, since you want to see the whole island, we should get an early start. How about we meet at eight-thirty for breakfast and disembark at nine?”
“I’ll figure out an itinerary for us and let you know in the morning.”
“Let’s meet in the State Room for breakfast,” he suggested.
“I’ll see you then.”
Angelina hung up feeling elated. It was so easy to be playful with him on the phone. It was up close and personal that it got a bit iffy. She turned on her phone to check in at home. Safire was there again, as promised, and things were going well. She could relax a bit.
If only she could relax. Her body still buzzed from Jeremy’s touch and, without her consent, it still wanted more. There was nothing to do but play it by ear. She knew she was being a bit conservative, but she needed to know something about the man before she bedded down with him. And who knew how long that would take?
She giggled to herself as she changed into one of Safire’s risqué nighties. Maybe tomorrow she would know enough. It wasn’t likely, but she could dream.
Chapter 4
Jeremy had gotten up at seven. It was too early to be getting up, but it gave him an hour in the gym. And that early, he almost had the place to himself, except for Alistair, who was a workout fanatic.
The two had laughed when he had come in to find Alistair on the elliptical machine. But it gave him the chance to update his friend on his new romance and let Alistair know that he’d be gone for the day.
“No, we haven’t done anything yet.”
“Uh-oh. Are you losing your touch? It never takes you this long. Hey, Myron said you got tongue action on the first night. What’s happened?”
“Myron has a big mouth. And nothing’s happened. Maybe I just want to take it a little slower this time.”
“Uh, no,” Alistair said and laughed. “Maybe she does.”
“Okay, so she does. But I’m liking it this way, too.”
“That means you’ve been bitten by the love bug.”
Jeremy put down the forty-pound weight he was lifting and looked at his friend. “Maybe. Too soon to tell.”
Alistair raised his eyebrows. Maybe said a lot, at least for Jeremy.
Actually, Safire wasn’t turning out to be anything like her description—except that she was hot as hell. She’d probably been lying on her application like all the singles—height, age, weight. He chuckled to himself.
Only Safire didn’t have to lie. He was even more attracted to who she really was than to the racy profile she’d submitted. He was more intrigued by Safire herself. He could also tell that underneath her controlled demeanor there really was a fiery, sensual woman. He wanted her to come out and play.
He had to admit this much: had they simply gone to bed together the first night, he probably wouldn’t be spending all this time getting to know her. And he was enamored with what he had gotten to know. He could see her passion, but he had also gotten a taste of her wit and her smarts. He wanted more of her—not only under the sheets but also outside the sheets, and that was a rather new prospect for him.
Jeremy put on a short-sleeved white shirt and a pair of khaki slacks. Some socks and his boat moccasins and he was ready to go. He slipped his wallet into his back pocket, clipped his phone onto his belt, dropped his camera into his breast pocket and headed to the State Room to find Safire.
She was already at a table but hadn’t gone to the buffet as yet. She was pouring over a sheet of paper in front of her, and as he sat down she started chattering.
“Good morning. I’ve got it down to Coral World and Bluebeard’s Castle, but I think we can have lunch there, so we can save that for later.”
He could see her sheer pleasure over the prospects of the day.
“Should I have brought my swimsuit?” he asked.
“Oh. I didn’t bring mine, either. I thought we were shopping. Although you can swim at Coral World,” she said. “But then we’d have sand in our britches all day.”
Jeremy laughed out loud.
“Promise me,” he said, “that tomorrow, whatever else we do, we go to either Magen’s Bay or Frenchman’s Reef.”
“You know the island well, don’t you?”
“I have college friends from St. Thomas,” he said. “I’ve visited before. But I haven’t been to Coral World.”
“Perfect. We start at Coral World. We walk the aquarium, pet the fishes in the petting zoo and have our pictures taken with an iguana.”
Jeremy laughed.
“It goes with the picture of me kissing of the dolphin. Stop laughing.” She swatted at him playfully. “Anyway, then we go to Bluebeard’s Castle, and then we can shop till you drop. Sound good?”
“Sounds wonderful. But let’s get some breakfast so we don’t miss the safari.”
“I’m too excited. You go ahead.”
He took her arm and tugged her to the buffet. “Eat something. For me.”
They both had a light breakfast and caught a nine o’clock safari that would drop them off at Coral World and pick them up in two hours. He wrapped his arm around her for the safari ride and linked their fingers once they got to the aquarium.
He got shots of her petting the starfish and stingray and other sea creatures in the petting zoo. All he could think was that he wanted that hand on him. Then she took the camera from him.
“I’m not petting a stingray,” he said. “Do you know why they call it a stingray?”
She laughed. “I did it. Come on.”
