Page 11 of Cruising for Christmas
He had never been so attracted to a stranger in his life.
Norah had been avoiding the room, or so he suspected. She disappeared at first light and hadn’t come back. He didn’t see her in the dining hall for breakfast either, but suspected she had eaten and left before he even got up there. He wandered the ship afterward to check it out. Despite cruising yearly with his family, he liked to see what the ship had to offer.
And he definitely wasn’t wandering the ship to find Norah. Nope.
After exploring for thirty minutes, he headed to the pool. Their room was empty when he arrived and he dressed in a pair of swim trunks. He grabbed a psychological thriller from his backpack before heading to the pool deck. The deck was packed, as the weather was perfect. The sun beat down on him and he walked toward the adults-only pool. It was far less crowded and quiet. He grabbed a towel from the stacks of fresh towels on the far end of the pool before selecting a lounge chair and lying back with his book.
It had been an hour before his skin prickled, and he knew exactly why. She was here. He looked up, and there she was. Norah stood near the entrance to the adults-only pool wearing a sundress, and she was staring right at him. A current passed through him. He nodded at her when she waved, and he was about to wave her over when she turned and fled.
He watched in amusement as the woman ran out of there. Now heknewshe was avoiding him. He stayed in his lounge chair, attempting to read for another twenty minutes before giving up. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t focus now.
He gathered his things and deposited his towel in a bin before heading back toward the room. It was already nearing late afternoon, and they’d be having a group dinner soon. He needed to shower.
He swiped his keycard on their door, and it unlocked with a click. Before he could fully step inside, he gulped. Norah stood near her suitcase in nothing but a towel. A towel that was far too small.
God damn, he loved that towel.
Her dark hair laid straight against her back, and the towel… Damn. The towel ended just below her ass, leaving little to the imagination. If she moved slightly, he knew he would get an eyeful.
Please move.
He tore his eyes away from her ass, traveling up her body. The top wasn’t any better, as her full breasts almost spilled out. She was all woman with a body of a goddess. When he met her eyes, he finally realized he had been staring.
She stared like a deer in headlights with her eyes wide. It wasn’t until a commotion in the hallway and a wolf whistle had him throwing a glare at a teenage boy walking by before he shut the door behind him. And with all his effort, he tore his gaze from her and turned to face the wall.
“I’m sorry,” they both said at the same time.
He chuckled and cleared his throat, squeezing his eyes shut to avoid turning his head and drinking her in. “It’s all right. I need to shower, so I’ll just grab my stuff real quick and then the room is all yours for a few.”
Without turning around, he backed into the room until his bag was in sight. He grabbed his shower items before hurrying to the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
When it shut, he turned to face it and dropped his forehead against the steam-covered door. The room smelled like her, like warm apples on a fall day.
He groaned.
This would be the longest cruise of his life… and he knew it still wouldn’t be long enough.
6
After an extra long cold shower to calm himself down, Ian could compose himself enough to face Norah. By the time he came out of the bathroom, she was dressed with her makeup on, and she sat out on the balcony.
He let her know he was getting dressed and pulled the drapes closed before pulling on a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt.
He spritzed some cologne on his neck before opening the drapes and let her know he was done. Norah came inside with pink cheeks and her head bowed in embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry about earlier.”
He nearly groaned at the thought of a tiny towel being the only barrier between them, but shook the dirty thoughts right out of his head before they could get away from him.
“It’s all right. We’ll try to come up with a system in the future.”
“Probably a good idea,” she said. “Maybe we should put a sock on the door so the other person knows what we’re doing.”
He raised an eyebrow. “A sock?”
She nodded as they stepped out of their stateroom and made their way to the elevators. “Yeah, you know, as a signal. People in the dorms at school used to do it all the time. Shay told me it was a pretty universal sign people were in the room.”
He smiled. “While we’re at it, let’s add an upside-down pineapple.”
