Page 21 of Cruising for Christmas
“I work in HR for a small grocery store. How about you?”
“Finance.”
She took a sip of her vodka cranberry that the server dropped off. “I feel like I should know this since you’d think Shay would have told me, but I don’t really know anything about you. Where do you live?”
He laughed. “Shay hasn’t told me much about you, either. I’m currently in New York, but I travel around. Working remotely with my job has made it so I don’t have too many roots in any one city. I’m still trying to find a place to settle down.”
Before she could respond, the cruise director stepped up onto the stage. “How do you all feel about games?”
The crowd cheered. Norah glanced over at Ian, who took a sip of his drink and gave her a small smile.
“We are going to do a contest for an all-expense-paid voucher to Costa’s, our exclusive Italian restaurant on board. Now, Costa’s currently is sold out for reservations for the rest of the cruise, but we have a special dining opportunity for a four-course meal for the lucky winner of this voucher and a guest of their choice. What do you think of that?”
The volume of the crowd increased drastically. Norah looked around. Most of the people there were around her age, but there were older people there as well. Everyone seemed fairly drunk, as it was an all-inclusive cruise except for the fancier restaurants on board, such as Costa’s.
“Now, I’m sorry ladies, but this contest is for the men. The ladies will have an opportunity to win a voucher later in the evening. But for now, men, if you feel you are up for a challenge, come up on stage.”
Several men stood up and walked forward immediately. A few more trailed behind after the encouragement of their significant other. Norah looked at Ian and raised an eyebrow in question.
He shrugged and downed the rest of his drink before making his way to the stage. Norah cupped her hands around her mouth and cheered. He looked back at her and gave her a wink. The men all stood on stage and huddled around the announcer as he told them what they’d be doing. A few men shook their heads and made their way off the stage.
Ian looked over the group and caught her eye, a mischievous smile coming across his face. She gave him a questioning look, but he only smiled brighter. When a server walked by, she flagged her down and ordered another vodka cranberry before putting her focus back on the stage.
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, these contestants are going to work for this voucher.” He held it in the air and waved it around. The crowd cheered. “We are going to kick on our music, and these men are going to dance for you. Then you are going to vote, and the top three will compete in another round to win this prize. Are we ready?”
The crowd screamed a little louder, mainly from the women in the audience. Norah snorted and took a big gulp of her freshly made drink the server had set down in front of her. She then ordered another drink for herself and one for Ian, since she suspected he would need it when he got off the stage.
The music blasted through the speakers and the men all danced on stage. There was a man doing the sprinkler, another swaying his hips, one doing some sort of Latin dance that didn’t go with the song at all, one dancing goofily, clearly attempting to get the crowd’s vote by his antics, one breakdancing, and several more that could dance to a beat fairly decently. Then there was Ian. He rolled his hips in time with the music, doing several body rolls as the girls near the stage cheered and attempted to grab his legs when he got close.
Good. God.
Norah picked up her drink and drained it before shoving the glass aside and taking a large gulp of her third one. Alcohol coursed through her veins, and at this pace, she would be wasted before the final round.
Several of the men knew how to dance, but Ian. Damn. Ian coulddance.
The music stopped, and the announcer came back onto the stage.
“We have some great competition up here, am I right?” The crowd screamed in response. “Alright, I’m going to go around to each contestant and be sure to cheer for the one you like the most.” He made his way across the stage and the crowd cheered, but when he got to Ian, contestant number nine, Norah screamed with the crowd. She couldn’t be sure, but she couldn’t imagine Ian hadn’t received the loudest cheers.
“The crowd has spoken, contestants two, six, and nine are moving on to the final round.”
Norah clapped wildly. Ian caught her eye and sent her a wink, and she couldn’t help but blush and cheer louder.
Once the stage cleared and only the final three remained, the announcer paced. “Contestants, head this way to meet the lovely Kendra behind the stage, and she’ll get you ready for the next round.” Ian disappeared behind the stage with the other two contestants.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer continued. “For this final round, we are going to dig into the Christmas season and have our contestants access their inner Santa Claus. Our contestants are currently putting on Santa suits and will come out here and try to woo our audience. The person who gets the most cheers will win a free dinner at Costa’s for them and a person of their choosing. Are you ready?”
Norah snorted and clapped along with the crowd. This ought to be good. She couldn’t picture Ian in a Santa suit, but as the contestants came onto the stage, Norah’s mouth dropped open.
Ian wore baggy Santa pants and a Santa jacket, but there was no shirt beneath it. His rock-hard abs were on display for all. A floppy red hat sat on his head, but he somehow made it look like the hottest thing a guy could wear.
The other two contestants wore similar outfits. One chose not to take his shirt off and donned a full Santa suit, while the other was dressed similar to Ian, but with a lot less definition to his chest.
The music started, and when the men began dancing, Norah’s eyes zeroed in on Ian. He hopped off the stage and snagged an empty chair from a nearby table before stepping back onto the stage and doing a dance Norah would have expected to find in a strip club. His hips rolled, and when his eyes caught hers, he gave the sexiest smirk she had ever seen.
As if there was a woman sitting in the chair, he ground down. Her face flamed, immediately picturing herself beneath him. His bare chest would be in her face… she’d lean forward and swipe her tongue along his abs…
Dear God.
