Page 5 of Cruising for Christmas
As soon as the mandatory safety meeting was over, she grabbed Shay’s arm and booked it to the lobby to ask about getting a room of a guest who didn’t make it onto the ship or, at the very least, to separate the bed.
The lady in front of them typed away on her keyboard as Norah glanced around. She had never been on a cruise before, and she was shocked how much it resembled an actual hotel. Aside from the gentle rocking motion that she could only feel due to the slight seasickness, she would have never guessed they were on a ship.
“You know, this is pretty crazy, but we don’t have any free rooms. Even our suites are fully booked,” the lady behind the desk said.
Norah stared at her. “So there’s no chance of getting a separate room?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“How about separating the beds? Don’t they normally come with two twin beds that get pushed together to form a king?” Shay asked.
The lady typed and then smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry. It looks like your room is one that isn’t convertible.”
“How about my room?” Shay asked and gave the lady her room number. Then she looked at Norah. “Maybe we could trade.”
“I’m sorry. Yours isn’t either.”
Norah sighed. “Is there a chance we could trade with someone else on the ship?”
“I’m sorry, but once rooms are assigned, we don’t disrupt other passengers since this wasn’t a booking error on our end.”
Norah glared at Shay before smiling politely at the woman. “Thank you for trying. We appreciate it.”
Then she grabbed Shay by the wrist and turned to find Ian standing behind them.
“I’m guessing we’re stuck together?” he asked.
Norah recoiled at his choice of words despite knowing it was true. They were stuck together, and he had every reason to be upset about it. If not more of a reason, since it was his room that was hijacked unbeknownst to him.
Shay smiled brightly at them. “Hey! Think of this as a great time to get to know one another. Norah is my best friend, and Ian is my big brother. It would be awesome if you guys became friends too. And I can vouch for the both of you, so there’s no reason to be upset. You’ll barely be in the room together.”
Norah shouldered her heavy purse, wishing desperately she could ditch it in the room without the awkwardness, but she was going to avoid going in there at all costs…
Except to sleep, which was necessary.
* * *
Ian watchedas Shay dragged Norah away to go back to the rooms and change before dinner. Despite being ticked at Shay for getting them into this situation, he couldn’t help letting his eyes wander down Norah’s body as they walked away. Her black leggings clung to her body and the T-shirt she wore was less than flattering, but she still looked adorable as hell.
Especially more-so since she was flustered to all hell.
At least if he had to share a room with someone, he was glad it wasn’t someone who looked to be enjoying the situation. No, he didn’t want her to be miserable about it, but knowing that Norah was just as uncomfortable with the idea as he was made it a little more bearable. At least she wouldn’t be attempting to get into his face on this trip.
It was nearing their dinner time in the dining room. He followed Shay and Norah slowly, giving them time to get ahead so Norah could get her things together for dinner. Their luggage should have been delivered to their room by now.
The two of them got onto the elevator and he hung back, checking out the different shops in what the ship described as the mall. He paced around, window shopping for five minutes, before heading to the elevator bank. Once he got back to the room, he hesitated before swiping his keycard to unlock the door. What if she was changing?
He knocked, feeling silly. This was his room, after all. It wasn’t Norah’s fault that Shay put her into this situation with him, but it certainly wasn’t his fault, either. When he didn’t hear anything, he used his key to unlock the door and stepped inside. The room was empty, but her suitcase had been moved to the far side of the room from where the crew would have put them when delivering the luggage. A few of her items sat in a neat pile on top of it, but she was nowhere to be found.
He picked up his suitcase and dropped it on top of the bed, unzipping it and pulling out a pair of tan slacks and a button-up shirt to wear to dinner. While the cruise didn’t require fancy clothing for dinner, they did recommend wearing something semi-formal. He changed quickly in case she came back, and then pulled out his deodorant, swiping it under his arms to refresh before spritzing some cologne on his neck. Taking his cell phone out of his pocket, he looked over the last text he had received from his now ex-girlfriend, Kelly.
You are too busy and involved in your own life for me. I need someone who can settle down.
His response had only been to write,got it. He hadn’t cared enough to say more beyond that. The two of them had hashed out their relationship the week before he flew to Florida. It ended in an argument about how he couldn’t be bothered to settle down in New York with her. She wanted to get married and start a family, but despite being thirty-years-old, he didn’t want that. He wasn’t ready to be a husband and father. He had the urge to keep traveling. Perhaps it was because she wasn’t right for him, but she wasn’t willing to accept he wasn’t ready. So their relationship had come to an end.
Shay didn’t know about his girlfriend or that she was supposed to come on the cruise with them. His sister was seven years younger than him, so they had never been close. She was only eleven when he had moved away. Sure, he saw her at their once-a-year family gathering, usually for Christmas. It wasn’t that he tried to avoid his family, but they all had their own lives and didn’t make it a priority to get together frequently.
Kelly had canceled her ticket on the cruise as soon as they split, which had been for the best. Obviously, they didn’t want to spend their Christmas together sharing a room. But that was why his room had one large bed. They had booked it that way, and Shay couldn’t have known there wasn’t a way to split the beds when she added Norah to the room. It actually hadn’t surprised him that Shay did it. She had always been impulsive without thinking about the repercussions. He shook his head.
