Page 8 of Cruising for Christmas
“Exactly.”
The silence stretched between them as they continued to watch the fish. Despite being stressed about the living situation for the next week, she was able to sit in comfortable silence with him at that moment.
She looked over at him. “I’m sorry you got stuck with me. If I had known Shay was going to pull this, I wouldn’t have come.”
He sighed and gave her a tired smile. “Trust me when I say that it doesn’t surprise me she pulled this, and I in no way blame you. You were as much a victim as I.”
She giggled. “I’m honestly not that surprised either, but a heads up would have been nice.”
Ian gave her a small smile. “If I know Shay, she wanted you to come bad enough that that’s why she didn’t tell you. She knew you would back out.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s her excuse for you?”
He chuckled. “I’m pretty sure she didn’t care what I thought. I was just a casualty of all this.”
Norah laughed. “Well, regardless, I’m sorry you were put in this unfortunate situation.”
“It’ll work out.”
It’ll work out?She didn’t know what that meant, but she supposed there wasn’t much else he could say. They were stuck for the time being.
She stifled a yawn behind her hand and glanced back toward their room, which was still brightly lit. The single bed glared back at her. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but didn’t want to be the first to initiate it.
“Are you avoiding going to sleep because of this situation?” His voice had a touch of humor to it.
She giggled nervously. “Are you?”
“I am.”
Norah stood and motioned toward the door. “Let’s get this out of the way so we can move past it. And we’ll pull a nasty prank on Shay tomorrow as punishment.”
He laughed and stood, their bodies mere inches apart on the small balcony. She tipped her head back to look at him, her breath catching.
The man was beautiful. She couldn’t deny it. His dark hair ruffled in the breeze. His brown eyes looked especially dark at night on the balcony. The moon cast enough light to make out the chiseled lines of his jaw. But what Norah loved the most was the dimple in his chin. Without a thought, her thumb came up and pressed into the dimple.
His grunt of surprise shocked her back into the present and her eyes widened as she took a step back, her face flaming hot.
What is wrong with you, Norah?
She covered her face. “Oh my God. I swear I’m not normally this weird.”
He only chuckled and tilted his head toward their room. “Let’s go to sleep.”
* * *
Ian stepped insidefrom the balcony and took a deep, calming breath. His cock twitched at the unexpected touch from Norah, wanting to come alive to be relieved. He inwardly groaned and stepped into the small bathroom to calm himself down before she came inside.
He looked down at his half stub.
“What is wrong with you? We aren’t twelve,” he muttered. Ian clasped his hands on the edge of the small vanity and stared at himself in the mirror.
Damn. He was exhausted. After the last week of chaos with ending his relationship, he just wanted to sleep. The cruise was supposed to be his opportunity to relax and rest up before he had to figure out his next moves in life. He no longer needed to stay in the New York area now that they had broken up. He could keep traveling like he had always planned. But where? It had never been a question in the past. He’d just drive and see where he ended up. But now he was restless.
And horny, apparently.
It hadn’t been that long since he’d had sex. Sure, he and his ex had drifted apart and weren’t doing it on the regular anymore, but it still happened. He tried to think back to the last time.
And he couldn’t remember.
