Page 6 of Cruising for Christmas
Ian confirmed there were no bars on his phone before shutting it off and zipping it inside his bag. Good riddance. The last thing he needed was to stare at his cell phone for the next week. He didn’t want to hear from Kelly again, but she wasn’t one to let things go. Despite them breaking up a week ago, she still texted regularly to explain why. It almost felt like she was trying to justify their split.
He glanced in the mirror, noticing the bags under his eyes from his lack of sleep over the last week. He didn’t miss Kelly, but some of her words rang in his head as a constant reminder that he didn’t want to settle down. Maybe he was meant to be alone forever. A woman wouldn’t want to travel constantly and never set down roots.
Ian let out a sigh and left the room, making his way down to the dining room. A host escorted him to the table where their group would have dinner every night at the same time. It was the only meal they ever planned together on these cruises. Their family had an attitude of everyone can do what they want. Which was great, in his opinion. It didn’t lock anyone down to do anything they didn’t enjoy. They all still invited each other to excursions that they booked or any plans made, and everyone had a no-pressure attitude about it. You joined if you wanted, or didn’t if you didn’t want to. It was the ideal family vacation.
His parents, Shay, Ryan, and Norah were already seated. Despite not planning to share a room with Norah, a little part of him was glad she was seated at the table, too. He would have been the only person without a partner there, otherwise… not that Norah was his partner. But at least he wasn’t the only single person.
Assuming she was, in fact, single.
“Ian,” his mom, Linda, said. She stood up and came around the table, wrapping her arms around him. His mom only came to his chin. She was a petite woman with dirty blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a squeeze.
“Hey, Mom.”
“It’s so good to see you.”
“You too.”
When they pulled apart, his dad, James, was right there. They gave each other a hug, clapping each other on the back.
“Hey, Ian. I’m glad you could make it.”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Ian said.
Ian sat down in the seat between Norah and his dad. He gave her a nod of hello, and she smiled shyly back at him before shifting her gaze away.
Norah wore a blue dress with white flowers all over it. Her chest was accentuated, pushing up, and with their height difference, he could see the valley between her full breasts. He pulled his gaze away from her chest and shifted in his seat.
The moment he saw Norah sitting on the bed in his stateroom, he was immediately drawn to her. How could he not? With her almond-shaped, deep brown eyes and brown hair that tumbled down her back, she was the picture of beauty. In any other situation, he may have tried to get to know her. But finding out that she was his roommate after he had just gone through a break-up and knew he needed his space ruined the moment for him. Especially when he realized she wasNorah. The Norah his sister used to bring up whenever he would talk to her. From his understanding, the two had been roommates throughout college and were still thick as thieves.
Sharing a bed with her would be hard. Not because the beds were small, but because he would have trouble keeping his hands to himself. He could imagine she would fit perfectly into his arms and up against his chest.
This would be a hard week. Hard in more than one sense of the word. He shifted again.
Who are you? Women should not be on the radar right now. What is all this talk?
He shook his head at himself and focused on what his mom was saying.
“Norah, we’re so happy you could join us. Shay said your parents canceled Christmas at the last minute?”
Norah blushed. “Yeah. My siblings wanted to spend Christmas with their in-laws and my parents were invited on a trip to Bali. I appreciate you all letting me crash your Christmas.”
His mom waved her hand in the air. “Oh nonsense. We are always happy to have you join us. The more the merrier.”
“Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to doing on the cruise?” James asked.
“Honestly, this was such a last-minute trip for me that I haven’t really thought about it. I’m just excited to get out of the cold.”
James chuckled. “That’s understandable.”
“It’s why we like to cruise for Christmas,” Linda said.
“I can definitely see the appeal,” Norah said. Her eyes flashed to Ian’s with a look he couldn’t decipher before focusing back on his parents as they continued to discuss the cruise.
He watched her for only a moment before the server came around with drinks. He didn’t know why, but the look in her eyes bugged him.
4
Norah glanced back at the bed as she went through her suitcase, attempting to find her toiletries. Ian was currently in the tiny bathroom. Questions tumbled through her thoughts. How was this going to work? Was one of them going to sleep on the floor? Clearly she would offer since she had hijacked his room. Or Shay had. If Norah had known what would happen, she would have opted to stay home. Never would she have put herself, or Ian, through this.
