Pleasure Cruise (8 page)

Kira, apparently realizing her friend wasn’t being murdered, let down her guard. A quizzical grin came to her features as she glanced at Dominik and the long purple vibrator he held.

“Nice,” Kira said with a mischievous nod, pushing her lips together. “Is that how you say hello to all the girls, Cowboy? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt what you were doing. Had I known you were only playing, I wouldn’t have barged in like that. Please, by all means, carry on.” Kira winked at Clare. “I’ll just go. Looks like you’ll be having fun. I really should dig out my camera before I go, though. The people back at the office would pay big money to see the look on your face, Clare.”

Dominik grinned, Kira smirked and the pale man against the door chuckled. Clare thought she would surely faint. Glancing at Dominik, she saw him lift his hand. Instantly, she felt better, calmer, more relaxed. Her thinking cleared.

“Stop being crude, Kira. You know darned well you weren’t interrupting anything!” Clare said when she could finally speak. She was mortified beyond belief. “What has gotten into you?”

Clare frowned at the handsome intruder. Her eyes pleaded with Dominik for mercy. To her amazement, he seemed to understand her silent cry for help. He looked guilty as he switched the vibrator off and quickly placed it back into the drawer. The action came too late. Everyone had seen it. She wanted to die.

“Kira, tell this… this… idiot,” Clare’s words tapered off in frustration. She pointed at her tormentor. Dominik’s eyebrow rose in challenge at the insult. “Tell him that he’s in my room. Make him leave!”

Dryly, in a monotone voice that was very unconvincing, Kira said, “Idiot, you are in her room. Leave now.”

Clare glared at Kira in frustration, her body shaking with anger and something else she didn’t feel like analyzing at the moment. “Kira! You’re not helping! Please, I… Do you know what he did? He…”

Dominik’s oh-so-kissable lips curled with meaning, cutting off her words, no doubt daring her to say what happened—
all of it
. She swallowed nervously, panicking. There was no way she was going to tell anyone what he’d witnessed her doing. This was too much. She wanted to find a corner to curl up in until this all just went away.

The man from Kira’s room lounged against the doorframe, looking tousled and very relaxed. His gaze roamed freely over Kira’s backside. Kira was completely unconcerned with him but Clare was unnerved. Who was he, anyway? And why was he still standing there? It wasn’t like she needed more of an audience than she already had. Great, this little scene would probably be all over the cruise ship, and for the entire vacation they’d be referring to her as repressed vibrator girl. She could practically hear the snickering in her head. Tears tried to well in her eyes, but she blinked them back. Seeing them all looking at her expectantly, she frowned, nervous and shaking.

Kira stepped closer. “Clare, I think you’re overreacting. We’re all adults here.”

“No I’m not. If anything, you’re under-reacting! That’s always been your problem. Everything to you is a joke. You never take anything outside of work seriously.”

Kira looked at the floor, but said nothing. Clare instantly felt bad for yelling at her.

“He… He threw my bags out the window,” Clare said weakly, unable to look at Dominik’s dark eyes. She could feel him watching her, could sense his gaze roaming over her body with something akin to hot desire. “All my clothes are gone. Everything is gone. What am I supposed to do?”

Kira laughed, only stopping when Clare gave her a pitiful look. “Sorry,” Kira said, covering her smile with her hand. “Let us all take a moment to mourn the loss of your drab wardrobe. The very elegant T-shirt collection from the secondhand store will sorely be missed by all. It is a sad day, one that will no doubt go down in the history books. Quick, somebody start the funeral and we can all shed a few tears.”

“Kira,” Clare warned, near the end of her patience. Was she the only sane person in the room?

“I’m just saying.” Kira shook her head. “How you can wear a business suit all day at the office and then be seen in public in nothing but an old T-shirt is beyond me.”

“They are my after-work clothes. I like being comfortable when I’m not at the office and not all of my T-shirts are old. Oh, this whole thing is a mistake. I knew in my gut that I shouldn’t have come. I don’t know why I let you talk me into this. I should know better than to listen to your harebrained schemes,” Clare shot, frustrated. “This is just like last year when you tried to hire a stripper for my birthday present.”

Kira’s eyes widened before she burst out laughing. Clare paled and turned to look at Dominik.

“Oh, God! You’re a stripper, aren’t you? Great, my best friend in the whole world thinks she has to buy me sex. I really am pathetic, aren’t I? That’s why you stood there as though I should know who you are.”

“Clare, I didn’t hire anyone. I promised to never do that again and I haven’t.” Kira still grinned. In an obvious attempt to lighten the mood, she added, “Besides, it wasn’t my fault that country boy Bobby came complete with a mullet. How many times do I have to say I’m sorry for that? The company said it was a cowboy.”

“That’s it. I’m going home!” Clare delicately sniffed, as she tried to regain the tattered shreds of her dignity. She lifted her jaw into the air, and her body became rigid and full of purpose. “I’m not staying on this cruise a moment longer. You are all crazy!”

Kira’s face fell and she rushed forward. “Oh, Clare, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today. Please, reconsider. You’re already here and, unless you’re planning on swimming back to shore, you’re stuck. You don’t have to go. I’m sure the ship has a clothing store of some sort. We’ll go to the director and get this all straightened out, I promise. This is just a little inconvenience. Look at the bright side. We’ll probably score free margarita pitchers poolside. I saw these coconut monkey cups on special.”

“I don’t call having my room raided by a…” Again a manly brow rose and Clare paused in frustration. Every time she looked at him her body quaked with hot desire. It made it hard to concentrate. Her stomach leapt with longing.

Dominik shifted his weight and his gaze darkened. It was almost as if he knew what he did to her. He left her feeling vulnerable and exposed. She didn’t like it. She was used to holding her own, especially with men. The fact that Dominik melted her with just one heated look and a single syllable from his gorgeous mouth, made her very nervous. She didn’t have sexual impulses that made her want to jump just any cute man. That kind of thing she left to Kira. She shook her head in confusion, feeling helpless and very alone.

Weakly, Clare finished her thought, “I don’t consider having my personal belongings thrown overboard a fun time. My favorite shirt was in there and now I have nothing to wear but this stupid bedspread. I’m going home.”

“You can borrow something of mine,” Kira offered, “just until we can find that gift shop.”

“Your stuff won’t fit me. It barely fits you.”

Kira grinned. Only she would be proud of that fact.

“There is no need for that,” Dominik stated. His Russian accent slipped leisurely from his lips. He crossed over to a dresser, pulled open a drawer and lifted out a red silk dress. He carefully laid it on the bed, caressing it as if his fingers felt something far beyond just silk. His dark gaze looked directly into hers. “You can wear this.”

“I don’t like dresses!” Clare snarled, growling at him just to be difficult. She had a few dresses she wore to work but he didn’t need to know that. She tapped her foot like a spoiled child and pouted her lips. “Whose dress is it anyway? Is it yours? Oh, gawd, Kira, you didn’t hire a transvestite to show me a good time did you?”

Kira shook her head no, and Clare was slightly sorry about kicking her sarcasm into full force.

“You must wear it.” Dominik actually managed to look apologetic. “And you cannot go home. The ship is already far out to sea. Unless, like your friend has said, you would prefer to swim back to shore.”

Clare’s mouth opened, ready to lay into the handsome irritation. She lifted her finger on the beginning of a tirade. Dominik smiled, lifted his hand, and again she felt the warm and fuzzy calmness. The man seemed to exude it like a heavy perfume.

“Come on,” Kira said with a small laugh, before Clare could get a word out. She grabbed the man’s arm and pulled. “Dominik, why don’t you wait in my room with Cabin Boy, where you’ll be a little more welcome?”

“That is
my
room.” The sexy man, otherwise known as Kira’s latest male conquest, motioned behind him to Kira’s room. He frowned as Kira shot him an indignant look.

Kira rolled her eyes. Clare still stared at the red dress and didn’t move. Kira pushed both men through the door. It always amazed Clare how Kira could appear to take control of any situation. “Just go wait in there for now! We’ll just have to get this whole room mix-up taken care of at the ship orientation. It was a
welcome
mistake, but a mistake all the same. Oh, and you two, don’t do anything unless you take pictures.”

They looked shocked as Kira shut the door on them. Turning around, she dusted her hands for effect. “Oh my, he’s so incredibly hot. I would have
so
jumped his bones! Why in the world were you screaming like that, Clare?”

“You’re starting to babble.” Clare kept her words soft. She shivered. Her body ached, screamed at her in neglect and demanded an answer to the same question. She hated to admit it, but jumping the voyeuristic man hadn’t been far from her mind since first laying eyes on him. There was something about him—a feeling she couldn’t place. “You only babble when you’re nervous. My goodness, Kira, you actually like this guy, don’t you? Do you know him? Please tell me you know him, because that would make me feel a whole lot better.”

“Oh, Clare, don’t even think about starting with me,” Kira sighed.

“What?”

“I so know that look. You’re going to lecture me about Cabin Boy.”

“Kira, you really should be more careful with yourself,” Clare said. “I worry about you sometimes. You take too many risks. “

Kira refused to meet Clare’s eyes.

“So tell me about the new stud,” Clare said.

“Don’t know,” Kira said. “I didn’t get his name. I know, don’t say it. Apparently, we were assigned the same room by mistake. I just call him Cabin Boy. It’s a shame he’s not actually the cabin boy. I think these rooms should come with a complimentary man.”

“Kira, you didn’t really have sex with him did you?”

“Oh, honey, I most certainly did!” Kira groaned for effect, sitting and pulling her legs up to her stomach. “Gawd! Man, I wasn’t lying when I said I wish he was the cabin boy. I’d like to order him around for a long while. I’d insist that he be assigned to me for the week. I’d tie him to my bed and make him stay there the entire trip. I mean, you know me. I’m not one to exaggerate. I swear he was like,” Kira spread her hands wide, “like this thick and longer than any I’ve ever seen before and I’ve seen a hell of a lot of—”

Clare held up her hands, stopping her. “That’s great, Kira, but you’re starting to babble again. This one’s really gotten to you, huh? And you never answered me. Do you know him?”

“Okay, fine, if you’re not going to drop it, I’ll tell you. I know him. Well, I kind of know him. I… Uh, I can’t explain it. We met one evening outside the travel agency. He must have been buying tickets for the same cruise. Anyway, I dropped my briefcase, the Helderman file fell into a puddle, I panicked and must have looked all freaked out because he insisted on walking me home.”

“You let a man walk you home?” Clare asked. “A stranger? At night? Are you crazy? What if he’d been—?”

“Yeah, I know,” Kira rolled her eyes, but Clare could see her apprehension over the whole situation. “Anyway, he was very charming from what I can remember. The night is a little fuzzy. I’d been working eighty-hour weeks and was really tired, not to mention, Mr. Carter asked me to his office and we toasted the completion of the Brembridge deal. You know the man likes whiskey and I might have been a tad on the tipsy side. But even though I can’t remember everything we talked about word for word, I remember instantly connecting with him. I know what you’re thinking, and we didn’t have sex that night. We didn’t even catch each other’s names. It was like names didn’t matter. The conversation just flowed like we’d known each other forever.”