Yasmin Y. Sullivan - Love on the High Seas

Actually, Safire wasn’t turning out to be anything like her description—except that she was hot as hell. She’d probably been lying on her application like all the singles—height, age, weight. He chuckled to himself.

Only Safire didn’t have to lie. He was even more attracted to who she really was than to the racy profile she’d submitted. He was more intrigued by Safire herself. He could also tell that underneath her controlled demeanor there really was a fiery, sensual woman. He wanted her to come out and play.

He had to admit this much: had they simply gone to bed together the first night, he probably wouldn’t be spending all this time getting to know her. And he was enamored with what he had gotten to know. He could see her passion, but he had also gotten a taste of her wit and her smarts. He wanted more of her—not only under the sheets but also outside the sheets, and that was a rather new prospect for him.

Jeremy put on a short-sleeved white shirt and a pair of khaki slacks. Some socks and his boat moccasins and he was ready to go. He slipped his wallet into his back pocket, clipped his phone onto his belt, dropped his camera into his breast pocket and headed to the State Room to find Safire.

She was already at a table but hadn’t gone to the buffet as yet. She was pouring over a sheet of paper in front of her, and as he sat down she started chattering.

“Good morning. I’ve got it down to Coral World and Bluebeard’s Castle, but I think we can have lunch there, so we can save that for later.”

He could see her sheer pleasure over the prospects of the day.

“Should I have brought my swimsuit?” he asked.

“Oh. I didn’t bring mine, either. I thought we were shopping. Although you can swim at Coral World,” she said. “But then we’d have sand in our britches all day.”

Jeremy laughed out loud.

“Promise me,” he said, “that tomorrow, whatever else we do, we go to either Magen’s Bay or Frenchman’s Reef.”

“You know the island well, don’t you?”

“I have college friends from St. Thomas,” he said. “I’ve visited before. But I haven’t been to Coral World.”

“Perfect. We start at Coral World. We walk the aquarium, pet the fishes in the petting zoo and have our pictures taken with an iguana.”

Jeremy laughed.

“It goes with the picture of me kissing of the dolphin. Stop laughing.” She swatted at him playfully. “Anyway, then we go to Bluebeard’s Castle, and then we can shop till you drop. Sound good?”

“Sounds wonderful. But let’s get some breakfast so we don’t miss the safari.”

“I’m too excited. You go ahead.”

He took her arm and tugged her to the buffet. “Eat something. For me.”

They both had a light breakfast and caught a nine o’clock safari that would drop them off at Coral World and pick them up in two hours. He wrapped his arm around her for the safari ride and linked their fingers once they got to the aquarium.

He got shots of her petting the starfish and stingray and other sea creatures in the petting zoo. All he could think was that he wanted that hand on him. Then she took the camera from him.

“I’m not petting a stingray,” he said. “Do you know why they call it a stingray?”

She laughed. “I did it. Come on.”

“You did, but apparently you don’t know why they call them stingrays.” He laughed. Nevertheless, he put his hand in the water and petted the animal so that she could capture the image.

“Now I just have to get you kissing a dolphin, and we’ll have matching images. Hey, how do I get these from you?”

“I’m sure there’s someplace on the ship where we can burn them onto a CD. We’ll check.”

They got another tourist to snap a photo of them in front of the iguanas and then headed down into the circular dome that led to the ocean floor. The top aquariums were self-contained, but the bottom wasn’t an aquarium at all; the glass opened onto the ocean floor and the animals of the reef.

He loved watching Safire’s reaction. He also loved having her hand in his or his arm around her.

She had on orange capris with a light orange sleeveless top that was made out of chiffon with a lining underneath. It billowed out at her hips and made her look ethereal. She had on strappy gold one-inch sandals to go with it. It was all simple, but it made her look simply stunning.

She had also started touching him back—nothing major, but without seeming to think about it, she put her hand to his chest when she pointed out the shark swimming in a huge circle around the aquarium tier. Every time she touched him, it sent a quiver through his body and puffed his ego up just a little bit more. If only she knew what she was doing to him. Later, she grabbed his shoulder and shook it when she realized that what she was seeing was an octopus.

“You just got that?” he teased.

She swatted at him. “Who knew they could curl up like that? Where’s the beak?”

“I think we’ll have to wait till they feed it.”

She checked her watch.

“We better go,” she said, “before we miss the safari.”

They got something of a tour of the island as they were taxied to Bluebeard’s Castle. Then they had a tour of the castle and ate at Room with a View Restaurant. It gave them a chance to sit down and relax and talk for a while.

“So what do you do?” she asked.

“I’m a radiologist. I like it, and it’s a good living. What about you?”

“I’m sure it is interesting. And you don’t have all the odd hours to contend with, right?”

“I’m on call every other week, but mostly it’s nine to five. It was one of the things that attracted me to the practice. I love work, but I like to have a life as well.”

“I’m a teacher. History. And the paper grading and class prep never end.” She chuckled. “But I like it.”

Jeremy could tell that there was more she was about to say, but she left it at that, so he let it go.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

“North Miami—born and raised. And you?”

“You’re from Miami and you’ve never been on a cruise before?”

“How did you know I haven’t been on a cruise?”

“You just seemed a bit awestruck the first day I saw you.”

She laughed at that. “I guess so. I was on a cruise with my family when I was little, but I don’t really remember it, so I guess this is my first. But what about you? Where are you from?”

“I’m in Miami now,” he said, “coming from D.C. I went to Howard University, but I got a good job offer in Miami when I was finished with school, so here I am. I’ve been in South Miami for a few years. Now I live in Richmond Heights. I like the city, and there’s stuff to do, so I don’t get bored.”

“Do you date a lot?”

“Ouch. Here come the real questions. I date a bit. I like to get out and have fun.”

“What does that mean—get out and have fun?” she asked.

“It means that I date, but that I haven’t found the right one as yet to make a serious commitment. I’m always open about that.” The worried look on her face told him that Safire wasn’t too pleased with his answer. “I’m hoping it might be you,” he added to temper the news.

“Have you been married before or serious? Do you have any children?”

“You don’t hold back, do you?” he said and chuckled. “I don’t have children, but I’d like to one day. I have not been married before. I dated a woman in college, but it didn’t work out. School took too much of my time, and she didn’t understand.”

Jeremy noticed that Safire was asking all the questions.

“I don’t want to be the only one under the microscope,” he said. “What about you? Do you date? Have you been married or serious? Children?”