Page 50 of Caribbean Crush

“Ooh la la, now I have to know. Actually, it’s funny. I saw you leave the observation lounge last night right alongside Phillip, and then it was the weirdest thing ... neither one of you reappeared the rest of the night! Coincidence?”

“Purely!”

I take a cue from Sienna and braid my hair off my face.

When I walk back into the living room, ready to go, I find Sienna wearing a gloating little smile. “You, my dear, aren’t fooling anyone. Spill the beans and spill them fast because we’re due down for this hike in five minutes, and I doubt you’ll chatter on about it in front of other people.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I say with a shrug.

She groans in agony. “Don’t be this way! I thought we were real mates.”

“We are,” I say, getting my phone and essentials so I can stow them in a little backpack. I grab a bottled water from the minifridge and turn to see that Sienna hasn’t dropped the issue, not even a little bit.

“Fine.”

I tell her everything—well, the CliffsNotes version of everything—in record time.

“He was that good?”

“Phenomenal.”

Her brows shoot up and her jaw drops. “Best you’ve ever had?”

I chew on my bottom lip before admitting, a little sadly, “Yes.”

“Blimey. I wasn’t sure he had it in him. Sometimes, the real handsome ones are so lazy about it, like they don’t even need to work all that hard. You-should-be-glad-to-be-with-them sort of thing.”

“No,” I chuckle, recalling a few of the highlights. “It wasn’t like that at all.”

“Well, well, well ... and so now?” Her eyes alight with the possibilities. “Are you going to meet up again today for another clandestine boning session?”

A laugh bursts out of me. “Now, nothing.”

“Nothing?”

I head for my door, and she’s forced to follow me, otherwise we’ll be late for this hike.

I shrug. “We agreed it was a one-night thing.”

She groans. “Ugh. And so? That was probably before you both realized how good it would be. What’s the harm in extending the tryst a little bit, you know, just finishing out the cruise?”

I wrinkle my nose. “Just seems complicated.”

“God, are you always this sensible?”

Am I sensible?

Or a coward?

To me, it feels like the safer option to leave last night in the past, especially after his email this morning. I wish I knew his motives. I can’t believe he didn’t include anything along with the attachment, no hint or clue as to how he’s feeling. I hope he’s not regretting last night.

I’d like to see him face to face this morning. That would help me understand where things stand between us. It’s wishful thinking that he’d join the hike—he’s a busy man—but I’m still slightly disappointed when we meet up with the group and I find he’s not among the dozen people ready and willing to trek through a forest.

Sienna’s disappointed, too, because Javier is not here either. She’s frowning as we load onto the bus that’s going to transport us from the cruise ship to the national park.

Javier has apparently signed up for a cooking class with Aurelia’s head chef.

“I invited him to join us, but he didn’t want to swap out his itinerary last minute. Said it would look unprofessional, like anyone would care.”

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