Page 22 of Examining Ella

Good, she thought. Maybe I’ll forget all about Little Miss Priss over there hitting on my man.

Bryan came back carrying the punch. “Oh. I see you already grabbed a beverage.”

Ella downed the last of the sparkling liquid and grinned. “Might have another, too,” she said. “But thanks for the punch. Is it spiked?”

“No.”

“Too bad. I need something harder,” she said.

He studied her for a moment. “Ella, honey, are you okay?”

“Sure am,” she said. She fanned herself with her hand. “Whew. Is it hot in here?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “They actually keep this ship pretty cold. Are you feeling warm, though?”

“I just worked up a sweat dancing, I think. I’m ready to get back out there if you are,” she said. She looked past him to where the woman was chatting with a group of friends a few feet away. Damn. That woman was sexy.

“I just need one more drink to cool down.”

“What about the punch?” Bryan asked. “It’s got ice chunks in it.”

But it was too late. Ella had already grabbed another glass of champagne from a wandering server. She downed it in less than half a minute.

Miss Priss was closing in on them. Of course, Ella didn’t know if the woman was actually walking back toward Bryan or just happened to be heading that way. But she wasn’t going to give her a chance to cut in. She grabbed his arm and said, “Let’s dance!”

She was only vaguely aware that she’d said that louder than she’d intended to.

And she wasn’t at all aware of her clumsy movements and awkward dancing.

If you could label what she was doing as dancing.

“Ella, honey, I think you need to—”

She never heard the rest of Bryan’s suggestion. Because the room was spinning now. She was so hot she felt as if she were twirling in a furnace.

She started to fall but was unconscious before she even landed in Bryan’s arms.

Chapter Fourteen

“I pass out a lot,” Ella said with a groan.

She was speaking to herself. Only a moment later did she become aware that Bryan was standing over her. She realized she wasn’t in her own cabin, either.

“The good news is this time it wasn’t from anxiety,” he said. “The bad news is you were three sheets to the wind. And that’s the proper medical term.”

She laughed. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt. She’d expected to have a headache, but thankfully, it was so far absent. She sat up. “I’m in your cabin.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I kept to myself and didn’t do anything weird.”

“I know you wouldn’t be creepy.” She looked around. “Your cabin’s a lot bigger than mine.”

“I’m a doctor,” he said with a shrug.

“Hey!” She laughed as she tossed a pillow at him.

Once the playful banter had died down, Bryan said, “Do you want to talk about why you chugged champagne last night?”

“Because we’re on a cruise and I was in the mood for some fun,” she lied.

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