Page 3 of Faking It at Sea

That was this guy to a T, right before I waltzed up in my gin-fueled confidence and crashed his conversation.

2

SUTTON

“There you are.” The unfamiliar feminine voice tickled the fine hairs along the back of my neck, and I turned away from the self-absorbed redhead seated across from me to find myself in the presence of an angel.

“Hey.” I smiled back at her, trying not to show just how grateful I was for the interruption. Which meant I probably came off looking more like a feral dog baring his teeth.

Her responding smirk was a thing of beauty. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” She dropped me a wink. “Where’s my drink?” Her gaze dipped to the table like she expected to find a fresh cocktail waiting for her.

“I was just headed to the bar to order it,” I replied.

Had I ever set eyes on the knockout brunette before in my life? No. If I had, the memory of her devilish lips and her cock-stirring curves would have been seared into my brain.

But I also would have taken just about any decent escape hatch at that point.

“It was great to meet you...” I stood and offered the woman I’d been listening to—I think her name was Amber, or maybe it was Amanda—an apologetic shrug.

“Avril,” she said with an irritated huff. “Like the singer.”

“Of course. It was great to meet you, Avril.” A bald-faced lie.

I’d been sitting at the table by myself, minding my business on the sidelines just in case my buddy Brandon needed a wingman, when she’d plopped down across from me and started droning on about herself. And she kept on talking for the better part of ten minutes. After a brief introduction where I barely managed to get my name out, there was no conversation. No back and forth.

The woman only paused her narcissistic preening long enough to take a breath.

I’d been seriously considering feigning seasickness just to get away from her before this peach-clad goddess swooped in to save me.

Avril’s lips twisted down in a frown. “Maybe we can pick this up later?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Pretty in Peach beat me to it. “We have dinner plans later.”

Avril shot her a glare that might have been intimidating in grade school, but the bold woman in front of me wasn’t the least bit phased. “Tomorrow then?”

“Shore excursion,” the stunning stranger replied without missing a beat. Her golden-brown eyes raked down the length of me before gliding back up to meet my gaze. “This big guy promised to take me on an ATV ride I would never forget.”

Did I now?From the look of her, I wouldn’t have pegged her as the type to enjoy getting windblown and covered in dirt and sand.

Avril huffed out a breath and stood, snatching her glass off the table. “Whatever.” Then she sauntered off to find her next target.

The other woman arched a brow at me. “You’re welcome.”

I glanced between her and Avril’s retreating back. “Did you come over here just to save me?”

“You looked like you needed an out.”

“That obvious, huh?” I knew this cruise was going to be a rough trip when I’d agreed to it, but when it came to Brandon, I would do anything for the guy. Especially since he’d come back from a brutal deployment overseas a couple of months earlier.

“Painfully so.” She offered me a sympathetic smile.

“In that case, how about you let me buy you that drink for real?”

She glanced toward the bar. “You do know they’re free, right?”

“Then I’ll buy you two,” I teased.

She let out a sweet laugh. It was just two quick puffs of breath, but the sound shot straight to my cock. “What if I don’t make a habit of drinking with strangers?”

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