Page 2 of Unchartered Curves

I could hear Camille and Randy a little, but not enough to make out what they were saying – or doing.

I sprawled on the bed, happy to be here after the trip down and all the months of planning while finishing my degree.

After a moment, I quickly unpacked and changed to shorts and a bright blue t-shirt, with sandals. I’d sprung for a mani pedi so I wouldn’t look too out of it here. It was the first time I’d done that since I was a teen with my friends at the mall, and it had been hard to keep my ticklish feet still.

As I admired the pearl blue polish on my toes, I heard a squeal next door and wondered if they were already using the tickler. Or the handcuffs.

Time to leave this cabin and explore.

***

I didn’t need to use the ship’s app much as I walked up to the Stellar Sky Lounge.

“Here, miss,” a waiter handed me a champagne flute. “We’re setting sail.”

I hurried to the rail, realizing just how high up I was, and waved at the people on the beach, waving at us.

“Anisa?”

I turned, and saw Duane and Gill next to me, looking hot in t-shirts and shorts. Yes, I was a long way from the university here, I thought, as I smiled and toasted their champagne flutes with my own.

“How great to see you both. What are we toasting?”

Duane laughed again, that warm laugh that attracted my attention on the dock.“Well, we were toasting adventure.”

“Perfect,” I said. “Here’s to an adventure.”

Chapter two

Duane

I’m glad Gill made me stop looking at my notes for our next book on my phone. Receptions like this aren’t usually my thing,

“Duane,” he’d said. “Next you’ll be reviewing your syllabi for your fall courses.”

“To adventure,” I said now, as I clinked my glass with the woman who’d intrigued me with her wit and kindness when she’d been in my course a couple years before. She still smiled and said hello and asked how I was whenever we crossed paths.

“What brings you to the Infinity Voyager?” Gill asked.

“Well,” she said, taking a sip of the champagne. “I’m celebrating finishing my MBA.”

“Congratulations!” I said, clinking my glass with hers again.

“I’m on my own,” she said, answering the question I was thinking. “My ex was supposed to come with me, but happily he took himself off in November. So I’ve had time to get used to this idea.”

What an idiot, I thought. Of course, my ex-wife, Marisa, was also a terrific woman. She fell for one of her co-workers, though we were all friendly now, and I liked visiting her preschool-aged twins, Ethan and Stephen. I was even Godfather for one of them.

“Good choice,” Gill said. “I’m sure you’ll have a terrific time.”

“Have you guys been on here before?”

I glanced at Gill, wondering if she meant that we were together.

“We have done a few cruises with dates before, and Duane went on one with his ex-wife, right?”

I didn’t mind so much that Gill was bringing up my ex. I think he meant to let her know that he and I weren’t a couple.

My mind went back over the discussion we’d had off and on during our drive down here. We were brainstorming the next in our thriller series. Those books made us both rich, but the effort to keep up with the promotion and keep up full teaching schedules was taking its toll on both of us. This trip was supposed to give us a break and help us figure out what we wanted to do next.

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