Page 30 of It Had to be You

She turned and started to walk away, only to stop when he called out to her. "Yes?"

Alexander looked her straight in the eye. "I had worries that I’d come on this cruise and it wouldn’t work for me. That first night when Blair was ducking out on dinner to answer her phone, I was seriously thinking about going home, but then I met Tatum in the kitchen. We had a whole conversation, and I didn’t even know her name. Thank you for everything so far. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the cruise goes."

"I’m glad you gave yourself this chance. Now, go and get ready for dinner. I’ll see you there."

Getting ready for dinner hadn’t been that big of a thing on board. The first night of the introductions, Tatum had dressed up to help Martina with errands or things that might pop up, but this was different.

Tonight, instead of being a member of the staff, she was having dinner with Alexander Wen.

So much had changed in a little bit of time.

And she hoped that it kept changing.

Ending her professional dancing career was a difficult choice, but she was getting tired of the things that hadn’t bothered her much at the beginning. She wanted to change where her life was going. And leaving the stress of ballroom competitions behind her was the best first step she could think of.

It had been a perfect storm when she’d bumped into Martina again. They’d known each other for years and yet there hadn’t been much of a chance for them to spend much more than a lunch together here and there.

The opportunity to jump on a cruise ship and see the sights with a few hours of work a day had been the kind of offer that had her holding out her arm and asking Martina to pinch her.

Just the memory had her rubbing her hand over her arm.

She didn’t have to worry about twisting up her sleeve since she’d gone with a sleeveless dress in a deep garnet color. It wasn’t an attention-grabbing color, but it complimented her coloring and that made it perfect.

There was one person who she wanted to impress, and she hoped this dress would be just the thing. The alarm on her phone beeped and she pressed one hand over her heart to keep it from leaping out of her chest.

She could tell herself that she was fine, but obviously she wasn’t as composed as she thought she was. Dropping her key into her purse, she took one last look in the mirror and left her room.

Dinner was a delight.

The salmon was a big favorite at their table, but Tatum had quietly admitted to Alexander that the meal, after theirafternoon of spices, seemed to be missing something. Alexander had leaned in close, his hand smoothing along her forearm. "Are you saying you want to stop into the kitchen later and see what the chef has made for you?"

She heard the laughter in his voice and added in her own. "How did you know?"

He grinned and got up from the table, laid his napkin beside his plate, and took hold of the back of her chair.

If his gentle touch hadn’t been enough to warm her heart, holding her chair and helping her stand up from the table made her warm from her head to her toes. He offered her his arm and when she set her hand on his sleeve, he covered it with his own.

As they walked through the dining room, heads turned to watch.

Tatum leaned against his shoulder, whispering under her breath. "I bet they’re all wondering how I managed to steal you away from Blair."

"They’re wondering," he whispered back, "how I was lucky enough to have you agree to dinner with me. Now, relax and we’ll go see your friend."

They both pushed on the kitchen door and stepped inside.

"Ah, there she is!"

The chef quickly moved around the counter and gestured to the table. "Come, sit. I have prepared

something special for you."

Both Alexander and the chef had a moment of confusion as both of them tried to hold out her chair. Sitting down she lifted a hand to touch the back of it to her forehead as she sighed dramatically. "No, no! Don’t fight over me!"

The chef took hold of the hand and placed a light kiss on her knuckles. "We’ll be fine," he assured her, "as long as he understands that I cooked for you first."

Alexander shrugged. "I haven’t cooked for her, so I guess you win on that count."

The chef shook his head. "Never admit defeat, sir. Not when a beautiful woman’s heart is at stake."

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