Page 53 of His Secret Gift

I hold up the absurd cleaning instrument in my hand. “Oh, I don’t know. This?”

He’s holding a clipboard and tries to act like he’s reading something off it. “He just wants the ship to look nice for when we dock. You know, in case any famous or otherwise noteworthy guests want to come aboard.”

When he walks away, I snap my head toward Callie. “Does that happen?”

“I think it has. You know, wealthy people like to show off to others with money just how rich they are. So, with all of us staying in hotels on land, our rooms are open and available.”

“Oh.” I didn’t realize that.

Then, her eyes get even bigger than usual. “You know what? I just remembered this. One night, when we were in Italy, Kim Rossi Stuart stayed in my cabin.”

I drop everything in my hands. “You’re kidding?”

She gives me a curious look. “You know who that is?”

“Of course!The Cave of the Golden Rosewas one of me and my brother’s favorite movies growing up.” The copy Collin and I had was in Italian, so I didn’t even really understand what was going on until he was old enough to read the English subtitles out to me. Then, of course, as I aged, I also learned how to read them myself.

But even when the actor’s words sounded like a bunch of beautiful gibberish, I still just liked the imagery.

“Huh?”

One side of my mouth pinches down. “You’ve never heard of it? It’s also calledFantagjirò.”

She shakes her head. “Nope.”

“Then, how doyouknow who he is?”

“One of the other stewards told me. So, I looked him up… and holy hell is he gorgeous.” Callie looks around before admitting, “I didn’t even wash my pillow after we got on board.”

I lightly shover her shoulder. “Ew!”

“What? Like you wouldn’t do the same exact thing.”

“No, I would not.” I’m totally lying. “It’s really funny you should bring him up though. The last I heard, they were considering him to play Issy in the movie adaptation of‘Til the War Starts.”

Her jaw drops. “You’re kidding me. How random.”

“I know. But wouldn’t he be perfect?” I ask.

“Oh, my god. Yes! With those cheekbones and smoldering blue eyes.”

My body tenses up, and my mouth feels dry just thinking about it—especially with the long blond hair they’d have to put on him.

We continue to gush until Captain Bryant walks by.

“Everything okay in here, girls?”

“Yep!”

“Just fine,” Callie adds with a smile.

“Okay. Because I thought I heard a bunch of chattering.”

After exchanging looks, I say, “We can still scrub while talking, sir.”

“Hm. I suppose so. Just make sure that scrubbing is the main goal. I want this place spick and span by the time we get to Morocco.”

“Yes, sir,” we say in tandem.

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