Page 3 of Love Overboard
Lacey did the abandoning. He should be the standoffish one. Instead, his rowdy pulse could rival a high school marching band at a homecoming game.
“The dining room?” Jon followed as she strode purposefully away from him. “I was hoping to meet the chef before we sailed. You can introduce me.”
Might as well use Lacey to make inroads with the staff. He needed to win people over fast. Then they would let him in on the latest scuttlebutt.
Work.
That was the reason he was tagging along, not because of any residual feelings he still harbored for the beautiful hostess. Jon ignored the frustrated puff of air she blew from her nostrils and kept up a casual stream of conversation as he fell in beside her.
Lacey hurried, but so did Jon. The infuriating man from her past kept pace with her no matter how fast she walked. She bit her tongue to keep from shouting, “Go away already!”
“How have you been?” he said.
“You already asked me that.”
“Did I? Has the answer changed in the last two minutes?”
One thing hadn’t changed. He could still charm a fish out of the ocean and straight into his net. His presence filled the space around them as the hallway seemed to shrink. Lacey scanned the passage for an escape route, but reason reasserted itself. They were stuck together on this boat, and her contract had three months remaining before she could request a new station. Perhaps cruise ships appeared massive to the passengers, but they were claustrophobic to the employees who lived with each other day and night. Crew members might as well be attached at the hip.
Jon chatted, and Lacey grunted in response until they reached the elevators. The area was empty except for an older woman in white polyester slacks and a long-sleeved paisley blouse, carrying an ancient black handbag. She ran unsteady fingers over her disheveled mass of silver-gray curls.
“Mrs. Windsor?” Lacey stared at the short lady. There was the same floral print she’d spied underneath Walter’s arm as she’d fled down the hall. How had this frail woman beaten her here?
“Hello, Lacey.” The woman’s voice sounded a bit breathless as she greeted her. “So nice … to see you. And who … is this fine young man?”
“Jonathan King, ma’am.” He straightened tall and gave her a salute. “I’m the MSBuckingham’s new cruise director, at your service.”
“How wonderful.” The pocket-size woman with the poofy mop of hair beamed at him. “I’m Emily Windsor. Tell me, Jonathan—”
“Please, call me Jon.”
“And you must call me Emily. Tell me, Jon, are you married?”
“No, ma’am. Are you?”
“My wonderful husband, Bill, went to be with the Lord. He was a navy captain, and we had fifty-one years of traveling the world together.”
“You must have led an exciting life.”
“I did. But it wouldn’t have been half as much fun without Bill. Trust me, Jon, marriage is a risk worth taking.”
Lacey cleared her throat as she reached to press the call button. “It’s only fair to warn you, Jon. You’re speaking with the ship’s most notorious matchmaker. She lives on board year-round, and no one is safe from her machinations.”
“Machinations!” Emily placed her small, wrinkled hands over her chest. “You make love sound like a trip to the dentist, Lacey.”
“I think I’d prefer the dentist. At least they give you anesthesia.”
Emily’s lips pinched in a sad little line. “You can’t run forever, dear.”
“But I can try.” Lacey winked at her sweet stalker. “Have you taken your medicine today?”
“Oh, pish-tosh.” Emily flicked a wrist. “The bracing sea air is all the medicine I require.”
“Not according to the doctor.”
Emily focused her light-blue eyes on Jon, who was looking bemused and a little startled, and pointed a finger at Lacey. “Don’t let her gruff exterior fool you. This one will take care of everyone else before herself.”
He grinned. “I’m well aware of her softer side.”
