Page 16 of Eat Your Heart Out
My skin burned a little as I tilted my head. Honestly, I was jumping at a job, and I wasn’t sure about anything that might happen next. I needed to start looking out for myself. “I should probably meet him. How many staff members are you bringing?”
“The captain commands a crew of about thirty, I think. He’s in charge of staff numbers.”
“Wait.” My stomach tightened. I was probably the only new woman, as I figured staff tended to stick together. Gerard had been a gentleman so far, so I trusted him enough to take the job in spite of that. “And me?”
“No.” He shifted in his seat slightly. “I’d like for you to consider coming as my guest.”
Adrenaline rushed through me. I shook my head. “No, that’s not right. We aren’t a couple.”
He blushed. “No, but we can be friends.”
I closed my eyes. John hadn’t exactly even been a friend—more like a companion to avoid—but I’d made one mistake after another. I tensed. I wasn’t sure what I would do if I took another job. “Friends don’t use each other. I learned that lesson the hard way.”
He put his hands on the table and folded them. “Well, I’d like for you to consider coming as my paid companion, so you’d be around me more, there to play cards or talk to and pass the time. That way, the chef gets his choice of a steward, and you don’t serve with the crew, and we’re all happy.”
In a movie I liked, a young woman traveled the world with an older woman until she met the man she wanted to marry in Monte Carlo. Then they dealt with the ghosts of his past, which of course, Gerard didn’t have. I nodded. “Companion… okay, I can do that job.”
“And write the blog.”
I let out a small snort. Then I straightened in my seat, as that wasn’t polite, and mirrored his body language. “Do people make a living at being food critics, or is that a made-up-for-TV type career?”
“They do.”
That sounded like a fun job.Wearing some black skirt and white shirt, like I saw some lady in a movie or show do, I’d take a bite of food then analyze the flavor while the chefs all shook in their seats.I let out a giggle at the silly thought. “Then I’ll practice with the blog, and maybe that will build my resume.”
He held up his hand and took out his phone. “Let me show you my site.”
My gaze zeroed in on his millions of subscribers in the right-hand corner then moved up to the top and latest review of the Burger Shack with an introduction to an upcoming blogger who focused on local fare. I clicked and saw almost a million people had read it. “Holy fuck, you have a lot of followers.”
He nodded then pointed to theAbout Mesection. “We’ll have to create a profile for you, so when we’re on the ship, we’ll take your picture.”
I clicked his and saw he had an avatar. “I take horrible ones, so I want one like yours.”
He pushed his chair back. “I doubt that. Are you ready to say goodbye to everyone and board?”
I left my napkin and nodded. “Sure, let’s go.”
We stood, and I sucked on my lip. I wondered what it would be like to kiss him or be in his arms. His touch set me off. I knew it was an impossibility, but I was starting to like him.
