Page 5 of Finding Love on the High Seas

Rainey

I was waiting for Marsha at the railing, staring out at the land we were about to leave. This trip was going to be good; I tried to convince myself of that. I needed a break, and being stuck on a ship was going to force me to do just that. I had been working sixty-hour weeks for almost a year, and I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I took off more than one day in a row. Maybe two years ago—possibly three.

I did know that the last real vacation I took was when I was with Craig. We’d just gotten engaged, and we decided to take a pre-honeymoon. At least, that is what he called it. Now I called it a pre-breakup trip.

Four days into our Cancun trip, I came out of our cabana to find a scantily clad woman hanging all over him in our private pool. Not just her hands either; her mouth and other parts of her almost-naked body were pressing in all the wrong places, and he was sitting back and enjoying it.

He hadn’t seen me, but after ten seconds, I had seen enough. I quietly went back inside the cabana where I’d been napping and hastily packed my stuff. Just before I left, I glanced back outside to see her sitting on his lap, his hands cupping her butt, and that was all I needed to see. Twenty minutes after I’d first witnessed the scene, I was in a taxi and heading to the airport.

The tricky part of that breakup was that we worked together, or I thought that was going to be the tricky part. Craig never even called to apologize, and I learned two days after he was supposed to return that he had transferred to a different lab location. Fine by me!

I hadn’t been on a date since, and I had no urge to go on one anytime soon.

Marsha returned and handed me my long-awaited drink. “Ah,” I said on a sigh after taking a long, sweet sip.

“Just what you needed, huh?”

I laughed. “Yeah, just what I needed. After a few of these, I won’t care where I am. Thank you for forcing me to do this. I really needed it.”

She bumped shoulders with me. “You’re welcome. We are going to have a great time. I just know it.”

The ship's horn blew, and then someone spoke behind me. There was no mistaking what was said this time. I stared at the dock, watching it get farther away, and wondered if I jumped now, would I be rescued quickly? That fate might be better than being stuck on a boat with someone from high school.

I turned and wanted to melt to my knees. How was it possible for Zack Wheeler—high school heartthrob—to have gotten any more handsome? His hair was still dark, but a few lighter colors were blended in there now from age. He had a short beard and a smile that melted my knees. “That’s a name I never thought I would hear again.”

I almost laughed in his face as he spoke. How could I not remember him? He really was the heartthrob of our high school, and practically every month he had a new girl on his arm. Whoever that girl was, she was instantly the most popular—loved and hated—girl in school when she showed up by his side. I’d had some really off-the-wall fantasies about him picking me, and I’m pretty positive I wasn’t the only girl to have them.

“How are you, Rainbow?” Was he seriously right here talking to me with that handsome smile?

“It’s Rainey,notRainbow,” I managed to get out.

He apologized and blessed me with one of his award-winning smiles. I would have forgiven him anything at that moment—well, almost anything.

It wasn’t that he was handsome, as he had been gorgeous since the seventh grade. It wasn’t because he was athletic, although I wasn’t sure there was a sport he couldn’t excel at, and it wasn’t because he had been a bad boy. He never got in trouble or fights, as far as I knew. I’d also never seen him smoke or heard anyone say anything about him doing drugs. It was just because Zack was Zack.

“Being in the same school with you does not qualify us as going to school together.” Had he forgotten just how low down the totem pole I was compared to him and his buddies? I glanced over him quickly. Yeah, he was doing well for himself: expensive watch, designer swim trunks, name-brand sunglasses.

Marsha gave me an I-can’t-believe-you look as she laughed. “Yes, it does, Rainey.”

I was not doing this. I glanced over Zack’s shoulder as three more men approached us, and panic began to swell in my stomach. Now I remembered who the other guy was. Bobby McDade. He had been Zack’s best friend and his polar opposite. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Zack. I hope you enjoy your vacation.” I quickly spun around and gathered my strength to run away, hoping that I could do so gracefully, and the boat wouldn’t pitch and toss me overboard; the shore was much farther now.

When Bobby spoke, I rethought that. Maybe going over would be a better idea. We weren’tthatfar from land, and there were some small boats around that I could swim to.

I seriously wanted to climb over the railing when Zack appeared next to me. I could feel the heat of his body radiating off his arm, and he was several inches away. I had to get away from this man before saying something stupid, like pick me for once.

When I did try to go, he stopped me, and it was like he was branding me with his touch. The body heat I had felt moments ago was magnified now by a hundred times. Before I could stumble into his arms, I found my voice. “That was a time in my life that I’d like to forget.”

The moment he let me go, I rushed away, wishing the boat would rock and hide the shaking of my legs. My arm burned as if I’d been touched with hot coals, and I covered the area as I slipped around the corner. Luckily, I found the restroom right around that corner and hightailed it inside and behind a stall door.

Zack Wheeler had been a really nice guy. The ultimate boy next door from a wealthy family with beautiful and influential parents and two attractive siblings. Back in elementary school, his sister Valerie and I used to play on the playground together almost every day. However, once my nerdiness kicked in around sixth grade, she moved on to hang with the more popular kids. I didn’t blame them for being popular. The entire family was loved and envied by the community.

Because he was so lovely, and his family was incredibly fantastic, that put him in a league above me by staggering amounts. My single mother cared for me around her hours at the diner. As I got older, she started working two jobs. She was determined that I get a college education and make something of myself—a chance she never had because she got pregnant with me at seventeen.

As soon as I was old enough, I got a job and saved every penny I could. Since I only had a couple of friends, I didn’t do much other than study. Once in a while, I’d see a movie or get ice cream, but other than that, my money stayed in the bank.

I did pay for bus fare, but that wasn’t a frivolous spend. That was a necessity. With my mom working two jobs, and no car available, the bus and my feet were my only transportation, but I didn't mind. I wasn’t even interested in buying a car until I was a junior in college and was required to drive to an internship off the beaten path.

My first car had cost me two grand. It had lasted me almost eight years. By the time it died an ugly death, I was making almost six figures. I looked long and hard and finally chose one that was reliable, safe, and a little elegant.

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