Page 17 of Total Ship Show

“It’s not that I don’t want them. I mean eventually, sure. When I find the right person. I just haven’t given the whole dating scene much of my time recently.”

“I take it your brothers don’t live close to you.”

“No.” He smiles and there’s that dimple again. “I live in Seattle. My brothers are doctors in Boston. My parents are in Philadelphia.”

My eyes grow huge. “Wow. That’s quite a space between you then.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so your family thinks you have a serious girlfriend whom they’ve never met.”

He nods. “Correct.”

“So, your parents gifted this cruise so they could all meet the new girl and spend the week together.”

“Correct.”

“Alright.” I nod, thinking things through, tapping my fingers on the table. “Sooo if I do this…ifwedo this…you would still be willing to be my fiancé in front of my friends?”

He smiles appreciatively. “I would owe you big time, so yes. Anything you need.”

“So, we would just have to juggle two parties of people throughout the week.”

He thinks on that for a second and then nods. “Yeah, I guess so.”

I wipe my mouth with my napkin trying to make sure I have everything straight.

“Sounds easy enough.” I give him a playful smirk. “I think we could actually pull this off.”

Aris leans forward, resting his elbow on the table. “There’s just one teensy weensy little thing…”

“Okay…”

He swallows. “My family thinks the girl I’m seeing is named Tayla. Tayla Morgan.”

“Aaaand is this Tayla Morgan a real person they’re going to Google and see that I’m totally not her?”

“No, thank God. I just chose two patient names and went with it.”

That makes me laugh. “Creative.”

“Thank you.” He chuckles.

I take a slow breath. “Alright, so Tayla Morgan it is. I can handle that.”

“Really?” His eyes grow. “You’re really willing to do this?”

“Why not, right?” I shrug. “We’re in this together?”

He nods. “Absolutely. Together.”

“Do we need to come up with some rules or something?”

“You mean like rules for when we’re together?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “You know, like, no kissing or no sleeping together…stuff like that.”

He smirks. “Well for starters, I already kissed you so…” He shrugs like that rule is now void. “Plus, if we’re supposed to be in a serious relationship we’ll probably need to kiss once in a while. We’re supposed to be on a luxurious vacation.”

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