Page 22 of Love on Deck

“We have to come back after we set sail, but they think they can help us.”

“Great.” Amelia beamed.

I let Jack pull me in the opposite direction, toward the bank of elevators that would take us to my old room to get my book from my bag.

“What floor?” he asked.

“One.” I’m cheap, remember? I wasn’t going to pay more than I had to. This wasn’t a pencil skirt that would last me years and years. It was a place to sleep for a week.

He looked at me quickly. “Really?”

“I don’t get seasick, so I don’t really have a reason to need a window.”

“The view?”

“Like I’ll have time for that.” I’d planned on sneaking in some work before our agreement. Now I had more time than I would know what to do with. “Well, I guess I will now, but my plan before...” I trailed off when the doors opened to let out two bikini-clad women showing more confidence than I possessed in my entire body.

“Jack!” Sydney said, ignoring me.

“I thought Amelia texted to meet y’all at the service desk?” Cara said, twisting her curls back into a clip.

“Kevin and Amelia went to change for the pool,” Jack said. “We’ll see you later.”

Sydney pouted. I was fairly sure she pushed her shoulders together to accentuate more than just her disappointment. “Why? You should come hang out with us now!”

“Maybe later.” Jack stepped past them to stop the elevator doors from closing, then pulled me inside with him. “See you at dinner.”

Sydney frowned.

The doors shut, and Jack expelled a breath. “She’s freaking relentless.”

“Honestly. Did you notice how she didn’t look at me once?” I stepped away, pulling my hand from his as he hit the button to reach my floor. “Oh, Jack. How good to see you, Jack. Come watch me swim, Jack,” I said, affecting a high voice.

A smile played on his lips. “Can you see now why I was a little desperate?”

I chuckled. “Maybe.”

“Good.”

“If I was your real girlfriend, I’d probably expect you to tell her to back off.”

“If you were my real girlfriend, you could do that yourself.”

“But I’m not.”

“No, but you’re supposed to pretend you are. So maybe later tonight we can make it clear that she can stop trying so hard.”

If it was up to Jack, that would probably include making out in the hot tub while everyone else watched. If I wanted this to remain as non-romantic as possible, I needed to put my thinking cap on. “I’ll come up with something.”

“Great.” Jack watched me curiously. “I can’t wait.”

CHAPTER NINE

JACK

“They want to play mini golf,” I said, sitting up and looking over at Lauren. She was lounging in the chair next to mine, out on the lido deck beneath a shaded overhang. The pool was visible a few decks below us with people rimming the outer perimeter and kids splashing each other in the center. A DJ stood on the deck just above the pool, right across the open expanse from us, playing pop music and pretending he enjoyed it.

Lauren’s book rested over her stomach, keeping the place, her head leaned back and eyes closed. “How are you texting them?” she asked. “Didn’t we already leave the port?”

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