Page 64 of Love on Deck

She had me there. My grin was so wide it was almost embarrassing, and I was flushed with the overwhelming need to show her exactly how much I enjoyed spending time with her.

I closed the distance between our lips, kissing her while our arms both leaned casually in front of us and our knees pressed together. She lit me up from the inside, giving me the desire to share more than I’d ever wanted to share before. I was actually tempted to tell her about the project waiting for me in Arcadia Creek. The one I was supposed to spend my weekends on, but instead had neglected for the last few years.

She made me want to schedule my time better so I could devote the time to it that I’d originally intended. She made me want to pull her onto my lounge chair and ignore the hundred other people watching Moana. She made me want her.

She was wrong earlier. She didn’t win.

When a fake relationship developed into a legit heart-pulsing, breath-catching connection, both parties won.

Cruise champion was a shared title.

My back pocket buzzed. Lauren’s must have too, because she broke the kiss and leaned back, pulling out her phone. Her face glowed from the light of her screen before she put it away. “They’re not coming.”

I stood, reaching for her, and she took my hand. “Pizza time.”

We walked toward the buffet room, skirting around one of the many hot tubs on this ship.

“Oh my gosh, Jack,” Lauren whispered, pulling my hand to get my attention. “Is that Sydney?”

She sat in the hot tub, snuggling up to a guy we didn’t know, his blond hair spiking from the water and sporting a gold chain around his neck.

“Walk quickly,” I muttered, pulling Lauren away before the queen of drama could notice us.

“Maybe now she’ll leave us alone.”

I sighed. “One can only hope.”

We walked along the railing of the ship to reach the buffet at the back. The half-moon gleamed overhead, reflecting on the inky ocean.

Lauren chewed her lip, worrying me.

I pulled her to a stop, and she faced me easily. “Are you stressing about Sydney?”

“No. I mean, yeah, just...” Lauren let out a small sigh. “You’ve kissed my sister.”

My stomach dropped to the slick deck at our feet. This was bothering her? She hadn’t seemed to like the revelation when Sydney had forced it upon all of us, obviously, but she also never brought it up again. Seeing Sydney and the hot tub together must have resurfaced it for her.

“It was barely even a kiss.”

“But you have. I mean, it happened.”

I swallowed, nodding. “Yeah. We went to that Alphi Phi party with a girl Kevin had kind of been seeing, so I was on my own that night. I met Amelia, and she seemed a little young to me, but we got talking and I kissed her. She met Kevin that night too and he asked her out the next day, so nothing ever came from it.”

“But you wanted it to be something?” she asked, tilting her head to the side a little.

“Honestly? I didn’t think twice about it. I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I’d just started my master’s program, and I’d done the college thing the last four years, so I was really just along for the ride that night. It didn’t mean anything, and I didn’t think about it again. Especially not after she started dating my roommate. We never really talked about it. She’d told Kevin, apparently. But I think it just wasn’t a big deal to either of us.”

“Because kissing isn’t a big deal to you?”

Oh. So that’s where this was going. Lauren wondered if I was just a... what? A womanizer? Someone who made out with any beautiful, willing woman and didn’t think twice about it? I swallowed. Maybe that’s who I used to be, but I wasn’t that person anymore.

“It is now,” I said. “My past isn’t perfect, but I’m not that man anymore. People can change.”

Lauren nodded, but she looked uncertain. “So being with me isn’t weird for you?”

I laughed. “No. It’s not. Amelia is one of my good friends now, and it took like five minutes of watching her with Kevin to see how perfect they are for each other. I’m not hung up on anyone, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Okay.”

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