Page 20 of Under the Radar
Mo hadn’t heard him open the balcony door and turned around slowly to face him. She drew in a sharp breath. He’d changed clothes. The button-down steel gray shirt and tie accentuated his dark eyes, and casual trousers hung at a suggestive angle on his hips. He looked like a dangerous Greek Adonis. Her willpower fainted. “Flattery won’t help you, Mac, if your phone lacks proof of your attempts to contact me. The cupcakes, however, earned you brownie points.”
A wolfish smile crept across his face. “So, the lady wants to handle business first? Then, business it is. Shall we compare phones?” He held the door open and offered her a hand. Her fingers tingled at the warmth of his touch.
Mac grabbed a bottle of imported beer, opened a desk drawer, and pulled out his phone. He found the thread and handed it to Mo.
She fired up her phone, found the one lonely text she’d received from him, and handed it over.
“Would you like another drink while you read the texts I sent you?” He took a swig of his beer and checked the missed calls list on her phone. None of his appeared on her display.
“No, thank you.” She scrolled through his dozen or so texts and paced. “Aww, you called me cupcake in this one.” A part of her loved the endearment, though she knew some women would find it offensive. She glanced at him. “Sure beats the nickname I grew up with.”
“What was your nickname?”
Mo shook her head. “Piglet. So embarrassing.” She scrolled the dates of the calls he placed to her cell, eight in all.
With an inscrutable look on his face, Mac placed her phone on the marble table.
Mo raised her eyebrows. “What was yours?”
He took another swig of beer. “I didn’t have a nickname. My birth name is Frederick Wellington Mackenzie. That’s bad enough.”
She handed him his phone. “Frederick is a perfectly respectable name.”
Mac grimaced. “Not when you’re eight. I was relieved when my classmates started calling me Mac and it stuck.” He filled a couple plates with hors d’oeuvres, brought them to the sitting area, and sat on the loveseat. “Are you satisfied after seeing my phone?”
Satisfied? Good lord, no. She was struggling not to look at his pants. “Yes. You have a few well-placed naughty emojis in those texts. I’m sorry I missed out. And you saw that I never received them?”
He nodded. “I’m glad you didn’t blow me off.”
Blow him off? Pffttt.Either his word choices were Freudian, or he was trying to kill her with innuendo. She sat in an overstuffed armchair across from him and picked up a canape. “I couldn’t understand why you’d ignore me. I even had a high-calorie pity party and ate a pint of Fat Boyfriend ice cream to soothe myself.” She aimed a pointed stare in his direction.
Mac laughed and loosened his tie. “I’m flattered that you’d host a pity party in my honor.” The smile slowly faded from his face. “I did a little research about the missing texts. Mind if I share?”
“Please, by all means. I’m all ears.”
“Well, I worked on four different ships during that thirteen-day stretch. All of them were Caribbean cruises. We dodged a series of tropical storms and one category two hurricane. If I remember correctly, there was also a scare with the US Communications satellites possibly suffering a cyber-attack. I don’t know if it was one thing or the other or a combination of the two.”
Mo lifted a bacon-wrapped scallop from his plate. “A few times when I’ve traveled abroad, my texts were delivered later in batches. But your texts? I’m still waiting.” She popped the scallop in her mouth and savored the exquisite flavors of the crisp and tender combination. One little drop of juice escaped.
Mac leaned forward and dabbed his napkin at the corner of her mouth. “I think my mermaid’s hungry.”
Mo covered her mouth with a napkin. “Yes, famished. Please forgive me for digging into your plate but I’m catching up here for two.”
Mac’s head straightened so fast, she startled. He raised an eyebrow.
She quickly swallowed the remnant of scallop and waved her hands back and forth. “No, no, no. Not like that—two days. I’ve hardly eaten anything for two days. Sorry.”
Mac nodded and leaned back on the couch.
“I didn’t want to leave my room to eat because of Chaz. What did you decide to do with him and his wife?”
“They’re disembarking in Miami tomorrow. The cruise line purchased airfare for them to fly back to Philadelphia, and we’ve partially reimbursed the cost of their cruise.”
Mo dismissed the instant guilty twinge. “I didn’t want them to leave the ship, just leave me alone.”
“It wasn’t up to you, Mo, nor was it up to me. The captain decided once we uncovered video feed of him tailing you thirteen times in the past thirty-six hours. Did you know their stateroom was only a few rooms away from yours? Same hallway.”
Oh. “I wondered how he was always right behind me. He must’ve been watching for when I left my room. That’s a lot creepy.” She shivered.