Page 25 of Sailor's Delight
His best chance at knowing where Jenn went would be if he could spot her from the ship, using the binoculars, and track what excursion group she hooked up with. Maybe then he could follow after.
He winced again as he set his foot down even slightly.Or not.
The doors opened. He leaned out over the railing to get a view of the faces coming out of the gangway. He just needed to spot her as she came out.
The faces came and went, throngs of passengers holding bags, wearing sunglasses and wide, brimmed hats.
He turned his attention toward picking out the pale-yellow blouse and mermaid style white skirt Jenn had been wearing. Picking out her face with the sunglasses and hats felt like a losing task.
The passengers flowed outward, flitting in groups of twos, threes, and more, only a few single figures entirely on their own. It was only the loneliest or the surliest of persons who didn’t have a friend by day three of the cruise. Trey tried not to think about what the quietness of the deck said about him right now.
There!
He squinted, trying to tell if it was truly Jenn who’d exited the ship or just a lookalike. It was only dumb luck that made the woman lift her head, studying the sky overhead and gripping the hat that threatened to blow away.
The pixie cut gave her away. It was Jenn. Trey felt his anxiety lessen just slightly. At least he could breathe again. Now he just needed to see where she went.
He watched Jenn file with the rest of the crowd into the long building at the end of the dock and disappear inside. He raised the binoculars to his eyes and watched the other end almost without blinking. If she emerged from there without him seeing her, chances were good that he’d never find her again.
His eyes burned from blinking too little in the stiff sea breeze that whipped up the side of the cruise ship into his face. He risked a long series of blinks to cope with the sting.
He inhaled sharply when Jenn emerged from the building. She was talking to someone: a tall man in a loose black tank top that emphasized his huge arms and shoulders.
“Shit!” Trey lowered the optics, his mouth and eyes spread wide. “Are you kidding me?” Raising the binoculars again, he swept them over the shore until he found them again. Sure enough, he spotted Jenn, walking side by side with that idiot from the library.What was his name? Casey?
This wasn’t happening.
Jenn adjusted the hat on her head. The strong breeze rushing in from the sea threatened at every opportunity to take it right off her head, and she couldn’t be more bothered by it.
Everything bothered her this morning. When the stewards had smiled too cheerily as she waited for the chance to disembark and go ashore, it had irked her. When the breeze had first seized her hat as she’d left the ship, nearly succeeding in stealing it from her, she’d been annoyed. When she’d been filing through the building claiming to be selling discount alcohol, cigarettes, tees, and tchotchkes, she’d resented those holding up the line from moving.
That’s why it surprised her when she wasn’t absolutely irate that Casey from the library appeared at her side, offered her an elbow and a bottle of water, and said, “Hey, I wanted to apologize.”
Wary, but not nearly as annoyed as she thought she’d be, she accepted the water bottle but left the elbow pointedly alone. “Oh, yeah? What for?”
Casey smiled and adjusted the strap of the bag he wore across his chest. “I wasn’t exactly at my finest in the library a few days ago.”
Jenn didn’t smile, careful to give no premature indication of an acceptance. “I haven’t heard an apology yet.”
“I—,” Casey broke off, filing through the gate with the others, falling into line behind Jenn as they went through, emerging into the already-too-warm-for-total-comfort light of the May day. “I was rude, inconsiderate of your time and space,and it wasn’t fair of me to just push myself on you like that. You clearly weren’t looking for a come-on, and I came on, anyway. I’m sorry.”
Jenn blinked. That was a far more self-aware apology than she’d expected.Had she been wrong about Casey?
“Where’s your friend?” Casey asked, obviously looking around for Trey.
“We’re taking some space today,” Jenn said briefly.
Casey grimaced loudly, hissing. “Ouch. Your call or his?”
“I’d really rather not talk about it.” Jenn kept her voice cool.
Casey lifted his hands in apology. “Sorry. Not my place: my bad.” He walked beside her quietly for a moment, then added, “You having a solo day, or would you be down for some company?”
Jenn glanced at Casey out of the corner of her eye.How old is he?She guessed he was probably close to ten years her junior. She’d be absolutely stunned if he was over 30. And yet, here he was, picking up on her for the second time in three days, in a crowded ship of singles and pairs ready to mingle, obviously interested. Jenn couldn’t help but be cautiously flattered.
“That depends. What are you hoping to get out of this, Mr. Casey?”
Casey shrugged those big shoulders, the huge muscles connecting his neck to his shoulders—were those called trapezoids? —already glistening with shimmery sweat under the Mexican sun. “Honestly? Good and good-looking company?”