Her face falls a little and she starts talking rapidly.
“You’ll get a really nice holiday out of it. Five star to the hilt. I’ll buy you anything you need—no, anything you want. Alex can get anything from the shops he wants. I’ll give you some money to cover any losses from being away. Anything you need, just name it.”
I shake my head stupidly. I really can’t process this.
My first reaction is a cold twist in my guts. She’s hot. She’s warm. She’s nice. But I don’t even know her. It would be too easy to just give in, but I feel like this situation could go to hell in any number of ways and I need to distance myself from it.
I shake my head, putting my champagne down. I stagger across the room, grabbing Alex who protests loudly. My heart seems to be beating far too slowly and my skin feels slick. I charge out the door, feeling my stomach heave and my brain flicker like a dying bulb.
Just when I think that it couldn’t get any worse, I barrel straight into the Chief Purser. I barely have time to put Alex down without dropping him.
“Where are you supposed to be, anyway?” he asks.
I don’t have long to be flabbergasted as Alex grabs my hand and grins up at her.
“We came from in there.” He points towards the luxury suites. “With Aunties girlfriend.”
The man has a moment to look surprised before Alex starts dragging me back towards the cookies and the big screen TV. I smile and wave and turn back to Ashley’s room.
My heart thunders and I wouldn’t blame it if it seized up entirely. Today has just been too many shocks. The worst of which Ashley’s beautiful eyes and open, honest grin.
Chapter # 7
Seven
Ashley
Well so much for that being an easy request to make of someone.
Not that I thought that the girl would fall head over heels for my proposal of being my fake fiancé, but I didn’t expect her to be as horrified and disgusted as she was. Nor did I expect her to storm out of my suite —my brother’s suite, whatever— in a huff like I’d just offered to pay her in exchange for some weird, cult ritual or something.
So here I am, pacing back and forth in Robin’s suite and wondering what the hell just happened and how I’m going to fix it. Not just the fact that the one shot I thought I had to make my impromptu plan work, but now she knows who I am and what I’m planning; who says she isn’t going to run off and tell someone? I might have just let my best chance at fixing things storm out of the door, along with further piling the shit onto the pile of trouble I was getting myself in.
Just as I’m getting ready to dart out of the room and see if I can find the redheaded beauty of my dreams to try and at least convince her not to tell anyone what I was trying to accomplish, she comes rushing back in with a look so desperation on her face. She’s got the kid in tow with her who seems to be just as nervous, almost as if they had been being chased or were dodging someone.
“Uh, hi?”
I give her a wary smile and start to step forward, but then there’s a knock on the door and the colour drains from her face. She gives me a pleading look that breaks my heart, and I don’t know if I could even refuse to help her even if I wanted to. Like I said before; a damsel in distress is a weakness of mine and this girl was giving of serious vibes that I just couldn’t ignore, nor did I want to.
So I give her a quick nod and then I saunter over to the door to find Mr. Potts, the man I’d met earlier when I approached then gangway leading up to the cruise liner. I put on my best smile and sigh, winking at him as I playfully nod into the room where the cutie and her kid are waiting.
“Well hey there Mr. Potts, I see you’ve finally met my girlfriend, Emily Warrington.”
I smile as calmly as I can and then shrug my shoulders with a sigh, playing off the calm cool and collected persona that has gotten me out of —and let’s face it, into—so many scrapes in the past.
“I hope that everything is alright? They were just having a look around the ship while I settled into the cabin.”
Mr. Potts
smiles, clearly relieved that the young woman and child he found were indeed supposed to be there —or so he thought— and not going to cause him to have to fill out a slew of paperwork as to how they got on board in the first place. He nods back at me and then over at ‘Emily’, chuckling.
“Well I’m glad that she found her way to you Miss Carmichael, I do hope that you’re pleased with the accommodations. If I may, please allow me to give you some suggestions and highlights of the cruise line for while you’re aboard.”
Not wanting to seem suspicious or eager to get him away from us I happily nod and lean against the doorway as he rattles of attraction after attraction, urging us to try each and every one of them. Apparently there’s a new dish at the restaurant that is just to die for, and I assure him that we will try it before the week is out. After a few moments I convince him that we’ve got some things to get settled before we explore, and he finally leaves us alone.
I turn back to Jess and Alex with a sigh and shrug my shoulders, giving them both a warm smile. I’m not about to take advantage of her because I can, and I want her to feel as comfortable as possible in all of this. Sure I’ve got my own selfish motives, but I’m not a complete jerk.
“Listen,” I say with a gentle smile and brushing my thumb over her shoulder, “Why don’t I pay for a room for you and the little guy. That way you can have a quiet place to relax without any pressure, and if you want then you can get off at the first stop and get back home.”