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  “Well, I think you should tell me the long and real version since we have a long time until we can go to sleep.” The wind blew through my long, chestnut colored hair as we walked the side deck towards the rear of the boat.

  “I got married right out of high school,” he began. “I was young and stupid, but I got the best daughter out of the deal.”

  “Oh wow, you have a daughter?” Even though I was thirty, I couldn’t imagine having a child, but when you got married right out of high school, I guess you start early.

  “I do, and she’s my world.”

  “That’s so sweet. How old is she?”

  “Ten going on thirty.” He laughed. “She thinks she knows it all. She gives me a run for my money sometimes, and I’m not looking forward to raising her alone when she’s a teenager and going through her woman things.”

  Hearing Easton talk about his daughter was warming my heart. The way his sky blue eyes lit up and his smile reached the crease—it was priceless. I hoped that the man I married and had kids with would love our child as much as Easton loved his daughter. “I bet. I’ve heard that kids can be a handful.”

  “Especially when you’re a single father and have no idea what you’re doing.”

  Easton leaned on the railing of the back of the ship when we approached. The wind was still blowing, causing my hair to wisp across my face from the left side. I held it down with my hand and turned to face him to prevent it from becoming tangled.

  “Her mother isn’t in the picture?”

  He gave a tight smile before responding. “She passed away a little over five years ago.”

  “Oh my!” I gasped. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Thank you. We were going through a divorce at the time. It’s been hard on Cheyenne.”

  “Cheyenne is your daughter?”

  “Yep, that’s my peanut. Here … I have pictures on my phone.” He reached into his pocket. “I don’t know why I have my phone on me since we don’t get service out here.” He laughed.

  He showed me a series of pictures of a beautiful girl with long, dirty blonde hair that matched his hair color. Her eyes looked lighter than his—like a light blue, almost grey, and her smile had dimples just like his.

  “She’s beautiful,” I said, handing him back his phone. “I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through since she passed away.”

  “It’s been tough. Her death was sudden. It happened on the last day of our divorce trial. She was hit by a fucker who ran a red light and plowed into her. She passed away before she reached the hospital.”

  I hadn’t known this man for more than seven hours, but as he told me about his wife—or ex-wife—dying and having to raise his daughter on his own, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let go. I wanted to make everything better. Do whatever needed to be done to make sure he and Cheyenne didn’t experience any more heartache in their lifetimes.

  But that wasn’t reality.

  People experience heartaches every day. Some are minor and some are major. We learn from them. No matter what the heartache is, we grow, we become better people—fighters—survivors. I’m not big on going to church, but I believe in God, and I know he would never make someone face any situation that they couldn’t overcome—except death, of course.

  “I bet that was tough on Cheyenne. I’ve practically lived without my mom since I was thirteen.”

  “Practically?” he asked, changing the subject to me.

  “When I was thirteen, I came home to a note and one hundred dollars. The note said that she had to go out of town on business for a week. She had business trips at least once a month after that. Some lasted more than a week, some lasted only the weekend. The trips occurred like that until I was sixteen, and then she decided to make the trips longer. Oh and did I mention that I have a younger sister? I had to take care of her.”

  “How much younger is she than you?”

  “Seven years.”

  “Wow, seven? That’s a big gap.”

  “Well, we don’t have the same father, not that either of us knows who our father is.”

  “Sounds like an episode of Maury or something.” Easton laughed, lightening the conversation.

  “I know, right?” I couldn’t believe that I was telling this guy who I’d just met my life story, but I was completely comfortable with him. Part of me felt as though the more we talked, the more I’d share no matter what it was. Maybe it was because we only had a few days and then I’d never see him again. I didn’t know, but it felt good … right.

  We both laughed and stood at the back of the ship, looking out into the endless black night until it faded. The water around the boat rippled as it went through. The night air had turned cold, and I shivered in my strapless pleated chiffon dress and strappy heels.

  “I’m not trying to put the moves on you,” he said, holding up his hands in defense, “but do you want to go back to my room? We can talk where it’s warmer. Or we can go back to the mixer if you want to do that.”

  “Um … yeah, sure, we can go back to your room. I’m done drinking for the night, and it’s freezing out here.”

  As we walked to his room, I started to get nervous. I had no intention of doing anything with him besides talking, but part of me wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss him. To see if I got those butterflies in my belly. To see if there was a spark like I’d read about in my romance novels.

  When we arrived at his room and walked in, I awkwardly sat on the uncomfortable love seat. Easton propped himself up on one of the beds, kicked off his shoes and got comfortable, so I decided to take my heels off. I might be here a while.

  We started off talking about where we lived, what he did for work and the reason he and Avery named the bar Halo. We talked about how I met Nicole, how he met Avery, and then we went deeper; we had no secrets to hide from each other … like we had been best friends our whole lives.

  The more he talked, the more I stared into his eyes from across the tiny room. I tried not to look anywhere but his face, but it was hard. The way his button-down, long-sleeved, navy blue shirt fit his toned chest, especially when he leaned against the wall, was distracting. There was no doubt in my mind that he had a rock hard body under his dress shirt. My mouth watered at the thought and I tried to shake it, trying to think of Jared—think of him at home playing “Call of Duty.” But then Easton smiled as he said something about Cheyenne and my heart melted.

  Jared had no plans for a family that I knew of and that was what I wanted, so I let my mind wander and drink in Easton because I knew I wouldn’t touch—I would look, but not touch.

  “Do you want to tell me about your four year problem with your boyfriend?” he asked, sounding as though he wanted to give me advice.

  I sighed. “He’s a lazy asshole.”

  “So why are you with him? Does he make you happy?”

  “Sometimes. I think I’m just with him because it’s what I know. We’ve been together for so long, and we live together … I just don’t know if the grass is greener.”

  “The grass is definitely greener in this case. You should never doubt your relationship. If you do, you search for answers. And if you’re still unhappy, then it’s time to move on.”

  “I know, you’re right. Is that why you got divorced?”

  “Um—no.” He chuckled. “Honestly, I got married because we were stupid. We had Cheyenne early on because we were stupid. And we were getting divorced because I was stupid.” He sighed. “I used to model when we were married and lived in Long Beach. I would go to New York a lot to do gigs, and the girls would throw themselves at me. I was young, stupid and didn’t think about my wife or my kid at home waiting for me. Since Dana died, I’ve had to raise Cheyenne on my own, and I like to think I’ve grown up a lot. All the women that I mess around with now know that I’m not looking for a relationship and just want to hook-up.”

  So he is a player.

  “Don’t you think Cheyenne needs a mother figure in her life?”<
br />
  “She has my mom. She only lives down the street from us.”

  I gave a sarcastic laugh. “A grandma is not a mom. They play different roles. I know from personal experience that I missed having a mother in the picture full-time, and I know Bailee did, too. I just think that if you have the choice to have a family again, you should. My mother chose not to have a family, and that’s what shaped me as a person.”

  He grinned and his gaze went from my feet all the way back up to my eyes before he spoke, “You seem like you turned out well, though.”

  My cheeks warmed and I swallowed hard before speaking, “I did, but there’s a place in my heart that’s missing the mother figure—hell, parents in general. But I’m thirty now, and I need to start thinking about starting my family. I don’t want my kids growing up and seeing mistakes like my mom made. I want to have children with someone that is going to be there to help me raise them.” I paused regretting what I’d said because of Cheyenne’s mother not being able to be there to help Easton raise her. “Sorry.” He gave a tight smile and I continued. “But, you need to grow up and shape Cheyenne’s future. She’s going to look up to you someday. All girls with dads do. Don’t let her see you treating women as toys because she’ll think that’s how she should be treated by the guys in her life.”

  “I’m going to call you Oprah, and Avery is Dr. Phil. Between the two of you, I will never need to go to a therapist.”

  I threw the pillow at him and we laughed. It was good to lighten the mood, but the words that he said were ringing in my ear. I needed to leave Jared and find someone who would treat me like a princess.

  “Well, since Avery’s not back yet, and it’s getting late, you might just be sleeping here,” Easton said, getting up to rummage in his suitcase. He handed me a pair of his boxers and a Halo T-shirt from his bar. I took them and stepped into the bathroom to change. I stared at the logo on the T-shirt; it was black with a gold halo above white angel wings with the name “Halo” across them. As I pulled the shirt over my head, I took a deep breath. It smelled like cedar and citrus. Easton’s scent.

  I crawled into Avery’s untouched bed, and Easton turned off the light and crawled into his bed. We continued to talk for a long time. He told me how he had to tell a five-year-old that her mother died and how she took it. I cried in the dark as he told me how Cheyenne always visits her mother’s grave and talks to her whenever she’s in California. We also talked about me raising Bailee some more and how my mother almost forgot my birthday. Before long our conversation started to fade, and I closed my eyes.

  I drifted off, not waking until Avery walked into the room.

  “So, you and Brooke, too?” Avery asked as soon as Brooke shut the door behind her. His hair was a mess, and he had a huge grin on his face like he’d just had sex all night long.

  I groaned, rolling over to try to go back to sleep. “No.”

  “Easton Crawford couldn’t seal the deal, but I did?” The fucking bastard chuckled.

  “I wasn’t trying to seal any deal. She has a boyfriend, remember?”

  “You’re still acting like that has ever stopped you before,” he said, rummaging through his luggage.

  “It’s too early to get the third degree from you. Why aren’t you still shacked up with Nicole instead of bothering me?”

  “It’s not that early. And if we want breakfast, we have to get ready now.”

  I had never been on a cruise before, so I didn’t realize that they dictated when you could and could not eat. I thought that you could eat twenty-four/seven, which was true, but you wouldn’t get the sit-down meal that they served on a set schedule. Plus, I knew that I would have breakfast, dinner and hopefully lunch with Brooke since we were at the same table.

  After Avery had washed the smell of pussy from his body, I took my turn in the shower, and we headed to meet the girls for breakfast. The ship was on its way to Puerto Vallarta, and we were at sea for the next two days. Originally, Avery had wanted to go to the pool and scope out all the broads in bikinis, but now that he was already getting laid, I wasn’t sure what the plan would be.

  When we arrived at the Aqua room, the hostess informed us that we were to sit at the same table for each meal. The girls hadn’t arrived yet, so we looked at the menus while we waited. I was about to ask Avery what he was planning on getting for breakfast when two women sat at the table.

  “We saw you both last night at the mixer, and we were going to approach you, but then two other chicks did, and then two more. And before we knew it, we’d lost our chance,” girl number one said. She had brown hair with a strip of purple, and was wearing way too much perfume. It made my sinuses hurt.

  “So we saw you sitting here and wanted to come over and ask if you two would like to join us for a swim after breakfast?” girl number two chimed in. She had blonde hair with a pink strip—like they planned their hair to be twins of some sort.

  “I’m sorry, but we’re waiting on two women who we have plans with,” I said.

  Girl number one reached over and slid her hand up my arm. “You know we have seven days right? I’m sure you can work us in—together.” She bit her lip and looked at her friend.

  If I hadn’t already met Brooke, I would have taken this chick up on her offer. But I didn’t want her. I wanted Brooke all to myself—not sharing her with Avery in a foursome.

  “Sorry ladies, but we aren’t interested,” I said bluntly.

  “You two don’t need to be such assholes. You’re on a singles cruise where all people do is hook-up. No one takes this thing seriously—especially guys!” girl number two snapped.

  “Well, I do and I’m already taken,” Avery snapped back.

  Girl number one turned and looked at me.

  “Yeah, I’m taken, too,” I said, holding up my hands.

  “Whatever,” girl number one huffed. They both stood up and walked away.

  “Dude, these girls are relentless,” Avery said to me.

  “I know, but we’re probably the only ones taking it seriously.” Bitches be crazy!

  “You are?”

  “I’m trying. I really like Brooke.”

  “See, I told you that there’s always a princess for every asshole.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said with a smile. He was on to something all right.

  The girls arrived not five minutes later, and I watched them walk to us. Nicole was smiling brightly at Avery, and Brooke smirked as my gaze moved from her eyes to her smooth legs that extended from her jean shorts.

  Brooke squeezed my shoulder, her warm hand brushing along my upper back in an affectionate gesture as she passed to sit next to me while Nicole and Avery kissed like they hadn’t seen each other in days. I was fucking jealous. I wanted to grab Brooke and taste her lips as our tongues rolled around together until we had to come up for air. I hadn’t wanted to kiss someone so much in all my life. I wasn’t used to this bullshit of not being able to kiss someone who I desperately yearned for.

  But there was something different about Brooke. While I wanted to fuck her—and let’s be honest, I did want to fuck her—I didn’t want to chance messing anything up with her. The feeling I got when I was around Brooke was all new to me. I felt as though I could talk to her about anything, and she would accept me for me and not just my good looks and physique.

  I knew that Avery and Nicole were going to see each other after the cruise, especially since Boston wasn’t far from New York, so I needed to play it cool—let Brooke know that I was a good guy, wait for her to dump that loser boyfriend when she returned home from the cruise, then swoop in and make her mine.

  Except patience wasn’t my strong suit, and I feared I would fuck everything up.

  The waiter came to take our order. After he’d left, I almost leaned over to Brooke to whisper in her ear that I loved having her touch me like she did whenever she sat down, but I didn’t. If I didn’t say anything, I hoped that she would continue doing it out of habit and I would continue to get the touch f
rom her that I needed.

  I cleared my throat, giving Avery the evil eye as he looked up at me. “Do you two mind?”

  “Sorry,” Nicole said, blushing.

  Avery kicked me under the table, but I held firm on making them stop. If they didn’t, I was going to storm off before I could ruin my own plan.

  “Did you two have a nice night?” Nicole asked me. Not Brooke, but me.

  “I did. Did you?”

  “I did.” She smiled at Avery.

  “You two in love now or what?” I asked, eyeing Avery. Avery had always believed in love at first sight, and he was acting as though Nicole was the best thing since sliced bread. He couldn’t keep his hands off of her which was leading me to believe that she must be good in bed or something.

  Yeah, Nicole was hot, but she was blonde and I preferred brunettes. Avery was always the victim of the pussy. He let that control him. I didn’t have a problem having it control me since I loved pussy, but I hadn’t found one in a long time that I couldn’t let go of.

  “You might be better off moving your stuff to my room,” I said to Brooke when they didn’t answer me, but instead smiled at each other, then kissed.

  “Seriously.” She took a sip of her coffee, giving Nicole the evil eye over the rim. Even though we’d spent the night together talking and getting to know each other, the two lovebirds kissing were making everything uncomfortable. I hoped that Brooke was uncomfortable because she wanted to kiss me too.

  The next six days were going to be torture unless Brooke gave into temptation because I was planning on tempting her with my charm. She deserved better than that douche of a boyfriend who never gave her compliments, or helped her stand from sitting. She was breathtaking, charming, sweet, genuine and—perfect.

  “Okay, okay, we should stop,” Nicole said against Avery’s mouth.

  It was about fucking time.

  “Yeah, what’s the plan today? You two want to mini-golf, maybe go for a swim or catch a corny show?” Avery asked Nicole—still ignoring Brooke and me.