Tucking my feet up beneath me, I turned on the lounger so my back was to him. Since I was wearing a tank top, most of my shoulders were exposed, and I could feel the heat of his hands against my skin as he began to work the stiffness out of my neck and shoulders. It was nice. He was nice.
Suddenly his hands stilled on my shoulders. “So, how many things are left on your list?” he asked.
“Several.”
His hands started working their magic again. “What got checked off last night?” he asked.
“Drinking margaritas. What did you do?”
“Hit the clubs.”
“I didn’t see you.” I tilted my head to the side. Felt the muscles loosening up. This was a great thing to wake up to.
“Meet anyone interesting?” he asked.
“We met a couple of guys. Three really. How about you?”
“Yeah, I spent some time with a girl.”
That comment bothered me a lot more than I wanted it to. So yesterday’s kiss had really meant nothing to him. On the other hand I’d kissed him back, and I’d spent time with other guys last night. It was better if it meant nothing. Absolutely. Or at least that’s what I told myself.
“Have you seen Mom or Walter lately?”
“Nope, and I haven’t been looking for them.” He patted my shoulders as though he was finished. “Don’t forget we have tickets for a show tonight.”
I clambered off the lounger and stretched. Passengers were starting to come on deck. I could see people walking and jogging on the track.
“What time?” I asked.
“I’ll knock on your door at eight. We can just walk to it together.”
“What about Brooke? Did you get her ticket?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t get tickets for her traveling entourage.”
“I’ll let her know. And thanks for the massage.”
“You’re welcome.” He picked up the beach towel that had been draped over me, and walked away.
I watched him disappear. My mind obviously hadn’t begun to function yet because it took me a minute to remember that he’d spotted me when he was jogging. Had covered me with his beach towel.
How many people carried a beach towel when they went jogging? He was taking this looking-after-me-at-Walter’s-request a little too seriously. And I found myself wondering why that notion didn’t bother me as much as it once had.
CHAPTER 15
The Enchantment
Day Four
Brooke had said that she liked to bring the party with her, and she absolutely did. I was sitting on the deck of the ship near the off-limits-to-kids-pool when she arrived with her entourage, as Ryan referred to them.
Six guys following after her like puppies hoping for a dog-biscuit treat. It was kinda amusing to watch.
She spotted me and waved enthusiastically. Then she was heading toward me. I’d arrived before it had begun to get crowded, and had been able to claim a couple of loungers, but no way did I know that I needed to claim eight. It seemed inconsiderate for our group to take up so many, especially when I hadn’t been certain that Brooke would bring everyone.
I suppose I shouldn’t have doubted her, but now I wondered where everyone was going to sit.
Apparently the guys were okay with the ground or the edge of a lounger because as soon as Brooke claimed hers, they were sitting around both of us. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to where they sat.
In high school I’d done a lot of group dating. You know, where several guys and girls go out together. Sometimes you pair up, sometimes you don’t. It took a lot of the pressure off to hook up with one person, and prevented that one-on-one awkwardness that sometimes happened before you were really sure if one-on-one would even work for you.
But we’d always had as many guys as we had girls so no one would feel like they were the odd-one out. With Brooke I sometimes felt as though she’d hooked up with me so she’d have someone to foist the unwanteds off on.
Okay, I’m sure she didn’t mean for the results to appear that way. Brooke didn’t give each guy an equal amount of attention, and whoever wasn’t the flavor of the moment tended to drift over toward me.
I just didn’t have Brooke’s knack for blowing a guy off while still leading him on. But I suppose that was all part of being a vixen flirt, and she had the style down pat.
The guys didn’t seem to mind—if they even noticed what was going on. Sometimes guys are totally clueless.
“You know, I’m really craving a smoothie,” Brooke said.
“I’ll get it!” Michael and Shooter said at the same time, both jumping to their feet.
“You want something, Lindsay?” Chad asked.
“Yeah.” I reached for my fanny pack.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it,” he said. “What do you want?”
I ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie. All the guys traipsed off as though they couldn’t handle getting the drinks alone. Or maybe they didn’t trust leaving anyone behind, and had an unwritten code that no one could stay with us if even one of them had to leave.
“Aren’t they great?” Brooke asked.
“But which one do you like?”
“Oh, I like them all. You’re welcome to share.”
“Share?” I asked, a little dumbfounded.
“Sure. We’re on vacation. It’s not like we’re going to get serious about any of them.”
I’d never shared guys before, and I wasn’t certain that I wanted to now. I mean, I didn’t mind us all hanging around together, but I didn’t want a guy thinking he could hook up with Brooke and then come over and be with me. Or that after being with me, he was free to move on to Brooke.
It gave me an icky feeling to even think about it.
“You know, Brooke, I’m not really into sharing.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s so boring, Lindsay.”
“I don’t think so.”
She did a little impatient shoulder-roll. “All right. So who do you want? Once I know, I’ll stay away from him.”
Gosh, that put me on the spot.
“I’m not really sure,” I admitted.
“All right then, we’ll play the field until you are. And meet other guys along the way.”
“More guys?”
“Sure, why not?”
I guess there was really no reason not to meet more guys. And maybe I would meet one who instantly sent my heart racing. Speaking of guys who sent my heart racing…
“Oh, listen, we have tickets to the cabaret show tonight. You can meet us outside the theater at eight.”
Brooke arched a brow. “And who exactly is us?”
“Me and Ryan.”
“You know, for someone you’re not interested in, you sure hang around with him a lot.”
“It’s like I told you: He’s my new stepfather’s godson. I can’t ignore him completely.”
“Are you sure that’s all there is to it?”
No, I wasn’t sure. Ryan was nice, and I liked him, but he seriously interfered with my plans for this cruise. I’d even begun to consider changing them. Spending more time with Ryan, because here I was, fourth day into the trip, and I hadn’t met any guy who I was even contemplating as a possible fling prospect.
I was going to give myself one more day, and if I didn’t meet someone who intrigued me just a little…I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do. I was determined to complete all the items on my list. But I wanted the last to be special.
The guys returned in force, with smoothies for everyone. We sipped our drinks, and ate the nachos that a couple of the guys had brought over. We got into a heated discussion on whether or not we should scuba dive or snorkel when we got to the Grand Cayman.
It seemed the guys that Brooke had latched on to had plans to hang around for the long haul. They were nice enough, so I wasn’t bothered by it, but since none had really set my heart to pounding, I was a little worried that they might limit my abilities to find the right guy.
“Who’s up for some rock climbing?” Michael asked.
I had to admit that I’d been eyeing the climbing wall. I’d seen them at various sporting-goods stores, but had never ventured onto one.
“I am,” I told him.
“But it’ll be hot and sweaty,” Brooke whined.
“It’ll be fun,” I assured her.
Besides, we were on vacation in the Caribbean. Hot and sweaty was part of the vacation. Even with tropical breezes, the weather was warm.
Brooke let the guys taunt and tease her. I was beginning to think that her lack of enthusiasm was more for show than anything. A way to get attention.
Eventually they convinced her to give it a try. We gathered up our pool stuff, and headed to the wall. There wasn’t much of a line, which surprised me.
Only one guy was climbing, and I’d recognize him anywhere.
Ryan.
He was near the top, probably close to twenty feet above the ground, testing hand-and footholds before he went any higher. I’d watched enough rock climbing at various stores that I knew it was a lot harder than it looked.
“Wow,” Brooke said in a respectful, hushed tone. “He is, like, totally in shape.”
He was wearing shorts and a tank top similar to the one he’d worn in the gym. The muscles in his legs and arms looked almost as hard as the wall he was scaling.
“Why is he just hanging there?” Brooke asked.
“He’s trying to find the right hold so he can move up,” Shooter said. “The higher you go, the harder it gets. Man, I’ve only been able to get about two-thirds of the way up a wall before totally losing it.”
“And what happens then?” Brooke asked. “I mean, when you lose it?”
“You’re on a pulley,” Shooter said, “so you dangle in the air for a while, and then they bring you down.”
I heard their conversation, but my eyes were glued on Ryan. He finally made his move, reaching and stretching up. I was totally impressed. He wasn’t rushing it, wasn’t trying to grandstand or impress anyone other than himself. He simply took his moves slowly and steadily.
The guys who were with us started chanting, “Go! Go! Go!” while they slowly clapped.
Ryan glanced down, and it was like his gaze found me. I was afraid to move, to speak, to do anything that might distract him. I knew he was perfectly safe up there, tethered to the pulley. One of the ship’s crew was holding the other end of the rope, and keeping an eye on Ryan.
Still, watching Ryan made me hold my breath.
Then he cut off eye contact, and was back to trying to figure out how best to reach the top of the wall. He moved slowly toward the top. His foot slipped, my breath caught, and Brooke released a tiny shriek.
Then Ryan regained his footing, eased up, touched the top, and shoved himself away from the wall.
The guys clapped and high-fived one another like they were the ones who’d made it to the top. Ryan rappelled down and hit the ground. After an assistant helped him out of the harness, he strutted over to where we were standing.
“So, are you going to give it a go?” he asked, looking directly at me, giving the impression that everyone else was inconsequential.
“I thought I would,” I responded.
“Have you ever climbed before?” he asked.
“No,” I admitted.
“Don’t try to go too fast, and don’t reach too far,” he suggested. “And if you get tired, just rappel back down.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I said with a grin.
“It’s not easy, but it’s not as difficult as real mountain climbing.”
“Dude, you’ve climbed real mountains?” Cameron asked.
Ryan shifted his attention over to Cameron, as though he was amused by the question. “Yeah, I’m big into experiencing the outdoors.”
“Cool.”
Ryan turned back to me and smiled. “Now I’ll watch you climb.”
CHAPTER 16
I wasn’t what I’d call nervous. The butterflies fluttering beneath my ribcage had nothing at all to do with a fear of falling flat on my butt. They had more to do with Ryan being nearby and watching me.
As I stood for the second time in as many days getting harnessed up, I wished that Ryan had headed off to do something else. I wasn’t bothered by any of the other guys watching my ungainly clamber up the wall.
But I was very self-conscious about having Ryan watch me. Which was insane. What did I care if he was watching the way I moved?
I didn’t care. Okay, I cared a little. I cared a lot.
He’d looked so terrific and confident scaling the wall, and I was already feeling weak in the knees, and I hadn’t even begun the ascent yet. I felt like failing would not only be a disappointment to me, but to Ryan as well.
I’d taken such joy in his success that I was hoping he’d feel the same way about mine.
I listened as Joe, the rock-climbing-wall guide, gave me some tips for the placement of my feet and hands. Then I folded my hands around the two different anchors on the wall, placed a foot on a foothold, lifted myself up, and placed the other foot on another foothold.
Now I just had to let go with one hand, and reach for another handhold. A lot easier-sounding that it felt.
I was only a few inches from the ground, and I was already experiencing major concern over falling and landing hard on my butt.
“Take a deep breath and ease up,” Ryan said.
“I know.” I really didn’t, but I wasn’t going to admit it.
“Come on, Lindsay, we’re all waiting,” Brooke said.
I growled, wishing I’d told her to go first. I wasn’t going to let her pressure me into scaling the wall quickly, and possibly losing my perch. She would just have to wait.
“Don’t rush it,” Ryan said.
“We’ll be here all day if she doesn’t hurry,” Brooke said.
“Then you shouldn’t have brought your harem,” Ryan said.
“A harem is a group of females,” Brooke pointed out.
“I was being sarcastic,” Ryan said.
“Guys!” I snapped. “I’m trying to concentrate here.”
My hands were getting damp, and I thought if I didn’t speed things up a little, I was going to simply slide right off the wall. I inhaled deeply, released my right hand, and grabbed the next hold.
This was so much harder than it looked. What had I been thinking to even contemplate doing this?
But no way was I going to quit now that I’d started.
I began preparing to move my foot up to the next foothold…. Did it!
“That’s it,” Ryan encouraged. “Slow and steady.”
It wasn’t simply about finding a hold I could reach, and going for it. The trick was figuring out what I could easily reach that would put me in a good position to move up. And it wasn’t as though I had a terrific view and could clearly envision the strategy. I was flat against the wall, which seriously limited what I could see.
I released my hold, snatched the next outcropping, and pulled myself up. My arms were actually starting to quiver from the strain. Not good. Not good at all.
I moved up. Deep breath, deep breath. Reach up, grab, step up, pull, breathe, release, grab, pull…
Over and over.
Then I heard clapping, chanting, Go, go, go…
I looked up and thought, Nearly there. I can do this. I can reach the top. I just have to—
My foot slipped, my heart lurched, and my stomach felt as though it had dropped right to the ground, even though I was still clinging to the wall. I scrabbled my foot over the rugged surface until I found purchase.
And then I was breathing heavier than I’d ever breathed in my life. Shoot! That was close.
Even though I knew the rope would save me from smashing headfirst into the ground, I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of not reaching the top of this wall. It was a matter of pride.
“You’re almost there!” Ryan yelled.
I was?
r /> Cautiously I glanced up. The top didn’t seem that far away. Even more cautiously I gazed downward.
Wow! I’d climbed a lot higher than I had realized. Just one fake boulder at a time. It was so tempting to simply lunge for the top and be done with the climb, but after working so hard, I didn’t want to lose anything that I’d gained.
So I became more cautious, and crept up inch by inch, trying to ignore all the noise that was coming from below me. I really appreciated everyone’s enthusiasm, but I found it distracting as well. And I certainly didn’t want to lose my grip or my footing when I’d put so much effort into getting to this point.
My muscles burned with the strain, but I knew I could do this. I absolutely could. I held my breath, released my hold, and grabbed the top of the wall. I glanced down, located the foothold I wanted to shoot for—
Got it!
I eased up—
And was at the top of the wall, breathing normally at last!
I released a triumphant shout and gazed around. I had a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree unfettered view of the ship and the ocean.
It was magnificent. So worth the effort of the climb. I really wished someone was up here with me to share the sight. No wonder Ryan had encouraged me. He’d seen it. He knew the reward. Even though he hadn’t stayed up for as long as I had, knowing him, he’d probably climbed the wall a dozen times already.
With a shout of joy I began rappelling down the rock wall, the rope now serving as my anchor. My feet landed on the deck. The guy in charge helped me get out of the harness. My legs were trembling. It was a strange feeling to be on solid ground, and not to be worrying about losing my footing.
I kinda staggered over to the waiting area where Brooke and the guys were crowding around. I’d barely reached them when someone yanked me around.
I found myself in a lip lock that threatened to suck the air right out of me. I was going cross-eyed trying to figure out who was slobbering his spit all over me. I heard the distant din of shouts and yells…
And then I was free, tottering back, and staring incredulously at Shooter.
“Thought you deserved a kiss for reaching the top,” he announced, with a goofy grin on his face.