Read Cruise to Destiny (Contemporary Romance Novella) Page 7

  ***

  Devon practically skipped his way to Melanie’s room that night. He hadn’t been so excited for a date since his senior prom when his date was Stacey McCullough, the most popular girl in school. Not only was she super hot, but she was supposedly pretty easy. For an 18-year-old virgin, it was a big deal.

  Unfortunately, Stacey got so drunk at the after party that she ended up bent over the toilet half the night and in a coma the other half. He was hoping this date would turn out a little better than that one.

  He knocked on the door and a great deal of whispering, squealing and shuffling ensued inside. Seconds later, the door swung open and one of Melanie’s friends—Lisa, if he remembered right—stood before him.

  “Hi, Devon! Hey, thanks again for the massages. Melanie said hers was amazing. I can’t wait for mine.”

  “Great,” he said, not sure what else to say to that. “Is Melanie ready?”

  Lisa looked behind her and silently checked in with the other friend who stood at the door to the bathroom, which was where he assumed they were hiding his date. It was probably some ploy to make him wait, which was fine. Devon was used to the crazy things women did in an attempt to make themselves (or their friends, in this case) seem more appealing to a guy.

  “Yep,” Lisa said, turning back to him. “All set.”

  She stepped aside and a reverent hush fell over the two women, as if they awaited the entrance of the Queen of England.

  Melanie stepped out of the bathroom and Devon’s breath hitched. Good God. She really cleaned up nice. Her curly red hair had been drawn up into a cascading ponytail, revealing her slender, beautiful neck. She wore a white sundress that hugged her waist and gave him a fairly good show of skin, but still somehow made her seem like the girl next door. He was mesmerized.

  “Hi,” she said, casting annoyed glances at her friends, who were nearly bursting at the seams with giddiness.

  “Hi,” Devon repeated. “Ready?”

  She nodded. Devon turned and stepped out of the room. Melanie followed with a quick good-bye to her friends. They started down the hall, but neither spoke until they heard the door shut behind them.

  “Sorry about that,” Melanie said. “They just get excited about stuff like this.”

  “And you don’t?” Devon wanted to know—was she just doing this for the sake of getting a free evening of booze, or did she really have an interest in him?

  “Not like that,” she said with a laugh. “But, yes…I’m excited in my own way.”

  Devon smiled, satisfied with her answer. “Good.”

  “So, what’s for dinner?” she asked.

  “Well, I thought we’d have drinks first, if that’s okay.” He grimaced, hating to admit the next part. “And then, I’m really sorry about this, but I’m not allowed into the nice dining room for dinner. We’ll have to hit up the buffet.”

  Melanie seemed unfazed by this information. “All right, but you can’t laugh at me, okay.”

  “Why would I laugh at you?”

  “Have you ever seen a poor actress at an all-you-can-eat buffet? It’s not a pretty sight. But don’t say I didn’t warn you when you’re rolling me back to my cabin.”

  So she did have a sense of humor. “I promise I won’t complain,” he said, happy to play along.