“Like Zara?”
Not just her. If we saw Greg, it would be hard to explain my way out of that one.
“That’s right.”
He looped his arm so I could put mine through. “Shall we?”
I giggled. He was so formal. I loved it.
It turned out Wells’ room was a few floors down. I expected him to be staying somewhere a bit like my original cabin, but his was slightly bigger and it had a small window that looked out at the ocean. As I crossed the threshold, I couldn’t help but be hyper-aware of being in an enclosed space with the guy. No one knew where we were, and no one could see us. I could do anything I wanted.
Except tell him who I really was.
“Wells…” I said hesitantly.
“Yes?” He looked at me intently.
“I…” Agh. This was too hard. Especially with those liquid eyes boring into my soul.
I changed my mind. The less talking that was done, the better. I pulled him in close to me and pushed him down on the bed, straddling my legs either side. I leaned forward and kissed him deeply.
He responded, groaning in appreciation. “Oh, God. Nina…”
I pretended that he had called me Liv and focused on the feeling of our bodies pressed against each other. I pulled up his shirt and ran my hands across his lean, tanned chest. He reached out and pulled my shirt over my head, before wrapping his arms around me so our skin was touching.
“Is this moving too fast for you?” he asked.
“No,” I panted. “You?”
“Definitely not.”
He kissed me again, his tongue gently brushing mine, and I switched off all rational thought.
I was going to enjoy this.
No guilt.
“Nina?”
My brain slowly returned to the land of the living. Who the hell was Nina?
And then my eyes snapped open. Wells was looking down at me, stroking my arm with his fingers.
I sat up. “What time is it?”
He looked at his watch. “8am.”
“Shit.” I quickly jumped out of bed and gathered up my clothes.
“What’s the hurry?” he asked.
“I have to go check on Jamila! I shouldn’t have stayed all night.”
“But didn’t you say there was someone looking after her while you had some downtime?”
“Uh, yeah, but I need to relieve them of their duties this morning,” I improvised. It was all very well abandoning Jamila for a few hours, especially since she’d decided to spend the previous day with Patrick, but it was another thing for me to completely disappear for twenty-four hours. I was allowed to be mad at her, but I didn’t want her to be mad at me.
I leaned over and kissed Wells. “I’ll come back and say goodbye after I’ve checked on her.”
“I have to leave at nine on the dot,” he warned.
“It’s okay. I’ll only be half an hour. I’ll see you soon!”
I ran back to the suite and bashed on the door. It took a moment, but Jamila opened it. Finally.
She looked me up and down and wandered back over to her bed, where I assumed she’d just came from, and flopped down without saying anything.
“So, yeah, thanks for having sex with my brother yesterday, despite me telling you not to,” I said sarcastically.
“We’re grown adults. We don’t have to answer to you,” she said, her voice muffled in the pillows.
“But you promised!” I protested. “And come on. As if he’d be able to say no to you. You’re a hot Hollywood celebrity. He never stood a chance.”
She sighed. “Relax. No one found out. He’s not going to get fired.”
“I just…I don’t know. I’m disappointed, that’s all.”
She sat up and looked at me. “Well, you know what? I’m fucking disappointed with you. Where the hell have you been?”
My eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“Where have you been all night?”
“Um, I didn’t have a key, so I wasn’t able to get back here. I tried knocking and you didn’t answer. For all I know you didn’t even get back until two in the morning.”
“I was here from 8pm. And waiting for the person I’m paying twenty-fucking-thousand dollars to so they do their damn job.”
Now I was starting to get really angry. “I couldn’t do my job, because you were doing God knows what with my brother. What if Zara had seen you? There’s no way I would have been able to save your ass then.”
“Just shut up. Zara didn’t see us, and you’re just trying to deflect that you didn’t do the right thing. Where were you, huh? With Lover Boy?”
“You didn’t give me a choice! Should I have just slept on the floor in the hall?”
She clutched her head. “Would you keep your voice down? I have the worst hangover.”
I threw up my hands. “How about if I just leave then, huh? I don’t need your goddamn money. It’s not worth it.”
“Fine, leave.” She buried herself under the bedcovers. “I’ll sort out shit on my own.”
“Good.”
I quickly stomped around the room, picking up my things. I shoved it all in a suitcase and forced the zip closed. I couldn’t believe Jamila was mad at me! She was the one who risked everything, including my brother’s employment.
I wondered if my original room was still available. Did they book them out again to people who boarded in the Caribbean? I’d go find Wells in time to say goodbye before he left, and then I’d investigate my options.
I ignored Jamila and walked out, pulling the door closed behind me.
Only to come face to face with Zara. She had a nasty smile on her face.
“Going somewhere?” she asked, looking down at my luggage.
I didn’t say anything and pushed past her. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her crap this morning. This was all up to Jamila to deal with now.
“Liv,” she called.
I froze. I was about to keep walking, but it was too late. She knew she had me.
I slowly turned around.
She looked so pleased with herself.
“What do you want?” I asked dully. I even dropped the accent, because there was obviously no use continuing it now.
“For you and Jamila to know how it feels to have your lives ruined.”
“Do whatever you want. I don’t care,” I said, and made to leave again.
“You mean, you don’t care if your brother gets fired?” she asked faux-innocently.
I internally groaned. Of course she would know that too.
“Why would my brother get fired?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Um, for fraternizing with the clientele?” She held up a cheap pre-paid phone and showed me the screen. The resolution of the photos wasn’t great, but you could still clearly see Patrick and Jamila half-naked—and the bottle of scotch beside them.
“I hung around long enough to get a few juicy shots, but also interestingly, hear about your little charade afterwards.”
“What are you going to do with those photos?” I asked warily.
“Well, conveniently, we’ve just reached dry land, so I’m going to hop off and email them to TMZ. Oh, but not before I make an appointment with the crew manager.” She giggled to herself. “And that’s not all.” She flicked to another photo, showing me kissing Wells at the crystal caves.
“Wow, you sure got around yesterday. Congratulations.”
“The press are going to eat this up. I don’t know what you do for a living, but I’d say your employer wouldn’t be too impressed with you being caught up in an illegal scam.”
“I didn’t do anything illegal,” I said defiantly. Although, I knew my conservative bank would not look kindly upon me dragging them into a story like that. I never lied to the authorities, but it could be implied that I did, and no one wants even a hint of dishonesty in an employee who works around money.
I sighed. “Okay, I guess you should go and expose us
all.”
She frowned. “You’re not going to try and stop me?”
“Would it help?”
She chuckled. “Probably not.”
And then I had a thought. It would only work if Jamila had told me the truth. It was worth a shot. I looked Zara in the eye. “You know, if you do that, you’ll probably miss out on the bigger story.”
She snorted. “And what would that be?”
“You have a detective on speed dial, don’t you? Maybe you should have Seth Ericsson looked into.”
“Seth?” The change in topic clearly caught her off-guard.
“Yep. He’d be more interesting than Jamila, wouldn’t he?”
She looked at me suspiciously. “I guess it depends what he did. Obviously, I know you’re trying to stop me from tanking a whole bunch of careers. What did he do?”
“I think it’s best you get your detective to find out. You won’t believe whatever I tell you.”
“I know you could just be trying to delay me leaking the other stuff.”
“Yeah, but you might find out something that changes your opinion of Jamila in the process.”
“Like what?”
“Go and ask your detective. But yeah, you might want to hold off at least leaking the news about Jamila. There’s no incentive for you to hold off on getting me or my brother fired, other than being a decent human being.”
She narrowed her eyes and huffed. “All right. I’ll give my guy until the end of the day to find out this mysterious secret. But if he doesn’t discover anything, I’m going to make it even worse for all of you. I might even find something to get your precious Wells in trouble with his charity.”
“You seem to know everything about everyone already. Maybe you should be in the detective business.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Honey, it doesn’t pay enough. I just want to act again.”
“Oh, and before you go blaming Jamila for spilling the news about your affair with that director, maybe you should see if anyone else gained from you getting fired. Who replaced you?”
She looked disconcerted. “What?”
“Who replaced you on the show when you left?”
Her face went through what looked like some very distinct emotions, all in the space of a few seconds: suspicion, confusion, anger, and then back to closed off.
“Stop trying to save your friend’s ass. You’ve already scored her an extra few hours. Don’t push your luck.”
“I’m just saying. You might be accusing the wrong person.”
Zara stalked off and I let out a sigh of relief.
I just hoped Jamila told me the truth about everything.
Chapter Fourteen
Day Five: Cozumel
Because of my encounter with Zara, I was now cutting it fine to see Wells. I hurried back to his room, but when I knocked on the door, there was no reply.
I banged a few more times and waited, to no avail. No! He couldn’t have left yet, could he? I would never forgive Zara for causing me to miss saying goodbye.
I tried turning the handle, but it stayed locked. Damn it. I hurried up to the main floor and went to the concierge.
“Did anyone leave a note for me?” I asked. “For Liv—sorry, I mean Nina?”
The woman looked around her desk and typed something into her computer before shaking her head. “No, sorry.”
“Have people left the ship yet?”
“Yes, disembarking began about twenty minutes ago.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I ran over to the exit and tried to spot Wells in the crowd, but it was impossible. And I had no idea where he was going.
But even if I managed to find him, then what? We would just be prolonging the goodbye. I might get one more kiss, but that was it.
I just hated leaving things unfinished. I wanted my goodbye.
I stared longingly out at the port. I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to decide whether I was going to explore Cozumel.
And then I wondered if I should go and tell Jamila that Zara knew everything. She was not going to be pleased, but at this point, I didn’t really care what Jamila thought. Maybe I would wait until I found out what Zara was actually going to do.
Yes, that might be the best way to go about it.
I headed back downstairs, glancing one last time at the people leaving the ship.
I guess I would never see Wells again. My chest felt tight at the thought, and tears welled in my eyes. Damn it.
At least I still had my key from my old room. In hindsight, I could have used it last night instead of staying with Wells, but I had been so blinded with lust that I forgot I had it.
I unlocked the door and went in. It was even smaller than I remembered. After the luxury of Jamila’s suite, the place felt like a shoebox. I shoved my bags in the corner and flopped down on the bed. At least I was my own person now, not responsible for anyone.
Crap.
I was going to go home with no money. I wouldn’t get my next paycheck from the bank for another few weeks, and the thousand Jamila had originally given me wouldn’t last long after I covered the previous lot of rent and overdrawn fees on my bank account.
On the upside, everything was still paid for while I was on the ship. And it made the question of whether I would go ashore at Cozumel easier. I just wouldn’t. I might even have to stash a couple of muffins in my purse when I disembarked at Miami, so I could save some cash on food.
I knew if it came down to it, my parents would lend me a few dollars to tide me over, but I hated being twenty-eight and having to rely on them for anything. They always thought I was incapable of coping on my own, and this would only prove them right.
There was a knock on my door. It didn’t sound brisk and professional, so I assumed it wasn’t staff. Unless staff liked to tap out a little drum roll on their guests’ doors.
I looked through the peephole.
It was Jamila.
Ugh. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her yet.
“I can see your eye in the peephole,” Jamila called. “Let me in.”
I sighed and opened the door. She looked around with a slightly bemused expression. “Wow. This is…cozy.”
“Did you just come here to make fun of my room?” I asked.
“No, sorry. I know I’m lucky to be able to pay for the suite I have. I don’t mean to be judgy. I grew up poor, so I’ve seen a lot worse than this.”
I knew she was trying to extend an olive branch, so I stayed quiet.
She perched at the end of the bed beside me. “Look, I’m sorry. I owe you an explanation. You know how yesterday I was acting weird? Well, I found out my show is getting cancelled. This is our last season.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know. I guess I was in shock. And if I said it out loud, it would have made it more real. It’s going to be a big adjustment. I’ve been doing Legal Lies for seven years.”
“Are you worried you won’t find other work?”
“I guess a little. I mean, my agent is pretty good, but you never know. And with me being in rehab, some people might not want to take a chance on me.”
I thought about Zara and how if she didn’t find anything by the end of the day, it might be even worse for Jamila.
“I know I shouldn’t have done anything to jeopardize your brother’s job,” Jamila continued. “But I needed to feel alive and connected to someone else for a little while. I really hope he doesn’t get in trouble. None of the staff saw us, I don’t think.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter if the staff didn’t see you, because Zara did. And she has photographic proof.”
Jamila gasped. “What?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because she confronted me outside your suite when I left just now. Don’t worry. I won’t be asking for my money. I’ll even give you back the initial thousand if you let me pay you back over a few
weeks. My finances are a bit tight right now…”
“Stop talking for a second! We need to figure this out. What did you say? And do? Where is she now?”
“She got off the boat already.”
“What? And that’s it?”
“I told her to look into Seth and see if he was a more interesting story than you.”
Her eyes bugged out. “You what?”
“Was that wrong?”
“Yes! I mean, no! Oh God. I don’t know.” She buried her face in her hands. “Zara is unpredictable. She might go to Seth and get extra ammunition from him to have me totally destroyed!”
“Oh. Do you think that’s possible?”
“It’s very possible! Damn it, Liv! Why did you tell her to talk to Seth?”
“I told her to get her detective to look into him.”
“She has a detective?”
“Apparently. I also asked her who replaced her on your show after she left, because I wanted to imply that you hadn’t been the one to get her fired, and she looked a bit disturbed.”
Jamila choked out a laugh. “Holy shit. I never thought of that before. You’re so right. Uma, the woman who was cast as one of the new partners, is a total bitch. She would have done whatever she could to get someone fired if it furthered her career.”
“Why didn’t this occur to you before?”
“Because I don’t think of things like that! And I had bigger issues to worry about than some woman wrongly accusing me of being a snitch. Like Seth getting me sent to rehab!” Her expression switched back to worried. “I hope you did the right thing, Liv.”
“Me too. Because she’s also going to ruin my career, my brother’s career and even try to sabotage Wells’ career if this doesn’t work out.”
“What does she have against Wells?”
“She, um, saw us kissing yesterday.”
Jamila laughed. “Okay. So I’m not the only one to blame for this whole mess.”
“I guess not. I’m sorry Jamila. I know you have the most to lose…”
“Hey, just because I experience a little bit of celebrity, doesn’t mean my life is more important than yours. Wells is probably the one who would suffer the most, and he’s done nothing wrong.”
I Thought It Was You (Oceanic Dreams #4) Page 9