“Other friends who might have strangers taking pictures of them?”
The waiter saved her from having to answer his question. They ordered a bottle of wine and listened to the chef’s recommendations.
“Tell me about yourself,” Lori changed the subject.
He lifted one questioning eyebrow but didn’t bring up her travel companions again.
“What do you want to know?”
Everything . . . but then, if she started asking about what he did for a living, he’d ask her. “Tell me more about this philosophy of yours.”
“Which one?”
“Living life beyond your comfort zone.”
He leaned back. “That’s easy. As kids, we learned to take risks every day. Jumping into a lake without a life preserver and learning to swim because of it. Do you remember your first roller coaster?”
“Not really.”
“Do you remember being afraid to go on one?”
“Yeah. I still get that way.”
He lifted his hands in the air. “But you still go on them.”
“They’re fun.”
“The thrill comes from fear.”
“Like watching six grand ride on the color red.”
“Exactly.”
The waiter returned with the wine and took their order.
“Sometime between the age of eighteen and thirty we forget to take risks, and the fun in life is lost on us,” Reed told her.
“You’ve been skydiving, haven’t you?” Lori asked.
“More than once. You should try it sometime.”
“I’ll stick to the inside of airplanes, thank you.”
“Chicken.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “What is this, junior high?”
“Maybe. What are you afraid of?”
Lori lifted her wineglass. “Oh, I don’t know . . . hitting the ground at two hundred miles per hour.”
“It’s only about a hundred and twenty.”
“That sounds so much better.”
Reed had an addictive smile. “What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?”
Lori blinked . . . twice. “I traveled to China by myself.”
Reed stared at her. “China? That’s it?”
“Hey, I don’t speak Chinese. It was scary.” What she failed to mention was that she was meeting a potential client of Alliance. A businessman looking for an American bride. The scary part took place when, on behalf of Alliance, she passed on the man as a client. He had a violent side she picked up on shortly after meeting him in person. “What about you?”
“My biggest adventure?”
“Or the biggest step outside your comfort zone?”
He hesitated. “I voted.”
The wine Lori sipped burned when she started to laugh. When her eyes started to tear up, she took a drink of her water.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Voted? That’s outside your wheelhouse?”
“Well, yeah, what if the guy I voted for won by one vote? What if he sucked or started a war? That’s a lot of responsibility.”
He was messing with her, but she liked to laugh.
“Ever been married?”
He nodded. “Once. You?”
“Once. I was really young. No kids. You?”
He opened his eyes wide. “Oh, no. I’d be a terrible dad.”
Their salads arrived and they kept talking. “Sounds like I found something outside your comfort zone.”
“What about you? You’re beautiful, and obviously have your life together, with trips to China and this.” He pointed around the room. “Why aren’t you married?”
“Not interested.” Which was only half-true. Romance had been stripped out of marriage with her profession. “I like being in control, and marriage feels like giving away half of that.”
Reed lifted his glass. “To the Not Interested Club.”
Seemed Lori was drinking to all kinds of clubs this week.
They’d finished the bottle of wine and shared a froufrou dessert.
Even though neither one of them talked about their daily life, they managed to carry on a conversation for two hours.
“Nightcap?” Reed suggested.
She placed a hand over her stomach. “I don’t think anything else is going to fit.”
“Let’s take a walk, then. I’m not ready to say good night.”
“And if I am?”
“You’re not.” He turned her toward the doors leading to the deck.
“How can you be so sure?”
The warm breeze caught her hair and started to pull it out of the clip she used to pull it off her face.
“Because if you wanted to end this night, you’d have said so by now. My guess is you’re trying to determine if you’re going to sleep with me or not.”
Her jaw dropped. Not because he was wrong, no, he was completely right about that. But that he’d said it aloud.
“I am not!”
“Not thinking about it, or not going to?” He leaned against the railing and charmed her with his smile.
“Neither.”
“Liar.”
“Oh my God. You’re so full of yourself.” She tried not to smile back at him and failed.
“Because I say what we’re both thinking?”
“I am not—” Her denial died on her lips when Reed took one step closer.
“Let me change that.”
His kiss silenced any protest she had. Gooseflesh rose on her arms, her neck . . . and butterflies fluttered in her belly like she was a virgin tasting a man’s lips for the first time. He reached for the back of her neck, held her like he wasn’t going to let her get away. Nothing was further from her mind.
“Open for me,” he whispered.
Reed’s eyes were warm, his thumb traced the side of her neck.
Lori opened her mouth and reached for him. His tongue found hers and made itself at home. She tasted the cinnamon that had laced their coffee.
Cinnamon and Reed. The two would forever be branded into her mind by this simple kiss.
Her fingers fanned over his chest, touching him through his shirt, and she closed her eyes.
Footsteps of someone walking by reminded her that they were standing on the deck of a ship and not somewhere private.
She pulled away.
Reed placed his thumb under her chin. “You’re even more stunning when you’re aroused.”
“I am not arou—”
He lifted both eyebrows.
“Okay, fine.”
“Glad we cleared that up. Now let me walk you to your room.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“To say good night. I think I’ve taken you past your comfort zone enough for one night.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
At her door, he kissed her again. This time pushing her up against the wall, the weight of his body reminding her how long it had been since she’d welcomed a man into her bed. Then, before she could change her mind, Reed took the key from her hand, opened her door, and pushed her inside.
And then he left.
Chapter Eight
By the time the ship pulled into position for the day, Reed was up, showered, and logged in. He started with Shannon Redding-Wentworth. From mainstream media to gossip magazines, Shannon was everywhere. She came from a wealthy family, married Paul Wentworth while he was campaigning for the governor’s office in California. He had brought himself up to speed on her story before he arrived on the ship. His client knew about the cruise but didn’t have knowledge of who she was sailing with. Reed knew his client was looking for something scandalous by way of a romantic interlude with the former first lady and would be disappointed that wasn’t the case.
Reed backtracked through her life by looking up the private details of the governor. He found a wedding photo of the couple, and then another few sprinkled in at the reception. He clipped them into a file and moved forward to the announcements of the divorce.
Public records determined irreconcilable differences caused the divorce, much like nearly all divorces in the state of California. No one had to take the blame for a marriage gone bad in a no-fault state. There was mention of a prenuptial agreement removing any ability for Shannon to ask for more during their divorce. None of this was new news.
He clicked around until he pulled up a statement from the attorney mediating the Wentworth divorce.
He smiled. The law office of Lori Cumberland gave the official press release in regards to the high profile divorce.
He found an image.
Lori wore her hair up, and the tight black skirt and office jacket with crisp lines were nothing like he’d seen her in since they met.
He followed the ball and searched for recent mentions and images of Lori Cumberland. The one that caught his eye he’d seen before, only it hadn’t meant a thing to him until now.
Trina. The quiet beauty who hid behind massive Kardashian-style sunglasses was none other than Katrina Petrov. New York stood in the background of the picture he found, which had been taken less than a month earlier. Katrina in widow’s black, at the cemetery where she buried her husband. At her side were Lori and another woman Reed took a second look at. He switched back to Shannon’s wedding photos.
A petite woman with auburn hair was the same woman flanking Lori and Katrina at the funeral. Dark glasses, her hair pulled tight to her head. Reed took a closer look. Designer red soled shoes, a dress that belonged on a fashion runway even if it was appropriate for a funeral.
Money.
Lots of money.
Why were Shannon and Trina vacationing with Lori? Were they simply friends, or was Lori there as their lawyer? So far, Lori had hovered over the three women as if they needed constant supervision for fear of saying the wrong thing. He couldn’t help but think he was onto something there. Lori was reluctant to tell him what she did for a living . . . was that on purpose?
Something smelled funny. And while he might learn a thing or two about Paul Wentworth through his ex-wife, Reed didn’t think getting Shannon to open up was possible.
Lori, on the other hand . . .
He saved the file, the pictures, and turned his computer off.
With his cell phone, wallet, and sunglasses, Reed left his room in search of his travel companions.
Lori should have woken rested and ready for the day. Unfortunately, she’d tossed and turned most of the night. She wondered what Reed’s goal was. The man seemed to have one, and so far, keeping her attention on no one but him stood out. She hadn’t so much as looked at another man since they’d met.
When she and the other women found Reed, Rogelio, and Miguel waiting on the dock in Naples, she wasn’t surprised.
“Good morning, ladies.”
Avery and her all telling grin slid into Rogelio’s arms and kissed him like they’d been lovers for longer than one day. “Hola,” she said to him.
He said something slow and sultry, and Avery giggled.
“Do I want to know what he just said?” Lori asked.
Trina and Miguel both said no at the same time.
“So what will it be today? A walking tour of the city? A trip to Pompeii? The catacombs underground?” Reed asked the group.
“Where is Antonio?” Shannon asked.
“He has friends here, said he’d see us back on the ship tonight,” Reed said.
“I’m game for anything,” Trina said.
“Careful with that statement, Trina. Reed will have us jumping out of planes if he had his way.”
Trina lowered the sides of her big, floppy hat. “No way in the world I’m jumping out of a plane.”
“Sounds like a challenge,” said Reed.
“I was a flight attendant for years. Staying inside a pressurized cabin is the only place to be while in the sky.”
Reed shook his head.
“You’re outnumbered,” Lori told him.
“I’m a patient man,” he offered with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
She was sure his statement had more than one meaning.
“Let’s walk the city, drink wine, eat pizza, and save the touristy stuff for Rome,” Shannon suggested.
“Sounds perfect.”
“So no scuba diving?” Reed asked, a hopeful lift in his voice.
“Oh my God, where did you find this guy, Lori?”
“At the bar.”
They walked into the center of the city and weaved their way through the steep hills and narrow streets. The stench of fish was everywhere, and merchants sold their wares from baskets on bicycles and folding tables.
Above their heads, clotheslines littered with laundry were strung between buildings. A woman who had to be in her sixties stood on a balcony screaming at a man below.
Lori stopped to watch. “What’s going on?”
Trina started to laugh.
“She’s saying something about today’s fish.”
The woman spoke with her hands.
The fisherman on the street yelled back, turned to walk away, and then back around.
Still complaining, the woman lowered a basket from her balcony with a long rope.
The fisherman removed the money from the basket, and for a moment Lori expected him to taste it with a quick bite to make sure it was real. Instead, he filled the basket with loosely wrapped fish.
Once the entire melodrama was over, Avery started to clap.
The Italian woman waved a hand in the air.
“I think she just told you off,” Shannon said.
“Yep, she did!” Trina added.
Sometime before lunch, Reed reached for her hand and ran his finger along her palm.
Why handholding flipped her nerves, she didn’t know. But it did. And for the rest of the day, he made a simple statement of ownership by holding her hand.
On one breath, she cautioned herself. On the other, she reminded herself that this was only a week of her life. Might as well enjoy it and not think too hard.
Buzzed on espresso, Lori and the others found lunch overlooking the sea. Hundreds of boats dotted the water as the midday sun warmed the ocean air. “Watered down wine and a five-course meal,” Shannon said.
“Heaven,” Avery added.
“Have you ever been here before?” Miguel asked them.
Lori lifted her hand. “I have.”
Shannon chimed in, “I have, too.”
“Not Naples, but I’ve been to Rome,” Trina told them.
“First time in Italy.” Avery sipped her wine. “Won’t be my last.”
Miguel glanced at Reed.
“First time for me too.”
“Americans don’t venture far from home, I’ve noticed,” Miguel said.
“It’s expensive for a lot of people.”
“But not for you, ladies . . . eh?” Miguel questioned. “All of you in private penthouse rooms. Even on board most people share.”
Lori felt the weight of Trina’s eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, focused on her.
Avery came to the rescue. “We knocked over a liquor store for the travel funds. We’re all on the run.”
Shannon laughed.
Lori found Reed staring at her.
Rogelio said something to Avery in Spanish. Lori waited for Trina or Miguel to translate.
“He said he’s delighted Avery had the funds to travel.”
Avery animatedly batted her eyelashes.
Rogelio kissed her briefly.
“Do you two work together?” Lori asked them, doing her best to switch the subject of how the four of them could afford to travel the way they did.
“No, no. Friends from our school days, eh, Rogelio?” Miguel translated again, Rogelio nodded, and the two spoke of their college days.
Lori caught Reed watching the two men closely, his expression unreadable.
He caught her staring and smiled. From under the table, he reached out with the back of his hand and brushed her thigh.
The Italians loved th
eir carbs. Small plates of pastas, breads, and cheeses littered the table. They grazed their way through lunch and rolled out of the restaurant and back toward the ship.
At some point between lunch and returning to the ship, Reed reached for Lori’s hand and held it. A teenage memory of a boy holding her hand in the halls of her high school surfaced and brought with it tiny butterflies in the pit of her stomach.
Some of the merchants were rolling up their wares for the day. The streets started to empty as the cruise ship filled.
“I need a nap,” Avery told everyone as they took the stairs to their deck.
Rogelio said something and Trina nudged him. “I think she means to sleep!”
Rogelio pouted, and they laughed.
“Are we doing the Cirque show tonight?” Trina asked.
They discussed their evening options as a group. Somewhere between Barcelona and Naples, the group had become travel buddies.
“And dinner?” Miguel asked.
The women moaned and grabbed their full bellies.
“We’ll meet up with you in the dance club.”
“I could use the workout.” The words left her mouth and Reed’s smile spread.
“On the dance floor.”
They turned the corner to their bank of rooms. “I’m with Avery, I need to rest before turning the next page of tonight’s activities.”
Reed held back when the others disappeared behind stateroom doors.
“Italy agrees with you.” He brushed the side of her face with his index finger.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, you dropped your protective armor for a good hour today.”
“I don’t have protective armor.”
Reed stared into her eyes. “You hover over these women like you’re their mother.”
“I-I . . .” She wanted to deny him. “Whatever.”
Reed stepped aside when another passenger passed by them. “I’ll see you at the club. Maybe by midnight you’ll be ready for dinner.”
“I can’t eat another thing.”
“Or we could just turn in early.” His gaze lingered on her lips.
She laughed and pushed against his chest. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He didn’t attempt to kiss her before walking away. Once she slipped behind the door, she leaned against it and muttered, “You’re wearing me down, Reed.”
Fool Me Once (First Wives Series Book 1) Page 9