Gabrielle smiled weakly. “I’ve never been this tired in my life. I think today’s emergency drained me. I had very little rest between leaving the clinic and coming to the party.”
Cameron momentarily slipped his arm around her shoulders. “A good night’s sleep should get you back on track. I think all of us are tired since we did have a rough time of it today. Mind me walking you to your cabin? We are neighbors, after all.”
“I’d love the company. It gets kind of eerie in the corridors at night.”
“I can imagine how that might feel for any woman alone. I’ve got you covered.”
“Thanks, Cameron, I appreciate it.”
As they boarded the elevator, his thoughts were solely on her. “I’m happy you had a good time. I could tell it was a total surprise by the way it was etched on your pretty face. Do you like the anchor?”
Gabrielle fingered it. “It’s beautiful, much like the one you wear. You were a sailor once so it’s more appropriate for you.”
“You’re a sailor now, Gabrielle, just a civilian sailor. If you don’t want the anchor around your neck, put it on a charm bracelet.”
Gabrielle smiled. “Great idea!”
Cameron came even closer to her to gently touch the necklace. It felt really good to be so close, his hand so near her breast as he fingered the anchor. She smiled at the thought that he was there with her because he wanted to be. He could’ve stayed in the club and hung out, but instead he chose to escort her home.
When they reached her cabin fifteen minutes later, she briefly thought about asking him in, then decided it was a better idea not to. As a case of nervousness hit her, she fumbled in her purse for the key card.
She turned to face Cameron. “Lights out,” she joked. “I should be in tip top shape tomorrow…or later today actually. Thanks for a lovely night and the great surprise. I had a super time, and everything was so nice. Are you going back to the party?”
Cameron looked right into her eyes. “Do you want me to go back?”
Gabrielle didn’t know what to say. His question had thrown her off. “Whether you go back or not isn’t up to me.”
“Well, no, I’m not interested in going back. Now if you were to ask me in, I’d accept the invite before you released your next breath.”
Unsure of herself and Cameron, Gabrielle wished she could give him an answer.
Telling him to go home was rude— and she wasn’t sure that was what she really wanted.
Cameron didn’t give her much time to think. His urge to taste her mouth had won out over his attempt to cool himself down. Lifting her chin with two fingers, Cameron lowered his head until their lips met. To gauge her reaction, he dusted her lips with several soft kisses. Then his forefinger slowly outlined her mouth.
Looking down into her mesmerizing eyes, Cameron tried to see if he’d moved too fast or been inappropriate. She appeared a bit startled but didn’t seem to object to his show of affection. The blush on her cheeks was a telltale sign.
Giving it no more thought, his top lip skirted her bottom one, causing her breath to come in short spurts. She hadn’t pushed him away. He took it as a good sign and hoped he wasn’t making a mistake. He didn’t want to lose her, and he already cared enough for her to risk his heart again.
As his lips teased hers, his heart rate sped up. It felt like a runaway freight train was loose inside his chest. His sex responded to his desire for her, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing her with deep passion.
The intimate exchange caused his entire body to ache with longing. His insides quivered and his nerves twanged. His body felt as if it was on fire. Moving his arms from around her, he cupped her face between his hands and kissed her thoroughly. The woman’s luscious mouth drove him wild, making him want to kiss her endlessly. The feel of her kissing him back was indescribable. He’d never felt a kiss so completely. Gabrielle had the sweetest kisses; the kind a man didn’t mind getting addicted to.
* * *
Trembling all over, Gabrielle savored the sweet taste of Cameron’s mouth. His kisses had her floating somewhere she’d never been before. The feeling of completion was totally foreign to her. As his tongue sought out hers, she gasped with pleasure and opened herself up to receive it. The thought to back away from him lasted only a second.
Kissing Cameron was much too enjoyable to think of bringing the passion to an abrupt end. Completely surrendering her mouth to his, she felt her body trembling from the sweet sensations, which only made her want more and more of him.
“Maybe we should move inside,” he whispered into her ear.
“Yes…probably,” she responded mindlessly. With her key card now tucked in her hand, she tried opening the door, but her fingers shook badly.
Taking the card from Gabrielle’s hand, Cameron opened the door. Once inside, he kicked the door shut and brought her back into his arms, resuming the intimate assault on her hungrily awaiting mouth. Pressing her back against the door, he closed the minute distance between them, starting a wildfire he couldn’t put out the way he wanted to.
They shared several sensuous kisses as her frenzied fingers raked through his hair. The feel of his hair between her fingers was exhilarating to Gabrielle. She loved its thickness. Her breathing became labored, and she struggled to suck in enough air to breathe evenly. Kissing in the darkness of her cabin only fueled the fire even more.
Cameron pulled back to give her time to catch her breath, but he kept his arms around her. “Kissing you is incredible.” He shrugged. “And I guess it’s too late to ask if I’m out of line.”
Gabrielle reached up and smoothed his brows with her thumb. Her stomach somersaulted as she struggled to regain composure. “I have to ask you something. As much as I’m enjoying it, should we be doing this?”
“The same question has run through my head. I’ve wanted to kiss you since the day I met you. And if you don’t want me to kiss you again, it’ll be hard to deal with. But your needs and desires come first with me. I’ll do what you think is best.”
Looking like she was lost somewhere among the clouds, Gabrielle shook her head. “I honestly don’t know what’s best for me right now. I do know I like how you make me feel. I’m just not big on mixing work and pleasure.”
“That’s also been the rule of thumb for me. The problem is I can’t put my rules into play with you, and I can’t imagine my desire for you going away.”
“But being badly burned by indulging in a love affair with a coworker can do you in. You know how that feels, too. I really don’t know what to do… Maybe we should sleep on it. What do you think?” Gabrielle asked.
“All I can think about right now is how much I enjoyed kissing you. You turn me on and I won’t lie about it. We both got burned, but that’s our past. And it’s not like we haven’t already discussed this matter. We both know the score—I’m not Jordan and you’re not Amanda.”
Cameron drew Gabrielle closer and tenderly kissed her again. Their kisses quickly grew in passion and deeper in intensity, making a scorching heat continue to mount between them. The wild thrills threatened Gabrielle’s willpower.
As her common sense began to return, she pulled away. “We’d better get a grip. I can’t think clearly with so much passion and heat surrounding me. Maybe we should say good-night before we do something we might regret.”
“So, you do want me as much as I want you. Well, I’ll leave before we commit what might be a cardinal sin.” He grinned.
Making love to her was anything but a sin. If he ever got the chance to make love to her, he’d consider it a miracle. “Sleep well. At least I know I’ll go to sleep with a smile on my face.”
Cameron kissed Gabrielle once again then opened the door and left.
Standing in the doorway, Gabrielle stared after him, hoping he’d look back at her. When he didn’t turn around, she closed the door.
Disappointed that she’d brought the burning passion between them to a screeching halt, Gabrielle walked through her cabin a
nd over to her bed, where she plopped down. Her brain felt scrambled and her libido was screaming for release.
A couple of minutes later, Gabrielle stripped down, still terribly confused by what had occurred between her and Cameron. Without bothering to hang up her clothes or put on sleepwear, she climbed into bed. Before she could even close her weary eyes, the phone rang. She held her breath, guessing that the caller was Cameron. She hoped against hope that it was him calling to assure her everything was still okay between them.
It could be an emergency, she thought, even though she knew on-call communications came only through the cell. As she picked up the bedside extension, she sighed then gave a near breathless greeting once she heard Cameron’s voice.
“Hope I didn’t wake you. It was hard for me to fall asleep without knowing if you’re okay. I won’t apologize for my actions, but please don’t beat yourself up over what happened between us. We’ll figure this out. I don’t want you to have any regrets. I have none, Gabrielle.”
“I don’t have any, either, but I have concerns. How do we work together and keep our attraction under wraps? I’m so attracted to you.”
“You’re not alone in being attracted. I’ve wanted you from day one. We’re both adults, Gabby, and I think we can handle things at work. Let’s see what happens before we put our own heads on the chopping block.”
“Gabby,” she repeated softly. “That’s what my family calls me, but I correct anyone else who does it. Coming from you, though, it sounded like a sweet term of endearment, just as it is with my family. I like how it made me feel.”
“Does that mean I can use it? I do mean it as an endearment.”
“It’s fine when we’re alone, but not in public. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea.”
“I’m glad I can call you Gabby in private, but what exactly is the wrong idea? That we’re attracted to each other and want to get to know each other better?”
“Some of our coworkers might think we’re intimately involved. For one, Marjorie already thinks I have a major crush on you.”
“I consider a crush different from pure attraction. Is Marjorie correct?”
Gabrielle chuckled softly. “I plead the Fifth. I don’t kiss and tell.”
Cameron laughed. “Lady, you’re something else. I enjoy you so much.”
“Same here. It’s really late and we have an early wakeup call. Sleep tight, Cameron.”
“Thanks. We need to talk about our attraction. And we should do it soon.”
“I’m worried I won’t be able to stop thinking about it,” Gabrielle said breathlessly.
* * *
Disappointed that she had ended the call so abruptly, Cameron cradled the receiver, wishing he’d encouraged more conversation. With a perfect image of her popping into his head, he wondered if she slept in the nude. The thought of her lying naked in bed was both appealing and frustrating to him. Sex wasn’t first and foremost in his mind, and it wasn’t something he ever intended to push on her. Everything between them had to come naturally, and they had to be of one accord. But by
Gabrielle’s response, he was sure they had both wanted the ignited passion.
He remembered how Gabrielle had looked in a bathing suit after several hours in the sun had painted her body a deep bronze, which made her even more alluring. Her chestnut hair was enhanced by her tan, and he loved seeing the breeze playing in her hair.
When he’d carried her into the sea earlier in the cruise, he’d had the perfect opportunity to touch parts of her bare flesh, and her firm, shapely figure had been an ideal fit against his muscular body. Kissing her tonight had taken courage.
Cameron was both physically and mentally exhausted. He was too tired to put his brain through the grinder over something he had no control over. Thinking about Gabrielle was always pleasant, but he was afraid they might not happen as a couple. Although she tried to be brave, he’d seen some fear in her eyes. He was somewhat fearful, too, fearful that Gabrielle had been hurt too deeply to try love again.
Ready to clear his mind and fall into a deep sleep, Cameron closed his eyes. For the next half hour, he tossed and turned, unable to stop thinking about Gabrielle, the woman next door.
* * *
The Parisian Paradise would be at sea less than twenty-four hours before making port back home in Galveston. Gabrielle felt energized, and the thought of seeing her family made her smile. She’d awakened at least an hour before her alarm clock was scheduled to go off, had showered and was now ready to report for duty.
Gabrielle thought of Cameron. What had happened between them was amazing. For a couple of hours she had lain awake, worrying over what havoc a change in their relationship could wreak upon them. It was surprising that she’d finally gotten off to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
His kisses, the type of passionate kisses she couldn’t get enough of, had brought her to her knees. It seemed like forever since their first and last kiss. She still regretted having brought the passion to an end. Her body had been on fire for him, and the heat hadn’t lessened one bit since then.
Grabbing a ceramic bowl of steaming oatmeal off the counter, she took it over to the table and sat down to eat. She wasn’t hungry, yet she had to eat to maintain strength. They’d sail into Galveston around 7:00 a.m., and she wanted to be energized to see her family. She wanted them to see she’d fared well on the first week of her new job.
Gabrielle expected to see the entire family at the dock around noon, unless one of her brothers had medical emergencies. They only had a few hours to be together, but she would’ve been happy with any amount of time. She still didn’t know if they’d get to come aboard the ship or if she would disembark. It was something she had to arrange through Cameron, and she planned to do that as soon as they both made it to the clinic.
Gabrielle dropped her spoon in the bowl. She suddenly felt emotional, hoping things wouldn’t change for her and Cameron because of the passion they’d shared. She felt a lot for him, and she worried that their attraction might interfere with the friendship they’d engaged in so naturally and so comfortably. Losing him as a friend would hurt.
“Losing him as a lover wouldn’t be any less painful,” Gabrielle pondered aloud.
As coworkers, how could they become lovers? Wasn’t the deck stacked a mile high against them? A bright future towered a mile high over them; well, a mile high against them was more like it. It felt awful to want something she couldn’t have. But it wasn’t just a desire for something. It was a desire for Dr. Cameron Quinn, a man she had fallen fast for.
* * *
Gabrielle took a deep breath before walking into the clinic. She wasn’t even sure if Cameron was in yet, but her nerves had already taken her over. Squaring her shoulders, she went inside, telling herself that everything would be okay. Both she and Cameron had been willing partners in a passion fest, and neither one could blame the other for what had happened. And it wouldn’t matter anyway, because they had thoroughly enjoyed each other.
Leaning against the front counter, Cameron wore a beautiful smile on his lips. As his eyes fastened on Gabrielle, she felt her heart skip a beat. “I’ve been waiting on you, Dr. Grinage. You’re hardly late, but I’d hoped you show up early. How’re you feeling? Did you sleep well?”
Gabrielle wrung her hands together. “I’m feeling fine and I slept very well, thank you.”
Except for when you invaded my dreams and I was more than willing to surrender to your sexual desires.
“This is the last day at sea, and we make port in the morning. We can expect the clinic to be bustling with the crewmembers we need to recheck. As the day wears on, the patient list will probably completely dwindle down since everyone will want to enjoy the last night on the ship.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. Listen, I need to know how to handle something. As you know, my family lives in Galveston, and I’d like to see them for a while. Can they board the ship to visit with me in my suite, or will I be able to go to my pa
rents’ home?”
“It’ll probably be best if you go home. The ship will undergo a major overhauling during and after disembarkation and cleaning crews will be everywhere. All staff has to be back aboard the ship by 2:00 p.m., and we set sail for our alternate destinations at 5:30 p.m.”
“I know we get into Galveston around 7:00 a.m. I’m dying to see my family. I’ve missed them so much.”
Cameron looked closely at Gabrielle. “Are you homesick enough for this to be the end of the line for you?”
Gabrielle shook her head. “No way! I miss my family, but I love my job. I’ve never lived far away from them, but I’m all grown up now.”
Relieved by her response, Cameron chuckled. “Yes, you are that. Do you have an apartment in Galveston?”
“I own a home there, but I leased it out for a year.” She clasped her hands together in an excited gesture. “I’m looking forward to the next itinerary. I’ve always wanted to visit Jamaica.”
“The entire Caribbean is beautiful, but our ship has the best destinations. Not many ships alternate itineraries biweekly. Fleets normally have one course for an entire season.”
“So I’ve heard.” She scratched her head, looking a bit perplexed. “About last night, I hope we didn’t ruin our friendship. I want you in my life, and if I can only have you as a friend, so be it. I’ll take you as a friend in a heartbeat.”
Cameron looked concerned. “Am I hearing regrets about the passion we shared last night? I hope my ears are deceiving me. We’ll get this all figured out. But know this—you have my friendship in the bank. But I want more than—”
“Morning, Dr. Quinn and Dr. Grinage! Good to see you both.” Marjorie sniffed the air. “I don’t smell coffee. Did you two just make it in?”
Cameron grimaced. “I got here first, but I had other things on my mind. I’ll get the coffee going.” He got up and walked to the breakroom.
Marjorie laughed. “I bet I know what’s on his mind. Dr. Quinn is so attracted to you he can’t even think straight. Each time I see you together, I see a love connection.”
“Let’s not go there,” Gabrielle suggested. “Cameron and I are coworkers sharing a few social events together.”
Waves of Passion (Kimani Romance) Page 11