I made for the door then jumped when someone caught my arm.
"Oh. Hi, Austin."
He released me and moved closer so he could speak over the noise. "Looking for loverboy?"
I grimaced at the nickname I knew Owen would hate but nodded. "I think he's in our stateroom, though, so I'm going to--"
"Nope. He's still here."
I blinked, and he slid an arm around my shoulder. "Come with me, lovergirl."
I shrugged out from under his arm but did walk with him to a side of the casino I hadn't visited before.
My fiancé sat at a table with four other men, beside a sign that read "$100 minimum". My heart racing at the idea of him betting a hundred dollars on a single poker hand, I looked him over. He had a mound of poker chips in front of him and a look of fierce concentration I'd never seen on his face. I couldn't see his eyes because he wore sunglasses, but somehow he still looked alive on a whole new level, like he'd been waiting all his life for this moment.
We watched as the dealer laid down a fifth card next to the four face-up on the table. The first player dropped his cards face-down, and so did the second, then none of the players moved, even a little, until Owen pushed in all his chips and said, his voice devoid of expression, "All in."
Was he risking a hundred dollars? Two hundred, even? I didn't know how worried to be. "What are those chips worth?" I whispered to Austin.
"Greens are twenty-five bucks, orange fifty. I'll tell you the rest later."
My stomach twisted so hard it hurt. There had to be at least twenty green chips there, and ten orange ones. Plus whatever the rest were worth. This was so much worse than I'd imagined. What was Owen doing?
I took an involuntary step forward, but Austin took gentle but firm hold of my upper arm. "No, stay here. It's okay, I think he's got it."
Got it or not, he was betting our future on cards!
The guy next to Owen shrugged and dropped his cards on the table face-down, and the last guy holding cards, whose pile of chips was considerably smaller than Owen's but contained more orange ones, stared at Owen from behind a tinted plastic visor then gave a decisive nod and said, "Call."
Owen and the guy showed the cards they'd been holding at the same time. What I saw meant nothing to me, but part of the audience groaned and part cheered and the guy shook his head and held out a hand to Owen. They shook, then the guy left the table and Owen pulled the loser's pile of chips toward him. Relief flooded me, almost washing away my terror.
"Go." Austin dropped my arm and gave me a light push. "Good time to talk to him."
When I reached Owen's side he looked up and said, "Hey! Did you see that?"
"Yeah, I did." I tried to sound enthusiastic. "You did great. Ready to go?"
He pulled off his sunglasses and stared at me. His eyes were red, probably from studying cards for ages, but lit with fire and excitement. "You can't be serious. I'm hot right now."
"But..." I couldn't quite make myself say, "What about me?" It was painfully obvious he'd forgotten all about me. Instead, I said, "Aren't you getting tired?"
He laughed. "Don't worry about me, Mel, I'm fine. Go get some sleep yourself, if you want. I'll be quiet when I come in."
The dealer said, "Anyone joining?" and a man took the seat vacated by the guy Owen had beaten.
"Sorry, Mel, I can't talk any more," Owen said, looking away from me toward the dealer.
"But..."
He shook his head.
"Are you going to be like this every day of the cruise?" I knew he wasn't but I had to hear it from him. "Or just today because it's new?"
"It's not new. And yeah, I'll be here every day. This is the only reason I still come on this cruise," he said, then put his sunglasses back on and shut me out.
I backed away, confused and horrified, then turned and fled.
*****
I missed the elevator as I rushed from the casino, and before I knew it I was at the other end of the ship. Wanting the safety of my stateroom and not sure of how to get there from where I was, I retraced my steps back through the quiet halls with my arms wrapped around myself, wishing I still had Nicholas's jacket for comfort. Then I turned a corner and bumped squarely into Austin.
He caught my shoulders to keep me from falling, then kept his hands on them. "You okay?"
I shook my head. "I can't find the elevator. I need to get back to my stateroom."
"Why?"
"Because earlier I was going to jump into the ocean from my balcony and clearly I should have."
He chuckled and gave my shoulders a squeeze. "You're too pretty to lose to the depths, Mel. It'll be okay, you know."
I pulled away from him. "How, exactly? Owen's betting hundreds of dollars in there, money he can't afford to lose, and--"
"Are you sure?"
Confused, I cut myself off. "What?"
"Are you sure he can't afford to lose it? He does this every year, you know, and he still had enough money to buy that big engagement ring of yours." He smiled at me. "Owen's not really the type to risk it all at the tables, is he?"
"I didn't think so." I sighed. "But that bet was a crazy amount of money."
His forehead creased.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Liar. What?"
He laughed, then sobered. "It's just, that wasn't his biggest bet of the night. Not by a long shot."
My knees went weak and I slumped against the wall. "Really?"
He nodded. His green eyes serious for quite possibly the first time ever, he said, "Look. Come have coffee with me. No point in being back in your stateroom alone."
I sighed but knew he was right. I obviously wouldn't leap from the balcony, but I would sit in there feeling miserable and frankly I didn't mind postponing that. "Okay."
He smiled and led me directly to the elevator and then to the buffet restaurant a few decks up, where he settled me at a table then fetched us each a coffee from the self-service area.
I took a sip as he took his chair across from me, and to my surprise he'd added exactly the right amount of milk and sugar.
"Is it okay?"
I nodded. "Perfect."
He smiled. "Glad to hear it."
He hadn't remembered my name but he knew how I took my coffee? Sure, I'd asked our waiter for it at dinner, but that meant Austin must have been paying attention to my words. Warmed by more than just the drink, I said, "Okay. So he really does this every year?"
He nodded. "Last time he didn't do a single excursion, except one to a casino because ours is closed in port. He's a gambling machine for the whole cruise. Has been since he was twenty-one and legal to gamble on board."
Fourteen years. And I'd known nothing.
His eyes narrowed. "You had no idea?"
"Zero. He doesn't play poker at home, and I never thought he'd be like this." I gave a grunt of what was supposed to be laughter. "I hope he drags himself away for the wedding."
Austin gave my arm a gentle slap. "Of course he will. Don't be ridiculous. And if he doesn't I'll drag him out of there myself."
"Good to know."
We smiled at each other, but mine faded quickly. "I can't believe he didn't say anything about this."
"He didn't mention gambling at all?"
I leaned back in my chair. "He did," I had to admit. "He told me a few times how nice the casino was, and he mentioned that he likes playing poker there, and when we first got on board he said that if I was looking for him I'd find him in the casino. But I thought he was kidding."
Austin shook his head. "I guess not."
"Yeah."
We sat in silence, while I tried to figure out what I'd do with myself alone for two solid weeks at sea. Eventually he said, "I'm sorry, Mel."
I frowned. "For what?"
"I assume this isn't how you expected your wedding cruise to go."
The craziness of the day, and the shock of the evening, swept me in a tidal wave that would have capsized the ship, and I bit
my lip to hold back sudden tears.
He took my hand, then slid his chair around and wrapped his arm around me instead. "That's why I'm sorry. Today's sucked for you."
I dropped my head to his shoulder, trying to pull myself together. "Not the best day ever, that's for sure."
He rubbed my back, gentle and sweet and not at all flirtatiously. "Tomorrow will be better."
"Yeah, right. Why?"
He didn't speak, so I raised my head to look at him. "Well?"
"I don't know," he confessed. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask."
I had to laugh. "Well, thanks for the support, even though it's groundless."
He laughed too. "Groundless support is my specialty." He patted my back then took his hand away. "But it will be better. New day." He chuckled. "It can't be much worse, can it?"
"No, I guess that's true. Unless there are sea monsters in my shower."
He widened his eyes dramatically. "Yeah, that'd be bad. Or we hit an iceberg."
"Not a lot of those in the Caribbean."
"That's why it'd be so bad. Nobody would be prepared."
"Good point."
We spent a few minutes discussing increasingly ridiculous possibilities for what else could go wrong tomorrow, and by the end my sides hurt from laughing and I did feel better.
"Thanks," I said as he walked me back to the elevator. "I might not drown myself after all."
"Glad to hear it."
The elevator whisked us to my deck and Austin insisted on taking me right to my stateroom "in case those sea monsters are lurking in the halls". I didn't mind because I didn't want to risk getting lost again, but when I unlocked the door and he walked right in I wondered if I'd be fending off a play in a few seconds.
"No sea monsters," he said, looking around the bedroom. "A walrus, though."
I chuckled.
"No, really, come look."
I did, and giggled at the towel on the bed that had indeed been folded into the shape of a walrus. "Cool."
"The room stewards do those. There'll be a different one every night. Watch for the monkey, that's my favorite."
"Takes one to know one."
He smiled at me then disappeared into my bathroom, emerging a second later. "There's only one sea monster in there, and he claims you said it was cool if he hung out for a while in the tub."
I laughed. "That's right, I did."
"Good." Austin looked at me then reached out a hand. I tensed, but he just gave my shoulder a friendly squeeze. "You'll be okay, Mel. Just try to relax and enjoy the cruise. After all, with Owen occupied you can do whatever you want. Swim, shop, hit the spa..."
"Wendy and I are probably going there tomorrow morning."
"There you go. Good for you. Well." He tapped on the bathroom door. "Take it easy in there, monster. And you take it easy too, Mel. Sleep well."
"You too. Thanks."
He smiled. "No thanks required. It was nice hanging out with you."
He left, and I locked the door behind him then sank down on the bed. He was right, it had been nice. Probably too nice.
At the moment, I felt far more comfortable with Owen's brothers than with my fiancé himself.
Chapter Six
I lay in bed, yearning for sleep but not able to reach it. My mind was racing too much, even with the gentle hum of the ship's engines filling the room with soft white noise, and after about an hour I gave up and got my ereader and its clip-on light.
I'd put my own book on there even though it wasn't finished, because it made it seem more real that I had written nearly a whole novel, and I opened it up and began reading from the beginning. Maybe something at the start would tell me how it was all supposed to end.
When I was about a third of the way through the book, right before Lizzie and Larry would see the smoky monster for the first time, I heard a click from the front door. I sat up, startled by the sound, in time to see Owen creeping into the room.
"Sorry," he said softly. "I was trying not to wake you."
"You didn't." I held up my ereader. "I can't sleep."
"Why not?" He kicked off his shoes and began unbuttoning his shirt. "The engines too loud?"
"No, I actually like that." Did he really not know why I couldn't sleep? How could he not?
"Good. I find it annoying for the first day or two then I stop noticing." He was down to his boxer shorts now, and he hung his shirt and pants in the closet then said, "Back in a second."
He disappeared into the bathroom, and I wanted to say "Watch out for the sea monster" but of course he would have no idea what I meant. Nor would he know what it meant if I shushed him dramatically and glared at him. So strange that I'd already shared moments with his brothers on the trip but not with him.
I lay in the dark, thinking of how much both Nicholas and Austin seemed to have changed but how they also seemed the same as I remembered and how sweet they'd each been to me in their own way, then pushed those thoughts from my mind when Owen emerged from the bathroom and crawled into bed with me. He was sweet too, and my fiancé. We'd both wanted to be married, and soon we would be. I didn't need the other guys mentally in bed with us.
Owen settled onto his back and gave a tired sigh. "Comfy bed."
"Yeah." I couldn't take it any more. "Owen, about the--"
He rolled toward me before I could finish. "I know. We need to talk. But I can't do it now, okay? I'm exhausted. Tomorrow, I promise."
I sighed. "Okay."
He pulled me close and kissed me, but as I began to kiss him back he drew away. "'Night. Love you."
"Love you too."
Back on his back, he began snoring almost immediately.
I lay sleepless, trying to tune him out and drift off to sleep.
I couldn't hear the engines any more.
Chapter Seven
Still half-asleep, I felt hands sliding over my back and toying with the thin straps of my nightgown. I opened my eyes enough to see pink-tinged daylight spilling through the gap in our curtains, then since sunrise was too early to go meet Wendy I leaned back and pressed myself against Owen.
"Good morning," he murmured against my ear, his breath and stubble sending shivers through me.
He began kissing my neck and I gave a purr of pleasure.
"You like that?"
In answer, I reached back and let my hand explore his bare hip and side.
Before long, my nightgown was on the floor and Owen held me close with his chest pressed to my back while we made love. He knew I wasn't a fan of morning breath, mine or his, so we often ended up in this position in the morning. Not as intimate as some, but the way he could stroke and caress me more than made up for that lack.
As always, I didn't quite climax before he did. But his roaming hand took care of that for me in short order then we lay together in a soft relaxed silence.
Eventually, he said, "About yesterday. At the casino."
I sighed. "I really didn't expect all that."
He kissed my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew."
But how could I have? "Tell me what you thought I knew. What did you think I was expecting on this trip?"
His hand stroked gently and rhythmically along my arm. "I thought you knew I'd be spending a lot of time in the casino."
"Time and money," I said, making sure not to sound like I was judging him. "Right?"
"I save that money up during the year. Some off each paycheck. Then I can have fun with it here without worrying that I'm losing too much."
I considered this. It was definitely better than what I'd thought, seeing him push in what seemed to me a huge stack of chips. "But..."
"But what?"
"Shouldn't we have talked about it? I mean, that money you've been saving could have gone toward buying us a house or something."
His hand froze on my arm. "But I saved it for this. It's my-- I've been saving it since last year."
Since before we met. "Yeah, it's your money," I said, responding to what I knew h
e'd been about to say. "I'm not saying you're wrong, I just think it would have been good if we'd talked about it."
He began stroking me again. "I honestly thought we did. I'm sorry. But at least now we have, right? Look. What if we go get some breakfast and then I take you to the casino and show you what it's all about? It won't be anywhere near as busy this morning, so we can probably play a little poker with just the two of us. I'm sure you'll love it too once you understand it."
I had no real interest in understanding it, but since it was important to my future husband I knew I'd better try. "Okay, but I can't this morning. I'm meeting Wendy for breakfast and then we're going to the spa."
He pulled me tighter against him, stopping the stroking. "That's great, Mel. Good for you, enjoying everything the ship has to offer. Remember, Mom pays for everything you do. Excursions and spa stuff and whatever."
"She does?" I twisted my neck around, trying to see him, but gave up when I couldn't. "I didn't know that. Are you saying I shouldn't go, then?"
He chuckled. "Not at all. She wants everyone to have fun, so she doesn't want us worried about money. And you did know that, Mel. She's paid for everything so far, after all. I just wanted you to remember so you didn't feel bad about getting your nails done or whatever. Do as much as you want."
"I'm fine to pay. I was expecting to."
He shook his head and kissed my neck again. "Nope. She likes doing it. And of course you knew she was paying for everything. That's the reason we couldn't have a big wedding, after all. She can't pay for a hundred guests, or even twenty. But Mark and Wendy, and your mom too, no problem."
I felt like there was in fact a problem but I wasn't sure what it was.
"Hey, can you see the clock?"
I lifted my head and peered at the desk. "Seven-fifteen. I'm meeting Wendy at eight so I need to get moving soon."
"Want to shower first or should I?"
"You go ahead," I said, knowing he preferred to not have the bathroom already steamy when he shaved.
Toronto Collection Volume 2 (Toronto Series #6-9) Page 71