“Hi, guys,” I said.
“I was hoping we’d have a fight to break up.” Sam was disappointed.
“You saw that?” I pointed back to the pool.
“It’s our job to police the ship, ma’am,” Billy replied.
“Then why didn’t you come help me?” I leveled at him. He shrunk a little at my question and looked at Sam. I turned my gaze to the superior officer.
“You can handle yourself, Commander.” Sam stood at attention, looking straight ahead. “We would’ve been right there had he started to get the best of you.”
“You think he might have gotten the best of me?” Now Sam was starting to piss me off.
“Not at all, ma’am. That’s why we didn’t interfere.” His voice was calm and matter of fact.
“Oh.” My anger was gone in an instant. “Okay, then.” I lifted my chin and the men visibly relaxed.
“And I didn’t have to grab your ass to get a good story to tell.” Sam promptly returned to his relaxed demeanor.
“Keep it up and you might have two,” I joked.
Chapter Four
White was already gone from the room when I got back. Even so, I still did all of my preparation in the bathroom with the door locked because I knew he could come back at any moment. We’d spent an intimate night together, but I didn’t want him to walk in on me.
Why?
If I planned to keep him, it wouldn’t hurt to let him become very familiar with my natural state, but I just couldn’t do it. I’d been guarding it for so long it was hard to give up.
When I was dressed for the day in my vacation attire, another cute and light dress with sandals, I pulled out White’s packet on the target. I memorized all the info and replaced it. Then I rummaged through his equipment bag. The most interesting piece was the digital camera and its several high-powered lenses. I was tempted to take it out of the room and act like a tourist. Instead, I put it away until I could ask White about it.
I wandered around the lower deck, looking for White. I was fairly certain he was up on the bridge with the captain but I checked everywhere below decks, just in case. Eventually, I made it up to the upper deck. The sun sparkled on the water and its warmth seeped into my shoulders.
I stood at the railing watching the water roll past. It was hypnotic and I drifted off into daydreams about White. We’d really been together. We’d sealed the deal. The anxiety of the past couple of months disappeared. I was content. Every second of last night, every touch, replayed in my mind. At that moment, I was ready to tell the world about us, and marry him if that’s what he wanted. I don’t know how long I spent in my trance before I noticed the noises behind me.
Sydney, the well-endowed bartender, prepared the bar for business. I must have missed breakfast. That thought made my stomach growl loudly.
The ache in my stomach threatened to expand, but I didn’t see any way past that. I gave up my search for White and sought out the closest lounge chair to enjoy the warm sun. White would come find me when he had time.
“Ms. Grey?” A slight touch to my shoulder jerked me from sleep.
“Scott.” Surprised and more abrupt than I wanted to be, I sat up straight and repeated his name with more control.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you might want to get in out of the sun. You’ve been napping on deck for a couple of hours now, and it’s easy to get burned out here.”
“Thanks, Scott.” I sat up. “I hadn’t intended to fall asleep out here.” I looked around and realized the upper deck was bustling with activity.
Scott escorted me down the stairs with a light touch on my elbow.
“I feel foolish,” I admitted.
“No need. Everyone naps on the upper deck and I have to regularly wake people to be sure no one gets sunburned. However, I’m afraid I got to you a bit late. You probably want to stay below decks for the rest of the day. More sun will just be harmful.”
I hadn’t noticed the tight feeling or heat until he said this. I glanced at my arms and was greeted with a pretty red color.
“Great.” I sighed.
“Come with me. I’ll get you some lotion.”
“Thanks again, Scott,” I said as I followed him below.
He unlocked the door to the cabin and I followed him inside. It wasn’t as lavish as the room I shared with White and had a more lived in feel to it.
“Is this your cabin?” Surprise took hold and I hesitated just inside the door.
“Yes, ma’am. The sun cream is from my personal stores. I don’t have to use it as much as I used to but I keep it stocked, just in case.”
“Thanks for going out of your way for me.” I accepted the bottle he handed to me.
“Absolutely, ma’am.” He gave me a warm smile. “I don’t mind going out of my way for you.”
He followed me out of the cabin. “We missed you at breakfast. Lunch will be ready in fifteen minutes. Mr. White asked me to make sure you join him,” he said.
“See you soon, then.” I returned his smile.
My shoulders were stinging and my stomach was still protesting its hunger. When I entered my room I slathered on the lotion as quickly as I could and the cool feeling was a relief. Now it was time to do something about my stomach.
I was the first to enter the dining room and I watched Scott as he directed the crewmembers to their appointed tasks of readying the room for a meal. When I applied at White and Associates I had no idea what I was getting into and thought I might be applying for a similar job to what I was witnessing right now. At least I thought that until I started filling out all of the security related questionnaires. Not that this type of job would fill my need for adventure now that I’d had a taste of my current world, but this type of job had its perks.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked as I watched them work.
I was met with confused looks and silence.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Scott pulled out a chair for me. “The staff has it under control. If you’d like to take a seat I’d be happy to send out a plate.” He disappeared into the kitchen.
“Shouldn’t I wait for the rest of the passengers?” I asked under my breath as I reluctantly slid into the seat.
“No need,” White’s voice gave me a thrill. Goosebumps rose on my arms and a shiver accompanied them when his finger ran lightly across my shoulder. Even though this irritated my sunburn a bit, the feeling wasn’t completely disagreeable. “Got a little sun, I see.”
“Yeah. I fell asleep on deck.”
He sat in the seat next to mine and said in a whisper, “Sorry to have kept you up so late.”
I couldn’t hold in the grin or fight the heat that rose to my face.
“The sunburn doesn’t hide the blush as much as you might think.” His seduction setting was set on maximum.
“Shut up, already,” I said through my smile and clenched teeth. I took a deep breath and regained my composure just in time.
The staff delivered our lunch. I don’t know what I expected but what I didn’t expect was another four-course meal. We started with a chilled cucumber soup and they followed that up with a green salad. With the salad in front of me I asked White why we were still the only passengers in the dining room.
“I asked if we could eat earlier than everyone because I know you hadn’t had breakfast and I might have said something about a private meeting.”
“What are we meeting about, then?” I asked.
“I think Gary is going to keep me busy for the rest of the cruise to Jamaica and you’re going to have to fend for yourself. I need you to remember that we are employees and we shouldn’t instigate anything with the regular paying customers. Do you think you can avoid any more trouble?”
“Instigate? I did not instigate anything. All I did was let a pig know I wasn’t interested in making his day.”
“Sam told me. I just can’t have you fighting with the passengers. It was Sam’s instinct to back you, but he really should have been concerned for
the passenger. That is his job, to protect the passengers. But, now that Sam knows that, he won’t be able to back you if something were to happen and I can’t have you hurting Sam or Billy.”
“The little pig is lucky he’s still standing.”
“Okay.” He grinned. “I’m not faulting you for what happened, just asking you to try to avoid contact from now on.”
“If the guy has any brains, he’ll avoid me.” I slid my plate away.
“Alex.” He took my hand. “Don’t be like this. I have to keep the peace. I understand where you’re coming from but it’s our job to protect the people on this boat, not injure them.”
“I didn’t touch him.” I straightened my spine.
“Actually, you bruised his wrist.” White’s smirk quelled my temper some.
“So, the pansy bruises easily.” I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll avoid him as best as I can, but I won’t lay down for him no matter how nice you ask me to.”
“I’m definitely not asking that.” White’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve already spoken to him. I know you won’t have any more trouble from Stoddard, it’s the other men on board I’m worried about.”
“The other guys aren’t married— Wait. You did what?” I pulled my hand from his. “Why did you do that? It just makes me look incompetent.”
“No, it doesn’t. I explained your position in the company and made sure Stoddard knows you are fully trained. He knows he was lucky to have walked away from that encounter with only a bruised wrist.” He chuckled. “It was pretty funny, actually. He begged me to not tell his wife.”
“He’s sickening,” I said and retrieved my salad just in time to have it removed for the next course.
We sat in silence through the main course but when our dessert came I broke the silence by making small talk about the camera. By the time we finished dessert we were past the tense moment caused by Sean Stoddard.
“I’m going back to the room,” I said as the other passengers started to filter into the dining room. “I think it’d be best if I stayed out of the sun for the rest of the day.”
“I probably won’t see you again until dinner,” he gave my hand a light squeeze before we left the table. My pulse quickened at his touch and my mouth went dry.
I smiled at him, pretending I’d already adjusted to our clandestine relationship. “See you later, then.” I grinned all the way back to the room. White’s semi-secret show of affection just made the flames grow higher.
I spent the remainder of the day in the suite alternating between reading on my laptop and surfing the Internet.
As the sun set I decided to stretch my legs. I looked in the mirror and smoothed out my hair.
The doorknob wouldn’t turn when I tried it. I let go to inspect it. Had someone locked me in my room?
I leaned down to check the knob the door opened in and hit me right on the forehead.
“Ow!” I stumbled back to the bed and sat down, rubbing my forehead while I kept my eyes squeezed shut.
“Alex! I’m so sorry.” I heard White rush to my side. “Let me see. Are you bleeding?”
I took my hand away and inspected it. No blood.
I shook my head and took in a deep breath. I’d been holding it in and was getting light headed.
“You have a nice dent in your forehead.” He tried to hide his amusement as he gently touched the spot. “What were you doing?”
“I was leaving to check on dinner and the knob wouldn’t turn, so I was going to look at it.”
He laughed. “At least you aren’t bleeding.”
I gave him an unappreciative look and he toned it down again. “I’m sorry. I had no idea. We just have good, or bad, timing.”
“I guess.” I rolled my eyes. “So, when is dinner?”
“I’ve asked that we be served in our room for the rest of the trip.”
“Why?”
“Because, the less contact we have with the passengers, the better.”
“I’m not going to cause any trouble.” The pain in my forehead was getting worse and I was irritated.
“No. It’s not you. We have some sensitive material to start going over, if we can. Plus,” he hesitated a couple of seconds. “I’d rather spend time with you than Waterstone.”
It had only been a day and I wasn’t sure how to react to White’s new display of affection. I looked at my hands and breathed in through my nose.
What do I do? Anxiety filled my stomach. I didn’t know how to behave in a relationship. Should I just let the moment pass? Should I look up from my hands? The urge to give him a quick kiss and run away laughing was about to win until I pictured a couple of little kids doing that exact same thing on the playground. Instead, I took his hands in mine and leaned in and kissed him. He returned the kiss with more passion than I expected.
When we parted I asked, “So, what kind of material?”
“What?” He asked, the confusion thick on his face.
“You said we had some sensitive material to go over?” I reminded him.
“Oh, yeah.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll have to remember not to mention work to you when I’m hoping for something else. You have a one track mind at times.”
“So do you,” I answered.
“I can’t help it. I’m a man.”
“Whatever. That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard. You think I don’t have desires?”
“I know you have desires. They’re just more work related rather than entertainment related.”
“You might be surprised,” I said under my breath.
“Really?” He moved in closer and I studied our entwined hands. He touched my forehead lightly. “I think that might bruise.” His kiss was gentle and light. He continued the kissing, making his way from my forehead down to my neck. I thought of protesting, citing work to be done, but I gave in and let the moment flood my senses.
A light tapping at the door shattered it all and White swore. I assumed it was dinner. I still hadn’t caught my breath when White reached the door so I excused myself to the bathroom to calm down.
I leaned over the sink for several seconds. After taking some relaxing breaths I rearranged my clothing. A little less ruffled, I stepped from the bathroom to find our dinner waiting on a rolling tray near the table.
“Dinner, ma’am?” White pulled a chair out for me.
After we finished eating White cleared the table and pushed the cart out the door. When he returned he pulled out my laptop and set it in front of me at the table.
“I need you to do some research on Ruiz. I know I always say I don’t care why the Admiral wants us to do things, but this time, I want to know. We’ll be in position tomorrow and I want to be prepared.”
“What exactly are you looking for?” I asked as I turned on the computer.
“The Admiral wants us to focus on the security detail, so I want to know who handles his security, if you can find that out.”
“Okay.” I started poking around, using my Penumbra access. White sat back on the bed and flipped on the television. One of the benefits of taking on the role of Penumbra, even in her off time, was the access I was granted to the government database. I think I had a higher clearance than even my father.
Mateo Ruiz’s information was well documented and seemed current, except for his present security detail. According to the government database he’d dropped his long time security company about three months ago, but the company handling his security now wasn’t on record.
I did find out Ruiz was suspected of having connections to the Medellin Cartel back in the day and the government also suspected him of trying to reestablish the organization.
“I can’t find anything on his security. The government either hasn’t updated who he’s hired or doesn’t know.”
“I suspect they don’t know and that’s why we’re on this mission,” White replied.
“Did you know they think he had something to do with the Medellin Cartel and they als
o think he’s trying to start it back up?”
“Yeah. I’ve known that for a long time.” He came to the table and sat opposite me. “My dad was part of the intel team that tried to link him so we could extradite him. He never could find any real evidence.” White took my pen and started writing on a piece of paper. “Let me help you.”
When he finished he handed me the paper. “This is a list of possible security companies he might have contracted. Do you think you can get info about these companies with your laptop?”
“Probably. I don’t know how long it’ll take, though.”
White moved his chair next to mine and I fought with myself to stay motivated to work. We spent the entire night going over the list but found nothing on record at any of the companies.
White yawned. “The sun’s coming up.”
“One of us should get some sleep,” I said, stretching.
“We’ve slept in the same bed before.”
“Yes, but things are different now and I’m afraid we won’t get any rest. I’m going to go hang out with Sam for a few hours.” I didn’t hesitate getting a fresh change of clothes out of my bag.
“Fine. But, I did tell them that we had work to do, so it won’t be strange if we don’t show our faces again for several days.”
I smiled. “You know that’s not true.”
“Okay,” he gave in. “I only need a couple hours. Don’t be gone too long. You need some sleep, too. We should reach our destination some time this afternoon.”
It didn’t take me long to find Sam and be granted permission to shadow him for the day. It was nice to visit with him and he kept his own distance from the passengers, so I was safe from making any more mistakes. White wasn’t blaming me for Sean’s behavior, even if it did feel like it. It just irritated me that I couldn’t do anything I wanted because of Sean’s stupid need to be unfaithful.
Several hours later I returned to the suite and quietly researched as White snoozed on the bed. According to the resorts records that I’d hacked into several times now, Ruiz had checked in around 11:00 AM the previous morning. I found the meal schedule and the man obviously liked to plan his days. All of his meals and that of his staff were already set up for his two-week stay. But, one interesting fact, Ruiz must have planned on a guest for lunch today because there were two special entrée’s scheduled.
Traces of Grey: Book Four of The Alexis Stanton Chronicles Page 5