by Deb Lee
The girls shared an annoying laugh.
“We don’t kiss and tell,” Lori said.
This time Amy’s face turned the color of rage. “So you made out with Ryan last night?”
“Well,” Terri said, “not exactly.”
“But you kissed him?”
Lori bristled. “I already said we don’t kiss and tell. I’m just saying things may have happened.”
Donovan shrugged. “What things?”
“None of your business. We have to go.”
They strutted off and Donovan turned to Sophie. “I stand corrected. Rats don’t scamper, they scamper. Don’t listen to them, Sophie. Nothing happened between them and Ryan except for what they conjured up in their heads.”
It didn’t matter, Sophie decided. She had to leave. She couldn’t focus here any longer. Everything with the café and the magazine had her mind constantly occupied. Add in Ryan, and her entire body was one confused, wrecked nerve.
She could scream all day that she didn’t care what the gossip girls were up to, but even the fact Ryan gave them the time of day was suggestive.
And therein lay the problem. She did care. The idea of Ryan with someone else, especially someone like Tweedledee and Tweedledimwit, took her to a dark place. And what she needed was a two-thousand-watt bulb lighting her path out of her dark cave.
She doubted he kissed either one of them, but why would he hang out with them? Ryan had been on his way to his room when he ran into her, so why did he go back to the bar?
These were all questions she didn’t have the time or the heart to invest in. She needed to get home. That was her goal. But if she were honest with herself, rats gnawing on the girls’ ankles were no longer a threat, the café would still be standing in two days when they returned, and on the off chance one of the girls had a setback, the number to the emergency therapist was in her office. So, technically, all disasters averted.
Ryan was an impending disaster she couldn’t avert. Not here, at least. He was too much of a trigger and a loose cannon. He’d been incredibly sweet last night, and maybe that’s where she needed to leave it. It was closure of sorts. He’d told her about things from his childhood. It made sense. He was a broken kid, and broken kids do stupid things. As for now, she couldn’t risk falling for him again, just to have it blow up in her face. Whatever he and Donovan were planning, she would squash right now. Before her stomach contents threatened to make an encore appearance. Which is why she needed to go home. Immediately.
Sophie hugged Donovan. “You’re the best, but I need to go.”
Donovan cocked his head. “Like go back to your room? Or go home, go?”
She smiled sadly. “Home.”
Donovan sighed. “Those girls are dumb. You know this, Sophie.”
Her chest tightened. Yes, she knew this. But she didn’t care. There was a twelve-thirty flight home. She wanted to be on it.
Amy shook her head. “I think leaving now would be a huge mistake. It’s only two more days. And I promise if any other catastrophes arise short of California breaking off the continent, we can handle it from here.” Amy’s voice of reason was beginning to rub her raw.
“I already have someone looking into getting me off this ship. I should get back to the café. The whole place is falling apart and now that I’ve bowed out of the scavenger hunt I need to get back and figure out what I’m going to do about the rent hike. I can’t think here.”
“Because two more days on this ship will make or break it?” Amy questioned. “We’ve done everything we can. We filled out every grant known to man, we contacted all our sources, we even put some items up for sale. We just have to wait and see what happens. You can wait here where you at least can be distracted with work and a little eye-candy, or you can go back and pace the floor while driving the girls nuts.”
Sophie bit her lip. She still hadn’t told Amy or Donovan about her little regression into the deep, dark place that she needed to stay far, far away from. “Because two more days on this ship may break my heart if I have to look at Ryan and not do anything about it.”
“Oh, Sophie,” Amy sighed.
Donovan pressed his hands to his hips. “Sophie, I love ya, girl, but you are making a momentous mistake.” He wrapped Sophie in a bear hug. “A guy like that comes around only once in a lifetime. Trust me. I know.”
Sophie stepped back. Guilt played desperately at her heartstrings. Ryan had been nothing but nice to her. But that was his Achilles tendon. He was nice to everyone. And she couldn’t have that. Not with the girls, and the café, and the gigantuous fact that they lived in two very different worlds. They didn’t fit together anymore. Better to leave now.
“What do I tell Ryan?” Donovan asked, holding his phone out.
Blood rushed to Sophie’s head. She snatched Donovan’s cell and powered it off. “You don’t say anything. Either of you.” Sophie directed her attention to Amy. “Tell him you lost me. Do this for me, okay?”
Both Amy and Donovan nodded, though Donovan looked as if he’d been personally rejected, which ate at Sophie’s conscience. “Look. I can’t do this again. I’ve been down this very same road. Don’t potentially put me through that again. Because if this doesn’t end well, I’ll never recover.”
“I tried to tell him to leave you alone,” Donovan whispered. “But true love doesn’t listen to reason. Okay, you have my word.”
Amy’s phone buzzed. “Sorry,” she mouthed. “It’s Mark. I have to take this.”
“Okay, bye,” Sophie mouthed back. And gladly. One less distraction.
“Call me if you leave,” Amy said.
“Will do.” She smiled as Amy took off toward the elevators. Then she turned her full attention on Donovan. “I’ll call you too, okay?”
“Be careful, sweetie,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “Just be careful. I’m here if you need.”
Sophie offered him a reassuring smile, feeling anything but reassured. Her insides twisted with gut-wrenching doubt. Should she leave? Yes. Her girls needed her. Right? Charlie was at the helm running everything as if Sophie was no longer needed. She shook her head. Of course, they needed her. Or, Sophie swallowed dryly, was it she who needed them?
Chapter 25
Sophie tapped her fingers impatiently along the ocean-blue marble countertop of the concierge desk. The gum-snapping, ponytail-wearing dingbat Natalia typed away on her state of the art but absolutely no help computer. “How are there no available flights? I thought you said there was a twelve-thirty.”
Moments after Amy took Mark’s call and Donovan headed to his room, Sophie wished they were here to help strangle this woman.
“Nope, sorry, hun, nothing’s open.”
Hun was used in one of two scenarios: A. When someone was talking to a child, or B. When a child-like twenty-two-year-old was trying to sound like a grownup.
“Let me keep checking,” she said, clicking away.
Blood vessels in Sophie’s head threatened an aneurism. She tapped her fingers on the counter to Strauss’s “Blue Danube,” then Beethoven’s “Für Elise”—at least the first sixteen counts that she remembered—and then, before she lost her good-girl Catholic upbringing, the Jeopardy theme song. “It’s Catalina. We’re a stone’s throw from California. If not the twelve-thirty, surely one seat is open to one of the five surrounding Bay Area airports in the next few hours.”
Natalie popped her gum. “Ah, here’s the problem. Nothing’s open. The airport grounded all flights because of a cargo fire.”
“A what?” Sophie threw her hands in the air. “Are you kidding me?”
Natalia jumped. “Nope, lookie here.” Natalia pointed to the flat screen monitor as if Sophie had summoned x-ray vision.
“No flights in or out of Catalina until the situation is c
ontained. Expected to reopen by 3 p.m.”
“What about a boat?” Sophie said from behind clenched teeth. “It’s an emergency.” Not exactly an emergency, but the particulars were of little significance. The tightness in her chest squeezed. Even though the emergencies had been diverted, and she may not be as needed at the café as she thought, the idea of staying another day on this ship was not an option. She just wanted to get home. Her heart and sanity begged this of her.
“Mmm, sorry, hun.”
Say “hun” one more time . . .
“We don’t book boat rides back to the mainland. But I’m sure you can find a private party on the Island that will take you. It’s about an hour to Long Beach and then you can find a flight there to take you back to Frisco. But before you debark, we have to sign you out and contact customs.”
“Customs?” Sophie pinched the bridge of her nose hoping to relieve a budding headache.
“We were just in another country, you know. Protocol and all.”
“Forget it. I’ll figure something out.”
Natalia busied herself with some stacks of paper. Apparently, Sophie had been dismissed. “Will there be anything else, hun?”
Before Sophie could finally lose her religion and slap the “hun” out of Nattie’s vocabulary, the girl’s half-assed attention suddenly came alive. Her eyes grew as big as the ship’s fancy dinner plates and she fell onto the countertop, swooning. A grape flavored puff blew out of her mouth. Gross.
Sophie followed Natalia’s gape to Ryan as he entered the atrium. Sweat made him sparkle like a vampire. His shirt hung over his left shoulder, revealing his broad chest. Good God, Father Time was way too good to him.
“Oh, my!” Natalia said and snapped her gum. “His muscles should require a permit.”
Donovan is going to die a slow, painful death. The traitor. Even still, Sophie looked a little longer than she liked. “Well, I’ve seen better,” she said to Natalia for no reason other than to squelch the bit of jealousy of another girl looking at Ryan. No you haven’t, her logical half argued.
Sophie sighed. Time to go. She backed away from the counter, searching for cover.
“Sophie,” Ryan called, just as she ducked behind a shelf of excursion brochures.
“You know him?” Natalia said a little too loudly. “What’s his name? Can you get me his number?” The grape-tinted drool foaming at Natalia’s mouth appeared a little rabid.
Sophie gawked at Ryan’s broad chest, which was as carefully chiseled as Michelangelo’s sculpture of David. She gulped and forced her eyes north. She then pictured him with Terri and Lori. Her gulp caught in her throat.
Ryan slipped his shirt back on—pity—and approached her. The shirt clung to his body like a glove and his hair dripped with beads of sweat that sent a tingle in the pit of her stomach. How was it possible for someone to perspire so much, yet smell so fabulous?
She needed to escape. She couldn’t talk to him. What would she say? Sorry you almost kissed me last night because I’m sure whatever you did with the gossip twins was much better. Also, you’re so gorgeous I can’t think clearly around you. Oh, and by the way, remember the café I live and breathe for? Yeah, it has rats.
Shut up! Sophie told her less-than-logical half.
“Rats?” Natalie said.
“What rats?” Sophie spluttered.
Ryan crossed his arms exposing his too perfect biceps. “You said rats.”
Oh. My. Ficus. “No, I didn’t.”
“Whatever.” Natalia turned her full bubblegum attention on Ryan and extended her hand “I’m Natalia, but you can call me Nattie.”
A piece of paper was exchanged from her hand into his. Sophie frowned. “Did you just slip him your number?”
“What do you care?” Natalia shrugged. “You said you’ve seen better.”
“Better, huh?” Ryan slipped the paper into his pocket and his lips curved with an unfair advantage.
His morning stubble upped his “yummy” appeal about four hundred percent. She didn’t notice that this morning. And really, she didn’t want to notice that now. Not with her mind reminding her how he played spin the bottle last night. She didn’t kiss him, so he went looking elsewhere.
“Did you need something?” Sophie asked, fighting her blush. Why did he have to be so charming? So nice?
“Oh, right.” Ryan cleared his throat. He directed Sophie away from Natalia. “You okay? You seemed awfully distracted this morning during our meeting. Then you disappeared.”
Sophie raised her eyebrows. Her stomach clenched tightly, and she almost couldn’t summon the words. “Something came up. But I’m taking care of it.” She needed to get out of there. Let Natalia have him. She’d played with fire and had been burned. It was best just to leave now. She’d find her own way off the island.
“Thanks for the stargazing last night.” Sophie’s mouth twisted into a carefully censored smile—she could play nice too—and she stepped past Ryan to catch the elevator. “Bye.”
“Wait.”
Slowly, she turned. “What?”
Ryan frowned. “I thought we could go see my friend on the island.”
Right, he’d asked her to go with him. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
There was no way he could be that dumb. And though every bit of common sense urged her to leave, she had to play this out. “What? You almost kiss me in the observatory, don’t close the deal, so you turn to the gossip girls instead, and think we can just pick up where we left off?”
“The who?”
Ugh! The shock on his face gave her pause. But she plowed on, forgetting to filter her thoughts before her mouth got the “dumb”. “You broke my heart once, Ryan, I can’t let you do it again.” She clamped her mouth shut. Shut up, Sophie! God, she was a liar, because even though she tried to guard her heart, it was pretty much exposed for all eight hundred and fifty-five passengers to see.
Ryan’s eyes pleaded, filled with unsaid words. Maybe she was off base? Had interpreted it wrong. “I broke your heart?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does.”
“But it doesn’t. I’m truly sorry for my part in all of this. I think once upon a time, you found a scared little girl who ate too much and needed a little attention. But then when things got hard, you left.”
There. She said it. Word vomit was just as vile as the real thing. Nothing felt good right now. If he were wise, he’d turn around and leave. Like he did before, because as soon as things had gotten hard the first time, Ryan left her for a job and then used it to hurt her.
Yet he stood unmoved, and though his brows furrowed and his eyes searched hers, she knew her words were the truth.
Ryan stared at her, his mouth agape. He was all sexy and chiseled and nice. So damn nice, and she didn’t know why. But she couldn’t let herself fall for that. Not again.
Sophie planted her hands on her hips. His move. If the first words out of his mouth weren’t “I’m sorry” then she’d know for certain he was still as self-centered and playboy as he was when he wrote that article for all the world to see.
“Sophie,” he said, stepping closer. “I’m so sorry.”
Well damn. “What for? For ten years ago, or for showing me my star last night and making me fall for you again?”
A smile played on his lips. Why couldn’t she ever stop while she’s ahead?
“Falling for me?”
“Not after I learned about you and Terri and Lori.”
“Who?”
“You know who. The girls who fawned all over you and you couldn’t resist?”
“You mean the ones who invited me to their after party, to which I vehemently declined. And then I found myself sleeping on the Lido Deck so they wou
ldn’t get the wrong idea and follow me to my room.”
This time Sophie stood with her mouth dropped. “Oh.”
Ryan’s eyes widened, but he didn’t release her hands. “Yeah. Oh is right. What did you think I did? Throw myself at you, and then when you turned me down, you think I ran to them?”
Well, when you put it that way. His words unfairly hooked her in.
“Sophie, you have to trust me.”
She wanted to shrink into oblivion. “But you were so nice. They thought it meant something different.”
“That’s too bad, but I never gave them any sort of inclination I was interested. And of course I was nice. I’m always nice. Try growing up with someone who is angry all the time. It’s not fun. So, I’m nice. Is that so wrong?”
A cinderblock dumped onto Sophie’s chest, and she wanted to wither away. She didn’t turn him down last night. She just didn’t know if that’s what she wanted. And what about when they were dating. He wasn’t so nice then.
Sophie gave him a careful look. His knowing eyes seemed to take her in as if letting her absorb his words. Absorb him. His steady breathing comforted her. Suddenly going home didn’t seem so urgent.
“Ohh,” Natalia swooned, elbows on the countertop, head leaning into her hands. “You can’t leave the island after a man says something like that!”
Ryan frowned. “You’re leaving?”
“No. I . . . I was . . . Yes, I have to go,” Sophie said, almost in a squeak. “I have a small rodent problem at the café and then what if one of the girls need me?”
“Charlie’s there, right?”
“Yes.”
“And Tanya?”
“Yes, but she’s pretty useless.”
“But she’s there?” Ryan took Sophie’s hand. He squeezed. “Right?”
“I guess.”
“Then let them handle it. I’m sure they are fine. But if not, they know how to get help.”