Manda groaned when the alarm went off. Her stomach grumbled, and she noticed a weight across her waist. Her eyes shot open and images of the night before flashed in her mind. She took a deep breath, waiting for her breathing to change and the tightness in her chest to appear, but there was nothing. No gasping for breath. No rapid heartbeat. A sense of calm washed over her, and she moved against Hunter.

“Keep that up, and we won’t make it off the ship.” He kissed her neck, just under her ear.

She wanted him again, but did she dare go there? She took a deep breath, rolled over, and rested her hands against his bare chest.

He smiled. “How are you feeling about last night?”

She reached up and caressed his face. “It was wonderful, and I feel absolutely amazing.”

Hunter’s smile grew, and he threw back the covers. “What do you need from your room? I’ll go get it.”

Manda laughed. “I have other clothes in my bag.” She wrapped the sheet around her as she hurried into the living area of his suite. She grabbed her bag that still sat next to the couch. The dress, the magical dress, stood as if she were in it, thanks to the hoops in the skirts. She touched the fabric as she walked past. Too bad she’d never have an opportunity to wear it again.

Back in the bedroom, she noticed Hunter had disappeared. She knocked softly on the closed bathroom door.

He opened the door and smiled. “It’s all yours. You get used to taking short showers on the road.”

She smiled. “I won’t be long.”

“Do you have your bathing suit?”

Manda opened the bag and started scanning through it. “Surprisingly, I do.” She held up the dark green one piece.

“Good, I’ll be waiting for you.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek before closing the door.

She took a quick shower and threw her her bathing suit on before slipping into a pair of dark gray shorts and a red tank top. A quick towel dry of her hair and Manda was out of the bathroom.

“I figured we’d do some relaxing today. I found out a buddy of mine rented a villa in Mahahual, and he’s out working today, so we’ll have the whole place to ourselves with two and a half miles of private beach.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“I thought so.” Hunter winked.

Manda put on a pair of silver sandals and grabbed her purse. “Do I need to bring anything else?”

“I think you’re good. Unless you wanted to do something more formal later on.”

“I think relaxation should be the name of the game today.”

He motioned for her to go ahead of him, then shut and locked the door behind him. “Let’s get going.”

* * *

Manda walked through the villa, the flagstone floors cool against her feet. Double glass doors led out onto the back patio. She meandered through the living room to open the doors. A warm, salty breeze blew through the villa. Manda took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. This was the life.

“You look like you’re reliving a happy memory.” Hunter came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Aunt Aife, Aunt Jen, and my mom took me to Cozumel after I graduated High School. It was the first time I went anywhere without the boys watching over me.”

“That sounds like it could have been trouble.”

“Not really. You know my family. I was watched over very closely. It was fun, but there was no trouble.” Manda turned around to look up at him. “I fell in love with the atmosphere and the culture, and I always said I’d get back to the Caribbean.”

“We’ll definitely have to leave the ship in Cozumel then.” Hunter smirked. “What’d you ladies do there?”

“Aunt Aife and I spent a good deal of time on the beach, me sunburned, but it was worth it. Mom, Aunt Jen, and I did a lot of the cultural excursions. Aunt Aife took me around to see the local art too. She’s an artist, so she was immersed in that part of the culture by the end of the trip.”

“Sounds like you had a great time. We should explore and see if there’s anything you remember.”

“That would be fun.” Manda walked out onto the terrace. “It really is beautiful here.”

Hunter laughed. “We could call it a belated honeymoon.”

“What?” Manda’s face twisted with confusion.

“Well, we did get married.”

Manda shook her head. “I think there’s a little more to being married than just our fake ceremony in the backyard.”

“Well, of course.” Hunter draped his arm over her shoulder. “When we get back to dry land, what do you think about continuing this?”

“Continuing what?”

“Dating.”

“We’re dating? Seriously?” Manda tried to hide her grin.

“I’d say we’ve been on at least two dates.”

“I guess you’re right.” Manda looked up into his blue eyes. “Where are you going to be after this is all over?”

“Back on tour for at least the next month or two. Then I’m off for a bit while I finish my next album.”

“In California?” Manda’s gaze dropped to the ground. She couldn’t imagine a long-distance dating situation like that. And how would she deal with the anxiety if she were thrown into a situation where she was completely on her own?

“My condo is in Nashville, but Gramma lives in Bryton. It’s not like it would be difficult for me to stay with her while we figure out what this is.” Hunter shrugged.

Manda looked thoughtful. “Very true.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“I’m in.” Manda jumped into Hunter’s arms, nearly knocking him over.

“Did you want to hit the beach?”

“Sunscreen first. I will fry like bacon if I step out into that sun right now.” Manda pulled a spray can of sunscreen out of her bag and blushed. “Then thirty minutes before I can properly be in the sun. Sometimes being so fair skinned is a pain.”

Hunter laughed and pointed to a hammock under some nearby trees. “How about we spray you down and go relax in the shade for a bit?”

“Sounds positively lovely.”

* * *

Manda opened her eyes and snuggled closer to Hunter. This was the life. A two-person hammock under palm trees, on the beach with no one around for miles. Why hadn’t she done this years ago?

Hunter ran his fingers down her arm.

Manda looked up into his eyes and bit her lip. She wanted to kiss him. Wanted him to touch her like he had last night. “Hunter?”

“Um hmm?”

She took a deep breath. “Are you regretting last night?”

He ran his hands through her hair. “Absolutely not. Are you?”

“Nope.” Manda smiled, looked up at him, pushed her body up, and brought her lips down on his. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Her hands traced down his chest. He swiped his tongue over her lips and deepened the kiss. She shifted, so her body was pressed firmly against his. He moved at the same time tipping the hammock and dropping them into the sand. They both laughed.

Hunter grinned. “I guess it’s time for that swim.”

Manda nodded and sat up. “I have a cream for extra face protection. I should probably get that.”

“I’ll get it for you. Where is it?” Hunter helped her to her feet.

“In my purse inside.” Manda looked out over the beach.

Hunter ran back into the villa and reappeared with her purse.

“You brought two things of sunscreen with you?”

“I’m a little neurotic about it. I don’t like being burnt.”

He handed her the purse.

“You could have gotten it out.”

Hunter shook his head. “My father said there was one place a man never went, and that was the inside of a woman’s purse.”

Manda laughed. “It sounds like you and your father get along really well?” She dug in her purse and found the cream.

“We do. What about your family? What are your three crazy brothers doing now?”

“My Dad still owns the computer company. William went into business with him. I have a feeling when Dad finally thinks about retirement, William will be taking over.”

“That’s a multi-family business, isn’t it? I thought you had an uncle or two that were co-owners.”

Manda nodded. “My Uncle Leon and my ex-Uncle Larry share stock in the company.”

“Ex-Uncle?”

Manda laughed. “He and my aunt got divorced. They’re still friends, just not meant to be together.”

“I have a couple uncles like that.” Hunter pulled one of the wicker chairs over for her to sit down next to him. “Is it safe to assume we have to wait longer now before going out in the sun?”

“Sorry. Just for a little bit.”

“What about your other brothers, the twins? Clint and Nick, right?”

Manda nodded. “Clint is a police officer. He married his high school sweetheart, and they have five kids. They had some marital problems a couple years back, but they’re together again now.” Manda sighed. “Nick? Well, that’s another story entirely.”

“How is that? He was the good one of the two, from what I remember.”

“There was a brief period of time where Nick and Clint went to Minnesota. Both were working in law enforcement when they left, but I’m not entirely sure what transpired while they were there.” Manda looked out over the white sand of the beach. “Clint came home, but Nick ended up staying.”

“Somewhere lost in Minnesota?”

She shook her head. “No, he did reappear recently. Brought a girlfriend home with him too. Mom and Dad were furious when he came home. Seriously, I’ve never seen my mother so mad as she was at Nick.”

“Sounds like a family feud in the making.”

“I’ll say. Family dinners have been really uncomfortable.”

“That’s not good.”

“Hence the reason I don’t talk that much about my family.” She threw the cream in her bag and headed back into the Villa to drop it off. “I guess we really don’t need towels.”

“Nope, we can run right back here.” Hunter put his arm around her as they walked to the beach.

She started out into the ocean and stopped halfway from the beach. “You’re going to make it a lot farther out than I will.”

“I can fix that.” He lifted her off her feet.

She squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“You can swim, right?”

“What happens if I say yes?” She held on tighter.

“I drop us both in the water, cause I doubt you’re letting go.”

She stared into his eyes. They were a light blue, almost the same shade as the sky above. “I could get lost in your eyes.”

“Then we’ll be lost together.” He lowered his head to hers. Hunter brought his hands up to cup her neck. Her lips parted, and he deepened the kiss.

She loosened her arms.

He placed her on her feet. “You have the ability to test my resolve.”

She blushed and looked down.

“You’re so beautiful.”

“So are you.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “In a manly type way.”

“My cousin uses the term man-pretty.”

She laughed. “I like that.” She looked down again.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m starting to panic.” Manda took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth.

“Let’s get you back to the villa then.” He took her hand and led her up the beach.

Her breathing was erratic by the time they reached the villa. She wiped the sweat from her brow and did her best to slow her breathing.

Hunter slid out a chair for her. “Sit down.”

She dropped into the chair and clenched her shaking hands together in an attempt to stop them.

He knelt in front of her and held onto her hands. “My parents took us to the zoo when I was really young. We were walking around in the petting zoo area and feeding the animals. I look over and this llama is eating the food out of my dad’s pocket. Dad was just standing there like he doesn’t even notice.”

Manda laughed.

“When we were leaving the petting zoo, the llama followed my father to the gate. The zookeepers had to pull him back so he wouldn’t follow my father out.”

She chuckled again, and her breathing slowed considerably.

“Turns out my Dad had some kind of granola bar in his pocket under the bag of feed, and the llama really wanted it.” Hunter smiled. “We still tease my Dad about that every time we go to the zoo.”

“I bet he loves that.”

“Oh, he does. He makes a joke out of it as well.” He squeezed her hand. “Mom always said if that llama had gotten any fresher, Dad would have had to marry it.”

Manda snorted and quickly covered her mouth. “That’s hilarious.”

Hunter nodded. “It was great.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “You’re good at the distraction thing.”

“I told you, I was the funny one who helped my sister.” He helped her to her feet and lead her inside. “Ready to talk about it?”

“I suppose.” She sat down on the couch.

He scooted next to her. “So what caused the panic this time?”

“It was a combination of things. I got embarrassed because of my misspeak, then started thinking about the future. You know—after the cruise.”

“Hey. We already talked about it. We’re dating.”

“Long distance.” Manda rubbed her hands over her arms. “You’ll be on tour for the next two months. It’s not like we’re going to be able to see each other on a regular basis.”

“You can come to some of my concerts. I’ll make sure you have all-access passes, and we can spend time together after the concert or even before if you get there early enough.”

“After? With all your fans wanting autographs until the wee hours of the morning?” Manda laughed. “I can try, but that sounds like panic attack central to me.”

“I do have time off. You can come and see me on my breaks, or I can come see you.” Hunter kissed her forehead. “We’ll make it work, I promise.”

“Do you have time off on the weekends? Because I can’t just take time off during the week.” Manda dropped her gaze to her hands.

Hunter pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the calendar app. “Do you have the rest of the week off, or are you back to work the moment you step off the plane?”

Manda smiled. “I don’t go back until Monday.”

“My next concert is in Indiana. I’m doing one in Bloomington on Friday. Why don’t we head up there together after the plane lands, and we can spend a day or two in Bryton?”

“That sounds perfect.” Manda beamed.

“My next weekend off is the 11th of March. I have a concert in North Carolina on the 10th. We could spend that weekend there if you’d like.”

“Sounds like I’m going to spend a lot of time on vacation.”

“Is that such a bad thing? I have a feeling you have a ton of vacation time saved up.”

Manda’s face heated. “About four months.”

“See? You’ll have plenty of time to take off and spend with me.” He scanned through more of his calendar. “I have a long break from the March 18th through April 7th. Why don’t I plan on spending that time in Bryton? You can work during the day, and I’ll catch up with The Fierce Foursome, and we’ll hang out at night.”

She laughed. “That sounds wonderful.”

“We just planned the next two months of our lives. And we’ll have plenty of time to spend together.”

Manda breathed a heavy sigh. Maybe this would work out. He was keeping her anxiety in mind and not expecting her to be at all of his concerts. “Thank you. Not many people would work around a neurotic like me.”

Hunter lifted her chin so he was looking her in the eyes. “But they should. Your comfort is important to me.”

“How long are you going to be on tour?”

“It ends in August.” Hunter sighed and held her close.

“I guess we’ll have to figure out the rest of our visits then.”

“I’d never ask you to quit your job, but if you wanted to, I’d take you on tour with me.” Hunter smiled.

“Oh sure, a woman with major panic attacks on a tour bus and having to deal with all those fans. Somehow, I can’t see that ending well.” Manda chuckled.

“I’d make sure you were safe.”

She turned to look at him. “I don’t doubt that at all.” Her stomach growled.

“I think your stomach is telling us it’s time for dinner.”

“When you come to Indiana, you’ll have to let me cook for you. I’ve been told I’m pretty good.” Manda smiled.

“I’m sure you’re wonderful.” Hunter rubbed his fingers over the palm of her hand. “Do you like cooking?”

“I love it. It’s relaxing. One of my favorite hobbies, you could say.”

“I think there’s a cooking class on the ship. Maybe we’ll check it out tomorrow?”

“That would be awesome.”

“And then you could say you cooked for me.”

She giggled. “I could.”

Hunter stood. “Come on. Let’s get a quick dinner and find our way back to the ship.”