Chapter Twelve

The sun blazed through the window and heated the bed. Cole cocked one eye open. He was strangely well rested. It wasn’t until he tried to roll over and felt the weight on his arm that the events of last night came flooding back to him. Dana’s moans of pleasure echoed in his head and he immediately hardened.

Glancing down, he stared at her sleeping form. The sheets were wrapped around her naked body, and her red hair spilled out on his pillow. She looked like a goddess.

A drunk goddess maybe, one who drooled on the pillow and scrunched her nose when she wiggled her body. Eyeliner and mascara were smudged across her face. It was almost horrifying.

He almost laughed at the sight, and strangely enough, it did nothing to ease his erection, but when she moved again, he froze. As much as he wanted to wake her up by burying his head between her legs, the last thing he wanted to do was lead her on with morning sex. Even he wasn’t naive enough to believe that last night was a onetime deal, but morning sex was a whole different matter. It felt more comfortable, more casual under the sun, something that couples did to help them start the day with a smile.

Easing his arm out from under her, he slipped from the bed. His muscles ached, and he wanted to take a shower, but the sauna was probably a safer solution. Silently pulling on a pair of khaki shorts and a white button-up shirt, he scribbled a note letting her know that he was on his way down to get some breakfast at the dining hall. Swiping his sunglasses from the counter, he headed out.

There were a surprising number of people milling around on the ship. Cole had assumed that most people would sleep in, but when he got to the dining hall, he discovered why there were so many people up.

It was nearly noon.

Instead of the breakfast bar, there seemed to be a meeting group for senior citizens. There was a live band in the corner softly playing oldies, and the men and women were sitting around the tables playing cards, laughing, and dancing. He was just about to back out when a woman whistled loudly.

“Hey you! Pretty boy!”

“Pretty boy?” Cole cocked an eyebrow. “You mean me?”

“Do you see anyone else in this room who looks pretty?” she scoffed. “Come help me. I could use your strong arms.”

Amused, he walked toward her. To his surprise, she rolled a wheelchair out from under the table and held out her arms. “Help me up!”

Her voice and manner were abrasive, but he leaned down anyway. She was frail, barely weighing a hundred pounds, and he gently eased her from the chair. “My name is Cole if you’d like to call me something other than pretty boy.”

“I just call it like I see it. Now come on, dance with me!”

Surprised, he let her go, and she stumbled. “Shit!” Reaching out, he grabbed her again. “Can you walk?”

“Of course I can walk,” she snapped. “But my legs don’t really go straight. They call it neuropathy. I call it bullshit. I haven’t danced since my husband died five years ago, and I paid a pretty penny to enjoy myself on this cruise. So, do an old girl a favor, will ya?”

His stomach growled, but he obliged the woman by slowly escorting her to the dance floor. Keeping two hands on her waist to make sure that she didn’t fall again, he gently led her around the dance floor. She wasn’t interested in waltzing as much as she kicked her legs out and twisted her hips and hooped and hollered. Her friends from the table cheered her on, and Cole couldn’t help but laugh.

When the song ended, she leaned against him. “You are a good man, Cole,” she said heavily. “Walk me back, and I’ll see to it that someone feeds you. You sound like you’re starving. Don’t worry, I carry a little extra money around, so we’ll take care of you.”

Take care of him? “I’m fairly certain this dining hall is included in the package,” he said mildly. “But I appreciate the gesture.”

Back at the table, he eased her down in the wheelchair. “My name is Suzy. This is Marigold to my left, Gail, and Sarah Beth. We’re all members of the Sunset retirement home at Lawson Beach.”

Cole pulled up a chair and sat down between Marigold and Gail. “Pleasure to meet you, ladies. I’m Cole Parker.”

“We all have terrible children who just sit around and wait for us to die so they can have our money, so we decided we’d spend it instead on this cruise. We picked the one that had all the senior-citizen activities. I like to party and have a good time,” Suzy assured him with a wink.

“I can tell. You had some great moves out on the dance floor.” He grabbed the coffee pot from the center of the table and refilled their cups. “Would you ladies mind terribly if I head to the buffet and get some lunch? I seemed to have missed breakfast.”

“Go ahead! It’ll give us a chance to talk about your cute butt while you’re gone,” Marigold said with a mischievous smile.

God Almighty. He could only imagine how much trouble they were in their senior retirement center. They cackled with laughter as he walked away, and he shook his head. He didn’t have much time. He needed to find Kathryn and get some alone time with her, but it had been a long time since he’d been with anyone who didn’t know who he was. It was refreshing, if a bit degrading to be called pretty boy and have some old lady offer to buy him lunch.

When he returned to the table, there was still a fair amount of giggling and cackling. Amused, he took his seat. “Behaving yourselves, ladies?”

“We were just wondering why a wonderful young man like yourself doesn’t have a beautiful woman on your arm,” Suzy exclaimed.

“I’m happy to report that my beautiful woman is still in bed sleeping.”

“Wore her out last night, huh?” Gail asked as she squeezed his thigh under the table. Cole jumped, and they all laughed.

“Ladies, behave yourselves,” Cole choked out. “Now why don’t you have handsome men joining you at the table?”

“Oh, they try. They’re like mosquitos that keep buzzing around. Look at that table over there. Every single one of them is drooling,” Gail declared. “Men only have one thing on their minds, you know.”

Cole wanted to point out that they had been talking about his butt for the past fifteen minutes, but he let it go. When he turned his head, he noted that a group of senior men were indeed staring with open mouths, but they weren’t looking at their table. They were staring at the door.

Following their line of vision, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw Dana standing in the doorway. She was watching him with the prettiest smile and a raised eyebrow. “There’s my lady right there,” he said softly. It was strange to say that to a group of strangers. He had no need to lie to them or impress them, but he felt like he needed to claim Dana as his own anyway. Crooking his finger, he beckoned her closer.

“Ooh—look at how pretty she is!” Suzy declared. “I would have killed to have that body when I was her age.”

“Or that hair color,” Sarah Beth chimed in. She patted her own gray hair as if to prove a point.

Dana approached the table and put her hand on her hips. “Were you hoping to make me jealous?” she asked with a sly smile. “Here you are, entertaining four women, and I haven’t even put on my makeup yet!”

Sarah Beth snorted. “You snooze, you lose, princess. He already took Suzy dancing!”

“Dancing!” Dana put a hand over her heart. “Don’t tell me any more. I don’t think I can handle it.”

The women cracked up. “Why don’t you get some food and join us,” Cole said when the women finally settled down.

Gail smacked him on the arm. “You’re her young man! You’re supposed to get her food for her!”

Cole was at a loss for words. He couldn’t really get Dana any food because he didn’t know what she liked. The only meal they’d shared together was last night. He didn’t know if she had any food allergies or if she hated broccoli. He didn’t know anything that hadn’t been handed to him on a piece of paper.

Although, he did find out that she was ticklish in that one spot.

“Cole’s a health nut.” Dana recognized his predicament and waved her hand. “If I let him feed me, I’d have nothing but vegetables and fruit. Give me just a minute, ladies. Try to behave yourselves while I’m gone.”

Just like that, the four women turned on him. “Health nut?” Marigold snorted. “Don’t tell me that you think she needs to lose weight.”

“What?” Cole’s eyes widened. “Nobody said that.”

“A man just can’t appreciate curves these days!”

“It’s all stick figures!”

“Your girl there has the kind of curves that a man should appreciate in bed and out!”

“Hold up!” He held up his hand and glared. “First of all, I would never want Dana to lose weight. I happen to think she’s absolutely perfect. But if she keeps eating steak and potatoes, she’s going to have a heart attack, and then I’ll be very unhappy.”

That seemed to mollify them. Suzy patted his arm. “It’s obvious that you care about her. We just wanted to make sure, dear.”

Dana returned with a roast beef sandwich on her plate and some fries. Cole raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. “What? I got some pickles!”

Stealing an extra chair from the table next to them, they all scooted around to make room for her. “What do you do for a living, dear?” Sarah Beth asked.

Biting into a fry, Dana smiled. “Nothing, right now. I actually just got fired a few weeks ago from an assistant position.”

“Fired!” Sarah Beth frowned. “Heavens, what for?”

“My direct boss blamed me for one of her mistakes, and her boss decided that it was easier to fire me than to actually deal with it.”

“Must have been a man,” Marigold said. “It’s always like a man to take the easy way out.”

Dana snorted and exchanged a look with Cole. He knew she wouldn’t say anything to reveal his identity, but he leaned back and waited to see what she would say next. “Definitely a man,” she agreed. “So, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do next. I am getting some sort of severance package, so I’m hoping to live off that until I find the job I really want. I’m tired of settling, you know?”

“Never settle,” Suzy agreed. “If you settle, then you end up like Marigold here. She lived with her husband for forty years, and she was never happier than the day that he died.”

“It’s true. The man was stifling, but back then, you didn’t get a divorce. By the time divorce was acceptable, he was already on his deathbed. Oh, there were days when we got along just fine, but I just loved him more than he loved me, and by the time I realized it, it was too late.”

“But you two don’t have that problem,” Sarah Beth said as she patted Dana’s hand. “You should have seen the way Cole was looking at you when you walked in. Like he was seeing you for the first time. That’s when you know he’s a keeper.”

There was a look of surprise in her eyes, and Cole felt his gut tighten. Things were getting out of hand far too quickly. Pulling out his phone, he pretended to check the time. “I’m sorry to have to cut this short, ladies, but I have somewhere that I have to be.”

They all groaned, and Dana dropped her gaze. For a moment, he wished he knew what she was thinking. As he gathered his trash, he walked around the table and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll catch up with you later, darling. Enjoy your day,” he said in a low voice.

It was nice to call her darling. It rolled off the tongue and felt natural.

You crossed a line, Cole. Pull it back.

Tipping his head to the ladies, he held his breath until he was clear of the dining room. Once out of their sight, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Sex with Dana had changed everything, and if he knew what was good for him, he’d make damn sure that it didn’t happen again.