Chapter Twenty-One
Chanel
“I thought you said this was a non-working vacation for you,” I said, snatching the phone out of Xavier’s hand. “We haven’t even been on the boat thirty minutes, and you’re already working.” I moved my hands behind my back as he tried to reach for the phone.
“How do you know I was working? I could’ve just been texting Jay to let him know we arrived safely.”
My lips turned downward. “Don’t give me that. I saw your facial expressions. You had the screwface on as if you were handling business.”
He remained mute, but I glared at him until he owned up to it.
“A’ight, damn. I was just texting Bryce to let him know we arrived and that connection on the boat might be spotty. Then he responded with an issue he had with someone who’s been trying to have a meeting with me. I was telling him to put off the meeting until I had time to look into this person. That’s all. No more work for the next seven days, unless there’s an emergency.”
I eyed him suspiciously. He gave me that grin that always made my insides melt a little.
“Fine, but I’m hungry. Can we go eat now?”
He laughed and stood, towering over me. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Our cabin was on the fourth level of the ship because it had balcony, granting us the most spectacular view of the ocean. All the restaurants, however, were down on the second and third levels. We chose one of the seafood restaurants, and I ordered the crab cakes while Xavier got salmon.
“How’re your crab cakes?”
I frowned. “Not as good as the ones at Grant’s.”
He chuckled. “Nothing’s as good as the food at Grant’s.”
“Yeah, I hear the owner’s not too bad either,” I purred, stretching my leg out underneath the table to rub my foot up his leg. I jumped at how loudly his fork clanked on the plate when he dropped it. He leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing in on me.
“Cut it out. It’s too early, and the ship hasn’t even left the dock yet.”
“So?”
“So? I—” He was cut off by the buzzing of his phone on the table.
I sucked my teeth. “If that’s Bryce, you’d better tell him to—”
“It’s Jay,” he said, tapping his phone to return the text. “Just checking to make sure we got in okay and wishing us a good time.” He gave me his arrogant grin.
“How is everything?” Our waitress appeared at our table.
“Everything’s great,” I smiled through the partial lie. The food wasn’t bad, but I was truthful that it wasn’t as good as Grant’s.
“Great.” She beamed. “Just in case you were wondering, there are a ton of activities on the boat in between docking and excursions.” She pulled out a pamphlet, handing it to Xavier. “In fact, every night we’ll be hosting karaoke right here. Either one of you likes to sing? You should come out.”
“No, we—”
“I may know someone who can sing a little bit.” Xavier turned those mischievous coffee eyes to me, and I narrowed my gaze at him.
“Oh, good. You’d enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun. I’ll be hosting the night after tomorrow,” she continued, oblivious to the fact I was shooting both her and Xavier daggers.
“Thank you…Karen, was it?” he asked, remembering her name from when she first took our orders.
“Yes. I’ll just take these out of your way. Would you like any dessert or coffee?”
We both turned down that invitation, causing Xavier to give me a sideways glance. I was never one to turn down dessert.
“My stomach’s feeling a little off. Might be a little sea sickness.”
“I brought some medicine for that, but it’s back in the room. You want me to run up and get it?”
“No. I’m okay. I want to explore the rest of the ship and do some shopping.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. I had Bryce sign us up for the excursions already so we didn’t have to do it once we were here.”
We spent the next couple of hours walking around and exploring the ship. We found the adult-only pool and made a plan to spend a portion of the following day there. The next day was one of our out-at-sea days where we’d spend the entire day on the boat, which was preferable for us, since it’d been a hectic few months building up to Xavier’s opening, my moving in with him, starting at my father’s firm, and his starting therapy. We both were looking forward to sleeping in, lying out by the pool and sipping on lots of drinks with little umbrellas in them.
By the time we got back to our room, I was feeling exhausted. I hardly felt up to changing into one of the cute little negligees I’d brought on the trip to wear. Between my exhaustion and nausea I’d felt earlier, I hoped I wasn’t coming down with something. I opted to hit the bed pretty early that evening, around nine. I figured some good rest was all I needed to be up and ready the next morning for our sea adventure.
****
Xavier
I heard the music before I even opened the door. Feeling energized, I’d awakened early for a workout in the gym one level down. Spent from lifting weights and a five-mile treadmill run, the sound of music on the other side of the door reinvigorated me.
Grinning, I twisted the doorknob to our room and opened up to a much-welcome sight. Across the room, out on the balcony, Chanel had her back to me as she faced the ocean. Dressed in a pair of colorful bikini bottoms with a pink top that tied up around her neck, she danced to DJ Khaled’s Shining, featuring her favorite, Beyoncé, and my favorite, Jay-Z.
I quietly closed the door behind me, not wanting the show to end. She belted out the words while shimmying her shoulders and wriggling her hips to the beat. When she raised her hands over her head, allowing her hips to sway from left to right, I had to grab the front of my workout shorts to adjust myself.
I took a step inside the room and heel-toed out of my gym sneakers and socks, never taking my eyes off the vision before me. Chanel dancing and singing freely with the backdrop of the ocean was an image I needed to save. I grabbed my phone from out of the holder that was wrapped around my arm for use during my runs. Holding it up, I snapped a couple of pictures of her from behind before placing the phone down on the dresser.
“Are you going to keep snapping photos or come join me?”
I looked up to see her glancing at me over her shoulder.
“Such a fucking tease.”
“Yup. What’s taking you so long to get your ass over here?” Another shimmy of her shoulders and hip dip.
“I’m still deciding.”
“On what?”
“How many times I want to hear you say my name before I make you come.” I kept my face neutral but smiled inwardly when her dance steps faltered from my words.
“You don’t play fair, Mr. Grant,” she purred at the same time my hands began to slide her bikini bottoms down and over her hips.
“No, I don’t play fair, but I do play for keeps,” I said low against her ear before biting her earlobe. “You feeling better?”
“Mmmm,” came her response when I pushed two fingers inside her already wet channel.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” I’d been a little concerned the previous night with her not feeling too well, but it seemed that had passed. I pushed her closer to the railing of the balcony, placing her hands on the rail for leverage. However, she reached back with one of her hands, sliding it down into my shorts and into my boxer briefs to release me. “I was going to at least ask if you wanted to shower with me before we got to this part, but—shit!” I cursed and growled when she squeezed my shaft.
“You’re talking too much, Mr. Grant. I’d…oooh, shit.”
It was her turn to moan and curse as I took the words out of her mouth when I slid all of my inches deep inside her. I used one hand to hold onto the railing and the other to hold onto her hip. I silently thanked the designers of the ship for making this stateroom and balcony private. I pulled back until I was almost completely outside of Chanel’s wetness, and then pushed deeply inside her again. A shudder ran through her body as my ministrations forced her onto her tiptoes. This was great, but I wanted to see her eyes.
“What!?” she shrieked when I pulled completely out of her.
“Turn around,” I ordered, ignoring her panicked question. When she did as asked, I stripped us both of our clothing and lifted her so her legs wrapped around my waist. I walked back inside our room, laying us on the bed. Pushing her knees apart, I entered her again. Chanel’s back bowed off the bed, her arms pulled me into her, and our lips collided around our moans and pants for air. We got lost in a haze of passion, combined with the smell of salt
water in the air, and pure pleasure. By the time we finished, we both were sprawled out on the bed, sweaty and breathing heavily.
“That makes two workouts for you today,” she laughed as she threw one of her legs over mine. I pushed her hair off her face, kissed her forehead and lay back against the pillows.
“Shower?”
“Mm-hm. Then breakfast and the pool.”
“Agreed,” I stated, lifting up and holding my hand out for her to lead us both into the shower.
Frustratingly, Chanel refused me another round in the shower, but I promised I’d make her make up for that later.
The day was spent as planned. We had a delicious breakfast and then headed to the adult-only pool, where we met another young couple who were on their honeymoon. That had me wondering where Chanel and I would honeymoon one day. It was inevitable, that marriage was where we were headed, and kids to follow. I wanted the whole nine yards with her, and I made a mental note to talk to her about it all before we left the cruise. I needed to see where her head was at concerning it all, because truthfully, I couldn’t see even another full year passing without me putting a ring on her finger. The counseling sessions I’d been doing on my own made me realize how important it was to state my wants and needs upfront. Marriage was almost a no-brainer for me.
“You’re not drinking?” I asked when Chanel just asked the attendant for another bottle of water. This part of the ship had regular staff taking and bringing out drinks and some food requests.
“No. I just don’t want to drink for some reason, but I’m craving water. Strange, but I need to stay hydrated I guess.” She shrugged.
I didn’t think much of it as she sauntered off back into the pool to talk and laugh with the wife of the couple we’d been talking with.
The rest of the afternoon and early evening was spent poolside, meeting people and even taking short naps. It felt good to spend a day having nothing to do. Usually, I’d find myself bored out of my skull or anxious to get back to work, but hearing Chanel’s laughter coupled with the buzz from my drinks, and the view of nothing but blue water for miles all around us, really made me take in how small we all are. Sounded corny, but shit, I was on vacation after pulling off the biggest openings of my career. And despite what I’d told Chanel, I was getting regular updates from Isaac about what was happening in Vegas, and from Bryce back at home. Everything was going smoothly, save for a few minor incidents which are always expected. I had a capable staff around me, which always helped me to breathe a little easier.
The next day, we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico around seven in the morning and were up and ready to go on the adventures we had planned that day. I, unlike Chanel, was ready to have a day of excursions, but she was a trooper. We first went canoeing and snorkeling in a lagoon area. The exotic fish and underwater life amazed the hell out of me. It wasn’t the first time I’d been snorkeling, or even to Mexico, but the sights always left me in awe. After snorkeling, we went to another part of the island to swim with and feed dolphins. After that, we stuffed our face at a little hole-in-the-wall by the beach that served the best fish tacos I’d ever had in my life. That was saying a lot, coming from me.
It was a fantastic day that I knew would be topped off by an extraordinary evening.
****
“I’m pretty sure you scared the hell out of the woman,” I told Chanel as we made our way down the hall from our room. We were on our way to having a light dinner at the same spot that was going to be hosting the karaoke night. I had a little surprise I hadn’t told Chanel about.
“What do you mean? I was just offering my professional opinion.”
“See, that right there is the first problem. We’re on vacation, and anytime you even think I may be conducting business you give me the side-eye, yet here you are, giving a woman you just met two days ago—a woman who’s on her honeymoon, no less—advice about a post-nuptial agreement, and then start rattling off divorce statistics. I’m pretty sure her face started turning green.”
“Oh, stop, it wasn’t that bad. And don’t think I don’t know about the daily updates you’re getting from Isaac and Bryce.”
I gave what I’d hoped was a sheepish grin, but she wasn’t buying it. So instead, I smacked her ass that was sitting quite lovely in her plum cocktail dress. “Gotta keep an eye over my business, even while away.”
“Yeah, you just make sure you keep an eye on something else,” she retorted saucily, as she stepped inside the restaurant door I held open for her, wiggling her hips a little.
“Trust me, baby girl, I can do both.”
She gave me one last saucy grin before our hostess showed us to a table in front of the stage. The karaoke hadn’t begun yet, which gave us a little time to eat before the fun began.
“You decided to come! I’m serving tonight instead of hosting.” Our waitress, the same one from our first night, welcomed us as she placed glasses of water in front of us. “Can I start you off with something to drink?”
We ordered our drinks and then some sides to have as our dinner, seeing as we were still satisfied from lunch.
“Oh, they’re about to start,” the waitress told us. “Enjoy. I hope one of you decides to get up there tonight.”
“Not likely,” Chanel mumbled.
I kept silent as the first person went up on the stage. The lights turned down low, and the opening chords of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive began to play. The rest of the women, including Chanel, whooped and cheered, encouraging the woman at the podium as she sang and stumbled over the words she didn’t know. Next up , the woman’s husband began with some country song from the nineties. And on it went for the next forty-five minutes. It was fun to watch, but when the manager of the restaurant stepped out onto the podium, I perked up.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it has been brought to my attention that we have a young lady in the house who is a phenomenal singer. But she’s a little shy. How about we bring her on up? Let’s make some noise for Ms. Chanel Richards!” He and the rest of the place went up in applause as the spotlight landed on an awestruck Chanel.
Her eyes were as wide saucers as she looked over at me. Her stunned expression soon turned to anger. “I’m not going up there!”
“Why not? You sing better than anyone who’s been up there all evening,” I encouraged, coming to stand next to her, pulling her up by the arms.
“Are you crazy?”
“For you, yes. Come on, baby. Just one song?” I requested, turning on my charm.
Her face softened.
“Don’t get cocky, ’cause I can change my mind!” she immediately insisted at my look.
“Come on, everyone’s waiting.”
She rolled her eyes and snatched her hand away from me, giving me a disgruntled look before heading toward the stage.
“Sorry, y’all. I wasn’t planning on being up here tonight. Give me a minute to choose a song.”
The other people around the restaurant quieted as Chanel looked through the booklet of songs to choose from. A second later, her head popped up and her gaze narrowed on me. Before I could discern that look, she went over to the man operating the karaoke machine and whispered something in his ear. I watched as he went over to hook something up.
“Since I didn’t know I’d be singing tonight, the song I want to sing isn’t in the booklet. But my new friend Daniel here has offered to find the instrumental version for me. This is Marsha Ambrosius’ “Lose Myself.”
I squinted, trying to recall the song that I vaguely remembered hearing when it came out years ago. An R&B melody came through the speakers and Chanel took a deep breath, and staring directly at me, began singing.
Just like the first time we were in her kitchen when she sang Tamia’s “Stuck With Me”, I was enraptured. I was so captured by how beautiful she looked on stage under the spotlight that it took me awhile to truly appreciate the lyrics. When I did, I felt my entire body tense up.
The lyrics spoke of a woman having to lose herself to find herself and be able to love. She sang of loving someone once who hurt her and made her doubt everything. Then of losing herself, running from love out of fear, only to confront that fear and return to her love. It was perfectly aligned with our story. Being hurt in the past, closing herself off to love, only to find it again. Her powerful voice rose as she sang the crescendo of the song. Nothing else in the room existed, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. I felt the words and her singing all the way down to my soul. Through music, she was telling her personal journey, and finally, of her satisfaction in reaching her destination.
I didn’t let her finish the last note as I stood, nearly knocking my chair over. A few gasps were heard around the room as I took to the stage and pulled her face between my hands, seeing the tears in her eyes, and kissed her deeply. I vaguely heard applause but was too busy bending over to hoist Chanel up in my arms to carry her out of the restaurant.