I yawned for what seemed like the millionth time and wiped my watering eyes as I blinked, trying to get my surroundings to focus after scouring every inch of our stateroom for cameras or bugs. The room was clean.

“All right, you, in you go,” Josh said, guiding me over to the bed.

I pulled back from him. “I can’t. We might miss something important.”

“I seriously doubt you’re going to miss anything other than cocktail hour, or the kick off to a four-week party. Up to you, though.” He shrugged as he put a little bit of distance between us.

“I should at least go see Allyson. She’s the reason I’m here in the first place.” I fought back another yawn as the phone in our suite rang.

Josh answered it, giving clipped answers to whomever was on the other end before hanging up.

My eyebrows dipped. “Who was that?”

“Our ‘fun’ guide. Everything we need to know is listed on channel four,” he answered.

I located the TV remote and sat on the end of the bed. When the screen flickered on, Allyson and who I could only assume was her brand-new husband filled the screen for a few seconds before the image changed to a picture of The Enchantress on open water with our sailing dates. From there, the image changed again and again. Each filled the screen with information on what locations we would make port at, and how long we would be there before moving on to the next. When that slideshow was over, it gave the listing to another channel that would have each day’s official meal times, along with the number to room service. Events happening while at sea were on another channel.

“Saves them from wasting a bunch of paper, I guess,” I said, shutting the TV off.

Josh had sat somewhere behind me when I’d turned on the TV, so when he didn’t answer, I turned around and found him hugging a pillow against his chest, sound asleep.

I found myself staring at him, taking in every detail. Josh was what I’d call classically handsome. He had long, sooty lashes that swept low like butterfly wings. He had a boyish look to him that would probably never go away. His lips were parted slightly, twitching with what might have been the beginning of a smile had he been awake.

I felt myself melting a little and wanted to berate myself for it. I reached out and grabbed his foot, then shook it. He sat bolt upright as if I’d electrocuted him.

“Scare you?” I asked, watching him stretch.

“Thought you were my brother,” he answered, voice gruff with sleep.

That was new. “I didn’t know you have a brother.”

He nodded, yawned, and then popped up from the bed, rubbing his hands across his chest. “Did you turn the air conditioning down?”

I turned away. “Haven’t touched it.”

There were things about Josh that I shouldn’t notice. Like how his pants hung at just the right spot on his hips, showcasing that indention of muscle that made most girls go weak in the knees. Or how when he stood next to me, my head fit perfectly into the crook of his shoulder. And then there was the way he always seemed to find a reason to touch me, even innocently, with the light pressure on the small of my back, or that spot up at the arch of my shoulder, close to my neck.

Our last mission had tested my ability to separate reality from make believe, and it was all because of him. How the next four weeks would go, I had no idea, but at least they would be a good distraction from my own mini personal crisis and my not-so-dead husband Trent.

“Are we going somewhere?” he asked as he set out a change of clothes.

“We are. Here, wear this.” I tossed him a clean shirt from his drawer.

He caught it up in his fist and wandered into the bathroom. While Josh took a quick shower, I changed, then eyed myself in the mirror and frowned. I looked like absolute hell. A little sun wouldn’t come amiss to cover up the shadows under my eyes. Maybe it would even take away a little bit of the haunted look permanently etched on my face.

There wasn’t much I could do besides cover it up. Thank God for Riley and Paige. They’d gone above and beyond for me. Not only had they made sure I’d have the right clothes, but they’d also tossed in a small bag of makeup, hair clips and ties, and some perfume as well.

I pulled my hair back into a sleek ponytail, added a touch of mascara to my lashes, and then some gloss to my lips. With a small spritz of perfume to my wrists and some in my hair, I was ready when Josh came out of the bathroom.

He walked past me, toweling his hair, and then came to a quick stop. Turning toward me, he tilted his head.

“What?” I asked, feeling a little unhinged by the way he gaped at me.

He stepped toward me and sniffed. “You smell like home,” he said, grinning.

“Home?”

He blushed slightly. “I mean. The scent reminds me… never mind.” He grabbed his shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed. “So, I’m Joshua, but prefer to be called Josh. And you are Isabella, but I call you my Ella…”

“Just Ella.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“Josh.” I rolled my eyes and groaned.

“Well, it doesn’t. I mean seriously.” He came up from the bed, put his arm around my waist, and said, “Hi, I’m Josh and this is just Ella.” He turned back to me. “See? Now listen to this.” He turned forward again and said, “I’m Josh, and this is my Ella.”

I looked up to see him beaming straight ahead as if there were someone standing in front of us. He looked down at me and winked. “Sounds much better, right?”

I didn’t like the way my insides tingled at that.

“Ooof. Note to self,” he said when I jabbed him with my elbow. “My Ella is a warrior princess who pulls no punches… or elbows.”

I felt my shoulders relax. “Get all your jokes out now, Joshua, because when we leave this room, you have to be on your best behavior.”

“You mean my snottiest behavior?” It was a sarcastic question in no need of a reply.

After slipping a pair of wedged sandals on my feet, I took a deep breath and blew it out as if that would settle the role I played onto my shoulders, making it a part of who I was.

“Ready?” I asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Josh answered, placing a pair of sunglasses on top of his head, and then handing mine to me. “Let’s go mingle with the rich kids.”