Shipped(72)

He frowns. “That is… not possible. She is still in the lounge doing her lip-sync battle. I saw her not a minute ago, on my way down from the bridge.”

“Ahhhh,” I croak. Words have left me. I try to swallow, but all moisture has been zapped from my mouth.

A toilet flushes and the bathroom door opens. Graeme walks out—still shirtless. He quickly closes the door behind him.

“Good evening, Gustavo. Can we help you with something?” Strolling over to me, he puts his arm around my shoulders.

Gustavo blinks. “Oh. Oh. No. I had no idea…”

Graeme tightens his hold on me. “Well, now you do. Although if you could keep it to yourself, we’d appreciate it.”

Every muscle tenses and my jaw quakes.

“No rules against two staff members…” He clears his throat and laughs uncomfortably. “I will leave you to your evening then. Congratulations again on your achievement, Miss Evans.”

I nod mutely and watch as Gustavo leaves.

Grinning, Graeme turns to me, but his smile slides off his face like sap when he catches my expression. He reaches for me, but I step back.

“What did you do?” I growl.

He frowns at me. “I salvaged the situation.”

“By outing our… our… whatever this is to the cruise leader?”

“Henley, I just didn’t want you to get in trouble for bringing him into your cabin. What were you even thinking?”

Nikolai chooses that moment to shuffle out of the bathroom. He winces. “I made the noise. I’m sorry, it is my fault.”

A floral bouquet of pear, lime, and lemongrass wafts through the room. I sniff the air. “Did you spray my perfume?”

He raises both palms. “Not for me. I remember your perfume is very nice. I thought Emily might like it as well, for an apology gift. I spray a small squirt, to remind me of the smell. Then he tried to take it from me and I dropped it in the sink.”

“And that was the noise you heard,” Graeme finishes.

Marching to the opposite side of the cabin until I’m standing between the two beds, I crush my fists to my temples and squeeze my eyes shut. I’ve reached my limit. “Please leave.”

Nikolai doesn’t have to be told twice. With a murmured “Good night,” he retreats. The door closes quietly behind him.

As soon as he’s gone, I storm over to the desk and yank Graeme’s shirt out from under its murky depths. I shove it at him, right in his bare chest. “You too.”

He blinks at me. “Are you honestly mad at me right now?”

“I didn’t want Gustavo to know about us. You knew that. And you just announced it like it was nothing.”

Graeme yanks on his shirt. “He won’t tell James.”

“Do you know that for sure?”

“We’re not breaking any rules.”

“And when has that stopped gossip from happening? James will find out, and everything will be ruined. I know it.” I’m so angry I’m shaking.

Graeme paces the cabin. “Why are you so afraid?” he explodes.

“Because this is my career, my life.” I wrap my arms around my stomach to keep the nausea at bay. “I was wrong about us. This was a mistake. It’s like Sean all over again.” My words are barely above a whisper, but they slice a gaping hole in my chest. I can’t move. Every breath is a knife in my breaking heart.

“I’m not Sean!” Graeme roars. “Yes, I told the cruise leader about us. But not because I’m an asshole. I did it to save you, Henley. Because it was the only one of two options that didn’t involve you breaking any company rules.”

A tiny voice recognizes the truth in his words, but it doesn’t matter. Because my career at Seaquest is over. I know it.

Nostrils flaring, Graeme closes the distance between us in three strides and grips my upper arms. His movements are jerky but his touch is gentle. Inhaling deeply through his nose, he closes his eyes briefly. “This is sad. I’m sad for you, Henley. You deserve to be happy, and you’re never going to be happy working like a draft horse with nothing and no one else in your life.”

A fissure forms somewhere deep down inside me. A web of cracks creep and spread. Anger bubbles up—a thick, viscous mortar. I rip my arms out of his grasp.

“Like you’re one to talk.” My thighs tremble as I stagger to the far side of the room. “How are all your friends, huh? Oh wait, you probably wouldn’t know because you’ve walled yourself off from everyone. I saw the Instagram comment from your cousin about ‘nice to see you back in the world.’ And you want to lecture me about isolation? You’ve been hiding under a rock.”

He jerks like I’ve slapped him. A dark cloud settles over the room. The ship groans as it crests a wave and dips into a trough. I grab Walsh’s headboard to steady myself. We’re both breathing hard. Any desire between us has burned up like a shooting star crashing to earth.

Graeme’s voice is flat when he finally speaks. “You act like you’re the only one with a stake in this game. You’re not. I understand how this”—he motions between us—“complicates everything. But I was willing to give it a try. Because I care about you, Henley. But maybe I was wrong to.”

His words hang in the air, waiting for me to bat them down, to argue. I don’t. Chin trembling, I suck in a deep breath and harden my heart. “Maybe you were.”