“Anna?” her mother had smoothed down her over-processed hair. “I hadn’t expected …”
Scented candles perfumed the air. Annalise recognized the odor. Her mother had always thought men were turned on by heavy oriental scents. The smell made her stomach turn.
“I was in town and just thought I’d drop by.”
The furtive look her mother sent over her shoulder to whoever was waiting in the back bedroom was less than welcoming.
“I don’t really have the time to come in and visit,” Annalise assured her.
The relief was obvious in her mother’s eyes. “Maybe another time.”
Her mother had closed the door between them without saying goodbye.
It had been over two years. What was another couple of years between family?
Being in her home city, seeing her mother in the old apartment she herself had once lived in, consulting with the little girl’s doctor in the same building where she’d attended those therapy sessions, and then meeting with her friend had been a bit much for one day.
And this man next to her, this man who exuded power and testosterone, this man who she was too aware of being just inches away from her, had her all off balance. Something was different about him.
The elevator bumped, threatening Niko’s balance. He shifted his weight. From beneath his half-closed lids, he watched Dr. Walcott do the same.
Something was different about her, something that intrigued him. An air? An attitude? A challenge?
Only problem was, Dr. Walcott didn’t seem interested. Could he change her mind? When had he last been challenged?
He rubbed his hand across his heavily stubbled face.
When he saw her eyeing him, he said rather self-consciously, “This boat has plenty of hot water, right?”
“The only reason you’ll take a cold shower onboard this ship is because you take one voluntarily.”
“I don’t see that happening.” He flashed his dimple.
She responded with the slightest of tight-lipped curves at the corners of her mouth. Polite, but just barely.
So much for winning her over with his innate charm. But, then, he wasn’t at his best.
A shower and shave and maybe a nap first. Then he might seek out the good doctor on the grounds of professional curiosity. She’d give him a tour of the facilities. He’d buy her a drink. They’d have a private meal on his room’s veranda and watch the sunset together—and maybe the sunrise, too.
“How is room service?”
“Very serviceable.” She bit her lower lip then squared her shoulders and took a breath as if she were about to plunge into the deep end of the pool. “I use room service quite a bit. They are very prompt. You should try the salmon mousse.”
“And maybe a bottle of pinot grigio to share with a new friend?” With the shipboard doctor, he wouldn’t have to worry about expectations and entanglements.
“I’ve never tried it that way. But, then, I’m not very good at sharing.” She glanced down at his bare finger. “I’m sure your girlfriend would enjoy the romantic gesture, though.”
“No girlfriend at the moment.”
She nodded her acknowledgement while she adjusted her grip on her cart, pulling it more decisively between them.
He’d gone too far, too fast. Message received.
He leaned back and closed his eyes, giving them both space.
He might be a romantic but he was a lousy long-term lover.
His ex-fiancée would be glad to expound upon that.
Impatient by nature, Niko had known there was some deep-seated, instinctive reason he’d never agreed to a wedding date. When she’d insisted he choose, either her or his work, he’d finally understood what that reason was.
Any woman who couldn’t love him for who he was didn’t love him at all. Sadly, after they’d both said their goodbyes, he’d realized he hadn’t loved her either. He’d just thought he should because his family had insisted they were the perfect couple. And his family always knew what was best for him.
When it should have been a tragedy, breaking off their engagement had been a relief. It had also been the last tie to living the ‘normal’ life his family wanted him to live.
This trip was his parting gift, his apology for letting them down, his peace offering for following his dream when he knew that was the last thing any of them would want him to do.
But his lifestyle change was tomorrow’s problem. Let tomorrow take care of itself.
The elevator jolted to a stop, putting the brakes on Niko’s runaway thoughts.
“Your floor?”
Annalise jerked as his voice called her back to the present. She’d gone away in her mind to avoid an awkward situation as she had so often in the past. But she’d never let down her guard like that while in a confined space with a man.
He was still leaning against the wall, but one eye was cocked open. How long had the elevator been stopped with the doors gaping open?
Keep it together, Annalise. With that admonishment, Annalise pulled the tatters of her self-discipline around her, took a deep breath and determined to carry on. She gave him a sheepish smile. “Lost in thought.”
“Been there, done that myself.” He pushed away from the wall.
She tugged her heavy cart to get the rollers moving over the rough separation between the elevator and the hallway floor.
“Need some help?”
“No. I’ve got it under control.” She was making more of this chance encounter than it really was, wasn’t she? No man like that would be interested in a woman like her, would he?
“I’ll be seeing you around.”
Not if I can avoid it. She wasn’t ready. Not now, maybe not ever, to feel an attraction to a man, especially a man as virile as this one.
“Enjoy your cruise.”
He raised a suggestive eyebrow. “I already am.”
She ignored the shiver that went through her. As she pulled her heavy load toward her clinic, she worked hard at dismissing the man who would forget about her the second the elevator doors blocked her from his sight.
Christopolous. If he was connected to her young patient, she knew all about how to keep her professional self apart from her personal self. But was that what she really wanted?
What she wanted was to have a normal reaction to a normal situation.
She couldn’t help taking a look back.
He was watching her, appreciation on his face. He gave her a long, slow, deliberate wink.
Almost against her will her mouth quirked up at the corners, acknowledging—and enjoying?—his attention.
As she felt the ship’s engines begin to churn far below her, she felt confused. She’d thought she was on an even keel, that nothing and no one could ever rock her boat.
Obviously, she’d been wrong.
Her little half-smile was more intriguing than the Mona Lisa’s.
She was perfect. A woman in her profession would understand that any romance Niko allowed himself to indulge in would end when the ship docked.
Niko watched the good doctor walk away on her long, strong legs until the elevator doors closed, blocking her from view. This trip was supposed to be about family, about paying back all the sacrifices