Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
My shoulders deflated. “Oh.”
“We’ll have plenty of time for just the two of us, I promise,” Joel said, kissing my nose. “But tonight?” He pulled me toward the cabin door, and as soon as he opened it, the faint sounds of laughter and music drifted up from the crew mess in the lower deck. “We party.”
I rolled my eyes as he tugged me under his shoulder and kissed my cheek, then he grabbed my hand and led me down to where the some of the crew had gathered. The Captain was already asleep in the stateroom next to ours, First Officer Wayland was on watch up top, and I didn’t see the engineers anywhere. But the chefs, stewardesses, and deck hands were all together in the crew mess, talking and laughing, each with a drink in their hand.
“You’re allowed to drink on the boat?” I asked Joel on a whisper.
“Not really,” he confessed. “It’s actually a liability, legally, but Captain Chuck is pretty cool. As long as we don’t miss our night watch when it’s our turn and we wake up in time for work in the morning?” Joel shrugged. “He’s cool with it.”
I frowned, opening my mouth to ask more questions, but I didn’t get the chance.
“Ah, looks like Prince Woods decided to grace us with his presence,” Ivy joked as Joel and I made the final descent from the stairs. “How is it up in the palace?”
Joel narrowed his eyes at her before pulling her under his arm and rubbing her scalp with one of his knuckles like she was his little sister. She laughed and shoved him off, and at the same time, one of the other deck hands tossed him a beer.
“You want one?” he asked me next. It was hard to keep all the names straight from dinner the night before, but I was pretty sure his name was Ace. He was tall and built like a bull, with dark brown skin and muscles straining against the fabric of his t-shirt.
“I’m okay. Thank you, though.”
Ace shrugged in a suit yourself manner before plopping down at the table where Emma, Ivy, and another stewardess whose name I couldn’t recall were already seated. Joel cracked his beer open and was already in a conversation with Eric while everyone at the table got back to what they were talking about before we walked in. I stood right by the stairway, grabbing my elbow with the opposite hand and wishing I had my camera to hold onto.
Emma patted the bench next to her, scooting over a little and offering me a kind smile. “How was your first day onboard?” she asked once I was seated.
I shrugged. “To be honest, I think I’m still in shock that I’m here.”
“That’s fair,” Emma said with a chuckle. “I’m sure you’ll settle in soon enough.”
“I just feel odd, meandering around while everyone is working so hard.”
“Well, if you ever need something to do, come see me and I guarantee I can keep you busy for a few hours,” Ivy said, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder with a wink to the girl sitting next to her. She really was strikingly beautiful, with emerald green eyes and lips painted a deep blush. She had a beauty mark just above her top lip like Marilyn Monroe, and the way she smiled was confident and sexy.
“And then what would you do?” Emma challenged with an arched brow. “I already have a hard enough time wrangling you and Celeste as it is.”
“Hey! It’s not my fault,” the girl next to Ivy defended, elbowing Ivy playfully. She had beautiful brown skin and jet black hair, with eyes just as dark. Her English was perfect, but lilted with a Spanish accent. “She’s the bad influence.”
“I work harder than any other stewardess you’ve had and you know it,” Ivy said to Emma. “That’s why you wanted me for this job.”
“Oh, yeah,” Ace said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that your uncle works with Theo.”
“Shut up,” Ivy said, tossing a pretzel at him with her eyes narrowed. “I earned this spot just as well as the rest of you.”
“You know I’m kidding, baby,” he said, pulling her into his chest and kissing her hair.
I smiled. “How long have you two been dating?”
At that, the whole table fell silent, and then a chorus of laughter rang out. “Oh, no, we’re not together,” Ivy explained. “Sorry, I guess it must seem odd for an outsider. We’re all a little flirtatious around here.” She smiled at Ace, then at Celeste, and then — very purposefully — at Joel. She shrugged when she faced me again. “Sometimes we make out or hook up, but it’s never anything serious.”
I balked at her forwardness, glancing at Joel, but he was already locked back in conversation with his new boss.