CRUISE TO ROMANCE Read online

  “Are you enjoying the cruise?” she asked and mounted the bike.

  “I’m trying.” he answered as he mounted the one next to her. “But I’d be enjoying it a lot more if I was spending time with you.”

  “You do flatter me.” Helga set the speed and began spinning.

  “It’s sincere, just in case you think otherwise.”

  Helga pushed loose tendrils away from her face and studied Mike. For the first time, she realized that he really was sincere. “No. Of course not. But you torment yourself needlessly. I am on duty twelve hours a day. There really is no time to spend on a personal life.”

  “Maybe you need a new job,” he suggested casually.

  “Maybe.” For a moment she tensed, deep in thought. Then she flashed a vibrant smile at Mike. “But for now, I have no choice.”

  “Mike leaned over and kissed her on the lips, stealing her breath and her thoughts, ending the kiss on a promise. “I’m going to spend time with you, Helga—one way or another.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Rays from the setting sun reflected off the mountainous terrain of Little Britain as the majestic cruise ship left Bridgetown’s deep water harbour. Ryan stood on his balcony and watched as the twenty-one-mile island of Barbados disappeared from view. It had been a beautiful morning filled with diving at Carlisle Bay. With over two hundred shipwrecks in the bay alone, he could have spent weeks there. In the afternoon, he and Mike met up with Sheila and Jennifer to take a submarine tour and do a little shopping at Pelican Village.

  After being cool toward him for two days at sea, he was surprised that Jennifer had come along. But she had been there, fifty-five feet beneath the surface of the ocean, viewing the coral reefs, watching the fish feed, and slowly driving him out of his mind. Gone was the camaraderie they had shared during the cruise. She was self-confident, sophisticated, and polite to a fault, but she wasn’t friendly. She only seemed to warm up when she was discussing recipes with the Barjans who loved visitors to their island. Yes, he would miss Barbados with its friendly people and even the green monkeys that roamed free. But all his memories would not be happy ones.

  Ryan wanted his sweet innocent Jennifer back. Instead of being with him, she opted for the library in the evenings so that she could work on her cookbook. During the day, she did an excellent job of either avoiding or ignoring him. He, Ryan Treymont, owner and CEO of Exercisetech and accomplished and irresistible lover, was not used to being avoided or ignored by a woman. It was a new experience for him, one that he didn’t like. Nor did he like the turn his emotions had taken; that out-of-control feeling kept him off balance.

  Falling hard for a woman shouldn’t have happened. It wasn’t part of his overall plan. Maybe all of this moodiness and uncertainty was caused by too much pressure and not the “L” word. He’d been pushing himself to the max for months and this cruise, while enjoyable, was still high pressure. Getting the account with the cruise line could mean the difference between staying privately owned and being forced to go public. There were literally millions of dollars at stake. Focusing on business was his most important objective, but he couldn’t get his mind off of Jennifer.

  There was less than a week left on the cruise. Less than a week to coax Jennifer back into being his friend. Less than a week to enjoy her company. Less than a week to sort out his tumultuous emotions. If he could just hold her and kiss her one more time, maybe he could smooth things out between them and erase the insidious tension that permeated their friendship.

  For a while, Ryan watched as the ship pierced the ocean’s gentle swells leaving wakes and foam spanning out from its sides. A cool ocean breeze ruffled his hair and cooled his skin. Evening was giving way to the encroaching night, filling his cabin with darkness. Ryan sighed heavily. He didn’t want to be alone tonight. He wanted to be with Jennifer, to see her laugh again, to see her gaze at him with that cute expression of adoration that was uniquely hers. He wanted to kiss her and make love to her again. Would she see him? Well, the only way to find out was to try. Surely she still felt something for him. One night of incredible love making couldn’t be that easily dismissed. Not by her and certainly not by him. It was up to him to create another incredible night for her. Maybe then, he both hoped and feared, she would never want to let him go.

  * * *

  Jennifer heard the knock on her cabin door and assumed that it was room service with her dinner of wine and hors d’oeuvres. Dressed only in a short teddy, she grabbed her robe against her and opened the door. To her dismay, the terribly handsome and charming, Ryan Treymont walked in, uninvited, and stood there smiling down at her. Why he actually had the nerve to lock the security lock. Just what did he think that would accomplish?

  “Hello, beautiful.”

  Well, since he said it that way, Jennifer guessed he could come in, but just for a few minutes. In just a few minutes she could take in that handsome face with his dark piercing eyes, those broad straight shoulders, and that muscular chest that she loved to run her hands over. She might even catch a glimpse of that cute butt of his as he left. In just a few minutes she could study the man she loved and commit him to memory.

  Ryan reached out with his finger and gently pushed her chin up. “You can close your mouth now.” He chuckled but didn’t move his finger away. Instead he traced the outline of her lips while she stood silently in awe.

  The past few days she had missed him so much. It had hurt to turn away from him and now he was here wanting her. Did she have the strength to send him away? She didn’t think so. Of its own volition, her robe fell to the floor, but his eyes never left hers. Then he lowered his mouth and gently kissed her. Just a touch and she went up in flames, forgetting all of her good intentions. She slipped her arms around his waist and pulled him to her while he deepened the kiss. Desperately she tore at the front of his shirt—she had to feel him against her without the offending cloth between them. He obliged her by stripping off his shirt.

  “Steady, baby,” he whispered. His hands held her shoulders before he slipped his finger under the straps of the teddy. Gently he pulled down the straps and kissed her shoulders, then dropped the teddy to the floor. Leaning down, he kissed her mouth while he stripped himself of his slacks and underwear.

  Jennifer pressed her body against his and gloried in the feel of the hard planes and angles of his healthy body. She wanted to see him, to remember him, to know his body in bright light as well as moonlight. Her memories would have to last a lifetime. The cruise was almost over and she knew she would never see him again. “Please . . . let me look at you,” she breathed.

  Ryan stepped back, allowing Jennifer the pleasure of seeing him stand before her hard and wanting and desperate for her. It aroused Jennifer to scrutinize him, but study him she did, from the top of his dark hair to the tip of his toes. Whorls of hair covering his broad chest trailed off into a “V” at his flat abdomen. Each muscle of his finely honed body was defined from diligent exercise. He was truly beautiful, even to the tip of his blatant erection. In that moment, Jennifer knew she would never see another man as truly gorgeous as he.

  “Please, Honey,” he rasped, “I can’t stand much more of this. I need to be inside you.”

  Oh, gosh! When he said it like that, how could she refuse him anything? “I want you inside me too.”

  Instantly, he crossed the distance between them and pulled her to him, kissing her, trying to tell her without words how much she meant to him. Jennifer reveled in the feel of him, the sweetness of his kisses, and the gentleness of his hands. Once again he stepped back, this time to protect them. She turned and climbed onto the foot of the bed only to have him catch her hips and still her. Close behind her, she could feel him bending over her, his hands softly exploring her body, his lips trailing kisses down her back. She luxuriated in the sensual feel of the cocoon he created around her when his arms enveloped her and his body pressed against her. One hand gently claimed her, stroking her clitoris, the other captured her breast, teasin
g her nipple. The sensations were so piercing, so overwhelming, she couldn’t move.

  “Let me come in you this way,” he whispered. “It will be good for you, I promise.”

  Even before she moaned her assent, he entered her, sending a flood of sensations through her body. She braced herself as he thrust hard, penetrating deep, moving within her in a masculine dance of passion. Jennifer gasped for breath as his relentless onslaught on her senses built her to a fever pitch. She could feel her body spasm around him, grabbing him, trapping him, forcing him deeper. Tears streamed down her face when the intensity peaked and she found her release. Lost in a haze of sensation, his helpless shout of completion barely registered in her consciousness.

  Ryan couldn’t move. He braced his arms on the bed on either side of Jennifer and waited for the paralyzing sensations to subside. That was wonderful, he thought. The best. What a feeling! It just hadn’t lasted long enough. How could he convince Jenn what an excellent lover he was when he couldn’t even wait to be inside her? He needed to give her more time to enjoy the seduction. Truly, he wanted to give her more than a quickie.

  Ryan picked Jennifer up and settled on the bed, cradling her in his arms. He brushed the hair back from her face and kissed her cheek before murmuring, “Mmm. Sweet Jennifer. You felt so good.”

  Jennifer closed her eyes as feeling of sheer bliss flooded her body. A smile crossed her face and she drifted off into peaceful sleep.

  But not for long.

  Within what seemed to be only minutes to her, Ryan was lying over her, positioned between her legs, propped up on his arms, kissing her breasts. He licked one nipple until she was ready to cry out, then he took it in his mouth and sucked. A moan of protest caught in her throat. He looked up from his ministrations and grinned, flashing that adorable dimple of his. Jennifer smiled back at him and felt the nudge of his penis against her.

  “Ryan, I’m not ready,” she moaned.

  “Sure you are,” he said confidently.

  With that comment, he tilted her hips and pushed inside. Oh, yes, Jennifer decided immediately—she was ready! Ryan moved slowly then pulled out in a teasing gesture. “Nooo,” Jennifer protested with another moan, but Ryan only laughed and repeated the action. Jennifer tried to lock her legs around his to stop this torture he was inflicting upon her, but to no avail.

  She could feel the climax coming deep within her. Powerless to stop it, she squirmed and twisted, forcing herself as close to him as she could. Sensing her body’s needs, he thrust deep and sought his own release while she whimpered in ecstasy.

  “Unbelievable,” he groaned against her neck. “We are so unbelievable together!”

  Jennifer couldn’t help but agree with him, but of course, he was her only lover, her first, and she had no one to compare him to. Not that she wanted to. He was incredible. No wonder the women chased him, spoiled him, begged him. What woman wouldn’t want a man like him showing her attention, teasing her, pleasing her? She certainly did. She hadn’t even known her body could respond the way it did. So quickly. So completely. But then, he knew exactly how to touch her, to push her, to withhold from her to excite her. What she would give to learn how to do the same to him. She caressed his face and smiled to herself. Her first lover was the man she loved. How wonderful.

  Somehow he found the strength to lift himself to look down at her. “Are you okay with this?”

  “You mean the fact that it’s just an affair?” she asked.

  Ryan nodded solemnly.

  “Yes, Ryan. I’m okay with it.”

  He leaned over and kissed her lightly. “Tomorrow night, Jenn. Tomorrow night I am going to show you how it’s really done.”

  “Just how would that be?” she teased.

  “Slowly. Very slowly.” He smiled down at her, a look of pure tenderness shining through his dark eyes. “I’m going to show you that making love is more than a series of quickies.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Then be ready for dinner by six.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “We’re starting early.”

  * * *

  Jennifer stood in the main galley of the Naples dining room waiting for the big cheese to appear. This was the part she dreaded the most—having to deal with the arrogant chef. But when he walked up humming, she thought that maybe he’d had a change of heart.

  “Ah, una donna bella nella mia cucina, a beautiful woman in my kitchen. How may I be of service to you?” Chef Ruscelli smiled and bowed, looking extraordinarily pleased.

  Good grief, Jennifer thought, with years of dealing with passengers, crews, and captains, he really had the routine down. He could hide what he was really thinking with the best of them. “Beautiful, Chef Ruscelli? I’m surprised. I thought you didn’t like me.”

  “I, Chef Commendatore Mario Ruscelli, appreciate beautiful women, even those who have the temerity to think they can match skills with a great chef, such as me. Of course, when I find a lovely American upstart in my galley, at such an early hour in the morning, I can do nothing but respond with my innate Italian charm rather than surprise.”

  Jennifer stared at him, unaware her mouth opened slightly. How did one react to such ego? She thought he might have just complimented her, but she wasn’t sure. Regardless, she was more than a little surprised at his attitude. Maybe she had misread the chef when she visited him last week. Sometimes being from different cultures created innocent misunderstandings in communication, she thought. Maybe she wasn’t an unwanted nuisance to him. Choosing her words carefully, she answered him. “I wanted to verify that we would still be having a Caribbean dinner for the Captain on Friday night.”

  “Si, naturalmente. You have but to tell me your menu, and I will have everything ready for you to cook. It will be great fun. If some of your dishes can be prepared in advance, please plan on coming in anytime you feel is best.”

  Jennifer gestured to the papers neatly folded in her hands. “I wrote down everything that I will need from the smallest ingredient to the type of pan. Every detail is here.”

  “Buon. I will see to it that you have the assistance you need. I will tell the Captain today, so that he will send out the invitations.”

  “Thank you. What is a good time for the Captain?”

  “Usually eight o’clock.”

  “Fine, I will be here around six to start my set-up. I may take you up on your gracious offer to enable me to prepare some of the meal in advance. If you have any questions, be sure to call me.” Jennifer handed him the papers and turned to go.

  “Wait,” he called out. “Since you are here now, let me take you on a tour of the ship’s galley.”

  Jennifer looked around in surprise. “That would be wonderful, Chef Ruscelli. Thank you.”

  Chef Ruscelli beamed from ear to ear. “Buon.” He motioned for her to wait, then turned and rushed through a pantry door, returning with a chef’s hat which he placed on top of her head.

  Jennifer laughed at the gesture. “Thank you again, Chef Ruscelli. You do compliment me.”

  “Si, yes, now you are one of my staff.” He studied her for a few moments before placing his hands on her shoulders. “Hmm. You are not so bad after all. Under different circumstances, why I might even be attracted to you. You are a little skinny for my tastes though. With all the eating a chef does, one would think you would fatten up a bit.”

  The protest died in Jennifer’s throat the instant she heard the word skinny. Never could she remember being referred to as skinny. What a dear, dear man! Jennifer laughed and straightened her hat. “You are very kind!”

  “It is my pleasure Chef Jennifer.” Chef Ruscelli motioned for Jennifer to precede him through a corridor which led to a large room lined with heavy stainless steel doors. “When we embark from Ft. Lauderdale we have over eighty-five tons of food on board stored in the rooms situated behind these doors. Each room is specially designed and temperature controlled for the various types of food. Because this is a fourteen-day cruise, we still have to load additio
nal food onto the ship in various ports of call.”

  Thank goodness she didn’t have to worry about supervising the preparation of the cuisine on this ship. The tonnage of food was staggering. Jennifer noticed they were passing the coffee pantry and Garde Manger or cold kitchen and nearing the main hot galley. “How many galleys does this ship have?”

  “We have two main galleys for the dining rooms, as well as one for each restaurant and one for Neptune’s Court. To your left is the meat preparation area and up just ahead is the fish preparation area.” Chef Ruscelli stopped at the pastry shop and let her enjoy the wonderful smells wafting through the air. “Chef Jennifer, you should be someone’s wife, making the man delicious meals and having babies. Tell me, a beautiful woman such as you, where are your boyfriends?”

  “Well, one of them will be at the Captain’s table on Friday night,” she teased. Jennifer felt more relaxed around Chef Ruscelli now. He really was a very nice man. Charming too. It amazed her that with all the responsibilities he had on this ship that he was able to take the time to give her a tour. Even more amazing was the fact that he would be helping her with her meal on Friday night. That really impressed her and she was beginning to feel honored. He worked hard or he would not be able to keep his position.

  “Then your cooking has found favor with him?” he inquired. “The foolish man should snap you up. Marriage is for the best. A man doesn’t let a woman like you get away.”

  Jennifer laughed. “It’s not quite at that stage yet. This meal was actually his idea, though. It was nice of the Captain to go along with his idea.”

  “Mmm.” Chef Ruscelli rubbed his chin and studied her out of narrowed eyes. “So nice of your boyfriend to allow us the pleasure of your recipes and cooking skills.” A secretive smile crossed his face and he turned to retrieve two pastries from a cooling pan. “Enjoy the pastry, Chef Jennifer. I want you to know that I am extremely anxious for Friday night to come. Not only will I have your lovely company, but your recipes appear to be designed to garner great attention.”