It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t remember Hunter mentioning it in our introduction. I had the feeling there was a tight-knit community of crewmembers onboard this ship. I only hoped that I could infiltrate it.
I took a sip of the ice-cold beer and smiled at Edie. She started to wipe the glass top of the bar with a white linen towel. “How long have you been working on this ship, Edie?”
She paused. “Too damn long.” She chuckled.
I thought of Adele again. Edie could come across as motherly just as Adele had. I laughed along with her. “Well, I’m sorry the nurse that I replaced became…ill, but I’m glad to be here.”
Edie’s hand froze. “Yeah. Glad you are too.”
That was the only insincere thing I’d heard her say yet.
“I hope it was nothing contagious.” I watched her eyes and tried to remember if pupils constricted or dilated when someone was lying.
In the dim light I really couldn’t tell, and besides, the light would affect her pupils. That much I knew from nursing head-injury patients.
She looked across the room, then started to wipe again. “No. I don’t think Remy, that was his name…is his name…Ha. I’m getting so tired tonight,” she mumbled.
It wasn’t even ten. If anyone should be dozing on her dolphin stool, it should have been me. In her profession, Edie had to be used to late nights. “I hope you’re not getting whatever Remy had.”
Her eyes widened. I could hear her gulp.
Suddenly I felt sorry for Edie, so I decided to change the subject. No sense in getting her angry with me. Besides, I already knew the truth about Remy. I might need Edie somewhere along the line. I looked out over the crowd.
Mostly twentysomethings dressed in sexy, short, tight outfits. More blondes than brunettes, and a few redheads, but all had long hair. The style, I guessed. The guys all looked delicious, but they were definitely outnumbered.
On the far wall sat a table of what looked like eligible bachelors. They were decked out in the same white tuxedos and varied in age. I guessed they must have been the male “hosts” Hunter had told me about. As I started to turn, I caught a glimpse of one with a bald head and started to smile. Until he turned around.
Uncle Walt!
Yikes! “Excuse me,” I murmured and headed over to his table.
“Hey, Pauline. I’d love to dance with you, but I’m on duty,” he said, smiling. “I got this gig at the last minute and they’re going to rebate my fare. Seems the last old geezer croaked, and they hadn’t had time to replace him. There are some women my age aboard, you know. They need attention that only I can give them.”
I could only smile. There was no way I was going to scream, “What the hell are you doing at your age?” I couldn’t. Not with the look of pride on his face. “You always luck out, don’t you?”
My uncle nodded. “Your folks are already in bed, Pauline. Damn shame.”
I grinned, then as I started to make more conversation, I heard a female voice behind me.
“I want him!”
“Abigail, you always get first pick. I want him. He’s adorable in white.”
Uncle Walt was now a lovely shade of crimson, smiling straight ahead. I turned to see two “mature” women arguing until one grabbed Uncle Walt’s arm and said, “It’s past your bedtime, Abigail. Don’t wait up!”
With that, she and Uncle Walt were on the dance floor. And I laughed all the way back to my dolphin stool. Edie was now finishing someone’s fancy drink.
“Seems the guys are outnumbered on this ship.” I chuckled.
“What’s new?” She looked up. “That’s why Hunter hires those men. Escort the single women to dinner. Dance with them. You know. No sex though. All on the up and up, to give the women a good cruise to remember so they’ll come back. We’re always top-heavy with women on our cruises.”
“Interesting job.” I took another sip of beer and shifted on my dolphin. The back fin was the hard-surfaced lower back of the stool and it wasn’t exactly a Lazy Boy.
She leaned forward. “I’ll say, and on each cruise Hunter seems to come up with some doozies. If I were a few years younger! There’s a few on this trip that I’d snag for myself.”
We both laughed, and I was glad I’d gotten off the Remy interrogation-for now. I liked Edie.
A hand touched my shoulder. I swung around. “Oh, hi.”
Hunter stood there, and I thought, Hmm, I wouldn’t mind snagging him.
“Edie giving you the scoop on the ship?”
I nodded. “She’s sweet.”
“How about once around the dance floor?”
Thank goodness Miles and Goldie had given me some “speed dancing” lessons before embarking on this ship. It’d been some time since I’d danced in public, and yes, I’d worried that I’d make a fool of myself. I kept picturing Elaine from Seinfeld. “Sure.”
Hunter took my hand and led me to the crowded floor. I realized it didn’t matter if I had two left feet, since every passenger on this cruise seemed to be on the dance floor right now except my sleeping folks.
We eased into the middle of the crowd, where Hunter took me into his arms. Oh, my. Good thing it was so packed there, or my Jell-O legs might have me collapsing against his chest. Hmm. Looked like a pretty good cushion to break a fall.
The band played some kind of ballad. I looked around to see Goldie and Miles coming in the door and managed a weak wave since I didn’t want to let go of Hunter’s shoulders. He maneuvered me around the floor like an expert. “I’m guessing you’ve done this before,” I said softly.
He chuckled against my cheek. “I could buy this ship if I had a nickel for every number I’ve danced to.”
My lips curled. I really didn’t want to think of him dancing with someone else.
He looked down at me. “It’s part of my job, Pauline.”
“Like the male hosts?” I tried to laugh, but it wouldn’t come out.
“Not this time.”
Yikes!
If I fell overboard right then, at least my body would keep warm from the delicious feeling floating throughout me.
We danced for several numbers, until I realized my feet hurt. Damn heels. But when I looked at how sexy all the other women looked in their shoes, I thought it was all worth the pain. However, I’d bet my next paycheck that none of the men even noticed one shoe.
A buzzing tickled my side.
Hunter looked down. “Seems I’m being paged.” He looked at the number. “The captain. Could take a while.”
“No problem. Duty calls.” Great. Now I could sit.
“Let me get you a partner to finish the dance with.” Before I could protest, Hunter waved to someone.
“It’s really not necessary. I’ll head back to my cabin-”
“Not alone. One of the crew will escort you. I have a new male host who isn’t that busy yet.”
“That’s really not-”
“A gentleman does not leave his date stranded.”
Not wanting to insult Hunter’s chivalry, I smiled. “Thanks.”
“Ah, here is the gentleman to fill in for me. Pauline. This is one of the newly hired escorts, Jay Smith.”
Hunter’s beeper sounded again. With a quick smile and peck on my cheek, he turned to leave.
“Nice to meet you, Pauline.”
I swung around at the voice. “You? You? You!” I shut my eyes for a second. “An iceberg would be a welcome sight.”
Five
“Open your eyes, Sherlock, or you’ll bump into a passenger and knock them over.”
“What the hell are you doing here, Jagger?” I opened my eyes in hopes that he’d be gone and it was all a mirage.
Then again, a mirage of Jagger would be the stuff fantasies were made of, not nightmares.
I could use a fantasy, now that Hunter was gone. I peeked out.
Jagger stood there in a white tux! Oh…my…God.