He frowned then glanced upward. Wiggled his nose for a second, then shrugged. “Nope, I’m pretty damn sure I’ve never seen that one in my life.”
“Chad, may I speak with you?” a bright feminine voice interrupted.
Keri breathed a sigh of relief as he turned toward the head of the housekeeping department. Good, he’d be distracted enough she could just…slip…
His other hand landed on the wall to her right, effectively blocking her escape route. “Is it an emergency, Eden?”
The dark-haired woman shook her head. “No, but—”
“Send me an email. We can discuss it during first meeting this afternoon.”
“But—”
“Later, Eden.” He dismissed her without a second glance.
Eden left, her expression unreadable. Keri felt strangely trapped. Well, more trapped than having Chad loom over her and basically pin her to the wall with his proximity. She didn’t want to come between the man and his job.
Come to think of it, she didn’t want to come between him and anything.
Keri planted both palms on his chest, preparing to shove him away when he caught her off guard and covered her mouth with his.
She was having an out-of-body experience. Watching from a foot or two over the hall as their lips meshed. He ground against her, their hips damn close to merging through osmosis.
He was buff and tan and surfer-dude gorgeous. Until an hour ago she’d been completely on board with having him in her bed every night, all cruise long.
Now? The loudest thing running through her brain was gag. The only sections of her mental synapses fully engaged were curiously pondering what Mark was doing. And then there was the question of whether the first time they did it, would they even make it to a bed? Hmmm. If this was Mark right now across from her, she’d grab his hips and—
“Ahem.”
Light appeared as they were interrupted for a second time. Chad retreated a couple inches to stare to their left at—oh damn—it was Mark.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt, but if you don’t mind?” He brushed a hand through his dark hair, leaving it in unruly perfection.
Time stood still.
…because that was all he did.
Keri choked out a protest. “But…you…I’m…we’re…”
Both men stared at her in confusion.
Great job, idiot. Way to prove English is your mother tongue.
Chad glared at Mark. “You’re not supposed to be on this deck. It’s off limits to maintenance crew.”
Mark paused, then lifted a finger and shook it once. “Yes. Right. Except I got lost. I was trying for the outside deck. Just wanted a breath of fresh air before getting down to work.”
He eyed Keri, his predatory, mesmerizing, hungry gaze returning. It was all she needed in the way of visual foreplay. She sighed lustily, squeezing her legs together to fight the flood of desire about to float her away. One hand rose involuntarily in his direction.
He took her fingers and squeezed them.
She waited for him to haul them together. To drag her from Chad’s side. To toss her to the floor and mark her right then and there. She felt it so strongly—the urge to mate. The need to mate.
It was as if she’d been holding her breath, swimming underwater for years, and only now moving toward the surface. Urgency drove her. About to break the surface, about to pull in life-giving air…
She lifted her chin. Tilted her head and offered her lips.
“Nice to meet you again. Later.” He dropped her hand and passed on by.
He might as well have planted a hand on her head and dunked her. She gasped, breathed wrong and inhaled spit. Hard coughing racked her.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Chad patted her back lightly, confusion blurring his features as she fought her way upright, watching Mark disappear down the hall.
He’d walked away.
He’d…walked away? What the heck?
“I don’t understand.” Her body ached, and her brain had gone numb.
“Ah, he’s just one of the hired help. You won’t have to see him again.”
Chad cupped her face and pressed in again. Keri’s skin crawled, goose bumps the side of Greenland rising. Not a good reaction.
He brushed his cheek against hers and purred. “Mmm, I can smell you.”
What? Her mind was so muddled she had no idea what that meant for a moment. Inspiration hit, and she tilted her nose toward her armpit and sniffed. Nope.
A faint flicker of comprehension banged on the door blocking her thought processes. Her mate had walked past her down the hallway, ignoring the fact she was in another man’s arms—again she squirmed inside with an ick, ick, ick—and left her?
Was Mark stark raving mad?
Chad groped her again, and her temper flew up faster than she could control. She shoved him violently enough that he bounced off the far wall.
“Whoa, okay. So, in spite of your body saying you’re interested, you’re going to play hard to get?” Chad nodded and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Is this like a game?”
“That’s not it. I’m not…” Keri paused.
Wait. Wait. No instant reactions to Chad.
She needed a coping strategy. She had to think this through. Her mate had some obvious issues. Maybe he was worried about his position. Maybe her…
It was as if a light bulb went off overhead. Inspiration rocked her. Actually, she was grabbing at straws to explain his non-reaction to her, but this was at least possible.
Maybe Mark didn’t want her to get in trouble with the boss. Probably figured her job was on the line and breaking up with the chief supervisor wouldn’t make him very happy.
What a sweetie. She blinked hard, her heart thumping as she sent all kinds of loving thoughts Mark’s direction. A little wave of happiness bubbled inside. Her mate was a wonderful and insightful man.
Maybe. Hopefully.
She turned to Chad. “It’s just that we’re about to get under way. We’ll talk about this later, okay? Bye then.”
Sprinting down the hall would be undignified, so she maintained control and only walked fast. Really fast. She wasn’t chasing Mark. Only wanted one more glimpse, that’s all. Maybe shoot a few more good vibes his direction. The door to the deck swung open smoothly and she blasted out.
He stood not ten feet in front of her, head cocked to the right as he stared down at the dock from their upper-deck level. She froze, caught completely in the open. One tiny step at a time she inched toward the safety of the overhang where she could…
Not good. The broad measure of his back turned toward her. In a second they’d be face to face.
All confidence fled and her feet turned on high. She felt like the roadrunner cartoon, legs rotating in blurred circles. Skipping over the metal decking as she scurried to get out of sight.
She scrambled around the corner and ducked through an open door into an equipment room. Piles of shuffleboard and other deck games lay arranged on shelves and organized in neat totes. She eyed the open door with trepidation, holding her breath. When he walked past without spotting her, Keri gasped in relief.
One quick lunge was enough to grab the door and swing it shut, locking herself in the semi-darkness of the pristine chamber, the only light sneaking in from two small windows on the far wall. She hopped up on the largest storage container in the corner and collapsed. Okay, this was not going the way she’d planned.
“Brilliant, Smith. Simply brilliant. Get yourself out of this one.”
She might have managed to avoid bumping into him, but the whole matter of how to cope with having her mate on board was still open.