Page 7 of Sailor's Delight

“Wow!” Trey grinned and, for the second time since the library, allowed his eyes to roam appreciatively all the way from her face, to her toes, and back to her face, skipping nothing in between.

Fully satisfied and fairly glowing, Jenn turned a short circle, posing and allowing him to take her in from all angles. His smile and the look in his eyes were as good as alcohol this morning. He wanted her. That much was obvious.

“Good morning,” Jenn repeated, her back slightly to him, and allowing herself to turn her chin into her shoulder, looking back at him.

“Yes, it is!” he said, though it was quiet enough that she wasn’t sure whether it was intended for her or not.

He hurried to pull another deck lounger to the small table he’d set up with her breakfast. A paper coffee cup, two creamers, and a sugar packet, her favorite way to take her coffee. She looked at him appreciatively.

Alongside the coffee on the tray were a pair of plates heaped with a variety of foods from the buffet.

“I thought you might be a bit more hungry than just a muffin and some bacon slices. Eat what you want, and I’ll have the rest.”

Jenn looked at him in horror. “Stop it; you didn’t wait for me to eat, did you?”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t that hungry.”

She sat on the lounger, crossing her feet at the ankles and resting her head against the back so that her hat couldn’t fly off.

“How long have you been up? Be honest?” She pulled a small bunch of grapes from one of the plates and put one of them in her mouth. She sighed appreciatively. Shewasmore hungry than a muffin and a few pieces of bacon. She gazed at Trey in adoration. He smiled.

“Notthatlong.”

Chapter 3

In truth, Trey had popped awake just before 5:00, pretty similar to his normal wake up time. He’d briefly checked his phone for the time then rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep, but in the end, his circadian rhythm won out. He pushed himself out of bed, drew on some shorts, a T-shirt, socks and some worn cross trainers, and let himself out into the hallway, holding his wallet with his key card in his mouth while he drew his hair into a tight bun on the back of his head, securing it with the elastic he always wore around his wrist for this purpose.

Walking down the nearly empty halls, the few people he passed were mostly staff members already bustling throughout the ship, quietly keeping everything running smoothly while the passengers slept on, blissfully unaware of the effort needed to support the decadent and indulgent activities they enjoyed.

Trey made a point of making eye contact with each and every one who would on his way to the exercise room, nodding and smiling warmly. They deserved to know their labor was seen and appreciated. Many simply wouldn’t meet his eyes, choosing to feign invisibility rather than risk the ire of a potentially upset guest.

When he reached the exercise room, Trey quickly ran through his normal routine of 45 minutes on a worn-out old rowing machine that wheezed with every stroke. He finished quickly and made his way back to his room, two doors down and across the hall from Jenn’s. He thought briefly about knocking on the door and checking on her but ultimately decided that rest was the best thing for her after seeing how she was last night.

He showered and dressed, then headed up to the observation deck to take in the sunrise.

As an early morning person, Trey had seen his share of sunrises. But as an early morning person, only infrequently did he ever share that sunrise with another person. But he had a good feeling about this week. Who knew? Maybe before the week was through, he could share a sunrise with Jenn.

He glanced around the observation deck, suddenly curious. There weren’t many people there right now. How many people were around at 5:30? He turned and leaned against the rail, scanning the walls of the ship, looking for cameras. Who would be watching this part of the ship at 5:30AM? The answer was, too many. He spied one camera high on a wall, another couple on a light pole in the center of the deck. Far too many eyes for what he had planned. His plans required a semi-public space, room enough to work, while also enough seclusion and privacy that the likelihood of interruptions wasn’t very high. There could be no witnesses.

He mentally crossed the observation deck off his list. The cruise was young. He had nearly a full week to solidify his plans. He could afford to take his time.

He spent the rest of the hours waiting for Jenn to message him wandering the ship, looking for a spot that met his requirements.

It took him a few hours of fast walking (he didn’t mind the extra cardio) to decide that none of the truly public, open access areas of the ship would do. They were simply too exposed, too open, too easy.

That was all right. He hadn’t booked this trip with the assumption that carrying out his intention would be simple. He’d planned on it requiring a little leg work and research. He’d already put in months of research and careful watching. What were a few extra hours broken up by nothing but uninterrupted time with Jenn? It was all he’d been thinking about for months.

After a quick trip back to his room, he caught the steward for their bank of cabins in the process of restocking a supply closet with linens and towels. The man smiled eagerly. “Mr. Trey,” the man greeted him.

“Hey, good morning, Ricardo,” Trey returned his eager grin. “How go things this morning?”

“Very good, very good,” the Filipino’s head bobbed. “And how you sleep?”

“Like a rock,” Trey replied.

Ricardo’s smile wavered for a moment, uncertain. “Is good, yes?”

Trey nodded enthusiastically. “Very,” he confirmed. “Thank you.”

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