Page 36 of Honeymoon for Seven

“Absolutely.”

When the man sang about “Just the two of us” Nick twirled her in place, curling her back into the fold of his arms. With her pressed up close and personal, he couldn’t help himself. His steps slowed and their gazes locked. He could almost feel her heartbeat against him. There was no stopping where this was going. No controlling how he felt. Pulling her impossibly closer, he leaned forward, and quickly taking in everything reflected in her eyes, he closed the gap and let his lips press against hers.

His arms tightened around her waist, and when her fingers began drawing tiny circles at the back of his neck, he thought he was going to lose all control. She tasted even better than he’d imagined.

The beat of the next song came over the sound system loud, and clear, and fast. Regretfully, he eased back and twirled her once again before tugging her away from the dance floor. At the bar, still holding on to her hand, not wanting to lose the connection, he ordered two glasses of water, handing her one and taking the other in his free hand. “I’d carry it back for you, but I selfishly don’t want to let go of your hand.” Had he actually said that out loud?

Her smile bloomed. “I like holding your hand.” A deep rose singed her cheeks. “I like kissing you too.”

Tugging her close enough to feel her breath fanning his neck, he barely kissed her lips before easing back. “We’re going to have to find a way to do more of this.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Threading his fingers with hers, he smiled down at her. “How about a walk on deck?”

“If you don’t let go of my hand.”

“Not on your life.” Forcing himself to let go of one hand, his grip remained firm on her other hand as he steered them out of the lounge. Halfway down the hall to the bank of elevators, his cell phone buzzed. “That’s odd.”

Looking down at his screen, he frowned.

“Something wrong?”

“It’s my mother.” Tapping his screen the call came on. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Monica woke up. She can’t find Bunny. She’s totally beside herself. I’ve never seen her so inconsolable. Where did you put it?”

“Me? I didn’t put it anywhere. She always carries it around as if it were more precious than gold.” He looked to Ginnie. “Do you know where Monica put Bunny?”

Ginnie’s gaze drifted skyward a second as she shook her head. “Last time I remember her having it was on the scavenger hunt, but now that I think about it, I don’t remember her carrying it when we went back to the suite.”

“Damn.” He returned his attention to the phone. “Mom, we think she may have dropped it during the scavenger hunt. It was a bit chaotic with all the participants and the crazy photo shoots.”

“I hate to ask this…”

“I know. We’ll see what we can do.”

“Bless you. Love you. And thank Ginnie for me.”

Disconnecting the call, he slid the phone back into his pocket. “I’d gotten used to no one calling. I expected something unpleasant, but this might be worse.”

“Let’s start with Lost and Found.”

“Good idea. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll backtrack our day.”

“We’ll find it.” Ginnie squeezed his hand and he couldn’t help himself.

Leaning over, he stole one quick kiss. “A guy could get used to this.”

Her smile widened. “Let’s go find Bunny.”

Chapter Fifteen

Lost and Found was a bust. The ship had a collection of stuffed animals that could have been enough to open a shipboard toy store, but no Bunny. If not for the distraught child and knowing how much that rabbit meant to her, the evening would have been perfect.

“We’ll start with the end of the hunt. That was the crew member from Costa Rica.” Nick glanced away from the concierge desk and pointed down the hall. “We found him at the buffet hall. Let’s try there first.”

“Makes sense.”

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