Page 3 of Wish Lists and Road Trips

I fought off the familiar wave of humiliation and loneliness that came with thoughts of Sean and went back to stealing looks at Alien Eyes. It wasn’t just this guy’s face that had my interest piqued. He looked like he was going to be sick. Even from here, I could see he’d sweat through the back of his T-shirt.

I watched him unzip his backpack and dig around. He huffed a sigh and turned to me. “Do you have a pen?”

I blinked at him for an awkward number of seconds before answering. I was wearing a sleeveless white handkerchief dress and lace-up wedge espadrilles. I didn’t even have a purse with me. Where would I hide a pen? “Um . . . No. Sorry.”

He nodded, his eyes shifting away. He seemed like he’d forgotten the pen dilemma altogether. Did he have sunstroke? Why was he acting so weird?

“I’m sure they have one at the ship agent’s desk,” I said, wanting to keep up the conversation for no other reason than I was half-infatuated with his face.

His shoulders slumped like the space between us and the desk could be measured in miles not feet. “Will you watch my backpack for a minute?”

My burgeoning crush wavered as a robotic-voiced warning from every airport and docking station that I’d been in on this trip played in my head:If someone asks you to hold a bag for them, don’t do it. Report it immediately.

He was a little jumpy. His knee bounced furiously, and he was swallowing more than he should. Either he was going to be sick, or he had a couple of kilos of cocaine in that backpack.

I looked around the empty pier. Who was I supposed to report him to, though? The guys pulling in their fishing nets? It seemed dramatic.

His alien eyes took on a very human exhaustion while he waited for my answer.

“Of course,” I said, feeling a little naive, not for the first time since I’d started this solo vacation.

He pulled his large frame up and walked stiffly to the desk like he might be in pain. I took note of his stuff, safely where he’d left it, then slipped my phone from my bra and sent my best friend Meri a picture of the ocean to keep from staring at his butt. He had a really nice butt. Likehe must spend all of his free time doing squatsnice. I blushed just looking at him.

Meri texted back.Gorgeous. I hope you’re enjoying every minute of your Sean-free vacation.

Guilt kept a smile from blooming at her snarky response. I couldn’t seem to shake it, especially with all of this three-fifteen nonsense.

Pen in hand, Alien Eyes dropped back into the seat and nodded his thanks. He picked up the clipboard he’d left on the bench and began scribbling. His hand was too big for the pen, I noticed, and he was a lefty. He probably had terrible handwriting.

“Are you filling out a job application?” I asked cheekily.

He raised an eyebrow and I gestured to the clipboard.

“Yeah,” he said. “Ship captain.”

I snorted a laugh, and he ran a hand over his chin, scratching. “I missed my reboarding time,” he said. “By an hour. Apparently, it’s a paperwork nightmare.”

“You were on a cruise? And they left you here?” My arm hair stood up, my mother’s voice whispered in my ear:See, Bridget! Dangerous!

“Yup.”

“They didn’t wait? Or come looking?”

He huffed a laugh from his nose, his eyes on the clipboard. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Wow.Thatsucks.” I was suddenly ecstatic for that obnoxious three-fifteen reboarding time. Turned out, I was being responsible by showing up this early, not ridiculous. I could admit being responsible hadn’t been high on my priority list thus far. At least not as high as working on my tan and proving something to everyone who’d ever known me.

He raised his head and peered at me, sea foam swirling. “What are you here for?”

“I’m on a cruise too. The ship is coming in an hour.” I glanced at the phone I was still using to keep my hands occupied. “Actually, forty-five minutes.”

He straightened, turning over his shoulder, and looked out to the water, then back at me. “What do you mean it’s coming?”

“Here.” I waved a hand at the dock where I’d disembarked this morning for a day of exploring with just my phone, passport, and credit cards tucked in my bra.

He cocked his head, studying me likeIwas the one being weird.What’s this guy’s deal?

“It’s a cruise ship?” he asked, even though I’d literally just said that it was.

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