Page 127 of Falling Overboard

Georgia convinced me to break into the “dress stash.” Guests often deliberately left some of their expensive things behind. One woman had told us, “How can I convince my husband to buy me more dresses if I bring them with me?” We kept them in a closet and broke them out when we were going someplace fancy.

Like tonight. We had decided to go to one of the casinos where they had filmed that James Bond movie. While Emilie and Georgia grabbed dresses quickly (with Emilie shooting me dirty looks the entire time), it took me a bit longer. I finally found one that fit me but it was very short. It would have been short on an average-size woman but on me? It was practically a mini. If I bent the wrong way, the whole world would see my religion.

Hunter didn’t seem to mind, though. He couldn’t keep his eyes off my legs.

“Are you trying to kill me?” he asked in a strangled voice.

Suddenly I couldn’t breathe and my lungs were no longer functioning. “You have to stop,” I told him.

“I can’t,” he whispered back. “I love your legs. Have I ever told you how much I adore those little skorts you wear? How much I imagine kissing every single inch ... or how badly I want you to wrap them around me.” His words heated me up and I was glad we were surrounded by people because I wanted to attack him.

It made me question again how we were going to make it through the next few months when it was all I could do now to keep my hands off him.

“Are you going to play any of the games tonight? Blackjack? Roulette?” I asked while fanning my face, trying to distract us both.

“How could I not when I’ve got luck on my side? Although you do know what they say—lucky in love, unlucky in cards.”

I hushed him and glanced around, glad that no one else was listening.

Georgia leaned over and said to me, “What have I been doing with my life?”

“Chasing boys and the approval of others,” I told her, watching Hunter turn to his other side and engage Kai in a conversation. “Why?”

She nodded, seemingly in agreement with me. “Do you know what’s odd?”

“Numbers not divisible by two?”

Since she had started drinking before we’d left the ship, she missed my joke completely, while Hunter laughed on the other side of me.

“I think I like Pieter. This guy from Slovakia had been texting me and I find the amount of letters in his last name very charming, but I want to be with Pieter. I blame you and all your happiness. You’ve rubbed off on me and I hate it.”

“I’m ... sorry?” I wasn’t sure what she wanted here.

“My entire dating history has been like Halloween. Men pretending to be someone they’re not and they want my candy and then they move on to the next person. Why can’t they just be honest? Nobody ever says, ‘Hi, would you mind it terribly if I waste the next six months of your life with my lack of emotional intelligence and fear of commitment?’”

I didn’t know how to respond to her. It was so unlike Georgia to be introspective and admit to her dating issues and fears.

Fears that I still had, although I was trying to put them aside.

“Then you tell me to give Pieter a chance and he’s just like you said—a nice guy—and I have no idea what to do with that!” she said, slamming her hands down onto the table.

“You date him and see where it goes. Although I never thought I’d see you in a real relationship. I thought hell would have to freeze over first.”

“And it’s possible because we have global warming,” she said solemnly and I tried hard not to laugh. “I do worry about sea goggles.”

I glanced at Hunter. It was something I still worried about. We were in a casino/hotel full of very beautiful women. Would he take a look around and remember that there was life beyond the boat? More than just me?

Not wanting my mind to go down that dark path, I said to Georgia, “I think you and Pieter are a good thing. You deserve to be treated well.”

“As do you,” she said before taking another gulp of her wine. “Speaking of, how far have things gone exactly? It’s pretty obvious that something has changed between you two for the better.”

I knew it! I knew it was obvious. I wondered who else had come to the same conclusion. I glanced around the table but no one was paying any attention to our conversation. “We’ve smooched a bit. A lot, actually.”

“And you’re in love.”

I didn’t confirm it, but I didn’t deny it, either, which pretty much was confirmation, given the way she started gloating. “Ha. Called that one the first day.”

Panic set in, and somehow, Hunter seemed to sense it. He was deep in conversation with Kai but he reached under the table and put his hand on my knee, squeezing it, making me feel better.

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