Page 31 of The Situation Ship
“Deal.”
“Good. For starters, I think you should stay in my room for the rest of the trip. I don’t like how easily the killer could get into your suite,” Isaiah said. “I don’t want to give them another chance in case they have access to the ship’s security.”
“I can stay with Mina,” Poppy suggested.
“Mina isn’t the target, and the killer could hurt her to get to you. I promised Eckells nothing would happen to her, and I’d like to keep my head attached to my body.”
Poppy wondered if Mina was in a relationship with her boss. Not that it was any of her business, but it was odd she hadn’t mentioned it when they talked about Eckells before.
“Our rooms are connected anyway. It’s not like it would be hard for you to get to me,” she argued.
“We’ve already had issues with the doors being locked once. With the reinforced adjoining doors in the presidential suite, I’m not risking it,” Isaiah said.
“Fine,” she conceded, afraid he would cuff her to the bed if she refused when the time came.
“All this talk of murder doesn’t seem to faze you all that much. You recover quickly for someone who’s being hunted by a killer and has seen dead bodies,” Isaiah said, eying her poker face.
“I’ve worked in the entertainment industry my whole life, and living with my aunt wasn’t easy. It’ll take more than a body and a killer to shock me,” she countered. “Patrice wasn’t even my first dead body.”
Isaiah was silent.
“My aunt,” she clarified. “I’m not some cold-hearted, self-absorbed bitch. She died, the maid and Patrice died, and that’s tragic, but my getting upset won’t do anything to change the facts. As much as I appreciate your care for my emotional and physical well-being, I’m not going to break—”
“Why did a waiter tell me that the rest of my dining party is in here?” Mina opened the door to the fridge, cutting Poppy off.
“We were having a private discussion, and it was rather loud out there,” Poppy said with a forced smile.
“So you went to the fridge in the kitchen?” Mina asked, raising her eyebrows.
“We needed privacy,” Isaiah explained, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Mina didn’t look like she believed them. “If you guys are going to hook up, could you at least do it where food isn’t being stored or prepared? It’s gross.”
“We weren’t doing anything like that,” Poppy snapped, walking out. She glanced back at Isaiah, wondering if it was the cold or Mina’s accusation that had made him so red. She enjoyed seeing him flush.
“Can we please enjoy our breakfast now, if you’re both finished? Your plates were sent over from the table where you left them. It was embarrassing!”
A few staff members eyed Isaiah and Poppy as they left the kitchen, clearly having assumed the same as Mina. A fridge wouldn’t have been her first choice, but she supposed being cold would be a good reason to keep him close.
“While you were gone, you got an invitation to the opening night of the opera in a couple of days! The captain’s exclusive guest list only – and I thought theMidascouldn’t get any more exclusive. I accepted for both of you, since you were busy flirting in the fridge.” Mina wasn’t letting them off easy.
Poppy hadn’t realised they had been gone for so long; a lot of guests had already left the breakfast room. She nudged Mina as they reclaimed their seats. “We weren’t flirting.”
“I’ve never been to an opera, but I’m not sure it’s for me. Why don’t you take my invitation?” Isaiah said to Mina, but she shook her head.
“Invitations aren’t transferable – says so here.” She rolled her eyes. “You two better learn to play nice in front of the captain so she doesn’t chuck us in the brig.”
“You make a great point,” Poppy said, looking at Isaiah. “We don’t want her to think we have anything to hide by not attending.”
“Since you insist, it’s a date,” Isaiah said, winking.
Poppy rolled her eyes as he played up to Mina’s suspicions to wind her up.She doubted he would have let her attend alone anyway, and she thought it was kind of him to offer his ticket to Mina. They tucked into their food, and he filled her glass with plain orange juice as she ignored the mimosa.
She suspected she might have misjudged him. Maybe he really did have her best intentions at heart.
For the past couple of days, all three of them had played their roles perfectly, becoming the perfect guests. The security guards stationed at every corner had stopped paying them such close attention. Isaiah hoped the captain would tell the security to back off, since they had proved they could follow the rules.
The time had allowed him to learn more about his client. For one, Poppy wasn’t good at bowling and didn’t like losing. Her pout at the bowling alley last night as all her balls landed in the gutters had made it clear she was unfamiliar with defeat. But her determination to improve, to not let a game beat her, was inspiring. She and Mina had played until 3am, not giving up until Poppy finally scored her first strike. Their laughter had been contagious, making him forget why he was there in the first place.
