Page 42 of The Situation Ship
“No. Something for my niece,” he explained. “It’s her birthday soon.”
“Your niece?” She didn’t want to admit she felt relieved.
“Last time I spoke to my sister, she mentioned she wants to get her ears pierced.”
“A pair of simple studs would be cute. Is there anything she likes? They have some little seashells.”
“She’s a big fan of yours, actually,” he admitted. “She loves any and all music; she wants to be a dancer or a singer.”
“Really? She has good taste,” Poppy said.
“She doesn’t know you like I do,” he said, but a small smile danced at the corner of his mouth.
“Ouch,” Poppy whined, nudging him playfully. “Could I get her tickets for my next show? Or sign something for her?” She didn’t like the wall he kept putting between them; it made her feel like a criminal being guarded instead of someone he was supposed to protect.
“I can’t accept gifts from clients. It wouldn’t be professional,” he said gruffly as she leaned against him. Soon enough, his resolve would weaken; she wasn’t the only one who had felt something between them last night, even if he wanted to deny it. His body couldn’t lie.
“Not a gift, then. You can consider it a bonus.” She turned her attention to the selection of studs. “I think the seashell earrings would be a good place to start,” she added, her voice tinged with disappointment at his refusal.
“I probably won’t make it home in time for her party. I don’t need to worry about this right now.” He scratched his head, visibly overwhelmed by the choices. It was sweet how much he cared about his young niece.
“Let me take care of it for you. Can you please gift-wrap the small seashell studs for us?” Poppy asked as Melina returned with their bags.
“Of course,” Melina replied, pulling the earrings from beneath the counter.
“Also, we need a strap for a watch. Could you have it done by this evening?”
“I need to see the watch first,” Melina said.
Poppy turned to Isaiah, who had clearly learned not to argue; he handed it over.
“Vintage Rolex, very nice. We can definitely have it done. Do you have any colour or style preference?” Melina inquired.
“Classic, as close as possible to the original,” Isaiah said reluctantly, clearly cautious about leaving the watch with her. “Just be careful with it.”
“Would you like your purchases now, or when the watch is ready? We can have everything delivered to your suite this evening,” Melina suggested.
“We’ll take the bags ourselves.” Poppy knew Isaiah wouldn’t want her giving out their room number. “We’ll collect the watch on our way to the opera later,” she added. Seeing how much Isaiah cared about it, she doubted he would trust it to anyone else.
Later that night,Poppy heard the door to their suite click open while she tried to avoid burning herself again with her curling tongs. They had only about an hour to get ready before heading to the theatre, and she couldn’t understand why she felt so nervous. Her hands trembled every time she thought about attending the opera. There was no reason to be frightened; Isaiah would be there with her, and no one would dare try to harm her in such a public setting. However, ever since she’d found the tape, she had been anxiously waiting for Calliope to discover that it was missing. Although the woman had no reason to suspect that Poppy was the culprit, she couldn’t shake the knot in her stomach whenever she thought about it.
“I come bearing gifts,” Mina announced, dancing across the suite before placing a tape recorder on the dressing table. Poppy finished clipping the rollers in her hair, then jumped up and wrapped her arms around Mina.
“How did you get this?” she asked, clutching the recorder.
“It’s not Patrice’s, so hopefully the tape will still play,” Mina replied. “There was no way I could get into the morgue. But I ran into that Grammy-winning songwriter, LUV, who’s married to the tech billionaire – that guy who invented Eagle Eye security. Anyway, he was using it to record himself with his guitar in the library, and I asked if I could borrow it.”
“The ship has a library?” Poppy asked, intrigued, although she couldn’t remember the last time she had read a book.
Mina nodded. “Eckells insisted on it when the ship was being built. He prefers books to people – even had a secret office made for himself.” She paled. “Don’t tell him I told you that.”
“I won’t,” Poppy promised. After everything she’d heard about this man, she didn’t know whether she wanted to meet him or hide from him.
“What secrets are you two keeping now?” Isaiah walked out of the bathroom, dripping water all over the carpet. Poppy swallowed as she watched droplets cascade down his chest, feeling a mixture of attraction and discomfort in his presence.
“You’re making a puddle. You could have dried off before coming out,” Mina scolded him.
“Poppy doesn’t seem to mind.” Isaiah winked, obviously noting that she was gawking at his bare chest.
