Page 18 of Key Lime Kisses
“Maybe… I’m actually…” I hesitated, then decided I might as well say it. “I'm actually not sure I want to cut the trip short.”
Shea turned to me in surprise. “You don't?”
“You can, of course,” I said. “It's not like we're, you know, here together…” Even as I said it, I surprised myself by feeling a little pang wishing that we were. I quickly pushed it away and shrugged. “I'm having fun and I have needed a vacation.”
“Yeah,” he said thoughtfully. He looked almost excited for a moment, then his face fell and he turned away. “I'll still have to fill out that form, I don't want to impose on you any more.”
“You'd stay with me?” I asked.
“No,” Shea said. “I said Idon’twant to impose.”
“But if… if I didn’t mind… would you stay?” Shea studied me a moment. I hesitated and then added, “I’m not sure how fun it’ll be alone…”
“Really?” Shea asked. The question was an eager outburst and he looked almost embarrassed by it, then cleared his throat. “I mean,” he said, obviously trying to sound casual. “If that wouldn't be a problem.”
“No,” I said. “I think it'd be really nice.”
“Okay, let’s do it!” Shea laughed. “I guess we do need to get some clothes then…”
“Why don’t we go get a bite to eat and then go shopping?”
Shopping with Shea proved to be just as enjoyable as everything else with him. He didn't take forever to doeverythingthe way my sister did. And he didn't insist thatIpick out everything for him the way Bernard had either. Granted, it might have been a little different if we were officially dating, but I had a feeling Shea marched to his own drum no matter what his relationship status was.
After we had some essential and a couple of new outfits, it was nearly time to return to the ship. We strolled casually back together. I offered to carry his bags a couple of times, but Shea always declined. Somewhere along the way, we started holding hands. I couldn’t say who started it, but all at once, as we stood in line to get back on board, I realized we were hand in hand.
Once back in our room, we decided to get cleaned up.
“You can shower first,” I offered. “Take your time.”
Unfortunately, it wasn't until he was already in the shower when I realized I had to go to the bathroom. I knew there had to be some on the ship, so I decided to go and find one, rather than make things awkward with a guy I barely knew. But for some reason I was compelled to let Shea know I'd be going.
I knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey Shea!” I called.
“Yeah?”
“I'm gonna go find a bathroom somewhere, in case I'm not here when you get out.”
“You can just use this one,” he said, sounding surprised.
“Are you sure? I didn't want to make it weird.”
Shea laughed. “Things have been weird since I got on the ship for Sunday brunch. You can’t possibly make them weirder.”
“Well, if you don't mind…”
“It’s not problem.”
With that, I went into the bathroom. Even though there was a lot of steam the clear door to the shower hadn't fogged up; had it not been for the towel hanging over it, I would have had averyfull view of Shea. I quickly turned away and went about my business.
While I was washing my hands, Shea stuck his head out the door.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I left the shampoo out there, do you mind?”
“Not at all.
I looked around for a little bottle and found it nestled in a basket with a bunch of other stuff. I grabbed it and held it out to him. Shea reached for it and flashed me a smile. Then for a moment we both stood there, neither one of us letting go of the shampoo bottle. Our eyes met and I suddenly felt nervous. I wasn't sure why.
“You don't want to…” Shea said hesitantly.
