Page 11 of Midnight Serenade
“You need sugar and something to eat. What do you want?”
I tried to smile at the bartender, who was looking at me with concern. That was when I realized I hadn’t really had any issues with Sebastian’s staff. Huh. It was food for thought. “I’d like a virgin piná colada please, and maybe some chili fries?”
“Sure thing, Miss.”
When I got my fruity concoction and loaded chili fries, I dug in. It only took a few bites for me to feel a little better. Sometimes a girl just needed something cold and sweet to drink and some hearty, fattening food to feel better. “Thanks, it’s already helping.”
Kazi had jumped up onto a chair next to me, and was nosing my stomach, which made me giggle. “Yes, yes, thanks to you, too.” I leaned over and gave him a big hug. “You really saved me. Thank you.” I kissed his furry head, and he made that purr-growl sound I’d heard from him a few times.
Sebastian was on his walkie, so after I finished my mini-meal, I slumped into the nearest chair and leaned back, closing my eyes. I could feel when Sebastian crouched in front of me. “Want to go tubing with Rafe and I?”
Kazi growled, and Sebastian laughed.
“Kazi can come too.”
I sat up so quickly the rest of my piná colada sloshed onto my thigh. I winced but otherwise ignored the icy, sticky mess on my bare legs. “I would love to!”
So, that was how I ended up floating down the lazy river with a vampire, an avian shifter, and a mountain lion. Kazi was on a wide, foam bodyboard that wobbled precariously underneath him. He held on for dear life, relaxing during the slow parts and whining and growling when the river picked up speed. I was the complete opposite. Ilivedfor the moments when the river picked up speed and the rapids tossed me around.
“Woohoo!” I yelled, as we went down another rapid, and the tube bumped into the side of the river. The leafy green plantsthat covered ourshorelineoccasionally tickled my feet as we went past them.
Rafe and Sebastian laughed at my enthusiasm. We were in a three-person tube shaped like a diamond. A wide umbrella anchored to the middle of our raft covered us, protecting us from the sun.
I splayed my legs and arms out like a starfish, trying to soak up as much sun as I could in my modest one-piece swimsuit. Rafe was wearing a lime green Speedo (I kid you not) and sunglasses. Sebastian simply wore swim shorts and a long-sleeve black UV tee shirt. His eyes were protected by sunglasses, too.
To be fair, I was also wearing sunglasses. Rafe and Sebastian had bullied me into wearing them. Something about a star, thousands of kelvins hot, burning a hole in my retinas without them. Except, these were the cool kind of sunglasses. The ones made for water activities. Through my polarized lenses, the water was so blue that it looked like I was floating on pure alpine streams.
I was practicing my author observational skills, using all five of my senses to get all the sensory details of the moment. The water felt like cool silk on my hands as I weaved them through the river over the sides of our tube. It was chilly but not cold. The perfect temp. The air smelled like lemons, papayas, and green things growing. I closed my eyes and took a good sniff. Mmm, that scent was heavenly. Everywhere I looked, I could see plants and flowers. Some even hung down and touched the water. The river made a pleasant sloshing sound, and I occasionally heard the gentle thunder of of a waterfall or a place where the river dropped. I couldn’t taste anything other than my piná colada, but I was okay with that. I didn’t exactly want to go lapping up the water, no matter how pretty it looked.
“So,” Rafe said, taking a sip from his icy drink and putting it back in the cupholder. “What shall we talk about?” He waggledhis eyebrows, like we were about to talk about something salacious.
I flicked water at him. “We could talk about your inner motivations, desires, and fears so I can have a good base for my MMC.”
“Pass,” he said with feeling.
“Whatnow?” Sebastian asked, looking between the two of us.
Rafe sighed. “She’s decided that since she was already writing a paranormal romance between an avian shifter and a cat shifter, andI’man avian shifter, that she’s going to change her main male character and base him off of me.” He turned to me. “You know I’d never fall in love with a cat shifter, right?” He scoffed. “I mean, that’s just not going to happen.”
My grin was devious. “You never know, Rafe. You never know.”
Chapter 5
Grace
Later that evening, I decided to be brave and eat at one of the fancier restaurants on board—Polaris. Rafe was working, but Sebastian said he’d be able to meet me there. Because of all the earlier drama, he’d assigned a bodyguard to me, in addition to asking Kazi to stay with me. I’d thanked him gratefully. Maybe that was how other sirens handled their lures on others; they hired bodyguards.
My bodyguard was female, which made me more comfortable, and she seemed pretty cool from the little I’d been able to glean from her. Her name was Micaela, and she was a cat shifter. (I almost squealed at the news, but somehow managed to contain my excitement without scaring the poor woman.)
Micaela did multiple things on the ship. She worked as a lifeguard (cats love the sun, so that checked out), but she also worked as security whenever the need came up on board, like now. She was deadly with—she told me this with a completely expressionless face—five different kinds of weapons, including her hands. And the only time I ever saw her stutter was when I asked if she and Rafe had met.
She had scoffed, looking suddenly uncomfortable, even while she managed to eat a whole cheese platter by herself while I wasgetting ready for dinner. “Of course he and I have met. He’s my boss.”
Hmmm. So, because I’m me, I pried a little. After all, Zane and Tessa needed a happy ending in my book.
I had my eyes wide open in that ridiculous look that all women everywhere got when they put on mascara and somehow managed to ask my question without moving any muscles in my face. “And what’s your impression of him?”
She scowled and cuddled the cheese platter closer to her chest, as though she was suddenly afraid some random person was going to come by andyoinkit out of her hands. “He’s... okay, I guess.” She shrugged. “He’s my boss. I don’t have much to say about him.”
