All Hands Below (5 page)

A name caught his eye. “The owner of the purse is Kerri Lorenzo?”

“I believe so. Here, you can talk to her yourself.”

He frowned as the older man got up, flung open an interior access door to the officers lounge, and in walked a face from his past.

“I understand that you and Miss Lorenzo know each other?”

Liam’s brows rose. His former fiancée was booked on the cruise? Kerri stepped through the door.

“Surprise, Liam.” Her voice was soft, her light brown eyes searching. “I thought a week-long cruise to the Caribbean would be a great time to pop back into your life to say
‘hi.’
”

Liam tensed. No way in hell did her idea of a
great time to pop back
into his life fit into any definition of his. Not with the way they’d parted. Although he had to admit, he never thought he’d see her amber-gold hair and light brown eyes again. Not in this lifetime.

Not one to forget his manners, he offered her a cordial smile, and hoped it didn’t look like he was having a tooth pulled as the captain watched with glee. “Kerri. This
is
a surprise.”

“Go on, Liam,” said the captain. “Our business here is done. Enjoy your time off.”

“Thank you, sir.” Liam glanced at his watch and turned to Kerri. “So, have you eaten? Are you hungry?”

“I had a salad half an hour ago, but I could go for a
cappuccino
. If you have time, that is.”

“Of course.” He ushered Kerri out of the lounge with a wave of his hand. “Are you traveling alone?”

While Liam guided her down a series of corridors, she explained she was indeed traveling alone.

“I’m taking a much needed break before starting my new job as a news anchor in Philadelphia.”

“I see. Congratulations on your new job.”

Great
.
An old flame and a no flame were on board. Say goodbye to smooth sailing, Rossi.

Liam’s thoughts were grim as they stepped through the crew doors leading to the ship’s Grand Promenade. Live trees lit up with fairy lights and potted lavender geraniums evoked the cobbled promenade of a European village.

There were several options for coffee and people watching, but finding a place to sit was a different matter.

“Psst, Mr. Rossi!” A waiter recognized Liam and waved them over to a newly vacated table at the Veranda Café with a panoramic view of one of three pool decks. After they were seated, the waiter hurried off to fill their order.

“So, after I filed my report about my missing purse, I wrote you a note to congratulate you on your promotion,” said Kerri. “Captain Rudolph recognized me from my television broadcasts and insisted we meet in person. I hope you don’t mind.” She met his gaze across the table.

“Not a problem.” Liam shifted in his seat, unhappy with the gleam in her eyes.

He knew what his old flame was up to. She wanted cock. His. It wasn’t so long ago that she’d been a satisfactory bed partner, too—a woman he’d hoped to marry. Fortunately, he was armed with a more practical brain and a toughened heart these days.

“You’re looking great, Liam. And this,” Kerri indicated their surroundings with a wave of her hand, “is magnificent. Your ship finally came in!”

Their waiter reappeared with delicate cups of espresso, each topped with creamy foam swirled in heart-shaped patterns.

“I have arrived, yes.” Liam lifted his
cappuccino
to his lips. The five years since their break-up hadn’t changed her much. A few lines around her eyes gave her a maturity she’d lacked back then. Otherwise, she looked as attractive as ever.

“How have you been, Kerri? Still married?”

She shook her head. “Not as of six months ago, but our divorce was friendly. Due mostly, I think, to not having children.”

“Sorry to hear that. So, how did your purse get stolen?”

“I’d just boarded the ship after buying a few baubles in Key West at a tourist trap on Lower Duval Street. I stopped in at the Triton Lounge for a drink, set my purse down on the empty stool next to me, and next thing I knew…it disappeared!”

“I see. And how are you fixed for cash?”

“I have enough in my cabin’s safe. Lucky for me I kept my passport in there, too. But whoever took my purse got forty dollars and made off with my driver’s license.”

“Hmm. Your Caribbean getaway is off to a rocky start.”

“I’ll say. I’ve not given up hope for a more satisfying experience, Liam.” Her teasing remark and the invitation in her eyes confirmed his worst suspicions.

Shit.

There went his hopes for a trouble-free cruise. Had Evangeline only wanted this from him, his response would have been a personal guarantee to give her satisfaction, but Kerri wasn’t Evangeline.

“You’ve fared well, I see,” Kerri rushed to fill Liam’s unresponsive silence. “I can’t tell you how sorry I was for what I did. Still am, in fact. You were good to me, Liam. I’ve never forgotten how good we were good together.” She took his hand in hers and stroked his knuckles.

“Then you must not recall the Dear John letter you left behind at our Miami townhome.”

“That was mean of me.”

He laughed, unaffected now by her blasé attitude toward the havoc she’d caused his mind and heart back then.

“I don’t see a ring on your finger,” Kerri forged on.

He smiled wryly. “I wasn’t wearing a ring when I was committed to you five years ago.”

“So there could be someone special now?”

Visions of a blue-eyed, rosy-mouthed temptress asking him if he’d enjoyed jerking off flashed through his mind.

Kerri must have sensed conflict. “Let me rephrase that. Is there anyone who might be upset if you and I were seen having dinner together?”

He shook his head. “No. In fact, I will reserve a place for you at the captain’s table tomorrow night. We’ll see if anyone protests.”

She licked her lips. “Thank you, Liam. You—”

A loud crash interrupted her before she could finish.

Liam looked up in time to see their waiter land on the floor. A pair of toned, shapely legs and very familiar thighs in a sunset-orange miniskirt followed, toppling over the poor man.

A little red purse landed next to Liam’s feet. He pushed back his chair, picked the purse up and strode over to render aid. He extended his hand and steeled his abs, ready to put up a fight against the enchantment of a pair of blue eyes. “Hello, Evangeline.”

She peered up at him, supporting herself with one elbow. “Hi Liam. Sorry. I didn’t see the waiter coming.”

He helped her to her feet and stuck her purse in her hand. “You okay?” he asked softly, inhaling a whiff of her tea-rose scent, so subtle yet powerful enough to bring him to his knees.

She nodded and smiled up at him. “Yes, thanks for asking.”

Liam turned to assist the flustered waiter as he scrambled to his feet in a clatter of ice cubes. He picked up the clear plastic pitcher on the floor. “Carlito, anything broken?”

“No, no. Thank you, sir,” said the other man as he took the pitcher.

As staff arrived to assist with clean up, Liam turned to Evangeline, busy plucking out an ice cube lodged inside the tantalizing cleavage revealed by her skimpy top. “You’re not hurt in any way?”

She shook her head, her cheeks pink. “I’m good. Thanks for your help, Liam. You look very handsome today.” She blinked in shock at what she just blurted out.

He smiled, liking that befuddled look on her face. Perhaps too much. “Have a nice day, Evangeline,” he said curtly, then strode back to his table with that ice cube on his mind.

Liam’s salad arrived as he resumed his seat. Glancing over his shoulder, he noted a flustered Evangeline searching for someone. He shook his head. Mr. Right, no doubt, he thought sourly.

“Is that Evangeline Spencer?” Kerri asked, staring after her as the object of his thoughts strode past. “Of Portland?”

“I believe so.” Liam frowned. “Do you know her?”

“My ex was the attorney who handled Cameron Spencer’s estate. The judge left behind a young widow who, before she married the judge, also happened to be the widow of the judge’s youngest son.”

Liam choked on an olive.

“Judge Spencer left her the bulk of his estate and, while the judge’s will was being contested by his other surviving son, he died of a drug overdose.”

Liam’s gaze followed Evangeline. She wasn’t giving up. Whoever she was looking for, she intended to meet.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s searching for hubby number three,” Kerri mused.

“How did she become a merry widow at her age?” Liam wondered. And twice over? What the hell? She looked young, mid to late twenties.

Those silky-smooth lips owed nothing to injectable enhancements. Dark golden hair tumbled around the oval-shaped face with skin that glowed with natural color, not the mask of liquid make-up that some women favored and gave their skin a fake, covered-up appearance.

She was also naturally blessed in the chest department. Those pendulous beauties were anything but fake. Her left breast curved slightly fuller than the right. Yet, they were perfect individually, and as a pair…

Liam stifled a groan.
Feet. Look at her feet, man. Maybe she’s got warts.
He looked. No warts. Her dainty feet were tucked in strappy beach sandals that flaunted her red-chili pepper painted toenails. She had the cutest toes, too. Rounded, plump, and suckable.

“Rumor had it that her second marriage to the father-in-law prevented his surviving son from stealing the family fortune.”

“Oh?”

Kerri took a sip from her cup. “The judge was dying of brain cancer, I believe. Of course,
she
winds up with everything. But,” Kerri shrugged, “by all accounts, she lives a low-key lifestyle on the modest salary she draws managing the judge’s charities. His cronies thought she was after the family fortune. The truth is…she got her money in the worst way possible.”

Liam cocked his head, struggling to keep the interest off his face.

“Course, there were the huge insurance settlements when she lost her first husband in a car crash. She’s known to be very generous with the judge’s charities, too. An odd ducky, that girl.”

“Very interesting,” Liam remarked. Black widow or merry widow—Evangeline Spencer was creeping under his skin.

“I hope we’ll be able to spend some time together, Liam.” Kerri smiled at him. “It’s good to see you again. I sure would love a chance to make up for the past.”

“There’s nothing to make up,” Liam assured her, aware she would present some entertaining ideas on making up, whether he encouraged it or not.

“We’ll see.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got an appointment at the spa. Is it too much to hope that you won’t be on duty tonight?”

“It is.”

“Yes, indeed. Feels just like old times. But that’s not a bad thing considering all the good times we had. I look forward to more.” Kerri planted a light peck on his lips, and then stood. “See you tomorrow night.”

Liam watched her leave and knew he could never feel a fraction for Kerri what he felt for a certain woman he barely knew.

“Let me guess? That’s the wife or girlfriend you said you didn’t have?”

Liam’s gaze slid to the thigh sidling smoothly up to him at eye level. Attached to a honey-tanned torso, the burnt-orange floral mini-skirt was draped low on smooth hips. A matching tank top was cropped off in the vicinity of her little belly button.

He took a sip of his coffee, and his gaze flicked up from said belly button to Evangeline’s scowling face in a leisurely roam.

Chapter Four

Evangeline placed a hand on the ridged-back iron chair, fighting the temptation to finger the dark lock of hair that brushed lovingly along Liam’s collar. If he said yes, she was going to nail him with a good hard slap.

Something leapt in her tummy when his mesmerizing gaze fastened on hers. He reached up, took her hand, and squeezed it. “No.
No
, Evangeline. Kerri Lorenzo was my former fiancée, but she’s nothing more than a friend now. How is the race for the roses coming along for you?” he inquired.

“Oh. It’s
coming
.” She tugged her hand free, relieved he’d been telling her the truth. He wasn’t married. Glad that he’d reminded her of what her true focus should be, she asked, “Would you believe me if I said I had a lunch date with an elderly lady, and not a man?”

“I wouldn’t doubt a word you say. If you can’t find her, you’re welcome to pull up a seat and join me.”

She shook her head and stepped back. It would be so easy to go overboard on him. Even now he looked sympathetic toward her, thinking no doubt, she couldn’t even manage lunch with a little old lady.

She swallowed back a surge of longing. Why couldn’t he be Mr. Right? When she’d seen the pretty blonde kiss him, she’d felt jarred in the cruelest way. He might have been married after all.

She’d wildly concluded that maybe, in his twisted way of being faithful, that’s what kept him from giving her his cock.

Now that he’d cleared up her frantic assumptions, the emphasis he used to define the other woman’s place in his life impressed her. Not that it changed what had gone on between them, or wasn’t going to happen between them.

Knowing this, she smiled faintly. “Thanks, but no thanks,” she said, and walked away.

Minutes later, Evangeline stepped into one of two glass elevators that traversed the ship’s multi-level designer mall, and froze when Liam followed her inside.

“It’s not going away for either of us, is it?” He stabbed his finger on the button to close the doors before anyone else could enter.

She glowered at him. “Pardon me if I don’t engage in this conversation, Liam. I—”

When he dragged her up against him and fused his mouth to hers, all thoughts of resistance severed from her mind, razored off by the hot male lips charging across hers.

A few glorious seconds later, remnants of brain function kicked to life. The nerve of him! Did Liam Rossi really think he could just barge in here and snack on an offering he’d rejected not once, but
twice
already?