Candy's Man (2 page)

“Sure,”
he replied with a little too much enthusiasm for her liking.
 
“I could meet you at the Piano Bar in an
hour?”

She
needed more time.
 
“Um…how
about we make that after dinner.”

“All
right then, let’s say eight?”

She
nodded.
 
Oh, God, she had a date.

“Great,
see you at eight, Candace.”
 
He walked
back to his waiting friends.
 
One of the
men gave him a high-five and she grimaced.
 

Was
it all playacting?

She
sighed inwardly, tied her sarong around her hips and picked up her things.
 
When she turned, she saw
him.
 
He sat on a barstool,
drink in hand.
 
Her stomach formed a
knot.
 
He pushed his sunglasses onto the
top of his head and she caught sight of his mesmerising eyes.

Crap
!

She
wasn’t used to all this attention.
 
She
didn’t even know how to act anymore.

And
then he turned toward Susan who was flirting outrageously with him.
 
Candy chewed a fingernail, and felt
strange.
 
Disappointment?
 
No.
 
Probably, relief.
 

She
began to walk away but took one last peek at him, the epitome of masculinity,
and her whole body tingled.

CHAPTER
TWO

Candy
sat on the edge of her bed and slipped her feet carefully into the strappy
leather shoes.
 
She buckled the straps
across her ankles and pointed her toes outwards.
 
Now, that was art.
 
The gorgeous red shoes did something magical
to her feet.
 
Hopefully, they’d perform
some magic on her brain.
 

She
thought of her date with Sean the other night.
 
What a disaster!
 
Being so
bewildered by the whole ‘date’ thing, she hadn’t been able think of anything to
say.
 
The only thing that kept popping
into her head was the date of her wedding anniversary.
 
The first of June.
 

Today
.

Sean
hadn’t bothered to ask for her phone number and that told her everything.
 
She prayed that she wouldn’t run into him
anytime soon.

Standing,
she wobbled.
 
How on earth was she going
to walk in these heels?
     

Slowly,
she took a step and then another.
 
That
was the secret, to walk as slowly as possible.

She
cautiously moved to the bedside table and picked up her clutch bag before
making her way to the elevators.
 
It was
formal night in the Galaxy dining room and she didn’t want to be late.
 
It was a shame her feet thought otherwise.

As
soon as she entered the noisy, crowded room, she saw
him
.
 
He commanded the room
with his enigmatic presence.
 
His gaze
met hers and she inhaled sharply before turning around.
 
Her pulse raced.

Oh, God.
 
I need a drink.

She
tread
carefully over the carpeted floor and winced
with each step.
 
The shoes were
murderous, but they sure looked good.

Her
fingers plucked at her hair and she realised she’d applied too much
hairspray.
 
She hoped she hadn’t overdone
it by wearing this dress.
 
Red, low-cut, long and slinky.
 
What was she thinking?

 
The nagging voices of her friends echoed in
her head.
 
‘This cruise will be good for you,’
they’d said over and over
again.
 

Why
the hell had she listened to them?
 
She
felt like a teenager and way out of her depth.
 
Her stomach seemed like it was going to boil over.

“May
I help you to your seat, Madam?”

Candy
spun her head around.
 
The maître d was
short, had salon-whitened teeth and jet-black hair that couldn’t be real.
 
His strong, pungent cologne stung her
nostrils and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
 
“Yes, thank you.”
 
It was almost a whisper.

“Your
name?” he enquired.

“Oh.
Yes. Candace...Walker.”
 
She still found
it hard to refer to herself by her maiden name.

“This
way,” he said, and as he made his way flamboyantly to her seat, Candy had to
stifle her laughter.

The
round tables were arranged to seat eight people, and the glassware and cutlery
sparkled as the overhead lighting shone over them like stars, adding to the
glittery atmosphere in the room.

She
smiled as the maître d pulled out her chair and she adjusted her clothing when
she sat down.
 
Low-cut and slinky wasn’t
good in a sitting position.

The
maître d bobbed his head and left her there among strangers.
 
She smiled again but wanted to scream and run
out of the room.

“Hello.”
 
The low masculine voice made her
shudder.

Oh, God
.
 

She
made herself look up and smiled at the man sitting next to her.
 
He was reasonably handsome, blonde, middle-aged,
but not her type.
 
Was she really so
desperate that she let her friends talk her into coming on this cruise alone?
 
The absence of a partner seemed to shout
‘unattached, come and get me!’
 
           

“I’m
Andrew,” the man said holding out his hand.

Candy
looked at it for several moments then shook it.
 
His hand was warm and clammy.
 
“Candace,”
she replied reluctantly.

The
other people at the table introduced themselves and she figured they were all
‘singles’
by their conversations.
 
Andrew prattled on about something but she
was hardly listening.
 
She smiled and
nodded but couldn’t help gazing around her.
 

He
was standing near the
stairway and appeared in no hurry to find his table.
 
His gaze was on her once again and she felt
her blood turn hot.
 
She moved her sweaty
hands down her thighs and looked away, just enough to appear disinterested but
enough to keep him in her view.

The
physique of the man had her intrigued.
 
He was built like a gladiator but looked very at ease in his tuxedo.
 
His hair was dark and cut in a trendy style
.
 
She
couldn’t see the colour of his eyes from here but knew they were still on her
and her heart fluttered.

From
the corner of her eye she saw him move and she quickly grabbed her wine-filled
glass and took a long mouthful.
 
The
liquid began
a slow
warmth in her stomach and seemed
to radiate to other extremities, including her head.
 
Whoa!
 
Was the room spinning?

Candy
put down the glass and gripped the edges of the chair.
 
Was she insane?
 
Getting blind drunk on a ship with all these
desperate men was not a good idea.

“Are
you all right?” Andrew asked.

She
squinted, trying to focus.
 
“Yes,” she
giggled, “too much too soon.”

Andrew
chuckled and began a monologue about his drinking adventures.
 
She sighed long and hard on the inside and
resisted the urge to yawn.
 

He
moved to his seat at
the table next to hers and smiled at the people around him.
 
What a smile!
 
Why couldn’t she have been put on that
table?
 

He
laughed then, a deep throaty laugh, and
stared directly at her,
although his
gaze soon turned to the woman beside him.
 

Candy
bit down on her bottom lip.
 
There was
something exciting about him.
 
And
apparently all the women on his table thought so too because she could see them
clamouring for his attention.
 
This time
she did sigh audibly and realising her mistake, excused herself.

She
made her way down the long corridor to the ladies’ room.
 
The room was filled with excited women
primping themselves in front of the full-length mirrors.
 
Candy managed to squeeze in beside them.

“Candace!”
Susan said, looking at her in the mirror.
 
“How’s everything going?”

Candy
shrugged.
 
“Okay.”

“Isn’t
this exciting?” she gushed.
 
“So many men to choose from.”
 
Candy gave her a smile.
 
“You look nice.
 
I love your hair,” Susan told her.

“Thanks,”
she said.
 
It was a pity that lying, cheating-rat,
husband of hers had tired of her attributes.
 

She
took a deep breath.
 
She wasn’t going to think
about her ex.
 
She applied her red
lipstick with precision.
 

“I’ll
see you later,” Susan said.
 
Candy
watched her leave and wished she could be so enthusiastic.
 

She
lifted her chin.
 
She was going to have a
good time tonight even if it killed her.
 
That’s if her shoes didn’t kill her first.
 
Maybe a few more drinks would help numb the
pain.

When
she returned to the dining room, the waiters were bringing in trays of food and
the delicious aromas wafted through the air.
 
She hadn’t even ordered yet.

She
settled back into her chair and picked up a menu.
 

After
dinner, the group talked her into going dancing.
 
The wine seemed to have relaxed her.

“Would
you like to dance?” Andrew asked.
 
She
nodded.

Andrew
led her to the impressive dance floor with its bright neon lights.
 
The music was a nice slow number and Andrew
pulled her gently close to him.
 

How
long had it been since she’d been in a man’s arms?
 
She was unsure because the days, weeks and
months had melded into one huge stretch of loneliness.

The
smooth fabric of Andrew’s jacket reminded her of...too many things.
 
She felt
a tightness
in her chest and knew she had to stop thinking about her past or she would soon
be a blubbering mess.
 
        

After
several songs had played, Andrew escorted her back to where their dinner
companions had gathered.
 
She wasn’t
seated long before she was quickly ushered back to the dance floor by another
man.
 
And so it went on, song after song.

“Sorry,
I need a rest,” she apologised to the man in front of her.
 
She had been dancing solidly for nearly two
hours and her feet were killing her.
 
She
took a long drink of water and let it cool her overheated body.
  

From
where she sat, she caught sight of ‘the gladiator’.
 
He was dancing cosily with an attractive
blonde woman, and Candy felt a little green with envy.
 
He hadn’t even asked
her
to dance.
 
She couldn’t understand why he kept staring at
her if he wasn’t interested.
 

She
shook her head in disappointment and stifled a yawn.
 
It was midnight
.
 
Time for
this ‘Cinderella’ to go to bed.
 

She
had travelled so much in the past few days.
 
It was all catching up with her.
 
Besides, she wasn’t interested in any of the men here, well, there was
him
but he didn’t look remotely
interested in her anymore.
 

Her
feet seemed to groan as she stood.
 
She
couldn’t wait to get these shoes off her feet.

“Leaving
already?” Andrew asked.
 
She heard the
regret in his voice.