Sin at Sea (15 page)

Over breakfast, we made our plans for the day in Nassau. “So, I’ve never been here before,” he said. “Maybe we should just spend the day sightseeing.”

“I have,” I mentioned. “There’s not a lot of sight to see. We can go to the flea market, the beach, that kind of thing. Honestly, the best part of Nassau is Atlantis over on Paradise Island.”

One thing I had noticed about him was that he never asked how much anything cost. He never complained about money. It was as though money were not an object. That was incredibly appealing. I had plenty of money. I could have paid my own way. I didn’t beg for things. I didn’t live beyond my means. That meant I had a very nice nest egg. Hell, it meant that every time I moved, I could buy a new nest. I had homes in cities all over the US rented by property management companies. My parents had trained me for financial success while they prepared me for college. I owed all of my success to them.

“So, we’ll do that. I can’t wait. We should be able to watch the sunset from there,” he said with a smile.

We went back to the room before debarking to pack our bag. I knew what to expect there, so I was actually allowed to touch the bag. It was packed in minutes and we were debarking soon after that.

If yesterday was about romance and sexy time, today was about fun in the sun. A woman standing at dock offered to hook us up with a taxi as soon as we passed the welcome sign. We took her up on it and drove in one of the many dilapidated vans that doubled as taxis on the island. A short ten-minute ride later, we pulled up to Atlantis.

“What would you like to do first?” He asked.

Shrugging, I said happily, “Everything.”

That’s just what we did. It was fun. It was interesting. It was a learning experience.

For example, I learned to never comment that I had too much to carry. That could mean that we would have to go to the Gucci store next and pick out a new bag. Also, I should never joke when going through an aquarium filled with lobsters that I wanted to pick one out for dinner. That could result in us having a lobster dinner next to the same aquarium. Most of all, I should never comment that after a week with him, I was going to need a BOB to satisfy me.

“Who’s Bob?” He asked with narrowed eyes.

Laughing, I responded, “Not a who…a what. BOB stands for battery operated boyfriend.”

That had us picking out a few sex toys in one of the shops. It had me commenting, “Wow, they really do have everything here, don’t they?”

Finally, our most expensive stop was the jewelry store. It wasn’t like the duty free stores. They were like going to Wal-Mart compared to these places.

“Pick,” he said, gesturing around the place. “Anything you want. It’s yours. It’s for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked. Since it was the last day of the cruise, I was dreading it. This time, this magical period of my life would be over too soon.

“Yes.” He took a breath, and then he grabbed my ring hand and held it to his lips as he kissed it while looking into my eyes. “See, P&P Day was created by a friend of mine. He and his girlfriend used to do that one day a week when they were off together. I always thought it sounded fun, if I could just find someone to do that with. Then I met you. Only…you are an original, one of a kind. We deserve a day of our design. Then, it came to me after our talk earlier.”

“Oh, really?” I said, confused.

“Yup. Our day, tomorrow, will be B&B Day.” He watched me for a reaction. I was busy trying out the initials in my head to no avail. Coming closer, he whispered in my ear, “Baubles and BOB.”

I burst out laughing. “Perfect. You may have actually found a way to make me look forward to tomorrow,” I said.

“You aren’t? It’s a full day at sea. We get to just
be
all day. Whatever we want to do. We don’t even have to leave the room if we want. We could just order room service all day.” He shrugged.

“Aren’t there still things that we need to do? Boring things?” I smiled.

He thought for a moment before he asked me, “Like what?”

I leaned into his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Promise not to laugh,” I said.

“Of course not,” he said. “Nothing is too boring, mundane or cliché for us. Got it?” He lifted my chin and forced me to look him in the eye.

“I want to see the sunrise with you. I want to watch the sunset. I want to make out during a movie. Silly, huh?” I tried to smile through the shame, but I couldn’t do it. It was a weak smile at best.

“Baby, anything for you, but first…pick!” He urged.

By the time we left, I had a necklace with a diamond star and a matching bracelet. Rather than wear them out, we packaged them to go so that they would seem so special and new in the morning. From there, we walked through the resort until we reached the casino.

“Care to gamble?” He asked.

Shaking my head, I declined. “No, I never gamble. I don’t mind watching. I’ve just learned that too many people risk more than they can lose. I do that enough in life, I don’t need to risk money, too.”

Looking at me, he frowned. “What do you have to lose?” He asked curiously.

Sighing, I admitted something I never expected to. “My heart,” I said quietly. Then I walked on ahead alone, before he could lay his hand on my back or say something that would allow him deeper access to my already weakened heart.

When we returned to the ship, we dropped everything off in the suite before we headed to the buffet. “You bought us lobster dinners at Atlantis. What could you possibly still want to eat?” I asked him in shock.

“Dessert. There should always be room for dessert. I’m going to have some ice cream. Care to join me?” He asked offering me his arm.

“Oh, I’ll join you. I just don’t plan to eat. I need to watch my figure.” I smiled at him.

“Baby, I’ve been watching it all week. You are perfect.” Then he punctuated his proclamation with a kiss on the very tip of my nose. “Have some ice cream with me and then we’ll do some boring stuff after?”

Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “Like what?”

“Like sunset. Better hurry,” he said.

That was all the motivation I needed. We ate our ice cream on the back of the boat while watching the sun sink low over the ocean. After giving it some thought…I’m not sure there was a way we could have made it more special. It was absolutely perfect, just like that.

“I just want you to know…I’ve been paying attention,” he said seriously as he led me to the Jubilee Lounge.

We found a sofa way up high in the back. “What are we doing here?” I asked.

“Just wait,” he urged.

Minutes later, it happened. The screen opened up and a movie started. I don’t remember it. Not any of it. I wasn’t there for the movie. I was there for making out.

Man, did we make out. It was incredible. And when an older couple sitting near us looked at us disapprovingly, and a teenager suggested we get a room, we looked at each other, nodded and headed back to the room.

Time was too precious to waste. The promise of tomorrow was too great. We needed our rest. As he held me tightly in his arms once more, I couldn’t help but get more than a bit nostalgic as I realized that I would only get to fall asleep like this one more time. There was a lump in my throat as I tried to fall asleep.

The only evidence I had that I had fallen asleep was that I woke up. I felt as though a bus had hit me. The sleep had not been restful in the least. When I walked out on the balcony, I realized that it was raining. It seemed fitting. Not only did the rain make for a perfect excuse to stay in the cabin, but also it was as though the sky had opened up to mourn with me. BE was still asleep, resting peacefully. It was time for me to shake off the melancholy and get ready for what I hoped would be a wildly romantic day.

So I practiced smiling in the mirror while I waited for the shower to heat up. I shaved everything really well. I scrubbed my skin with the body scrub. After drying off, I applied lotion, I towel dried my hair, and I repainted my nails. Still, he slept.

Since breakfast was the most important meal of the day, I decided to get us food from the buffet. Leaving him a note on the pillow, I headed up to the lido deck. It didn’t take long to gather our favorites. It took even less time to return to the room. He was just stirring in bed when I entered the stateroom.

“For you,” I said, warmly. “Fuel up. I plan to burn a lot of calories today.”

“Do you now?“ He said with a still sleepy smile.

“Absolutely.” I nodded. “I have big plans for you.”

We ate breakfast in bed. Then, with satisfied bellies, we lay there and a natural series of conversations ensued. “What was your first time like?” He asked as he ran his hand up and down my side.

Smirking, I responded, “If you are asking if I’ve always been a nympho…I’m afraid so.” I sighed. “It seems I was a bit naïve. My boyfriend picked me up on the Fourth of July to go to an amusement park about an hour and a half from home. When we arrived in the town, the weather suddenly turned and the sky opened up.”

I began tracing his nipples with one finger. “So, after we killed time playing in an arcade, after we killed more time visiting souvenir stores, and finally after we had run out of options for killing time, we stopped at a drug store. He left me in the car as he ran inside. When he returned, just in time to avoid a ticket for being double-parked, he passed me a big paper bag. In it there were a dozen roses, some snack food, and a three pack of condoms.”

He stared at me. “I’m listening,” he prodded gently.

“From there we drove to a resort on the lake that had a bunch of cabins. Again, I was left in the car as he ran in. The whole time, I was trying to decide what to do. I wasn’t sure I was ready. We hadn’t been dating that long. At the same time, I was closing in on my seventeenth birthday. All my friends had already had lost their virginity. It had stopped seeming like this big prize, any big deal at all. So, when he brought me in and sat on the bed and said those magic words…we had sex.” I shrugged.

“So, he told you he loved you and you had sex with him.” He sounded partially amused, partially annoyed.

“No…not that,” I said taken aback. “He told me that we didn’t have to have sex, that we could just lay there all day and watch television. He told me he bought the condoms just in case, former Boy Scout and all. That sealed it. I liked his attitude. I reasoned that there couldn’t be a more perfect first. And in the end I was right.” I looked at him slyly. “Okay, my first was actually my first, second, and third.”

“Ummm, how’s that?” He asked.

“Well, I may have mentioned that I was inexperienced? I didn’t realize that just because he purchased a three pack of condoms, didn’t mean that we didn’t need to use all of them.” I peeked at him then. He was stifling a laugh.

“Wow, you were a teenage boy’s dream, weren’t you?” He leaned over me and kissed me repeatedly. Before I could say anything else, he added, “And now you’re mine…my dream, my wish come true.”

“I am?” I smiled brightly at him.

“Didn’t you want to ask me? Did you want to know about my first time?” He asked.

“Me? Ask you?” I asked. Shaking my head vehemently, I assured him, “No, I don’t want to know about your past. I don’t want to know about anyone before me.”