VANESSA THOUGHT TO escape to her room, but when she was midway, she stopped. The point of this trip was to liberate herself from her past. To stop mourning a life she didn’t miss.
Her and Dale’s relationship had been complicated, like most romantic relationships. They’d married young, and although there were too many bad times to count, there were good times, too.
A lifetime together had seamed a jagged stitch but it had bound them just the same.
One kid.
A daughter.
She’d done her due diligence as a wife and mother. Sabrina was off living her life as she should, but it’d left Vanessa alone to deal with Dale and their shortcomings.
Just as things had become unbearable, Dale had done the honorable thing and died of a heart attack.
Boom. No flash and bang. No long, drawn-out illness...just gone.
Sometimes Vanessa still thought she could smell his Old Spice cologne.
As much as Dale had been an overbearing, pigheaded jerk at times, he’d also been her best friend.
What she’d thought was going to be a grand dating adventure after he’d passed, had turned into a sad realization that she’d never truly mourned the man who’d been her constant companion for thirty years.
And somehow that young cutie at the bar had managed to activate that button that she’d been trying to hide for a year.
Her best friend, Lola, said the best way to get over a man was to get under another.
So far that had only worked temporarily.
But since Vanessa didn’t have any other advice to follow, she’d booked her first cruise, and followed it with another.
Right about now, she was thinking it all might’ve been a waste of money.
She didn’t have the right mind-set to jump into another fling.
She wanted...something more.
So was it time to change her game plan? Look for something a little less transient? Maybe admit that Lola had been completely bonkers to suggest a series of one-night stands to heal her bleeding heart?
Vanessa found herself on the upper deck gazing at the stars. The balmy air kissed her cheek as the dark waves lapped at the side of the massive ship.
Being a cougar was fun for a time but stargazing alone was really unsatisfying.
“Oh, pardon me.”
Vanessa startled at the apology and turned to see an older gentleman turning to leave her to her solitude but she stopped him. “It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t mind a little company.”
The man smiled and returned. “Are you certain? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
He nodded. “Man is not meant to walk alone.”
“Or woman,” she added with a tiny chuckle. “Being with someone is a hard habit to break when you’ve been married for thirty years.”
“My wife passed a year ago,” he said quietly. “She was my best friend. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing without her.”
Vanessa nodded, the tears threatening to return. She laughed ruefully. “Now, don’t get the waterworks started or they’ll never stop.”
“Okay, I promise, no more talk of sad things. I’m not sure why I came out here. I thought about going to the meet and greet but changed my mind at the last minute. I couldn’t bring myself to walk into the meat market.”
“It does feel like that sometimes, doesn’t it?”
He sighed. “Things are so different from when I was young. Dating was much more civilized. But listen to me, waxing nostalgic over times gone by. That’s what old people do, right?”
The man’s self-deprecating laugh was very soothing. There was something about him that relaxed Vanessa in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time. “Are you here to meet your soul mate?” she teased lightly.
“I doubt fate would be so kind as to grace me with two soul mates but I’m open to meeting someone I can share my life with. How about you?”
Vanessa considered her answer for a moment. “I don’t know if soul mates exist, honestly. I want to believe in the idea but I don’t know... I’m just unsure if it’s truly possible. But I’m envious of those who come close to having that.”
“You were married to a terrible man?” he inquired with a frown.
“No, not really. He was just...Dale. Hardheaded, stubborn, pigheaded, my-way-or-the-highway kind of man. But he was a good provider,” Vanessa added when it seemed all she could focus on were Dale’s negative traits. “And a good father. I guess that’s more than what some women get.”
The man regarded her with a smile in his eyes and she realized he had the kindest eyes she’d ever seen. “And your wife? What was she like?”
“She was smart, stubborn, sassy...all the things I like in a woman. She didn’t take any garbage from anyone, least of all me. But she was also an amazing cook and homemaker. Anywhere with her in it was home.”
Vanessa couldn’t help but feel a little inadequate in light of the man’s superwife, but it wasn’t fair or attractive to put her insecurities on his memory so she simply smiled and murmured, “Sounds like you were a lucky man.”
“I was,” he agreed. “But it’s easy to remember the good times when someone is gone, right? It wasn’t always perfect, but it was good.”
“Yeah,” Vanessa agreed, realizing that was also true of her relationship with Dale. Grief had made her bitter and reckless, but she was finally coming out of that place. “It was good.”
“Well, I think I’ll turn in,” he announced with a charming smile. “Thank you for the company.”
Vanessa returned the smile and truly meant it when she said, “I hope you find your next soul mate.”
“I wish the same for you.”
And then he left, leaving her to the quiet, abandoned deck.
Vanessa exhaled and realized too late, she hadn’t gotten his name.
Nor had she given hers.
* * *
TEAGAN AWOKE ALONE in his bed and for that he was very grateful.
Last night’s details had gotten hazy after a few more drinks and, while he remembered dancing with a hot redhead, he didn’t quite recall getting to his room.
His head ached and his mouth tasted as if a gnome had shit in it.
Rolling to his side, he rose from the bed and guzzled a bottled water from the minifridge, then, with the final swallow, tossed back a few aspirin.
The best way he knew to work off a hangover was to sweat it out. Sliding on some workout gear and slipping on his tennis shoes, he made his way to the onboard gym.
J.T. had assured him that the gym on the ship was top-notch and that had been the saving grace. Military habits died hard and he couldn’t start his day without getting his sweat on.
Also helped to keep the love handles at bay.
Teagan walked into the gym and grinned with approval. Yes, this was going to work.
The workout facility was bigger than most gyms in the city, with state-of-the-art equipment. Everything was shiny and clean, sanitized and ready for anything.
Surprisingly, it was nearly empty.
Guess not many people enjoyed working out when they were on vacation.
He made his way to an open treadmill and realized the woman punishing herself two treadmills over was none other than Harper.
She was pounding the track at a fast clip, earbuds firmly in her ears as she zoned out. Everything about Harper was toned and tight. His initial decision to steer clear of the drama-magnet evaporated the minute he saw her again.
He loved women who didn’t play around at the gym. Harper was working up a sweat, hair tied in a messy ponytail, wearing simple, no-nonsense running shorts and sports bra.
She wasn’t there to impress—she was there to work.
God, that was a turn-on.
Instead of choosing the treadmill closest to her, Teagan climbed on the original one he’d picked, looping his towel over the handle and putting his water in the holder.
His head was still pounding but he would just have to power through. Once he was in the zone, the pain would fade.
After about ten minutes, he upped the pace and started running at a good clip. It felt great to move with the pent-up tension bunching his muscles.
Maybe afterward he’d find the masseuse and really live it up with a good rubdown.
Before too long, he realized he and Harper were running at the same tempo. Their steps were synced even though neither had timed it purposefully. Harper would be a good running partner.
J.T. always bitched that Teagan was trying to leave him behind. J.T. preferred a more leisurely pace whereas Teagan liked to move.
Apparently, Harper liked to move, too.
He glanced over at the exact time that Harper did. Their eyes locked. Sweat trickling down their faces, arms and legs pumping. She’d been running longer than him and yet her pace was as strong.
Fatigue started to eat at his stamina but he didn’t want to slow before her.
Harper dragged her gaze away and returned to her focal point, ignoring him.
But it was an act. If he could sense the energy between them, then she could, too.
Like it or not, they had something between them that wouldn’t go away.
And while Teagan had never considered running some kind of aphrodisiac, he was fighting an inappropriate arousal as they ran in tandem.
He couldn’t stop wondering how well they’d sync up if they were pressed skin against skin.
Working up a sweat in a different way.
Ah, hell. Now is not the time to get a stiff one.
As much as Teagan wanted to win this endurance race, he knew Harper had beat him.
Dialing down the pace, he caught a minute twitch of her lips and he could practically hear her crowing in victory.
Teagan smothered his laugh and, after a cooldown, moved to the weight machines.
Only this time, he purposefully selected a machine in Harper’s direct eye line.
Clearly having won that round, Harper slowed her pace and started her cooldown.
But Teagan wanted to keep her heated.
Pushing the weight bar overhead, he started his reps, knowing full well that his muscles were glistening and swelling as he worked.
He bit back his own victory crow when she couldn’t keep her focus. Her gaze kept darting to his arms and away again, as if she couldn’t quite help herself from taking a peek even though she didn’t want to.
Yeah, she could try and deny the attraction all she wanted.
Proof is in the pudding, darlin’.
Finished her workout, Harper wiped her face and stepped off the treadmill, risking a glance at Teagan one last time before she left the gym, practically running away in her haste.
He chuckled. Maybe the chase was worth the aggravation he would encounter.
Harper was fast becoming his favorite part about this trip.
Now, the question was...how did he get Harper to feel the same about him?