All Hands Below Read Free Page B

again.”
    Evangeline jerked to a standstill, then spun around.
    The engineer’s appearance in regular clothes made breathing downright difficult all of a sudden. His physique dazzled in black pleated twill slacks and a short-sleeved cotton shirt with black, cobalt blue, and bottle green geometric patterns that clung to granite-packed shoulders.
    Three top buttons were left carelessly undone and the golden skin showing hinted at a smooth-shaven chest.
    He stopped in front of her, a true work of man-art. Crisp, intelligent eyes lasered down at her with interest, and her fingers itched to glide through the satin gleam of his hair.
    “Nice to see you enjoying yourself. How are you?”
    “Since we met thirty minutes ago? Fine,” she fluttered out.
    His gaze drifted along her body with unhindered appreciation. “Good.”
    Perspiration sprouted along her forehead.
    He tucked his lower lip between his white teeth and studied her from beneath an inky sweep of lashes. “Are you busy?”
    Yes, I am. Standing around drooling all over you.
    “Are you?” she countered.
    He smiled in a sure and lazy way, as if he knew she wanted to give him the most wet and wicked fuck of his life. Pure lady lust creamed her already damp panties.
    “Never too busy for you.” He glanced at his watch. “Could I talk you into a private bridge tour? I could introduce you to the captain.”
    A private bridge tour? A “private” tour had landed her in the bowels of the ship’s engine room.
    A private bridge tour. She couldn’t think of anything she wanted more and should be last on her to-do list with him. But she couldn’t help it. She loved the excitement of being around his charismatic, stud-muffiny self.
    “The captain?” she asked, stalling for time before she walked away from him. Again.
    “Yes, the captain. The guy who drives this boat. So,” those insanely long lashes of his flickered, “how about it?”
    “How about ‘no.’ I have had enough private tours of the Sea Sapphire, thank you very much.”
    He laughed, and the smile in his eyes kindled to a deeper glow. “I’ll be seeing you very soon then, Evangeline…” He lifted a tantalizing brow.
    “Spencer,” she said, prompted by his interest in her last name, but not prepared to put stock in it. “And what did you say your name was?” she asked him pertly.
    “Liam Rossi, at your service, pretty one.”
    “Well, Liam Rossi-at-your-service.” She stepped closer and whispered in his ear, “You’ll be seeing me again. But not if I see you first.”
    Evangeline gave him wide berth as she strode off in the opposite direction, and smiled when his masculine chuckle trailed after her down the corridor.
    ****
    Wreathed in a swirl of fog left by late night rains, Evangeline couldn’t make out the ocean beyond the rail.
    A drizzle of rain misted across her shoulders and dampened the now deserted decks. Passengers had taken refuge in the ship’s nightclubs or casinos, or turned in for the night. Everyone but her.
    She closed her eyes and hummed along with the melody of a guitar being strummed somewhere in the distance, happy to be on this cruise despite its disappointing start.
    As for the sexy engineer? Well, he’d opted off her holiday wish list.
    No harm done, but after her last run-in with him, she’d needed a distraction. She thought she’d find one at the nearest disco, and she was right. It didn’t take long for the single men to notice her at the bar. She flirted, danced, and graciously resisted drink offers, opting to sip her own glass of wine at leisure.
    Training a sober eye on the people around her—without a steady flow of alcohol going to her head—allowed her to watch prospective suitors get shit-faced, red-faced, and obnoxious. Not qualities she cared for in potential baby-daddies, so she excused herself and left the club for a breath of air.
    Alone with her thoughts, she immersed herself in the mist’s sultriness. The dampness of the night felt far more