Love and Fire Read Free

pool and set her eyes
toward the railing.  The sun was beginning its descent over the water.  The
sight was absolutely gorgeous.  She began to relax as the clamor of too many
voices and the uneasiness of an unfamiliar setting began to fade away.  Maybe
this was going to be a good thing after all.
     
    Jake
Butler watched the woman with reddish hair pick and choose carefully from the
buffet.  She wasn’t the usual type to catch his eye, but his usual type was
boring the hell out of him.  A busty blonde that was spilling out of her
swimsuit sidled up next to him and asked him what time it was.  It was a cruise
ship, who cared what time it was?  They told people what to do and when to do
it.  Maybe she needed enough time to put on clothes and look like a respectable
woman before dinner. 
    “Sorry,
I don’t wear a watch.” 
    Her
light laughter caused Jake to wince.  He didn’t care if she saw.  She was just
as phony as the rest. 
    “That’s
ok.  What are you drinking?”
    Jake
pinned her with a steely glance.  “Why? Are you going to get me another one?” 
    Her
smile faltered, barely, but she soon recovered as her friend approached.  “Christy,
who is this ?”  The friend was also spilling out of her swimsuit top. 
Almost as tall as Jake, her dark hair fell around her shoulders in uneven
waves. 
    The
blonde laid a hand lightly on his arm and turned on the charm.  “I don’t
know.”  She cocked her head to the side and smiled.  “What’s your name?” 
    “Jake.” 
He said and swallowed the rest of his drink in one gulp.  He stiffened slightly
as a man across the room approached the little table with the auburn haired
woman. 
    Damn.  
     
    “May
I join you?” 
    Tammy
looked up in surprise as the soft voice spoke to her.  He appeared to be in his
mid to late thirties, but he suffered from pre mature balding.  There was only
a close cropped half circle of hair going around his head.  His blue eyes had
the uncanny ability to look hopeful and rejected at the same time. 
    “Of
course.” 
    The
relief was evident as he sat down carefully.  His plate was nearly spilling
over with delicacies from the buffet.  He extended his hand.  “I’m Timothy
Blake.” 
    Tammy
took his hand and inwardly groaned at the sweatiness of his skin, and the
softness of his handshake.  “Tammy Smith.” 
    “So
what brings you to such a place like this?” 
    Tammy
moved her head back and felt a flash of irritation.  “Same reason you’re here I
would guess.  We are lonely divorcees looking for love.” 
    He
laughed out loud and a few crumbs fell out of his mouth.  “I’ve never been
married actually.” 
    No
shocker there.  “Oh, well, I was…for quite a long
time.” 
    His
eyes became sympathetic.  “Bad divorce?”
    “Still
going on.  So, tell me, Timothy Blake, what do you do when you’re not aboard a
singles cruise?” 
    His
face lit up and Tammy was sure he was going to tell her about some extraordinary
thing that he did for a living.  “I’m an accountant!” 
    “Oh…are
you now?”  Tammy tried to sound interested, not that it would have mattered; he
immediately began telling her all about the new tax codes that would go into
effect the following year.  She could feel eyes on her, more than just the
occasional glace from anonymous people in a crowd.  It was intensifying, and
she turned her head to find the source.  A man stood by the bar with two drop
dead gorgeous women flanking either side of him.  The familiar way the blonde
kept touching him indicated ownership on some level, but the dark haired
woman’s smoldering stares was purely lust driven.  The man wasn’t paying any
attention to them.  Tammy wasn’t sure of his age.  She guessed somewhere in his
forties.  The scowl on his face could only mean that he felt like she didn’t
belong there.  Maybe she had dip on her cheek.  Who knew and who cared? 
    She
squared her shoulders and stared back for