Marooned with the Rock Star (A Crazily Sensual Rock Star Romance, with Humor) Read Free Page A

to
do a thesis to see if constant mental stimulation – like doing
crossword puzzles or playing mahjong – would make a difference in
delaying or even preventing the disease. But before I can get to
the good stuff, the university sent me to a retirement home to talk
to the senior citizens there. It appears that I have to walk before
I can run.
    Of course, it appears that the folks at the
retirement home have been planning a cruise outing for about the
better part of two years. And when I happened to show up on the
scene, after three months into the job, they asked me to be their
minder.
    “It’s a very tough job, Rebecca,” the manager
of the retirement home said.
    “I know,” I said.
    I was trying to contain myself from leaping
into the air with glee.
    “At any time, one of our flock here can get a
heart attack.”
    “I know.”
    “Some of them are on medication, and you have
to make sure they take their pills every day while you are
there.”
    “I know. It’s a very difficult job, but
someone has to do it.” I nod sagely. “I have a system to remind
them to take their pills.”
    It was called ‘timed’ reminders on their
cellphones, which they had to carry every hour of the day.
    I have never been on a cruise ship before. I
have never been to the Bahamas. So when they offered to pay my
passage for me – on a discounted fee, under the senior citizens’
fare – I jumped at the opportunity.
    As a ‘working’ staff on board, along with the
other tour guides and cruise agents, I am required to carry a pager
in case someone in my charge has a heart attack.
    My pager beeps now.
    Insistently. Annoyingly.
    I share my cabin with a tour guide from New
Orleans, and she is out on some deck activity now – probably
playing parlor games with the retired folks.
    I’m awfully jumpy whenever my pager beeps. It
could be one of my charges keeling over from a heart attack. (Hey,
they are old. It can happen on a ratio of one out of two.) It could
be one of my charges actually keeling over and falling overboard,
which would then necessitate someone jumping in after them to
rescue them with a float and a line.
    So I leap for the phone beside my bed now and
punch in the extension that appears on my pager’s digital
display.
    “Rebecca Hall here? Did you page for me?”
    An unfamiliar male voice resonates deeply on
the other side. “Rebecca Hall? This is the Captain speaking. Can I
see you in my office right now?”
    Uh oh.
    I swallow the sudden lump that has come into
my throat.
    “Of course, sir. Right away, sir.”
    I put down the phone.
    Why am I calling him ‘sir’? I do not report
to him. I am not part of the crew. But he has such a stentorian
manner of speaking that I am naturally falling into an obeisant
state of mind, like hypnosis. I guess it is part of ‘working’ on
this shift. You basically just want to bow to a higher authority,
especially one with an appellation like ‘Captain’.
    I scurry out of my cabin and make my way up
two decks. The Captain’s office and quarters are near the front
part of the ship so that he can be closer to the dock or whatever
it is Captains need to be close to.
    I pass a lot of people, some whom I
recognize.
    “Good morning, Mrs. O’ Donnell.”
    “Yes, Mr. Craig. I’ve had my breakfast. Thank
you for asking.”
    “Where am I going in such a hurry, you ask,
Mrs. George? No, I don’t have diarrhea. I just have to be in the
Captain’s office.”
    “Mrs. Halberd, are you all right? You look
like a little green. After I come back from the Captain’s office,
I’ll see about getting you some seasick pills.”
    I finally reach the Captain’s office without
further interruptions. The embossed name outside the door reads
‘CAPT. KRAZYCEK’.
    I timidly knock the door.
    “Come in,” says that deep, commanding male
voice I heard over the phone.
    I have not met the Captain yet. I have seen
him from afar, and he is certainly very handsome. I open the door
and enter.
    The