Ship of Dreams (Dreams Come True Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

man—preferably one with an accent. “Okay. I’m back.” With one last glance at the delicious window display, she refocused her attention. “What else you got?”
    “Two of their ships, the Sogni D’oro and the Fantasia , carry approximately fifteen hundred passengers, but their newest addition to the fleet is a thousand-passenger ultra-luxury liner they’ve christened Nave dei Sogni .”
    “Right. Ship of Dreams ,” Laura muttered to herself. “That’s the one I want.” Fitting. “Ask Sanjita to make the arrangements—the earliest date possible. And I want the penthouse.”
    “But—”
    “I’ll personally make up the difference in cost. No one will ever suspect an occupant of the penthouse is an account executive. Let me know if I need to pull a few strings with Jackson.”
    “Damn, Laura. I repeat, I want to be you,” Katie huffed out.
    “Not if I don’t get this account, so have Sanjita get me on that ship. ASAP.”
    “How’s the honeymoon?” Laura set asidethe spreadsheets Katie had created on Imperial, and took a few minutes to prop up her feet, and catch up with the new Mrs. Darcy Butler Ryan, her newlywed best friend. A half-eaten salad sat on her desk, long abandoned in her analysis of the numbers.
    “Oh, Laura, it’s so romantic. Long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, breakfast in bed.” Darcy sighed. “It’s perfect.”
    Laura rolled her eyes at Darcy’s effusive, dreamy description, but she couldn’t be happier for her. After years of searching for the perfect man, Darcy finally found him right under her nose—in the form of her best guy-friend, Josh Ryan.
    Now they were spending two weeks at the Four Seasons in Nevis. “And how is the ambulance chaser? Missing the sound of sirens yet?” She couldn’t resist, even though she knew Josh didn’t practice personal injury law. She and Josh had a long-running battle over who could deliver the sharpest jab.
    “Are you two going to poke at one another until we’re old and gray? Besides, he’s a mediator now, not a lawyer.”
    “Just because he’s your husband doesn’t mean I can’t use him for target practice. And once a shyster, always a shyster. But on to more important things. How’s the sex?”
    “Laura Danforth Armstrong, I am not going to discuss my married sex life with you. It’s too personal.”
    Laura winced at the use of her middle name—her mother’s maiden name. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She accepted a note from Sanjita, glanced at it, and nodded in response. “Come on, throw me a bone. I’ve hit a dry spell.”
    “What, no hot new guy with a sexy accent?”
    Laura had an affinity for men with foreign accents. Darcy once accused her of hanging out at the U.N. to pick up guys. She thought about Jack Jeffries, but quickly moved on to her knight-in-tropical-weight-wool. Tall, good-looking Nathan.
    He had a sexy accent—a Southern one. And a devilish grin. “No, and I won’t have time in the weeks ahead, anyway. Which reminds me, I won’t be home when you get back so you’ll have to save the vacation slide show for later.”
    “Why, what’s up?”
    “Remember that cruise line shopping for an ad agency? Well, I’m going after it, and I leave that week for a ten-day Mediterranean cruise.”
    “You have such a tough life.”
    Laura laughed. “Said the pot to the kettle. Let’s see, two weeks in Nevis this month, followed by two weeks in Napa and Sonoma after you return.” Laura and Josh had thrown aside their rivalry to surprise Darcy with a two-week trip for her thirtieth birthday. A best-selling romance author, Darcy’s next series was set in California Wine Country. They thought the trip would jumpstart the inspiration. And, at the time, give Darcy a much-needed break from her all-out pursuit of Mr. Right.
    “Lots of men with accents on that trip.”
    “Yes, but most will be old enough to be my grandfather.”
    “Well, don’t injure yourself playing shuffleboard in hooker