Page 24 of Not that Sea-Rious

Beau

T hings may have gotten a little out of hand.

Two yard glasses not only tested the limits of Beau’s bladder but also the sturdiness of the table.

Somehow, Carolyn had convinced him to climb up on it and dance with her.

Seeing as she was the bride-to-be, he couldn’t say no.

Especially not during her bachelorette weekend.

There he was, shaking his ass to “I Don’t Wanna Wait” by David Guetta and OneRepublic, having the time of his life.

He didn’t want to risk jumping, like Marissa and Joyce were doing from the safety of the floor, but he could still bust a move.

Megan would’ve been mortified. For some reason, imagining her embarrassment made this entire experience that much better.

When the song ended, he dropped down, turned, and reached for Carolyn to help her. She shoved his hand away and pointed toward Joyce. “Get up here!”

Shifting his focus to the other woman with her arms in the air, he shrugged. Offering her a boost, he assisted in getting her to the top of the table, where the two women proceeded to grind against each other.

Whistling ensued, and Carolyn shrieked. Scrambling, the two women clambered down from the table. More shots were poured down people’s throats, and the party continued.

“Hey, we need to head to the ship in roughly half an hour if we want to make dinner,” Tina, the only sober one, announced while holding up her phone.

“Speaking of dinner,” Beau said as he grabbed Marissa and pulled her against him. “I have a reservation at the steakhouse on the ship for tomorrow night. Would you like to join me?”

“That sounds like a date to me!” Joyce sang as she leaned against his back.

“Dinner is definitely a date,” Carolyn nodded as she lifted her half-drunk yard glass. “And I approve.”

“It’s a date,” Marissa declared, gripped his face, pulled him in, and pressed her lips over his.

His hands rested on her hips as she claimed his mouth. The sweetness of the house shot lingered on her lips and tongue. She was delicious without the alcohol, so he returned her kiss with equal passion.

She and her friends had deemed his offer a date. So be it. Who was Beau to complain? If things went the way he assumed they would, he would spend every day of the cruise with Marissa. He couldn’t imagine a better vacation than with her.

The kiss broke. Panting slightly, the two of them locked eyes, and his heart swelled. Sweat beaded along her hairline. Her cheeks were flush, and he’d never get enough of her softness against him. Marissa was magnificent.

“As adorable as all this is,” Tina interrupted. “We need to move our asses. You two can discuss the details of your little date on the tender.”

He may not know the women all that well, but he definitely learned over the last three days. Don’t mess with Tina. She was the boss of the group—the grown-up.

Beau took Marissa’s hand and nodded. “Lead on,” he declared, because he sure as shit didn’t have a clue how to get back to the boat.

Marissa

As her buzz wore off, the reality of what happened kicked in.

Sitting in the dining room, drinking water to counteract the effects of the booze, Marissa glanced around the table.

Carolyn held her head. Tina reviewed the menu.

Joyce summoned the waitstaff to get her water refilled—again—and Beau sat beside her.

Her friends convinced him to join them for dinner. Their waitstaff even brought another chair over to squeeze him in. He really had wormed into their circle. Her friends’ acceptance of him was high praise, but what was she thinking?

This wouldn’t go anywhere.

Agreeing to swim with dolphins was a chance of a lifetime.

She would’ve been a fool to refuse. Coming to dinner with her friends after they spent the day together—okay, that wasn’t anything.

He was just being polite, but if she accepted the invitation to a dinner at the high-end restaurant on board the ship, that was a bit too far.

A private romantic dinner was a step beyond cruise fuck-buddies.

Blowing out a breath, Marissa returned her water to the table.

This dinner would definitely cross a line.

What did it mean? Did it have to mean anything?

Could it simply be two people eating food together?

Tonight was merely a bunch of people who enjoyed one another’s company.

Why couldn’t tomorrow be the same thing?

Because it would be two people who had recently screwed sharing a meal together.

“Are you okay?” Beau whispered as he rubbed her back and leaned toward her.

No . “Yeah.” She forced a smile. “Just a few too many yard glasses, I suppose.”

“Do you need to lie down?” Joyce asked. “I’ll go with you.”

Glancing around at the concerned expressions at the table, she seriously considered retreating to their suite.

It definitely would be the easy way out.

She could ignore the fact Beau had asked her to dinner and what it would mean.

She wouldn’t have to look him in the eyes.

Hell, if she wanted, she could claim a hangover and skip out on the dinner.

At thirty-two, she wasn’t a spring chicken anymore.

She didn’t bounce back from drinking the way she did in college.

Beau got along well enough with her friends. Would it really be such a bad thing if she bailed on dinner tonight? It would give her time to really sober up and contemplate her plan for tomorrow.

“Yeah, I suppose I need to lie down,” she said, turning toward Beau’s gentle gaze.

“Do you want me to walk with you?” he asked.

Dammit. Why did he have to be the sweetest person on the planet? His kindness when she was contemplating ghosting him was a shot to the gut.

“Nah.” She shook her head and got to her feet. “Joyce will go with me. Stay. Enjoy dinner.”

“Do you want me to bring you something?” Tina asked.

She shook her head. “Nah. I’m just going to sleep this off.”

She was a coward, but she’d have to make her peace with that. This vacation had gone too fast and had her far too dizzy from trying to keep her emotions related to Beau in check to make these kinds of decisions. Choices like these had consequences that would stretch far past this weekend.

Throwing caution to the wind was an option, but the more time she spent with Beau, the more likely it’d be that she caught feelings. No one wanted that. This whole situation was far too questionable for that to happen.

Some might call her a coward for ducking out on dinner with Beau and her friends, but she preferred to consider it self-preservation. She needed to catch her breath before he swept her up into another romantic evening and truly captured her heart.