Page 35 of Not that Sea-Rious

Marissa

F airy tales weren’t supposed to be real. Real-life love—no, not love— relationships, or situationships , didn’t look like they did in books and movies. It simply didn’t happen. People were flawed. They made mistakes.

Somehow, sitting with Beau, enjoying their last breakfast on the ship with her friends, the only thing Marissa could think about was how perfect he was.

He was attentive, kind, funny, honest, realistic, and gorgeous.

Everything she wanted in a guy. Most of all, he wanted her in his life on her terms. He wasn’t pushing her into something more.

Whatever way she wanted to be around him, that was what he asked for.

Really? Pinch her. Because the odds of this actually happening to her were slim to none, and slim left the building.

As she enjoyed her eggs Benedict, listening to everyone chatter about Carolyn’s upcoming wedding, a giant ball of fear rolled around in Marissa’s gut. Something was about to go wrong. It had to. Men like Beau didn’t magically become single without a little baggage.

Okay. He had his issues. That whole formerly engaged a few days ago was off-putting. Right? At least, it should be. Why wasn’t she more concerned about it? Probably because it didn’t seem to bother him all that much. So why should she be worried about it?

Wait. Shouldn’t that, in and of itself, be a red flag? Who asks to marry someone and simply shakes it off when things don’t work out?

Calm down. There had to be a rational explanation.

Wait. She knew. Everyone was their best self on vacation.

The stress of everyday life felt like a distant memory while on a holiday.

So, she hadn’t met the real Beau yet. She was right to be cautious.

Whatever happened when they stepped foot on land was inevitable. She couldn’t do anything to change it.

Besides, she had a wedding to focus on, being a bridesmaid and all.

Her next week would be a tizzy of dress fittings, table arrangements, hair appointments, and who knew what else Carolyn needed done last minute.

She wouldn’t have time to overthink her Beau situation.

There was a lot to do before she went home to New Jersey.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned into him and inhaled the scent of his deodorant. As far as she could tell, he had put no cologne on after he got out of the shower that morning. Either way, he smelled fresh and of pine or whatever. It was a delightful scent on him.

Without missing a beat of the conversation, he turned to her, smiled, and placed a soft kiss on her temple.

Perfect.

He was absolutely impeccable. She hoped that would translate to non-vacation Beau.

“Okay, so the van will be waiting for us once we get off the ship and collect our luggage,” Tina reminded the group. “Then we get to the hotel where we can unpack and really get into wedding-prep mode.”

“My mom is already there with everything,” Carolyn commented without looking up from her phone.

“Ted and Emily land in an hour,” Joyce offered of her husband and daughter. “They’ll meet us at the hotel.”

“Cynthia won’t be in until Thursday.” Tina frowned. “She couldn’t get the time off.”

All eyes shifted to Beau. “What about you?” Carolyn asked.

His gaze darted from one woman to the other before an uneasy smile graced his features.

This was where the shoe would drop. Marissa knew it. He was perfect on the boat, but now real life was beating down their door. Time to see how many things changed.

“I have to stop by my apartment,” he said sheepishly. “I need to settle some stuff.” He turned to Marissa. “But if you’d like, we can meet up for dinner at your hotel.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Sure. That would be great.”

A chorus of oohs broke out from the table, as though they were on a sitcom, and she glared at her friends. Which, of course, earned her a round of giggles. She rolled her eyes but smiled at the table of grown-ass women behaving like teenagers.

Marissa and Beau had exchanged numbers before leaving the room that morning. Would he use it? Would she? She wondered which one of them would be the first to reach out.

Such childish games. Dating was awful. But they weren’t even doing that. Were they? Sure, they went on a date or two while on the ship, but those didn’t count. They were on vacation. The actual test would be when they were in Florida. How would this week play out?

Or maybe the accurate measure would be what happened after the wedding. Marissa would return to New Jersey. Beau would remain in Florida. Then what? How would all of this shake out?

They’d stay in touch for a while, as long as this week went well, but eventually, they’d stop calling or texting. They’d fade from each other’s lives and become fond memories. She could handle that. It was fine.

She didn’t need a handsome redheaded gentleman in her life. There were more ginger fish in the sea who worshipped her like a goddess.

Right?

Oh hell, she needed to get out of her head. Things were going to be what they were. Thinking about them, or overthinking them, wouldn’t change them. Stay in the moment, enjoy the ride. That was all she could do.

Before she could tumble down another rabbit hole of doubt and conflicting emotions, the ship’s loudspeakers chimed. The captain announced the next group to leave the ship. It was their turn to disembark and join the real world.

Everyone exchanged glances before Carolyn jumped to her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Everyone ready to shift from vacation mode to wedding mode?”

She thrust her hand out over the table. Which awarded her a collection of confused looks.

Rolling her eyes, she groaned. “Get up. Come on. We’re going to do a ‘go team’ kind of thing.”

Tina shook her head but laughed as she stood and placed her hand over Carolyn’s. Joyce shrugged and did the same. Marissa joined them and was surprised when Beau’s hand covered hers.

“Okay, on the count of three, Mrs. Erich Houston. Ready?” She beamed as she hollered numbers.

Their hands went up and down before finally exploding upward as they all shouted, “Mrs. Erich Houston!”

Laughing, the group collected the few carry-on bags they’d brought with them and shuffled out of the dining room and back to real life. Beau looped his arm around Marissa’s shoulders as they walked.

They may have boarded the ship alone, but to anyone looking at them now, they were a couple. The question was whether that was a reality or just a vacation fantasy. Only time would tell.