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I turn to face him, hand on my chest. Not from being startled but in an attempt to calm the fast pounding of my heart.

What is it about this man that makes me feel this way? I’m inexperienced, but I live a normal life. I even had a boyfriend in high school, although there was never any intimacy between us.

It’s not like I live on an isolated island and have never seen a handsome man, especially after I started working on the cruise. Not only the guests but the staff are charming and interesting as well. But there’s something about this man that makes my legs weak.

Last night, after I ran away from him and the fear of being caught by my superiors doing something against the rules wore off, I couldn’t sleep for a long time and just kept staring at the ceiling of the stuffy cabin I share with Tamara.

His face never left my mind, nor did the tingling all over my body.

I’m pretty sure he doesn’t work with us—he doesn’t seem to work for anyone but himself—and he’s also not one of the regular guests, because I already know all the VIPs aboard and there aren’t as many first-class members as there are economy-class guests.

I doubt that the man standing in front of me needs to save up for anything. He gives off such a vibe of power it’s intimidating, although when it comes to me, it’s not that hard to make me feel shy.

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” The voice sounds irritated, which ends up waking my anger as well.

“Not with strangers,” I say, lifting my chin. “What are you doing here?”

“I ordered someone to follow you.”

I open and close my mouth but can’t make a sound, baffled by the confession.

“Don’t have anything to say?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“ Nice to meet you would be a good start, Turner.”

“I. . . huh . . .I don’t even know your name.”

“Xander Megalos,” he says, extending his hand in greeting.

I stare at him. He’s huge, and I suddenly desire to touch his skin. I hesitate before offering my hand. However, as soon as I do, he takes it, holding it tight.

A delicious shock ripples through my body, making me gasp.

His thumb caresses the back of my hand, and just like that, my pulse quickens.

It lasts only a few seconds because I force myself back to reality and let go of him before taking a step back.

The man is a stranger, and I’m usually pretty skittish in situations like this—I mean, not exactly like this one because I’ve never had anyone so handsome on my tail until now, but I’ve had some very embarrassing episodes when people mistook my kindness for something else.

“Why did you follow me, Mr. Megalos?”

“Why does a man follow a woman?”

“There’s a name for that behavior in America,” I say, rather than answering the question directly. I’m not sure of him, and I’m a bit afraid of embarrassing myself. I try to look more confident than I am because, if I’m being honest, I’m flattered that someone like him would bother pursuing me.

“Am I imposing myself on you, ?”

I meet his eyes, tempted to say yes , but I’m not a liar. “No, but I’d like to understand why you ordered them to follow me, then. ”

“Because I want to get to know you better.”

My heart is pounding inside my chest right now. “I don’t understand. How could you want to know me better ? We don’t know each other at all, except for when I went upstairs, and you found me.”

“You were serving dinner to the captain, and I saw you, but since you didn’t look up from the floor, you mustn’t have realized I was watching you.”

My God in heaven, what a straightforward man!

Why do I feel like there’s a butterfly revolution in my stomach instead of being freaked out by what he’s saying?

“There’s nothing wrong with being shy,” I argue and risk a glance.

One corner of his mouth lifts with the shadow of a smile. “I didn’t say there was, .”

I feel my cheeks heating up. I’ve been acting impolitely since yesterday. My mom would give me a hell of a scolding if she found out. I started by going to the upper floor without authorization and broke several rules.

“I don’t usually run away from people, and I’m sorry I left like that yesterday. I was rude, but I was scared. I wasn’t supposed to be there,” I say before he can stop me. “But I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take a picture in that place.”

“Do you often seize opportunities, ?”

Is it crazy that I love the way he says my name? It sounds like caramel coming out of his mouth. He stretches out the syllables as if savoring each letter.

“I’ve never had that many to seize. Are you a guest? I’m pretty sure you’re not, but I want to clarify that because, if you are, we shouldn’t be talking at all.” I look down at his hands and see no wedding band, but when I refocus on his face, I know I’ve been caught red-handed.

“No for both questions.”

The heat in my face increases. “I don’t understand,” I say to try to cover up my embarrassment.

“I’m not a guest. I was on the ship because I was thinking of buying the fleet. And I’m not married.”

I don’t even try to save my dignity because I don’t think he would fall for it anyway. “I can’t talk to guests, only if I serve them,” I explain.

“We’re not on the ship.”

“It’s not just that. Most of the men there are married, and it wouldn’t be right to talk to you, sir.”

“I’m no sir ,” he warns.

“All right. It wouldn’t be right to talk to you if that were the case.”

“But I’m not. And I’m not a guest either, so we can skip that part.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Have lunch with me.”

“It’s still morning. I came to visit the church. I’m not done yet. I don’t know when I’ll have another opportunity like this,” I explain. “But if you want, you can keep me company.”

I can’t believe I said that, but the truth is, I’m very attracted to him.