Page 120 of Tiger's Voyage

He did. Kishan was wearing a tie, though I didn’t really expect him to. He wore black slacks and a copper silk shirt with a striped black, copper, and gold tie to match. I stepped forward and smoothed his tie. He captured my hand, kissed it and smiled. His golden eyes twinkled, and he offered me an arm.

“How’s your leg?” he asked.

“Good. It’s almost healed. Another day and I should be ready to tackle another kraken.”

He frowned. “I hope we don’t have to.”

I nodded, and we made our way to the sundeck. The moon was out, and the sea was calm. It was beautiful. The dark sky was clear, and the stars were vivid. It was the perfect setting for a romantic dinner.

Instead of taking me to the dining area in the stern, Kishan guided me toward the bow of the ship.

“Aren’t we going to eat?”

“Yes. I set up a table over here. And don’t worry about us being observed from the wheelhouse. Mr. Kadam and Nilima are taking the night off. Everyone is below deck.”

“Doesn’t someone have to be ready to jump into the wheelhouse just in case of emergency dragons or something?”

“That’s going to be my job for the next few hours. If something comes up, we’ll be the first to know.”

I squeezed his arm. “That sounds nice. Oh, Kishan! It’s lovely!”

I let go and moved ahead of him to the beautifully set table. Kishan had used the Scarf to create a shimmering silver tablecloth and napkins. A set of china and gleaming heavy silverware with mermaids etched into the handles graced the table. Delicate goblets with tiny starfish attached to the stems were filled with golden, sparkling juice. He’d set up conch shells in clusters on the deck. Their candles flickered in the miniscule breeze, dazzling despite the simplicity. Lantern lights overhead added to the effect, and soft music played somewhere in the background.

I stretched out a finger to touch a conch shell. “This must have taken you a long time.”

He shrugged. “Not too long. I wanted it to look special.”

“It does.”

Kishan pulled out my chair. He sat across from me and grinned at my expression. “You like it.”

“To say ‘I like it’ would be something of an understatement.”

He laughed. “Good. Are you ready to eat, then?”

“Yes. How does this work exactly? I imagine you’re using the Fruit.”

He nodded. “I came up with a menu. Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

He closed his eyes and a scrumptious dinner appeared before us. We dug in and talked about what we might find with the third dragon. At first we were being serious; then we started wildly guessing crazy dragon scenarios such as, “What if he is toothless? What if he is the size of a house cat? What if he is a scaredy dragon who tells jokes like the Eddie Murphy dragon inMulan?”

Kishan had never seen that movie, so we made plans to watch it later. I sang him the “Puff, the Magic Dragon” song, at least as much as I could remember, and he told me a crazy Chinese story about a dragon that lost his tail.

For dessert, Kishan created an eight-layer chocolate raspberry cake with hot fudge sauce and fresh raspberries with chocolate whipped cream.

I closed my eyes and groaned. “You really know me well. Chocolate is my weakness.”

He leaned forward. “I sincerely hope so.”

I laughed. “The problem is … I’m too full now to eat it.”

“We have time. It can wait.” He stood and held out his hand. “Would you dance with me, Kelsey?”

“I’d love to.” I took his hand, and he pulled me close.

The music was soft, and the night was cool. I cuddled against him, enjoying his warmth.