Page 54 of Wild Oblivion

My heart beat a little easier.

Henrik peeled open an eye and looked at me with annoyance. "What the hell are you doing here!”

I smiled and raised my hands innocently. "They thought you were dead.”

"I'm not dead. I'm just resting my eyes.”

I backed out of the room and said, "He's all yours, ladies.”

"Who's ready for round two?” Henrik asked.

The two girls shared a look and shrugged.Why not?

"Try not to overdo it, ladies," I said as I ambled down the hallway.

Henrik was getting more action than I was. But hey, may we all be so lucky as to go out doing something we love. I just didn’t want him to go on my watch.

I made my way up to my stateroom and crashed out. The party rolled on for another hour before settling down. The earplugs came in handy.

It was about 10:00 AM when I rolled out of bed the next morning. I pulled myself together and went down to the galley to whip up breakfast.

Henrik sat at the breakfast nook, sipping coffee and chowing down on a breakfast burrito. “I hope you don’t mind. I helped myself.”

“Not at all,” I said with a grin. “Make yourself at home. What happened to your friends?”

“They’re still asleep. I guess I wore them out.”

I laughed. “I guess you did.”

My stomach rumbled. I kept it simple and grilled scrambled eggs and bacon. I ate at the breakfast nook with Henrik. He’d already finished by the time I sat down.

“Your friend Emily is a smart girl,” he said. “Not hard to look at either. You should keep her around.”

“She’s not really a friend. More of a colleague.”

He shrugged. “If you say so.” Then he added, “But don’t let life pass you by. You blink and you’re asking yourself, where did it go? What was it all for?”

“You figure that last part out yet?”

“It’s simple. It’s no great mystery.” In a sincere tone, he said, “We’re here to love people.”

“Kinda like you did last night?” I teased.

He dismissed it with a hand wave. “I know the difference between love and lust.” Then he added, “But I believe I could learn to love both those ladies.”

We chuckled.

“I know they don’t love me. But when you’ve got a body like this,” he said, motioning to himself, “they can’t resist.”

I almost spat my coffee out.

My phone buzzed with a call from the sheriff. I wasn’t in the mood for any more bad news. “Tell me something good.”

“I need you to get over to the Sparkle Store.”

I sighed. “What happened now?”

“Hostage situation. This is right up your alley.”