“Don’t you feel well?”

His eyes had the look of an approaching storm on a dark night. “This past week has taught me what it feels like to be a starving man, one who is only allowed to look at a feast and never allowed to eat it. Oh, Sheri, I need you so badly.”

She opened her arms to him, and he gripped her like a man clinging to life. “Come over here and sit down here with me,” she said, taking his hand. Sheri didn’t intend to rush through what she needed so badly from him. “Let’s have some of this rosé…” She handed him the bottle and a corkscrew.

“It’s a good wine. I thought you were planning to bring it back home with you.”

“I bought it for us.” She took two wineglasses from the mini bar.

He filled them and patted the seat beside him on the sofa. “To the woman who is quickly becoming my world,” he said. He sipped the wine and let the lush liquid slide down his throat.

He gazed steadily into her eyes, and Sheri realized that although the two of them knew they would make love, they didn’t know how to start. He’d promised to keep his distance, and she had pledged not to tease or provoke him into lovemaking. She drained her glass and put it aside.

“Uh…aren’t you going to kiss me?” she asked him.

“Sheri, love, if I have to kiss you and leave, I’d rather go right now.”

She leaned back against the sofa and removed her jewelry and the two-inch dangling earrings.

“Sheri, for heaven’s sake. I’m human.”

“I’m doing my best to show you that I know that.”

GWYNNE FORSTER

is a national bestselling author of more than twenty romance novels and novellas, as well as general fiction. She has worked as a journalist, a university professor and as a senior officer for the United Nations. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in sociology, and a master’s degree in economics/demography.

Gwynne sings in her church choir, loves to entertain at dinner parties, is a gourmet cook and an avid gardener. She enjoys jazz, opera, classical music and the blues. She also likes to visit museums and art galleries. Gwynne lives in New York with her husband.

Destination Love

ESSENCE BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Gwynne Forster

MILLS & BOON

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To Mary Mangan Sheffield and Jeannetta Harris, women who have blessed my life with faithful loyalty and friendship that I shall cherish all of my life.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for making Gwynne Forster’s romance novels such a success. We hope you enjoy Destination Love as much as her previous Kimani Romance novels, Holiday Kisses, Finding Mr. Right and Private Lives.

As in most of Forster’s novels, the main characters—Sheri Stephens and Dalton Hobart—are both highly ambitious and successful. However, they find themselves on opposite sides when one of them makes a decision that results in a major career setback for the other. Can these two overcome their hurt and resentment, or will pride and revenge get in the way of their journey to find love?

This year, Kimani Arabesque will publish a collection of some of Gwynne’s old and new short stories in a wedding-themed anthology called Yes, I Do, as well as a new book in the Harrington family series entitled Love Me Tonight. Be sure to look for both in the coming months.

Because Gwynne enjoys connecting with her fans, you can write to her at P.O. Box 45, New York, NY 10044, and send a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you’d like a reply. You can also e-mail her at GwynneF@aol.com or visit her Web site at www.GwynneForster.com. For business purposes, please contact her agent, Pattie Steele-Perkins, at the Steele-Perkins Literary Agency, 26 Island Lane, Canandaigua, NY 14424.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sheri Stephens walked down to the chairman’s office suite and took a seat in the conference room. As usual, she was the first of the professors to arrive for the dissertation committee. The other faculty members already had tenure—a fancy word for a permanent job—and she expected to receive tenure when she returned from summer vacation. They wouldn’t like what she was going to say, and neither would the doctoral candidate. But right was right and she’d made up her mind. She watched the chairman stroll in, along with Dalton Wright Hobart, the Ph.D. candidate, chatting as if the two were equals, but that wouldn’t sway her, either.

As soon as the department faculty had settled into the conference room, the chairman voiced his approval of the dissertation and his appreciation for the quality of Dalton Hobart’s academic accomplishments. Each of the professors asked questions and were satisfied with Hobart’s answers. Sheri knew that the graduate student was smart and possessed a superior mind. But, in her view, his job was to present his theory in terms applicable to the average American family.

“I don’t agree,” she said when it was her turn to speak. “It is certainly above-average work, and that is precisely why it should have practical applications. Unless Mr. Hobart revises his approach so that the average adult will find his conclusions useful, I cannot recommend this dissertation.” She ignored the reaction of the other professors.

“But that means he won’t receive his Ph.D. in June,” one professor said. “This seems a bit harsh to me.”

Sheri shrugged. “But you will have to admit that I have a point.”

She glanced at Dalton Hobart, whose dissertation she had just derailed, and saw that his eyes flashed fire. Indeed, she had never seen such hatred.

The chairman polled the group, but she knew the results before he questioned the others: no economics professor would deny the legitimacy of her position. Too bad, she thought, since Dalton was an otherwise brilliant economist. But the fierce anger evident in his demeanor was unsettling. What did he want from her? She’d given her honest opinion based on a sound academic approach, and she refused to give quarter.

Dalton Wright Hobart sat listless, in shock. The youngest and only untenured professor on his advisory committee had rejected his dissertation. The chairman and every other member of the committee had approved his work. But to be awarded a Ph.D., everyone on the academic advisory committee had to approve his dissertation or he wouldn’t receive his degree. And if he didn’t graduate in June, he could forget about that fellowship at the Brookings Institute. He doubted he’d find another one that was as prestigious. He couldn’t remember ever having been as angry with anyone as he was with Sheri Stephens.

Grin and bear it, man, he said to himself. If you’re mad, you can’t reason.

After the chairman dismissed the committee, Dalton fell in step with Sheri Stephens as she walked to her office. “Professor Stephens, I know that I’ve done a good job with this. My research is original, and my analysis sound. By insisting that I do more work, you’ve made it impossible for me to graduate, and I’ll have to inform the Brookings Institute that I can no longer take the job they’ve offered me.”

He stopped talking while she unlocked the door to her office, and he followed her inside. “Seeing me at commencement with that cap and gown would make my parents proud. They have sacrificed everything for me.”

She turned her back and walked toward the window. He sensed that he was fighting a losing battle, but he continued. “No one in my family has graduated from college, let alone earned a Ph.D. I…This is devastating. Can’t you approve it and allow me to make the revisions this summer? Opportunities like the one at Brookings are rare.”

She turned and faced him. From the set of her jaw, he knew he may as well leave. “I have to do what I believe is right. If you want the degree, you have to revise your dissertation. That’s my last word on the subject.”

He didn’t say anything to her, because nothing pleasant would come out of his mouth. One thing was certain, he would never forget Professor Sheri Stephens. He walked past two doors to the department chairman’s office and waited to speak with him.

“I’m sorry, Hobart, but Professor Stephens is within her rights, and I can’t overrule her unless I plan to dismiss her. Too bad you have to give up that job at Brookings, but don’t fret about it. You’ll never be out of work.”

“I’d like permission to turn my revised dissertation in to you.”

“Yes, of course you can do that. Do you think you can get it done by the end of August?”

“Certainly. If she had told me last week, I could have done it by now.”

“Don’t be bitter, Hobart,” the chairman said. “This is just another bump in the road. Five years from now, this little setback won’t have made a significant difference in your life.”

Maybe not, but his parents would never see him march across Harvard Yard to Tercentenary Theatre. That hurt him more than having to add some petty nonsense to his dissertation.

“Bitter? Fortunately, I have the ability to control my rage. Forgetting is another matter.” He walked out into the spring sunlight, oblivious to everyone around him. He’d lost count of the times he had climbed from rock bottom, times when hardship hadn’t fazed him, because he knew the way up. But this time he’d worked and fought his way to the top and hadn’t been able to enjoy the fruits of his reward.

“I’ll show them. Damned if I’ll be a victim! She hasn’t heard the last of me.”

The door closed behind Dalton Hobart, and Sheri dismissed the affair with a shrug. She’d done the right thing, and she was not about to apologize for it. Things were correct or incorrect, finished or incomplete, and the man’s dissertation was not finished. A person should be rewarded for what he or she accomplished. Sentiment had no place in evaluating the work of grad students. Her parents had raised her that way—to take her medicine. They hadn’t spared her or coddled her when she didn’t meet their expectations.

She telephoned the office of the department chairman. “This is Professor Stephens. Which one of us is to review that dissertation after Hobart makes the revisions?”

“I will.”

Hmm. So the chairman wasn’t pleased with her. Too bad. “Thank you, sir. I’m glad.” Well, the whole thing was behind her, and she liked it that way.

Three years later

What a wonderful thing to take a sabbatical, Sheri thought. She had an entire year away from teaching in order to travel, do research and study. So far, the loneliness of life away from the university and the job that filled her time oppressed her more than her adventures and research did. Even after months away from the classroom and her office, she hardly knew what to do with herself. While watching a travel channel on television one night, and observing things she’d read about but never dreamed of seeing, she decided to take a cruise. Late summer was not a time to plan a warm-weather cruise, so she chose one headed north. She at least had something to look forward to.

“Maybe I’ll see glaciers, polar bears, penguins or an iceberg or two. At least this cruise offers something vastly different.”

Sheri boarded the cruise ship in Manchester, Massachusetts, where the cruise began. She’d had a shaky flight from Boston, which wasn’t a promising start to her adventure. Standing on deck, watching the boat ease away from shore, Sheri hoped that somehow she would experience something new and exciting during her first cruise.

At dinner that evening, her tablemates included three couples, a woman about her age and herself. As she left the dining room with the other woman, she continued the conversation.

“Could we meet for lunch around one tomorrow?” Sheri asked the woman, whose name was June.

June stopped walking and looked straight at Sheri. “Girl, I don’t hang out with women. I’m spending my hard-earned money on this cruise to find a man who’s at least got a job, and you ought to do the same. See you at dinner.”

Stunned by June’s rudeness, Sheri wandered around until she reached the shopping area, didn’t see anything she wanted to buy and decided to take in a movie.

“Don’t tell me you’re as lost as I am in this place,” a male voice said as she was about to enter the theater. She jerked around and saw a man dressed in white pants, yellow T-shirt and white cardigan. His smile was meant to titillate, but it only annoyed her. She wanted company, but he seemed as if he was looking for more, she thought. So she ignored him and found a seat between two older women. When she left the theater later, he winked at her and flashed what she figured was a patented grin. Maybe he’d hook up with June.

She wondered if she’d brought enough to read, because the chances of striking up a friendship with someone on the cruise didn’t look good.

The next day as she looked around the pool, she compared the bathing suit she’d brought with the tiny string bikinis other women were wearing and decided that she’d stay out of the pool and wear shorts on deck.

“Maybe this cruise wasn’t such a good idea,” she said to herself as she prepared to debark and explore Portland, Maine, alone. As she walked down the plank, she saw June clinging to the man she’d seen entering the movie theater the previous evening.

Dr. Dalton Wright Hobart found a seat at the tiny bistro table and sat down to enjoy a moment in the sunshine. He had seen as much of Portland, Maine, on foot as the cruise ship’s short stay in port would permit. With his shopping bags between his feet in order to be certain that he didn’t forget them, he ordered coffee. Not because he wanted it but because he needed a reason to sit there. He opened a copy of the Portland Press Herald and checked the sports page for the baseball scores.

“Do you mind if I share your table?”

He did mind, but saying so would have been rude. “By all means, have a seat,” he said and continued checking the scores.

“I noticed that you have one of the cruise ship’s shopping bags. So you must be going to Nova Scotia, too.”

“Looks like it,” he said, hoping to make it clear that he didn’t feel like talking. Indeed, he was beginning to wish he’d gone straight back to the boat.

The ship’s horn emitted a blast, and the woman stood to leave. “Thanks for letting me share your table.”

His head jerked up. Something in her voice sounded familiar, and he looked at her for the first time. Good grief! It couldn’t be, but it was. He narrowed his eyes, looked at her more carefully and didn’t bother to hide the scowl that he knew covered his face. As she walked off, he was certain that was Professor Sheri Stephens.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” It all came back to him. The anxiety of the moment he learned that he wouldn’t graduate on time, wouldn’t be able to accept the best job offer any student in his class received and the pain of having to tell his family that he’d get his Ph.D. later. He recalled his father shaking his head and saying, “You aren’t going to wear the cap and gown?”

His mother had counseled forgiveness and had insisted that getting the degree was more important than how it was handed to him. Still, it was one of the most bitter pills he’d ever had to swallow. He picked up the shopping bag and made his way up the gangplank. With luck, he wouldn’t see her again until the boat returned to Manchester. How could a woman who looked so soft and innocent be so cruel?

Back in his stateroom, Dalton showered, shaved and took a nap, after which he headed to the third-floor lounge. “I hope you haven’t waited long,” he said to Tyson Clark, a retired record producer he met during the trip.

“Not at all. People watching is a sport that I’ve come to enjoy.” They took their drinks and sat on the sofa in a far corner from the bar. “You can imagine why I’m on a cruise,” Tyson said, “but you’re a young man. I’ve been trying to figure out why you’re on this boat this time of the year.”

Dalton allowed himself a moment to reflect. “Point taken,” he said and gave the man the gist of his life story.

“Did you ever get the degree?”

“Oh, yes. I received it near the end of July, and for the past three years, I’ve worked night and day to make up for lost time. I’ve had a number of articles published, and I’m becoming a kind of economics guru. I got a great book deal, and I’m working on that while I’m on this trip. To answer the question, I’m older than you think. These days, thirty-five makes you ancient. I’m here because I needed the rest, and this was a sure way to get it.”

After the meal, which he ate at the late seating, he told Tyson good-night, stood on deck gazing at the night for a while and then went to his room to work on his novel. He wasn’t lonely, but he thought that a cruise was a perfect way for him to become more sociable.

The following night after dinner, he passed the gaming room with its sounds of the one-armed bandits gobbling up hard-earned money and headed to the entertainment level. He loved to dance and, during his undergraduate days, he had enjoyed great popularity because of it. He stood on the sideline watching the dancers move to “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” He hadn’t learned that one, but he liked it.

Suddenly, the sound of the Village People singing “Y.M.C.A.” came over the loudspeaker and like practically everyone else, he headed for the dance floor to do the Electric Slide. It was his favorite line dance, and he gave his whole body over to it. He swung his left foot behind his right one and leaned his right shoulder forward just as the person dancing beside him tripped and was about to fall. He automatically grabbed the person, looked down and saw that it was Sheri Stephens. He’d been so lost in the music and the dance that he hadn’t bothered to notice who was on either side of him.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m just learning this dance. I tried it for the first time a couple of nights ago. It’s fun, and if you make mistakes, no one really cares.”

So she didn’t recognize him. True, his close-cut hair made him look considerably different from his appearance during graduate school when he’d worn it long. Hmm. Was Sheri Stephens more human because she was out of her element, away from the hallowed halls of academia where she called the shots?

Dalton smiled. “You’re dancing like a pro. Everyone trips occasionally. I’m Wright. How are you, Miss—”

“Sheri. Sheri Stephens. I’m glad to meet you, Wright. I was beginning to think that taking this cruise was the dumbest thing I could have done.”

As they walked off the dance floor, he draped an arm casually across her shoulders. “I’m new at this cruise business, too. It takes a while to learn how to maneuver on this boat and among these strangers, but I’m getting the hang of it.”

“I sure hope I do. Three weeks is a long time to flounder like a fish out of water.”

“I’m with you there,” he said. “Say, do you know that guy over there in the yellow T-shirt?”

She looked in the direction to which he pointed, frowned and shook her head. “No. I saw him right after the boat left Manchester, but I don’t know him, nor do I care to.”

Hmm. Best to change the subject. “So this is your first cruise,” he said, trying to make small talk, something that he despised.

“Yes, and I’ve never seen so much food 24/7. Are the passengers expected to eat nonstop?”

Evidently, she hadn’t had much experience with small talk, either. “I do my best to ignore it,” he said truthfully. “But when I get off the escalator and a frozen-yogurt dispenser is facing me, I do what I’m supposed to do. I fill up on banana-flavored frozen yogurt.”

“With me, it’s the cherry cream cake over there at the ice-cream bar. I’ve eaten six of them since I boarded in Manchester.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. He would have expected her to be a bit more disciplined. “I think I’ll turn in now,” he said, having become a little uneasy with his charade, “but maybe we’ll meet at breakfast tomorrow morning. What level are you on?”

“Four.”

“So am I. I’ll meet you at breakfast. Is eight-thirty too early?”

“That’s fine. I’m an early riser.”

Her smile enveloped her whole face. He leaned down, kissed her cheek, ignored her wide-eyed expression, winked and left her. His conscience, however, nagged at him. He wasn’t proud of his ulterior motive in being gracious to Sheri Stephens. He had not forgiven her for the resentment he felt towards her for not approving his dissertation and for the blow that had been to his family. Even if he could forget that, she certainly deserved to pay for his having lost a job with the Brookings Institute. He’d often wondered if she felt proud of herself for having the power to do that to another person or if, indeed, she ever thought of the consequences that her action had on him. He struggled with thoughts of retribution until he fell asleep.

Sheri took the escalator down to the lounge on the next deck, found a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine—the first one she’d ever picked up—sat down and opened it to avoid looking as if she wanted company. She hadn’t sat there more than five minutes before her downcast gaze took in a pair of white saddle oxfords on what were obviously male feet. She let her gaze slowly drift up until it met the eyes of a man wearing a yellow T-shirt—the man she had discouraged her first night on board.

He raised his left hand as if to ward off discouraging words. “I don’t know why I’m letting myself in for another of your rebuffs,” he said, “but I want to get to know you, and I owe it to myself to try. My name is Brian King, I’m from Atlanta and I teach journalism at Clark. I’m off this semester, but I’ll be back at the university after the Christmas recess. Who are you?”

After a long drought, a plant is thirsty for water. But she’d had so little male attention that when she got it she didn’t know what to do with it. She’d spent her youth achieving excellence in order to get the crumbs of appreciation that her father occasional bestowed upon her. The first three days on this cruise had taught her that she lacked people skills and that, away from her academic world, she was nearly as green as a freshman.

Sheri took a deep breath and told the man, “I’m Professor Sheri Stephens.” Immediately, she wished she hadn’t said she was a professor, because he had omitted a title when introducing himself.

Brian sat in the chair beside her. “Go ahead and tell me you teach nuclear physics. I can handle that.”

“I teach advanced statistics,” she said, miffed and not bothering to hide it.

“Oh, come on,” he said. “Tell me why you should dislike me on sight.”

“I never said I dislike you.”

“Not with words, but your entire demeanor says, ‘Beat it, buster.’”

She had to laugh at that. No woman in her right mind would say such a thing to a man who looked like Brian King. “Are you on vacation?” she asked, making conversation.

“You could say that, but I’m gathering material for a story I’ll write when I return to Atlanta. Is your name really Sheri Stephens?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Just checking.”

In spite of her attempt to put a wall between them, his laughter melted her a bit, and when she watched him settle in his chair as if her views about his presence didn’t matter, she realized that he’d leveled the playing field. Still, arrogance had never played well with her, not even when she was the one exhibiting it.

She stood. “Nice to meet you, Mr. King. Rest well.”

He made as if to stand. “Not very likely. My stateroom is in the middle of the boat, and the damned thing rocks all night. Glad to know who you are.”

Now what was she supposed to make of that? She headed for her room. Her father had said that one who walked alone stayed alone and that crowds attracted larger crowds. There was something to be said for that. She entered her stateroom and, for the first time in her memory, she examined herself in the mirror almost scientifically, without vanity or self-effacement. Her conclusion: she was not bad looking. If she applied some makeup and went to a hairdresser, she’d probably be nice looking. But that seemed too frivolous to her. If she did that, the next thing she knew, she’d be out there on deck in a string bikini. No way!

She got into bed and opened Bertrand Russell’s An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry, one of the books she’d brought along to read on the cruise, but to her surprise, her mind wouldn’t focus. So she put it aside, closed her eyes and listened to the waves play their tune on the side of the boat. Suddenly, a strange thought came to her.

Wright seemed so self-confident. Not that she wasn’t, but he gave the impression that he knew which button made the world turn. She wondered if his parents sang lullabies to him when he was little. If anyone had ever sung to her, she didn’t remember it. Yet, her little playmates had sung to her the songs that their mothers sang to them, and she recalled the feeling that she was missing something vital.

She reached over and turned out the light. Where the devil had all that come from? Tomorrow was a new day. She intended to enjoy the cruise, company or no company, but how nice it would be to enjoy it with Wright.

At eight twenty-four the next morning, Sheri walked into the restaurant thinking that if Wright hadn’t suggested that they eat breakfast together, she would have called the restaurant and had the food brought to her room. She saw June approaching with a presentable man in tow and smiled a greeting.

“Girl, you were doing all right last night,” June said. “I never would have thought of pretending to trip up so I’d fall into a guy’s arms as an excuse to meet him. You’re clever. See you around.” Sheri managed to close her mouth. Apparently June didn’t need an answer, for she had walked on.

Wright arrived and greeted Sheri with a kiss on the cheek. He looked at his watch. “How are you this morning? You were early, but that beats being late. I hope you rested well.”

“I did. The sound of those waves lashing the side of the boat is like a lullaby. Say, did your mother sing lullabies to you when you were little?” She could have kicked herself for that slip.

At first he frowned, and then his eyebrows shot up. “Gosh. Yes. Of course, she did. Uh, yeah. All the time. But where does that question come from?”

She lifted her right shoulder in a shrug to suggest that it wasn’t very important. “Something to do with the rhythm of the waves when they lap at the side of the boat.”

“That’s a sensual thought if I ever heard one. Come on, let’s get in line.”

She stared at him. “You’re kidding.”

“Far from it. I think I’ll have waffles and sausage.”

“I was thinking of a Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, but that’s too campy, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t concern myself with what is and is not in fashion. I want waffles, maple syrup and sage sausage. If everybody else is eating hog maw, I say, ‘Right on.’”

“I can’t say I don’t care what others think. I usually don’t know what others are thinking and doing. I have my job—I’m a professor—and that’s what I focus on.”

He didn’t speak until they found a table and sat down. “Sheri, this world offers zillions of intriguing places and things. That classroom of yours is a tiny hovel on the side of a mountain compared to what the world can give you.”

“What do you do, Wright?”

“Right now, I’m a writer. I have a contract to write a novel, and I plan to enjoy every minute of it.”

“I hope you don’t mind my asking how it is that you’re so self-assured.”

He seemed hesitant, as if searching for an answer. “Am I? If I knew the answer, I’d be glad to tell you. And while we’re asking questions, tell me why you asked me if you could share my table when the boat stopped in Portland.”

“I was hoping you were as bored and as eager for a traveling companion as I was. I saw the ship’s logo on your shopping bag and decided that you were a fellow passenger.”

His hand went to his chest. “You wound me. I thought my charm enticed you, and that you couldn’t resist.” He cast a wicked glance at her and grinned.

“In your dreams, pal.”

“You mean, it didn’t?”

“Well, if truth were known, I followed a trail of gold coins straight to you,” she said.

“Did that same trail of gold put you in that line next to me last night?”

She placed her knife and fork on the sides of her plate. “Are you teasing or being mean? I want to know how to react.”

He reached across the table and grasped her hand. “I tease rather roughly sometimes. I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable.”

“It’s all right. If I appear worldly, it is very misleading.”

Dalton hadn’t expected such a frank admission of naiveté from Sheri Stephens. He had suspected that she lived in a closed world, but until now he wouldn’t have believed that a woman of her accomplishments and intelligence hadn’t cultivated any aspect of her life other than her intellect. So this genius with statistics knew nothing of life! Well, he’d teach her, and he’d be just as kind to her as she was to him. When he had her begging for relief, he would look down in her face, tell her who he really was and laugh.

He didn’t recall having done a deliberately mean thing in his adult life; indeed, he considered kindness and generosity critical elements of his personality. But no one had weakened his spirit and dented his estimation of his self-worth as Sheri Stephens had with her petty demands that he revise the conclusions in his dissertation. Of course, she wasn’t the first professor to sacrifice a good student in order to make herself seem clever. If any of the other examiners had agreed with her, he wouldn’t have held it against her, but not one of them did. The humiliation he’d suffered was an experience he’d never forget. It came back to him then.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Lansing. To be associated with the distinguished scholars at the Brookings Institute is more than I had dared dream of, but I won’t be eligible because I won’t graduate until July or August.”

Lansing’s gasp reached him over the wire. “This can’t be true. Your chairman said you were the best student he’d ever had, and that your graduation was a certainty.”

“Thank you, sir. One of my examiners is demanding that I revise my conclusions, and I have to comply.”

“That’s true, and I am so terribly sorry. Needless to say, I wish you the best.”

“You’re so pensive all of a sudden, Wright. Is anything the matter?” Sheri asked him.

“I just remembered something that wasn’t too pleasant, but let’s not dwell on anything negative. When I signed on for this cruise, I decided to enjoy everything it offered outside of the gaming rooms, and that definitely includes this delicious breakfast.” Which consisted of a stack of four waffles and a ring of sausage around them. He’d seen the time when the food in his plate would have fed the members of his family and left them grateful. Fortunately, both he and his younger brother were able to ensure their parents a comfortable living, and they had surely earned the right to it.

“How are you planning to spend the day, Sheri? I want to write for at least a couple of hours.”

“If you write this morning while I’m at the hairdresser, we could meet for lunch. I told myself I was going to take clogging lessons this afternoon. Don’t ask me why.”

“Clogging? Good idea. The exercise will rid me of the calories I’m ingesting. What time are the classes?”

“Three to four this afternoon and nine to eleven in the morning. If we eat at twelve or twelve-thirty, it should be all right to clog at three.”

“Right. I’ll meet you here at twelve-thirty,” he said. “Stay away from that guy in the yellow T-shirt.”

Her frown surprised him. She shouldn’t have taken that comment seriously. He’d have to be more careful.

“Why should I stay away from him?” she asked. “So far, he’s seemed harmless.”

He flashed a grin. “No man is completely harmless. Don’t forget that.”

He held her hand as they left the dining room. “I’ll see you here at twelve-thirty. Have fun at the spa. I’ll be writing out there on the back deck. Nobody goes there. It’s so peaceful, and the view is great.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. When she stood on tiptoe to make it easier for him, he stifled a laugh. It hadn’t taken her long to get used to it.

Sheri rushed back to her stateroom and phoned the spa for an appointment with a hairdresser. “Do you have a hairdresser who’s familiar with processed African-American hair?”

“Of course, madam,” a man said. “What time would you like to come?”

“Right now.”

She got the appointment and walked into what she would have described as a silver cove with crystal chandeliers, white floors and red roses. This looks like the perfect setting for debauchery, she said to herself. A few months earlier, she would most certainly have turned around and walked out.

“For two hundred fifty dollars, madam may have a massage, mud bath and facial in addition to a shampoo, trim and style.” A man dressed in a black T-shirt, skintight black pants and black sneakers told her.

“I don’t have that much time,” she said. “I only want my hair done.”

She got back to the dining room at exactly twelve-thirty. But, to her chagrin, Brian King waylaid her. “I’m sorry, Mr. King, but I’m meeting someone for lunch, and I’m about to be late.”

“For a woman like you, it ought to be his pleasure to wait. Will you have a drink with me at six this evening, since we have fixed dinner arrangements?”

She glanced toward the table that she and Wright shared that morning and saw that he leaned back in his chair observing them. “I’m sorry, but this amounts to rudeness on my part. I’m late, and he sees me talking with you. Goodbye.”

Wright stood as she approached. His smile eliminated some of her anxiety. “Sorry, but I got waylaid.”

“So I saw. Are you interested in him?”

“I’ve gotten the impression, wrongly or not, that he’s interested in getting me in bed, and I—”

He grabbed her left hand. “Wait a minute. And you think I’m not? You think I’m not attracted to you?”

“W-well, I d-didn’t th-think about it,” she stammered.

He grinned, winked and put his hand on his chest as if to decelerate his heartbeat. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“At least you’re not blatant about it.”

His gaze roamed over her. “Your hair is beautiful. That style really suits you. But then, you’d look good if you never went to a hairdresser,” he said.

She told herself not to believe him, but having a man who looked like Wright tell her that he liked her looks made her want to preen. “Thanks, but I’ve got a mirror.”

He leaned forward. “In that case, you should use it. What else do they do in that spa?” She told him. “Let’s take that whirlpool treatment together tomorrow morning,” he said. She noticed that when he said it, his food got his undivided attention. “It could be fun. Is it bigger than a Jacuzzi?”

“I was told that the water gives you a massage.”

“Then let’s do it.”

“Okay, but we have to make a reservation.” He told her that he would. “If the water’s moving around that much, couldn’t it be dangerous?”

His face mirrored an expression of concern. “I doubt the ship company would offer a dangerous form of relaxation. If you won’t be comfortable with it, we won’t do that.”

“But I think I’d enjoy it.”

That wink again. “Then I’ll make our reservation for around eleven. An hour in that thing should be more than enough, and we can have lunch at twelve-thirty.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Provided I’m not too sleepy to eat.”

He went to the buffet table and returned with a dish of frozen banana yogurt for himself and a cherry cream cake for her.

“You remembered,” she said when she saw what he brought for her. “Thanks.”

“I will always remember everything about you,” he said. “You are not a woman that I could ever forget.”

She knew that her entire demeanor showed her pleasure at his remarks. “I don’t think I could forget you, either, Wright.” And she wouldn’t. She wasn’t a virgin, but she hadn’t been made to feel that she had anything special to give to a man. Furthermore, she hadn’t met a man who treated her as if she was a woman he could love and care for. Maybe that was her fault. Until this cruise, she hadn’t realized how lacking she was in social skills and that those skills were as important as her academic abilities.

She noticed that her comment drew a raised eyebrow from Wright. But she’d told the truth, and he’d have to deal with it. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed to her that he was looking at her differently. His eyes seemed warmer or…If math and statistics had taught her anything, it was the folly of guessing at facts. Still, something about him drew her right then, and she reached out. Embarrassed, she patted his hand and then withdrew her own.

Why was he looking at her that way? “I think I’ll have a rest before we go clogging,” she said, needing to escape.

He walked around to her side of the table, held her chair and, before she could get up, he leaned over her and kissed the side of her mouth. Shocked, she turned her head and met his mouth with her lips parted. Thank God he had the presence of mind not to push it, she thought. He grasped her shoulders as she stood.

“I didn’t intend to do that, Wright.”

She’d never seen such fiery eyes.

“Trust me, I certainly didn’t do what I wanted to do. If we’d had a modicum of privacy, I’d have kissed you thoroughly. Meet you at the bar at three. Did you sign up for the clogging lessons?”

She said she did. “The classes are around the corner from the bar. See you then.”

He kissed her cheek. “Behave yourself.”

“What? What else would I do?”

He pointed to the entrance. “Does that guy always wear the same T-shirt? See you later.”

“How would I know?” she said, feeling irritated at both men.

“Hi,” Brian said. “I have not been waiting here for you, but I saw you were about to leave—”

She interrupted him. “I’m not having a drink with you, Brian.”

“Why not? I pay my taxes, I’m good to my mother, I’m not married and I’ve got a decent job. What’s wrong with me?”

“I don’t know that anything is wrong with you, but I can only deal with one man at a time.”

“And right now you’re dealing with what’s-his-name over there?”

“I have to go, Brian. Bye.” She ducked around him and headed for the escalator. Maybe he was a nice guy who had originally misrepresented himself, but he did not make her pulse race as Wright did when he’d kissed her a few minutes earlier. What would it be like if he really kissed her?

“Watch out, girl. Thinking things like that will get you in big trouble.”

She set her alarm for two-thirty and stretched out on the bed. She could feel his mouth on her, and he didn’t stop at her lips. And, Lord, he was so wonderfully greedy. Her nipples ached, and her hot blood heated her loins. She awoke and sat up abruptly at the sound of the alarm clock.

“Good grief! I promised to be at the bar at three o’clock.” She slipped into a pair of white shorts, a pale blue T-shirt and a pair of low-heel flats, grabbed her bag and raced to the bar.

Wright watched as Sheri paused to speak with Brian King. The man was handsome and a charmer, and he’d rather not have the guy playing on his turf. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. He’d been fooling around as usual, playing a game—though, admittedly, he hadn’t had previous experience at being a player. He didn’t believe she’d intentionally kiss him on the mouth, because she was not an aggressive woman. At least, not with him. But if she felt what he felt, they’d have a time of reckoning before the boat docked again in Manchester.

Isn’t that what you planned? his conscience nagged. When he learned that I wouldn’t graduate with my class, my dad cried, he reminded himself.

In his room, he finished the chapter on the loss of his family’s house during his childhood and how his father built a log cabin for his family to live in. Precisely what I need to keep my head straight about Sheri Stephens, he said to himself as he was putting his writing pad away. He hadn’t used his laptop for that passage because he knew the writing would be difficult, and he thought best with a pen in his hand. One more short chapter, and he’d put the final period to it.

“Hi. I meant to be on time, but I fell asleep.”

He took her hand and walked with her to the dance floor. “Thanks for telling me. I was afraid that yellow T-shirt had hijacked you. That guy is tenacious.”

“Maybe he’s not such a bad person.”

“No? What changed your mind?”

“Nothing. It’s just…what harm can he do on a boat out in the Atlantic?”

“Sheri, I don’t believe you said that. You cannot be that naive.” Her stare reminded him of a child who’d been unjustly accused. Her vulnerability got to him deep inside, and before he realized what he did, he hugged her and stroked her back in a gesture of genuine caring and affection.

The sound of Earl Scruggs’s “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” saved them the need to acknowledge the moment’s reality. “Relax your shoulders, drop your hands to your sides and give yourself to the music,” the teacher called.

The fast pace of the music exhilarated him, and he felt as if he could soar. “Come on, sweetheart, let it fly,” he said to Sheri. “Loosen up.”

She caught the steps, and very soon she put her body into the dance. She fascinated him. He looked at the T-shirt that hugged her body as if it were glued there and sucked in his breath. His mother had always cautioned him against playing with fire for fear he’d get burned. But as her ample breasts bounced to the rhythm of the dance, he wanted to get his mouth on one of them. She had a nice pair of legs, too, he noted, and decided that he would enjoy seeing her get into that whirlpool the next morning. The lady had some lovely attributes, and he meant to enjoy them.

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