Once Upon A Night At Sea Read Online Free PDF Page A

lovesick thirteen-year-old in the throes of her first crush. This would be the image plastered on SLS’s website, Facebook page, Twitter and who knew where else? Anne would see it for sure, along with thousands of others. Wonderful. Would anyone notice if she spent the rest of the cruise in her stateroom? She had a book, a balcony… room service.
    Their tour guide set them all free to go off on their own. “You can explore the ruins or head down the bluff for a swim, but you must be on the bus by two o’clock, or you’ll have to find jobs in the surrounding malls,” the guide exhorted. “And they don’t pay much.”
    “Want to go see the view from the bluffs?” Jason took a few more pictures of the stone structure they stood beside.
    “Sure.” She eyed Jason, wondering what to make of him. They climbed the stairs and followed the path leading to the edge of the cliffs. A scenic overlook veered off the main path, where more fat iguanas sunbathed on the rocks, perilously close to the cliff’s edge. The view was absolutely breathtaking, with lush tropical vegetation and the bluffs stretching for miles along the coastline.
    She caught a flash of color in the distance. Someone was parasailing, and the red of the parachute provided a vivid contrast to the bluer-than-blue horizon and the aquamarine of the ocean. She stopped, breathed in the fresh air and brought up her camera. “This is so gorgeous.”
    Grinning, she turned to Jason. “Raul said the Mayans were really class-conscious, and the commoners had to live outside of the walled city, but you know what? They all shared the same surroundings. The common folks had the same amazing vista as the royals.”
    “A million-dollar view.” Jason gazed at her, his sunglasses reflecting her image on the lenses.
    The feeling that something good waited for her right around the corner tickled at her awareness—like a promise on the verge of being whispered into her ear. She shook it off, blaming it on the magic of being on a cruise. Pampered, surrounded by luxury under starry skies while floating on the ocean—who wouldn’t go all romantic under circumstances like that?
    “Don’t forget,” Aidan said, as he and Kelly strode up hand in hand, “tonight we’re all meeting at Club Fusion at eight. There’s a DJ and dance music.”
    Marin’s insides clenched. She had never enjoyed clubbing. Too awkward. Too loud.
    “We’re going for lunch and a beer or two in the village at that place our guide recommended,” Kelly added. “Want to join us?”
    “Do you want to take a few more pictures first, Marin?” Jason asked.
    She nodded.
    “We’ll catch up,” Jason told them.
    Again she was thrown off balance, and as nice as Jason seemed right now, she still had a few reservations about him. He’d wanted to blame the coffee shop for her mishap, and he’d been curt when preventing her from tumbling over the curb. Come to think of it, he must have been watching her pretty closely in order to see her misstep in time to catch her. Hmm. That shouldn’t make her go all tingly inside. Should it?
    “I’m not crazy about the club scene,” he said, starting down the main path again. “How about you?”
    She aimed her camera one last time at the iguanas lazing on the other side of the fence, one of them in the low branches of a tree growing out from the cliff. “Me either.”
    “Do you like Italian food?” he asked, his tone casual.
    “Sure.” Butterflies kicked up a ruckus in her midriff. “Who doesn’t?”
    “Would you like to join me at Sabatini’s for dinner tonight? I’ve heard really good things about the food there from some of the other passengers.”
    “Oh, I’d like that,” she said, her voice coming out way too breathy.
    “Good. I’ll meet you at seven right outside the entrance. And maybe after dinner we can take a walk on the promenade deck.”
    “All right. Sounds like a plan.” She took another picture. The local lizards obviously believed they