“Oh, my God,” Indina said as she and Griffin finally made their way to one of the tables. “I don’t have to worry about counting calories anymore. I just burned enough of them to eat whatever I want for the rest of this cruise.”
He put his lips to her ear. “But we can still work out later tonight, right?”
His seductively whispered words went straight to her nipples.
“Definitely,” she answered. “You ready to go right now?”
The grin that stretched across his handsome face was much too sexy. “You don’t think it’s too early to turn in?”
Indina didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed him by the wrist again and tugged.
“It’s not even nine thirty yet,” Griffin said once they entered the hallway.
“I didn’t say I was ready to head back to the room, but my bones can’t take any more dancing. I can already tell that my knees will hurt like a bitch tomorrow.”
Griffin chuckled. “You sound like you’re eighty years old.”
“I was a runner for a long time. It’s hard on the knees.”
His head reared back slightly. “Really? I didn’t know you were a runner.”
She nodded. “I’ve been running for years, but I started cutting back after my twentieth marathon. Like I said, too hard on the knees. These days I stop after about five miles.”
As they approached the midship elevators, Griffin continued to stare at her, an astonished expression blanketing his face.
“What?” Indina asked.
“After all this time, how am I just discovering that you and I have this in common?”
“You run too?”
“I’ve finished in the top five hundred of the Crescent City Classic for the last three years in a row.”
“You run the CCC?”
He nodded. “I’ve participated every single year since I moved to New Orleans.”
And she’d participated since she finished college. Very few things induced more pride than her collection of T-shirts from the Crescent City Classic races she’d run over the years. Funny that they’d both participated in the same race, yet had no idea that the other enjoyed the sport.
“So, the top five hundred, huh?” Indina asked as she boarded the elevator. “That’s pretty impressive, especially when there’s at least twenty thousand runners who take part every year. That means you must run, what, a seven-minute mile?”
“Six and a half, if I train properly and lay off the potato chips.”
Her brows rose. “Impressive indeed. Maybe we should go running together sometime.”
The minute the words left her mouth, Indina wanted to snatch them back.
No. No. No!
Invitations to go running together didn’t fit into this thing she had going with Griffin. There was no room for shared interests outside of work and his bed. It tiptoed too close to the edge of a relationship. She was not going there again. She was done with those battle scars.
Maybe you should have thought about that before inviting him on this cruise.
It was far too late for recriminations over the cruise invite, but just because they were on this ship together, it didn’t mean they were spiraling headfirst into relationship territory. She still had time to bring this thing back to friendly coworkers who just so happened to hook up on a regular basis.
“We should finish our tour,” Indina said as the elevator dinged their arrival on the fourth deck. “I haven’t seen the bow of the ship yet. I want to recreate my favorite scene from Titanic.” She spread her arms out as if she were getting ready to fly.
“You’re not balancing on the front of the ship,” Griffin said.
“Don’t spoil my fun,” Indina said with a laugh. But when they arrived at the bow, she discovered there was no way to get to the ship’s pointy front.
“Guess I won’t be recreating my favorite scene.”
“Thank God,” Griffin said after releasing an exaggerated sigh of relief.
Indina stuck her tongue out at him like a petulant child, wrenching out a laugh from him. He backed up against the polished wood railing and crossed his arms over his chest.
“So, what are some of your other favorites?” he asked.
She tilted her head to the side in question.
Griffin shrugged. “It occurred to me tonight that I don’t really know much about you outside of work.”
Which is exactly the way she wanted it. Her unease must have shown on her face, because he put his hands up and said, “I’m not asking you to pour out all your deepest, darkest secrets. Just share a little…stuff.”
“What kind of stuff? What is there to know?”
“Well, I didn’t know that you like to dance, or that you have such bad taste in movies.”
Indina gasped. “I do not.”
“Titanic? I’ve tried to watch that twice. Fell asleep both times.”
“That means you’re the one with bad taste in movies.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you,” he said with a devilish grin that made her stomach flip in extremely interesting ways.
Shit. She did not want this. Stomach flips and those little flutters she’d experienced several times today were not a part of the deal. She needed things to return to how they were before they’d boarded this ship.
What she had going with Griffin was safe. She could detach her head and her heart from it and just focus on the mutual pleasure they brought to each other. Emotion played no part in it.
But how could she stand here and ignore his request, especially after he’d joined her on this cruise at the last minute? It wasn’t the ultimate sacrifice, by any means, but he still didn’t have to be here. She owed it to him to play along.
“What exactly do you want to know?” Indina asked.
He folded his arms over his chest again. “I want to know if you’re making other bad choices, like using Tabasco instead of Sriracha.”
“I’m a Louisiana native. I only use Crystal Hot Sauce.”
“See, I didn’t know that.”
Indina chuckled. “Really, Griffin, what’s this all about?”
“I’m curious about you. Is that so hard to believe?”
“So, we’ve been doing this thing
