She’d thought then and still believed that it was just sad. In her family, Christmas season started the day after Thanksgiving. Lights went up, carols were played, gifts were bought and wrapped and her sisters’ kids wrote and then revised letters to Santa at least once a week.
She’d tried to get him to tell her why he hated that holiday so much, but not surprisingly, he wouldn’t talk about it. How could she reach a man if every time she tried to breach his walls, he built them higher?
So yes, she’d known that Sam would take a Christmas cruise to avoid being at home in what was probably a naked house, devoid of any holiday cheer. It hadn’t made much sense to her until she realized that Christmas decorations meant nothing to him, but a house devoid of those very decorations only made him remember that he was different than most people. That he’d chosen to live in a gray world when others were celebrating.
“These cruises are booked months out,” he said. “How did you manage to get suites for the whole family?”
“Mike arranged it.”
Sam’s eyes flashed and she wasn’t surprised. His younger brother had always been on Mia’s side and thought their separation was the worst thing to happen to Sam. So Mia had counted on his brother’s help to “surprise” Sam on this cruise.
“Mike? My own brother?”
She might have enjoyed the complete shock stamped on Sam’s features, if she wasn’t worried that this situation could start an open war between the brothers.
“Don’t fault him for it either,” Mia warned. “He was helping me out, not betraying you,”
“What did you think I’d do to him?” he demanded and she heard the insult in his voice.
“Who knows?” She threw both hands up. “Fly to Florida and toss him in the ocean? Keelhaul him? Throw him in a dungeon somewhere? Chain him to a wall?”
His eyes went wide and he choked out a laugh. “I live in a penthouse condo, remember? Sadly, it doesn’t come equipped with a dungeon.”
Oh, she remembered the condo. Spectacular with an amazing view of the ocean through a wall of glass. And she remembered spending too much time alone in that luxurious, spacious place, because her husband had chosen to bury himself at work.
Okay, that worked to stiffen her spine.
“Fine,” she said. “Then we’re agreed. You don’t give Mike grief.”
“Or a Christmas bonus,” he muttered.
“He’s your partner, not your employee.” Shaking her head, Mia snapped, “You’re going to give him a hard time anyway, aren’t you?”
“I was kidding.”
“Were you?” she asked.
“Mostly. You know what? Forget about Mike.” Sam looked her square in the eye and asked, “Why are you here, Mia? And why’d you bring your family with you?”
She had needed the support because frankly, she didn’t trust herself around Sam. One look at him and her body overrode her mind. She had to be strong and wasn’t sure she could do it on her own. Still, she wasn’t going to tell him that.
“They wanted to take a cruise and I needed to be here to talk to you, so we all went together.”
“Sure. Happy coincidence. And why did you need to see me?”
“That’s going to be a longer conversation.”
“Does it include why you picked our anniversary to ambush me on a cruise ship?”
She could have kicked her twin. Maya wishing him a Happy Anniversary had been exactly the wrong thing to say. Mia loved that her family was so protective of her—and so really furious with Sam. But this was her life and she’d handle it her way. And reminding Sam about their anniversary, as if she were upset about it, wasn’t her way. Of course, she was shaken by the fact that she was here to talk divorce with her husband on their first anniversary, but that didn’t matter really, did it? Their marriage had ended months ago. What was happening now was just a formality.
And if he’d forgotten their anniversary, then Maya had just reminded him and that was infuriating, too. How could he forget? Was their all-too-brief marriage really that un-memorable? Was she? God knew, she’d forgotten nothing about her time with Sam.
Heck, just remembering the nights spent in his arms made her heart beat faster and her blood heat up until she felt like she had a fever. It was so hard to be this close to him and not lean in to kiss him. Touch his cheek. Smooth his hair back from his forehead. She muffled a sigh.
And all of this would have been much easier to handle if he didn’t look so good.
From the first moment they’d met, on one of his cruise ships, Mia had been drawn to him. It had felt then like an electrical attraction and it seemed that nothing had changed there. His pale blue eyes still looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world. His mouth still made her want to nibble at his bottom lip. And she knew firsthand what it was like to have those strong, muscular arms wrapped around her and oh boy, she’d love to feel that again—even knowing it would be a huge mistake.
She could be in serious trouble.
“Are you okay?”
His question snapped her brain out of a really lovely fantasy and for that she was grateful. Sort of.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked up and down the corridor before turning her gaze back to his. “I didn’t choose to find you on our anniversary. It just worked out that way. And like I said, we need to talk and I don’t think
