It was interesting, the way it all worked. Usually, the crew would be behind the scenes, making and serving dinner and then disappearing below deck to have their own meals. But tonight, Mr. Whitman had them all seated together as equals. I found it admirable that he would do that for his crew.
Still, the dinner had to be made and served, so the crew ate and drank and enjoyed dinner as much as they were up and down from the table, taking care of the next course or, in the stews’ cases, picking up plates and serving the next.
Mr. Whitman sat at the head of the table, directly to my right, with only Joel sitting between us. He was as charming as his crew, filling the hours of dinner with stories from his own travels and experiences on boats. He took a small amount of time to go over what he expected from his crew on this trip, where they’d be going, what kind of guests would be joining from time to time — which Joel informed me was rare. Apparently, it was usually the captain who would cover all of that.
Still, for the most part, Mr. Whitman sat back and ate his food and drank his scotch quietly, smiling as he listened to the crew.
More than once, I felt the heat of his gaze on me.
Fortunately, I’d learned my lesson from earlier. Unless he was speaking, I didn’t dare cast so much as a glance in Mr. Whitman’s direction. I kept my focus on Joel, or whoever was speaking, or my food.
Not much longer now, and I’ll be out of here…
Dessert was served, and I was already feeling lighter, more jubilant at the fact that I had nearly escaped dinner unscathed. But then, after a loud roar of laughter from a story Joel had told, Mr. Whitman dipped his spoon into the crème brûlée and asked, “And what about you, Miss Dawn?”
I paused mid-bite, a spoonful of creme and caramelized sugar floating in the air as my cheeks instantly flushed. Every head at the table had turned, all eyes focused on me, and I wanted to shrivel up and die on the spot.
I cleared my throat, putting the spoon back in the dainty dessert dish to save myself from dropping it on the table. “What about me, Mr. Whitman?”
“Please, it’s Theo,” he said with a smile. Then, those chromatic eyes caught a glimmer of the chandelier as they stared at me so unapologetically it unnerved me in every way. “What will you do this summer, while Joel is onboard with us?”
Joel squeezed my knee under the table encouragingly. He knew how uncomfortable it made me to have the attention on me like that, but the way he smiled at me told me it was important to him that I make a good impression.
I managed a shaky smile. “Well, I’m going to do some traveling of my own, actually. Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands… I’m not exactly sure where I’ll end up yet, honestly — depends on where I can find work. But I want to travel and see new cultures.” I paused. “Mostly through the lens of my camera.”
There was something murmured down the table, and a few soft giggles had my neck heating. I picked up my spoon again, hoping the moment was over, but Theo only grabbed his scotch and leaned in closer.
“You’re good,” he said, and that had everyone’s heads swiveling again. “The photos you showed me today… they were stunning.”
I shook my head. “I was just playing around, killing some time. The lighting wasn’t the best…”
“You don’t have to be modest, Miss Dawn,” he said, and the way he stared at me made it impossible to look away.
Joel squeezed my knee. “I tell her that all the time,” he said to Theo. “Every picture she takes is amazing, but in her eyes, they’re never good enough.”
Theo chuckled. “Sounds like true entrepreneurial spirit.” He sipped from his glass, his eyes on me again. “You said you’ll be finding work? Do you mean internships?”
“Oh, no,” I said hurriedly, shaking my head. “I just mean house sitting or pet sitting, working on grape harvests or picking up a nanny gig, whatever I can to have a place to stay and not go through my savings too soon. I’ve already found a place to pet sit in Valence, which will be my next stop after I leave Barcelona.”
Theo smiled, and there was something in his eyes I couldn’t quite place… something like curiosity, or amusement, or respect. I tried to figure out which it was, but he looked away too quickly, diving into his dessert again. And when he did, the conversation shifted, one of the stewardesses taking over. It was the same one from earlier, the one who didn’t seem thrilled that I was coming to the crew dinner. I learned that her name was Ivy, and that she and Joel had worked together the past two summers. In fact, she was the reason Joel was selected for this job. Apparently, her uncle did business with Theo.
She was beautiful, and charming, and sweet and kind.
And now, she was the center of attention again.
I blew out a breath of gratitude and went back to eating my dessert quietly, but then Theo interrupted, dropping his spoon suddenly before folding his hands together in front of him, elbows on the table.
“You should come with us.”
The silence of the table was deafening in that moment, and I had a mouthful of crème brûlée as I glanced around the table, wondering who he was talking to.
His eyes were hard on me.
“It makes sense, after all. You want to travel, to take photographs all over Europe, and while we won’t be going inland to some of the countries you mentioned, we’ll be cruising along some of the most beautiful and interesting places in the world. And you wouldn’t need to stay
