She found a table near the railing surrounding the outdoor cafΓ© and sat looking across the boardwalk at the giant white ship tethered there. She'd spent the last three days on the boring behemoth because all their ports save this last one, Key West, had been surrounded by bad weather. Her tiny interior room was claustrophobic and the one piano bar she found comfortable was on the smoking side of the ship (she found herself having to move frequently as chimneys came and went at surrounding tables to avoid the stinking cigarettes and cigars). They were only in port for a few hours and she would be a lonely prisoner on the ship once more.
She had walked the decks a single on a boat full of families and honeymooners. She'd taken the cruise as a reward for getting her bills paid in full and her credit ready to start looking for a house. She loved the sea and thought it would be a good place to meet people. Visions of "An Affair to Remember" had danced in her head, but with only one night left, no pink champagne and no Cary Grant.
She put the coming final night of the cruise from hell out of her mind and pulled her eyes back to the people around her. One of her favorite pastimes was people watching. There had been rain all morning making early sightseeing out of the question and now that it had stopped everyone had found other things to do on the ship so there weren't many people milling about, but she looked regardless. It was still a little chilly and the blue umbrellas on the tables were up optimistically to shield patrons from the sun if it ever came out. She looked at the twos and threes bent over tourist maps deciding where to go in the small amount of time, arguments erupted, kids were corralled. She was on the outside looking in again - a familiar feeling.
She sighed and rolled her eyes knowing she should be making the best of the situation. At least she wasn't at home having to cook, clean, and go to her job every day. She lifted her coffee to her lips as she continued to scan the vacationers around her. The cup didn't make it to its destination. She froze when her eyes locked onto salvation leaning against the wall just beyond the railing.
He was tall, but not too tall with the lean muscular build of a surfer. He was tan with carelessly tousled dark hair and a scruffy shadow over his chiseled jaw. He was dressed casually and looked perfectly at ease as only a local could look. His eyes were another story. They weren't careless or casual. The deep green was as stormy as the sea she'd spent the last three days skirting around. He looked hungry and dangerous.
He turned his full attention to her and she felt an answering hunger deep in her belly. He stood straight from the wall and walked toward her never breaking eye contact. By the time he was standing beside her table, she was panting in anticipation. He reached out a hand and she took it eagerly without a word then followed him around the back of the nearby hotel and down an alleyway.
He turned another corner pulling her behind him between a bar and a shabby apartment building. Stepping down two steps into a doorway, they were shielded from the streets at the ends of the alley by balconies on either side just even with their heads. They didn't go inside, but instead he pinned her against the rough ancient brick with his body and his lips.