Kissing Kendall

"I'll tell you one more thing," Carter said, his tone harsh with barely restrained fury as his voice carried over from his

balcony to hers. "If you even think about crossing me, you'll regret it. I'll make sure of it. Remember what happened to Ricki? That was no accident."

The words were so cold, the intention so deadly, that hearing them was like having ice water spilled down her spine. Aubrey straightened in her chair so fast her feet hit the balcony floor with a thunk. Who in the hell is Ricki? What accident? Who is Carter threatening?

"What I'll do to you will be worse than you living your pitifully boring life can even imagine," he said, a dangerous rumble bringing an extra level of ferociousness to his words. "Even your dentist won't be able to identify the body—if they ever find it. Got that?"

Holy shit. Whatever was going on, it wasn't good. Not even close. The sound of Carter's footsteps as he walked out onto his balcony sent her pulse spiking for all of the don't-get-murdered-for-overhearing reasons. Getting up as quietly as possible, she held her breath and reached for the door, praying it wouldn't make any noise so she could escape without notice.

"Glad you finally understand, asshole," he said, punctuating the statement with an unhinged laugh. "Fuck. That's not it."

Her palms sweaty, Aubrey pulled on the handle to slide the door open and nearly groaned out loud when it got stuck about two inches shy of her being able to squeeze through.

"Glad you finally understand, asshole," Carter said with an unnerving friendliness before letting out a frustrated huff. "Nah."

Giving it her all, Aubrey shoved the door.

"Glad you finally understand, asshole," he yelled as something hard slammed up against the barrier between their balconies.

Aubrey yelped and sprinted inside her room, yanking the door shut, locking it, and closing the curtains tight enough that it looked like dusk in her room. With her back pressed against the wall she tried to get her panicked breathing under control. What in the hell had just happened? What kind of nasty, scary shit was Carter into?

The knock on the door connecting their rooms was just barely louder than the blood rushing in her ears.

"Aubrey," Carter said through the door. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I was just running some lines."

She let it a breath because that actually made more sense than Carter being the kind of guy to put a hit on someone. He did collect spoons from every place he shot a movie, like some sort of grandpa—albeit one with washboard abs and an ass made for bouncing quarters off of. And yeah, she only knew that because of her internet stalking. Come on, she needed a happy place that didn't involve bear claws.

"Open up." He tapped on the door again. "I'll show you the script."

"Isn't that just what a serial killer would say?" Of course, that line lost some punch since she said it while walking across her stateroom to the connecting door.

When she opened it, he was standing on the other side in—Lord, have mercy—long hung swim trunks and hotness.

He held up a tablet with a script on it. "Henrique isn't a serial killer, he's a man pushed beyond any ability to realize how far he's gone. He's broken."

Kinda like her brain right now. All of the signals it was sending were of the can-I-lick-you-right-there variety. Fuck. She was such an asshole—a totally horny, oh my God those piña coladas had been a bad idea asshole. A very good bad idea.

Keep it together, Aubrey. You are more than just a sensitive clit and hormones.

"You wanna run lines with me?" Carter asked. "If you don't have better things to do."

"Yes." How she managed to get the single word out without squealing she had no idea.

"Exactly." He shifted and the muscle twitch in his jaw went into overdrive. "You're here with your friends. Go have fun. Don't let me interfere with your plans."

Plans? What pla—

Jesus, Aubrey. Get it together,

She shook her head trying her best to focus on the man and not just the abs. "I mean, I don't have any plans right now and running lines sounds fun."

"Here." He held out the tablet to her. 'I have it memorized, you can use this."

She took the tablet, her fingers brushing his in the exchange, the small touch enough to make her catch her breath. Damn, girl, you’re on a singles cruise and you’ve got to go get laid before you throw yourself at this poor man.

Not sure where to look without ogling him, she took the safe route and focused on the screen as she walked into his room. "What page?"

"Just pick one with the yellow highlights." Carter rolled his shoulders, stretched his neck from side to side, and changed his posture on a breath. "All of those are the scenes with the hit woman."