Chapter 1
Kendall Barnes realized she’d made a terrible mistake the second she saw the pseudo-orgy going on by the pool. Did it even count as an orgy if they still had their clothes on and the ship hadn’t left New York? She wasn’t sure, but her face flamed at the way the group of five—five?—people surged and rolled as they made out and ground on each other. She couldn’t be sure, but she was pretty sure that guy had his hand down that girl’s pants and—
She turned away.
This was wrong.
This was very, very wrong.
“Kendall, those people are—”
“I know,” she grabbed Grace and steered her away from the scene behind them. She’d known booking this cruise was a risk. Everyone knew cruises were a risk, what with so many people sandwiched in a relatively small space. But Kendall had been prepared to battle norovirus or seasickness or pirates. She was not prepared to deal with people getting to third base right there on the deck. They hadn’t even left port yet!
Their other three friends had already had their rooms assigned, but she and Grace were left to wander a little bit before theirs were ready. She looked around and finally landed on one of the cruise employees in their official-looking white uniform. “We’ll just report them.”
“Report them?”
She didn’t give Grace a chance to argue, towing her along and dodging people streaming onto the ship. The guy in white gave them a professional smile as they approached, his dark skin gleaming in the bright sunlight. “How can I help you?”
Kendall made a vague motion over her shoulder. “Those people…”
The man leaned a little and smiled. “They’re getting the party started early, it seems.”
“Party?” She cleared her throat, well aware that her skin had to be crimson at this point judging by the heat in her cheeks. “Don’t you think it’s a little inappropriate for them to be… fornicating… on the deck when this is supposed to be a nice relaxing cruise?”
His dark brows rose. “Ma’am, that is the least of what you’ll see over the next eight days on the party cruise.”
Did he just…
He did.
She didn’t realize she was tightening her grip on Grace’s arm until her friend grabbed Kendall’s wrist and forced her to let go. Kendall cleared her throat again, striving for calm that she could feel slipping through her fingers. “I’m sorry, I thought you said party cruise, but that can’t possibly be right because I booked a low-key relaxing cruise.”
His smile went sympathetic. “One of your friends put this together, right? They must have thought it would be a great surprise. That happens from time to time.”
She heard his words, but they still made no sense. Kendall didn’t make mistakes. When she put together the perfect plan to reconnect with her old college friends, she’d worked with a travel agent to organize it down to the smallest detail. She had very specifically not booked a party cruise. She was not the kind of person who booked a party cruise. If anyone, that was her little sister’s thing. In fact, she was pretty sure Marley went on one last year.
She shook her head. “There’s been a mistake.”
“Kendall.”
She turned to look at Grace. Her friend didn’t look like she was seconds from the panic attack Kendall could feel bubbling up in her chest. Grace’s dark eyes narrowed and she took Kendall’s shoulders. “Breathe.”
“I am breathing.”
“You’re two seconds from freaking out.”
She wasn’t wrong. Kendall closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing. Without the sight of the orgy-in-waiting, she could almost pretend they were on the right cruise. Almost. “We have to get off this boat.”
“Kendall, that’s impossible.”
She opened her eyes. “Nothing’s impossible. You just have to speak to the right people.”
Grace sighed. “Let’s walk through it logically. Even if we could get to the others in time and convince them to leave the ship, our trip is paid for. We’ve all taken this exact block of time off work. We’re here. The only thing that makes sense is to continue the vacation as planned.”
As planned. Two little words to underscore how thoroughly she’d messed up. Kendall wrapped her arms around herself and tried to ignore the pressure building in her chest. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. The whole trip is ruined.”
“The trip hasn’t even started yet,” Grace’s wry tone snapped her out of it.
What was she thinking? This couldn’t possibly be worse than any other disaster she’d successfully navigated. She just needed to find the right angle and drag the rest of them along with her. Yes, she couldn’t have possibly anticipated a party cruise in place of the nice sedate one planned, but she hadn’t anticipated that her boss would run off with the front desk manager last year, either. She’d handled that crisis, and she’d handle this one too.
Simple.
This time, when she inhaled, it didn’t snag in her chest. “You’re right.”