“Are you sure about this?” Zoe asked as she continued to rub his back while he stood there, holding onto the railing as he struggled not to lose his Gatorade breakfast.
“Yes!” he bit out, glaring at the gangplank with a determination that most of the people rushing past them found a little frightening, but he didn’t give a damn.
He was getting off this damn boat today, going to the medical center and getting the medication that his uncle called in for him so that he could fix this damn honeymoon. Taking a slow, deep breath, he forced his feet to work and take him past the gawking tourists, concerned cruise employees and made his way to the line of taxis, keeping his wife’s hand firmly in his.
“Maybe we should look into getting a hotel room and see about getting a flight home?” Zoe suggested, shooting him another worried glance while they made their way slowly to the taxi stationed in front of the wharf.
“No,” he said firmly, determined to fix this honeymoon even if it killed him and judging by the way this honeymoon had been going so far, it damn well might just do that.
“It’s fine if you want to go home,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile, letting him know that she meant it.
For a moment, he considered giving in and saying the hell with it just so that he would never have to set foot on that ship again, but he just couldn’t force the words from his mouth when he knew that it would mean taking away the first vacation that Zoe had ever had. She deserved this vacation and he was going to do everything within his power to make sure that she always remembered it and not because he hadn’t been able to leave the fetal position for the last two days.
“Where are we going?” she asked as she joined him in the cab that had damn well better take them where he could get this fixed.
“To pick up something that my uncle had shipped over,” he said, praying that his uncle had been able to pull this off, because otherwise he was going to have to spend the next week curled up on the floor of their suite, dying a slow, painful death.
Since that wouldn’t help him romance his wife, he was going to have to do something about it now while he had the chance.
*-*-*-*
“How are you feeling?” Zoe asked, still unable to believe the change in him.
“Great,” he said with a smile as he settled back on the lounger and released a loud satisfied sigh that let her know that he was feeling a hundred times better, but it was the fact that they’d just spent the last five hours in the buffet that let her know that Trevor was over the terrifying sea sickness that had once kept him hostage in their room.
“Good,” she mumbled, giving up on trying to force a smile since he had his eyes closed and couldn’t see her anyway and glanced around the large deck, noting all the women, and a few men, who just couldn’t seem to take their eyes off her husband.
Not that she could blame them, she thought with a wistful sigh as she stole a glance towards her husband and-
“Umm, why exactly are you shoving pharmaceutical bottles in my face?” she felt obligated to ask as she sat back just far enough so that she could grab the brown bottle that he insisted on giving her out of her face.
“It’s not a pharmaceutical bottle,” he grumbled, sounding oddly content as he laid there in the sun, getting his already tanned, perfectly defined muscles even tanner, which she had to admit, did make her want to lick her lips in appreciation.
“Are you going to rub some of that on me or what?” he asked around a small yawn as he rolled back over onto his stomach and laid his head on his folded arms as he waited for her to commence with the rubbing.
“What exactly is this?” she asked, lowering her sunglasses on her nose so that she could squint down at the bottle in her hands.
It was a bottle of sunblock, the sport kind that guaranteed coverage for up to four hours, which actually had her shoulders sagging in defeat and fighting back the real urge to cry. She hadn’t slept much in the last couple of days because she’d been too busy either shoving food in her mouth in a desperate attempt to appease the Bradfords that she was carrying or taking care of the one currently giving his body a little wiggle to remind her that he required someone to rub sunscreen on him when all she wanted to do was go back to their room and sleep. She’d planned on getting a little nap on the beach today since this was the first dock day, but her husband apparently had other plans that had taken them all over the island, hanging out in a waiting room that was kept at a crisp thirty below zero, then promptly dragged her to the other side of the island so that he could fill several prescriptions before she was dragged back to the ship where Trevor slapped on a seasickness patch that his uncle had prescribed him and proceeded to check to see if the medication worked.
It did, but just to make sure that it wasn’t a fluke, they’d spent five hours in the buffet room so that he could try everything at least a dozen times before declaring with that incredibly sexy smile of his that they were going to start their honeymoon the right way, tonight. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t interested in started their honeymoon. What she was interested in was the queen-sized bed waiting for her back in their room.
“Trevor, I-”
“Start on my legs?” he suggested, cutting her off and making her sigh heavily, mostly because she was starting to get a little cranky.
“Fine,” she muttered unhappily as she shook the bottle, flicked the top open and turned it over to squeeze some in her hand when she noticed the hot platinum blonde with medically enhanced assets standing over them, running her eyes hungrily over Trevor even as she shot him a knowing smile, letting Zoe know that the blonde had set her sights on Trevor.
Normally, she might have explained to the woman that he was married, screwed with the blonde’s head for her own enjoyment, but today all she wanted to do was go curl up in bed and go sleep for the next twelve or so hours. Knowing that she had no other choice in the matter, she did what she had to do.
She held up the bottle to the blonde and with a tilt of her head gestured towards Trevor, who looked close to falling asleep as he waited for his sunscreen body massage.
With a coy smile, the blonde accepted the bottle and Zoe made her escape, too exhausted to care that she’d just given an incredibly hot woman the right to run her hands over her husband, Zoe got to her feet, yawned and somehow managed to make it to her room where she promptly passed out just as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Chapter 8
“Zoe?” he said, glaring down at the small woman curled up on the bed, hugging his pillow and looking absolutely exhausted, he realized with a frown. He tossed the half empty bottle of sunscreen on the couch and was about to sit down on the bed next to her when he remembered the half-gallon of sunscreen coating his back and remained on his feet.
“Baby?”
Nothing.
“The ship’s sinking,” he said gently, leaning over to brush a few strands of hair out of her face, making sure to move his arm out the way before she could swat at him as she grumbled angrily in her sleep.
Sighing heavily, because he had no idea what else he should do, he straightened as he looked down at his beautiful wife before he glanced over at the alarm clock and couldn’t help but sigh again as he looked back down at his wife. It looked like they weren’t going to be able to have that romantic stroll around the ship before dinner like he’d planned.
Well, that was fine, he decided as he grabbed a pair of boxers and headed for the shower, re-adjusting his plans for the rest of the night to accommodate her nap. By the time that he’d finished his shower and was sure that he no longer smelled like he’d bathed in a gallon of sunscreen, he’d readjusted his plans for the night.
They’d still have a romantic night. He’d make damn sure of it. They’d just have to start their romantic evening a little later than he would have liked, but that’s okay, because he would make it work in his favor. If they got dressed now they’d still have time for a short romantic stroll around the deck before they made it to the restaurant in time for the reservations that he’d made once he’d determined that he wasn’t going to die on this ship.
After dinner he’d take her for another stroll, stop by the top deck where he was told there would be soft light and romantic music. He planned on holding her in his arms until the moment was right. Then he would pull out the necklace that he’d bought for her