Alejandro squeezed her shoulders. “We won’t need a multitiered cake for those of us at our table, but I’ll ask him to bake something very special for us.”
“You know the chef?” Linda Suarez inquired.
Alejandro had given away too much, and Ana quickly covered for him. “He takes special requests, doesn’t he, Captain?”
“For you, Ana, I’m sure he will.”
Now that she could see the captain clearly, she had to agree with her husband that the intimacy of his glance went well past friendliness. That he’d flirt with her with Alejandro seated beside her was jarring, but she’d not flirt back. Ever. Memo, the dentist, appeared to be focused on her too. She had beautiful teeth, but doubted her smile had caught his interest.
When they returned to their cabin after dinner, she hopped out of the wheelchair on her own, but nearly fell into one of the cabin’s comfortably padded armchairs. “You were right about the captain. He is flirting with me. Must we dine at his table every night?”
“It’s an honor to be seated with him.” Alejandro pulled off his tie and wound it around his hand. “I expected everyone to recognize you, and when they didn’t, maybe I should have kept quiet about who you are.”
“Someone on board
would soon recognize me, if they haven’t already. It’s your identity you want to hide.”
“Do you think I should have welcomed everyone on board? ‘Hello, my family owns the Mediterranean Siren. Please come to me if there’s anything you need.’” He removed his white jacket and hung it in the closet. “They’d be after me for extra rolls of toilet paper before we left the dock.”
Ana laughed before she realized he was serious. “I’m sorry. If the cruise is going to be too difficult for you, we shouldn’t have come.”
“You needed somewhere to rest and heal, and the man who tried to get into your room at L’Esperanza can’t bother us here.”
“Whoever was backing Jaime Campos could afford this cruise—but we weren’t going to talk about murder.”
“No, we weren’t, and I checked for new passengers. The Siren was fully booked more than a month ago. Maybe he was just a burly paparazzo, not anyone wishing you any real harm.”
“Let’s hope so. A photo of me looking all bedraggled in a hospital bed would be worth quite a bit. The paparazzi don’t believe celebrities deserve any right to privacy. Let’s forget about them. It’s such a beautiful night. Do we have to do anything other than watch the moonlight glisten on the water?”
He cocked a brow. “There’s a great many things we could do. There are bars with live music, a lavish musical show, as well as a small theater where talented casts perform popular plays. There are first-run movies, and an ice cream parlor where we could sample all the flavors—or I could handle tonight’s entertainment.”
Ana couldn’t hide a wide yawn. “You sound like the most fun. Could we begin working our way through the rest of the list tomorrow?”
“Of course, but please tell me when you’re tired.” He helped her stand and hop into the bathroom. She had just pulled the door closed when she opened it again.
“What about the crew? Was anyone hired in the last week?”
He swore under his breath. “I’m sorry, I should have thought of the crew. I’ll ask the captain as soon as you’re safely in bed.”
“I hope I won’t be all that safe,” she replied in a husky whisper, promising a great deal more than pleasant slumber.
“Probably not, but I want you to have a memorable voyage.”
“It already is.” She leaned out to kiss him before closing the door.
Alejandro found Captain Reyes on the bridge and stood for a long while just enjoying the incredible view. “This is my favorite place on the ship.”
“Mine too. Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Vasquez?”
He hated to ask him for anything. “A photographer Ana worked with was murdered. The police questioned her, and someone may believe she knows more than she actually does. A man tried to enter her hospital room, and he could have followed her here. He was a big, muscular man. Have you hired any men for the crew in the last week?”
Gabriel scanned the multiple computer displays. “There are new members to the crew every time we sail, but no one was hired that recently. I don’t recall any muscular men either. The chef hired a woman who looks as though she could handle herself in a fight, but the gender’s wrong.” He pointed to the computers tracking the weather. “We’ll be crossing through a storm by tomorrow night. It will keep people off the decks and out of the pools, but we’ll keep everyone entertained.”
“I’m sure you will. One other thing—I want to register our wedding ceremony on Sunday as a legal marriage.”
The captain turned his back to the other men on the bridge and lowered his voice. “Aren’t you and Ana already married?”
“We may get married a dozen times, but because Ana can’t recall the first time, I want to register this one too. Bill me for whatever you usually charge for a wedding.”