Love a Sailor Read Online Free Page B

prove a
godsend because I have to concentrate so hard on keeping my balance in the
rocking corridor that my butterflies fold their wings and decamp. I hold on
tightly to the balustrade of the wide sweeping staircase in the six-story high
atrium and make my way with great care down to the number one Grill Room, the classiest
restaurant on the ship. Earlier on today, the captain sent me a message of
confirmation via one of his junior officers to tell me where to meet him. It’s
lucky he did because the Albion really is the floating city of the
brochures, larger than any shopping mall I’ve ever been in. I reach the last
step and see before me the wide swing doors leading into the Grill Room. Twenty
steps or so and I’ll be there. I’m only a few paces away from entering a world
of which I know nothing. A world in which there is a man I now realize I fancy
like hell, and who just may fancy me back, but I’m not sure of that yet.
    I take a couple of steps swaying a little
on my high heels. At that moment the ship rolls to the side. I teeter and
nearly lose my balance. That does it. I’m not going to hang around making a
fool of myself. Who needs this? Do I really want to get involved with an older man
on a luxury cruise? For heaven’s sake, everyone knows these cruises are famous
for short flings, the proverbial shipboard romance.
    I’m not psychologically strong enough to
be starting out on a venture where there is no hope of a happy ending. I take
off my shoes, turn tail and flee back up the stairway to the safety of Kate’s
cabin as fast as I can.

4 – Dinner
    Kateis not amused . She calls me a Cowardy Custard and mocks me for lacking guts. She reminds me
that her motto in life is “No risk, no gain”. She pooh-poohs the excuse I
offer: that I can’t wear high heels in a storm.
    Jumping out of bed with a heavy sigh, she
staggers over to my wardrobe and pulls out a pair of soft black ballerinas.
“Here, put these on and get back out there. Go and slay the dragon and don’t
come back before midnight, or I will turn you into a pumpkin.”
    Scared as I am, I’m glad of Kate’s
bullying — how can I not make a second attempt when she pushes me out of the
door, giving me a hefty whack on the butt? “Go get ‘em cowgirl!” Anyone who can
muddle up as many fairy tales as Kate deserves to be heeded.
    I run down the stairs this time, the flat
pumps making it much easier to keep my balance, and my haste leaves little room
for introspection and fear. This time I do not pause. I sweep straight into the
Grill Room, almost bumping into the ma ître d’.
    The Captain must have primed him to look
out for me because he asks, “Miss Roxley?” And when I nod he beckons me to
follow him. As I expected the Captain’s Table is right at the far end of the
room and I have to walk up the whole length to reach it. Giving a nervous look
to each side, I see that there are only a handful of passengers brave enough to
face the Michelin five-star cuisine of the Maynard line tonight.
    The Captain is talking to the man seated
next him and the long approach gives me time to compare the reality with my
memory of him from this morning. If anything he is even more attractive than I
remember. His companion nudges him and the Captain flicks his eyes my way. A
slow smile spreads across his face as he appraises me. It reaches up to his
eyes and sets them a-sparkle. He likes what he sees.
    He stands up to greet me. I like what I
see. Well-built and tall, he looks good in his evening blue serge. The Eton
jacket, stopping short as it does at the waist, delineates his narrow hips,
highlights his taut buttocks and emphasizes the length of his legs. I halt and
stare back. It’s there again, that strange contact, that supersonic zing.
Everything goes silent. The room with all its rich furnishings trembles and
spins round us creating a vortex. We stand at the center, frozen in a moment of
time and space, insulated from the rest of the world. We could