enough with my spur-of-the-moment presentation?”
Mike shrugged. “Hard to say for sure until I’ve seen it, but I trust your judgment.”
Lauren thought that of all the personal comments he had made that evening, she liked this last one best.
An hour later she was standing at Mike’s shoulder. He had a large pile of chips in front of him and an admiring group around him who were trying to follow his lead. He turned to her. “Bored? I am. Can’t I persuade you to try your luck?”
Lauren smiled up at him. “If you’re willing to be seen in my company there, I’d like to try the slot machines.”
“Big spender,” he mocked, but he cashed in his chips and went with her to the double row of one-armed bandits. He handed her a plastic cup full of quarters. “Live a little!”
Chuckling, Lauren began to play the slot machine. Her first few tries were failures, then she got ten quarters at once.
Mike sighed elaborately. “I suppose that means we’ll be here all night.”
Her next two tries netted nothing. And then she pulled the handle, discs whirled, colors flashed, and a spate of quarters came clanging out.
“Jackpot!” Lauren crowed. She counted and found she’d won fifty dollars.
“Now what? Craps?” Mike teased.
“Now we get out of here,” Lauren said. “When I make a profit like this, I don’t throw it away.”
“Just a miser at heart,” Mike grumbled.
“Oh, I’m planning to pay you back what you staked me,” Lauren said loftily. “Twenty quarters?” She insisted on handing them over one by one, hoping to embarrass her cocky host in front of a few grinning players. While she was packing the rest of her winnings into her handbag, Lauren glanced along the row of machines toward the casino tables. Herbert was standing at one table, his arm around a slender redhead in a sequined dress. The girl couldn’t have been out of her teens, in spite of the dress and heavy makeup. And standing behind the stool of a silver-haired man at the blackjack table, both hands on his shoulders, was Dani. She too seemed to be watching Herbert. Lauren didn’t try to catch her attention.
Mike walked Lauren toward her section of the ship. He halted near one of the doors leading out on deck. “It’s a beautiful night,” he said softly. “Why don’t we walk a little, to calm down your wild elation over your win?”
Lauren knew she didn’t want the evening to end. It was good to be in the company of an attractive man, a man who seemed to be enjoying her as much as she enjoyed him.
“I’d like that,” she said, and put her hand in the crook of the arm he offered. Under the smooth cloth of his jacket, she could feel his warm flesh, his hard muscles, and she thought of the bronzed body she’d first seen at the swimming pool.
It was beautiful on deck. The moon had gone down, but the warm darkness was filled with stars, both in the sky and reflected on the mirror-smooth sea. There were few people taking advantage of the deck, however. Most of the die-hards were probably in one or other of the nightclubs.
Mike leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Would you care to dance? We could go in—”
“Oh, no. This is perfect.” Lauren said.
He made no comment, either romantic or sarcastic. He merely held her arm a little closer to his side and continued their stroll. After they had walked for a while, they moved to stand by the rail. Watching the silver-white foam churned up by the propellers, they became conscious of music filling the air. It was a waltz. Mike turned as though it were the most natural thing in the world and held out his arms to Lauren. She moved into them with equal unselfconsciousness. They danced dreamily over the deck, keeping within a small area, bodies controlled by the melody.
The music stopped. There was a sound of distant clapping.
“That was the home waltz,” Mike said softly. He still kept her in his arms. He bent his head to her face. Lauren lifted her lips.
Loud voices impinged upon the magic serenity of the moment. Mike lifted his head with a low groan of disgust. “ ‘And only man is vile,’ ” he quoted.
“I’m glad you’re not a chauvinist,” Lauren said unsteadily. One of those loud voices is definitely a woman’s.”
His teeth flashed in a grin as he turned to survey the loud-mouthed intruders, now advancing along the deck toward them.
“It’s