to death before she even managed to hurl. And hurl she was going to, she just knew it.
She leaned on the railing and groaned. Maybe she shouldn’t have come on this cruise, after all. She hated the idea of being sick the whole time. She hated throwing up. It was such a nasty experience.
Dramamine tomorrow, she vowed. She’d take one first thing in the morning. If she survived until morning.
“You’re not going to jump, are you?”
She turned at the sound of the male voice behind her and saw a tall, beautiful specimen of manhood walking up to her. He wore jeans and a trendy-looking sport jacket with a maroon-colored sweater underneath it. He looked like he should be getting ready to pose for the cover of GQ.
In her current state of misery all she could think was, Who cares who he is?
She waved him away with a hand. “I’m seasick.”
He didn’t go away. Instead, he came and stood next to her. “Wow, you must get motion sickness just watching car chase scenes in movies.”
Actually, she had once. She held her head in her hands and shut her eyes so she couldn’t see the water swooshing alongside the boat. “I think I ate too much.”
“Easy to do. All that great food. Lucky for you, I happen to have the cure for seasickness with me.”
She turned and looked at him hopefully. “Dramamine?”
“Something better.” He took a small chocolate bar from his jacket pocket and tore off the outer wrapping.
“Chocolate?” At a time like this?
“Chocolate with candied ginger. Ginger is great for an upset stomach. And you know how good dark chocolate is for you. All those flavanols and polyphenols.” He unfolded the white inside paper around the bar, then held it out to her. “Try a bite. It will help.” When she hesitated, he added, “I promise.”
She did love chocolate. And she knew ginger was good for an upset stomach. When she was a little girl her mom used to make her ginger tea whenever her tummy was upset.
She took it, broke off a piece and put it in her mouth. The chocolate was smooth and sophisticated and the ginger added a sharp bite and brought back memories of herself stretched out on the living room sofa with a blanket and a pillow stuffed into one of her mother’s fancy embroidered pillowcases, her mom leaning over her with a pretty china mug.
“That is good,” she said to the man, and took another bite. To make sure she got enough ginger in her stomach. “Do you always carry chocolate bars with you?”
“You never know when someone may be having a chocolate emergency,” he said. He leaned against the railing and smiled at her. He had the kind of smile that could drop a woman’s panties at ten paces.
She took another bite. “This is really good.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty proud of that flavor.”
She studied him. “Wait a minute. Is this... Are you a chocolatier?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. My name’s Trevor March and I own a chocolate company.”
“That is seriously impressive,” she said, and took another bite.
She offered the last third to him and he shook his head. “You need it more than I do. Is it working?”
She didn’t feel so sick. “It appears so.” Chocolate wasn’t a cure for freezing to death, though. She should go below where it was warm.
She stayed put and tried not to shiver.
“Good,” he said.
“What’s the name of your chocolate company?” she asked.
“Cupid’s Chocolates.”
“Cupid’s Chocolates? Seriously? I just opened an account with your company. Sophie’s Helping Hand. We shop so you won’t drop.”
She gave up on the not-shivering thing. She really needed to get back inside before she caught pneumonia, but she hated to end her conversation with Trevor March. It wasn’t every day a woman met a great-looking guy who owned a chocolate company. If only he was a doctor.
“I think I saw an order come through from you a couple of weeks ago,” he said as he took off his jacket.
She nodded. “For a nonprofit fundraiser dinner dance. We placed your little truffle gift bags at each plate as party favors.”
“So you’re Sophie of the Helping Hand, then?” He draped his coat over her.
“Thanks. Yes, I’m Sophie Miles.” Now she was a little warmer but he was going to freeze. “We should get back down below before you catch pneumonia.”