say that makes what I do an ideal job. I enjoy going to work each day. I bet you feel the same way about what you do,” she added.
“You’re right, I do. Hard to balance work and life sometimes, though.”
“But there’s more to life than work,” she said.
Which was a perfect lead-in for the question he wanted to ask. “Like fun, friends...boyfriends. Why aren’t you on this cruise with a boyfriend?”
“I could ask you the same question,” she said.
“I like girls.”
“So where’s yours?” She focused on shuffling the cards.
“Before this cruise I’d have said I haven’t found her yet.”
Her cheeks turned pink and she kept her eyes on the cards as she dealt them. “Okay, up to thirteen and kings are wild. This is your last chance.”
“I hope not.”
That sent the blush all the way down her neck. He knew she was attracted to him. He could feel the electricity thrumming between them.
But he could also tell she wasn’t ready to plug into it yet. Okay, he could be patient.
Being patient sucked, he decided later as he wrapped her ankle so they could go to the lounge before dinner. He wanted Sophie Miles, and he was beginning to suspect that he might even want her for keeps.
8
By Sunday evening Sophie’s ankle was feeling better and, with it wrapped, she was sure she could manage to walk to the lounge after dinner for the promised evening music trivia game. By the time she’d taken more ibuprofen and limped into the lounge, leaning on Trevor’s arm, Sierra following behind, the seats around Rudy were taken. His daughter was on one side and Catherine sat on the other. Denise was there with her friend Charlie and another man. Even the neighboring seats were occupied by two couples. Denise saw them and waved.
Frustrating. Was the universe trying to tell Sophie something? They found three seats around a coffee table and Trevor was quick to prop her foot on the table with a sofa pillow under it. He was sweet and considerate. Why, oh, why couldn’t he have been a doctor? That would have made him perfect.
There was one seat free in their conversation area, and the man with glasses who’d been shepherding the students around slid in and took it. He looked a lot like Trevor.
No wonder. “This is my brother, Kurt,” Trevor said, and introduced Sophie and Sierra. “You okay to leave the children for a while?” he asked Kurt.
“Yep. They’re all stuffed from dinner and happy.”
Kurt looked over to where the students sat in two groups, spread along the windows on the opposite side of the lounge. Sophie followed his gaze and saw that the girl who’d been on hand to make unwanted comments when she’d fallen was looking in their direction and frowning. Prime seats in the lounge were, obviously, hard to find.
“Harriet was asking where you were at dinner,” Kurt said to his brother.
Trevor kept his gaze averted from the other side of the lounge. “That’s nice.”
“You’re breaking her heart,” Kurt teased.
“For five minutes. She’ll recover.”
Kurt chuckled. Then he said to the sisters, “So, ladies, tell me a little about yourselves.”
“Not much to tell,” Sierra said. “We’re from Seattle.”
“Love Seattle, especially Fremont,” said Kurt. “The troll under the Aurora Bridge is the best.”
“Portland’s pretty cool, too, though,” put in Trevor. “We’ve got Voodoo Doughnut and Powell’s, best bookstore in the country.”
“We’ve been to Powell’s,” Sophie told him. “It is incredible. I’ve never been to Voodoo Doughnut, though.”
“Come down and I’ll take you,” Trevor promised.
“Lots of stuff to do in Portland,” Kurt said. “I even hear there’s a chocolate company there you can tour. What the heck’s the name of that place?” He grinned at Trevor. It was plain to see he was proud of his brother’s accomplishment.
“I bet we can guess,” Sophie said, and held up the latest chocolate offering from Trevor.
“Is he bribing you to hang out with him?” joked Kurt.
“No bribes necessary,” Sophie said. Trevor was ridiculously easy to like.
Elsa had a mike in hand now and was filling them in on the next day’s activities. “Tomorrow we will be offering you all shore excursions to Cologne, where you will find many lovely Christmas markets to shop in. We offer you an optional excursion that will take you to the top of Cologne’s astonishing cathedral with a local guide. Or you may wish to join the buses that will give you a tour of the city. You may visit the Old Town with all its attractions. Then, later