But now it only worsened my unsettled thoughts.
“What?” I prodded.
“I felt like you felt obligated to do so… like it was a task and not a natural occurrence.” Instantly, she backpedaled. “I’m sorry. It’s me.”
“It’s not you.” Placing my untouched coffee on the table beside hers, I dragged in a deep breath. The need to release the toxic secret I carried caused me to blurt out, “I might be bisexual.” It wasn’t disgust or even shock that crossed over her pretty features; it was compassion I saw in her dark-brown eyes. “You don’t look surprised.”
“No. More so enlightened, I guess.” My strained groan caused her to smile. “It makes sense,” she added with a shrug. “Now, at least.”
“What do you mean now?”
“When we were together, it wasn’t something I suspected, but it explains why I felt an emotional wedge even though we had a fantastic relationship.” I knew exactly what she meant. That wedge was what had me dragging my feet instead of jumping headfirst in love. “Why do you believe you are bisexual? Did something happen on the cruise?”
“You can say that.” I went on to explain what went down at my brother’s wedding. From sharing with my family that she and I had broken up to Ricky’s arrogance and snide comments. I told her of his cockiness that both pissed me off and inexplicably turned me on, of my pathetic attempt to escape him with booze, and how that had backfired when I kissed him on deck.
“I don’t think I ever saw you drunk.”
“Because you haven’t,” I admitted. “He checked on me that night, found me passed out, put me to bed, and even came back the next morning to be sure I was up in time for the wedding.” I nodded at the surprised raise of her eyebrows. “Yeah. Thank God he did. I would’ve slept right through the alarm.”
“That’s also not like you, Mr. Responsible.”
“No shit.”
As Ree considered what I had admitted, a small pucker formed on her forehead before she finally said, “One kiss doesn’t make you bisexual, Coop.”
“No, it doesn’t.” And though admitting all that out loud felt good, and a small sense of relief lessened the weight I had felt pressing on my chest for days, still I held back the one damning thing that I refused to admit even to myself. But not disclosing that truth now would enable it to continue to fester like an untreated virus, and I forced myself to add, “Not being able to get him off my mind and becoming aroused every time I thought of him would, though.” When Riana’s mouth gaped open in understanding, I shrugged. “Yeah… so now you know what’s been bothering me.”
Chapter Nine
Ricky
We were an hour away from the port after another successful journey. It was that time when melancholy hit as our guests packed up their belongings, filled with bittersweet emotions from having just enjoyed a memorable trip that sadly had come to an end.
While typing an email to our produce supplier, I sliced my gaze to where Rebecca relaxed in the chair facing me while rubbing her belly, feet propped up on my desk and a bowl of chips balanced on her bump. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you retired already.”
“Antonio’s napping. The departure table is set and ready. So now I’m on a break.”
“You’re always on break,” I countered. Her response was to lift a chip, hover it between us, and chomp into it with gusto.
I was teasing her. Whenever she and Marco did join us on a journey, she ran nonstop, making sure all details were perfect for each passenger. She also went into mommy mode each evening, insisting her nanny take time for herself. Marco had finally stopped arguing with her over that.
But now that she was nearing the end of her second trimester, I could see her slowing down a bit. My friend was taking some much-needed time off before the baby arrived and she once again became a full-time mom. Marco would also be stepping back to be with his family. I’d offered to take the brunt of the daily operations until we hired an executive staff to take over.
Marco and I both had plenty of money before we even began RMR. Just two years in, our profits had already set us up for life, adding frosting to our existing fortunes. Business was great, and we could all afford to take a break and not be so hands-on.
My money came from my father,