The Companion Page 3

  She opened her sketch pad and drew, allowing her pencil to caress the paper to help her unwind. Her freelance job with The Edge—the leading graphic design company in New York—allowed her flexibility to create the mock-ups for her wall prints when she traveled. She drew the moon reflecting off the dark water.

  The wind whipped past her blowing her hair up, and she shivered. Even in the summer the air off the ocean dropped after sunset. Taking one more lap around the deck, she walked to her room to order room service and continue sketching. Her phone finished ringing as she stepped into her room. When the blinking light appeared, she checked her messages.

  Though she was ‘off-the-clock,’ companions called more frequently at the beginning of the cruises to ask late-night questions or address concerns about the next day. It didn’t bother her, and for that reason, she typically stayed close to her room or on her balcony during the first couple nights. But she’d been too antsy to stay on her personal veranda.

  A deep voice came on the message. A voice that went with stormy eyes. “Amanda. This is Derek. I am so sick. I’m desperate. I’ll even try your voodoo bracelets if they work. Call me. I can’t sleep when I’m sick.”

  Mandy took a slow breath through her nose, counted to ten, and released it through her mouth. She felt for him, and she had tried to be helpful at the dinner table, and he snubbed her. Now he seemed like a contrite puppy dog. Which was the real him? He wasn’t nice to her. She could always pretend she didn’t get the message until the morning, but as the thought niggled its way into her consciousness she dismissed it. Perhaps he would give her a break if she put forth a little good will.

  She called him back. He answered in one ring. “I got your message,” she said, cradling the phone against her ear as she fingered the bands in her other hand. There was a pause that stretched into a long enough silence, she wondered if he had fallen asleep. “Derek?”

  “I’m here,” he said then paused again. “Does your offer on the voodoo bracelets still stand?”

  “They’re called sea-bands. And yes, it does.”

  “Can you bring them to me?” He gave her his room number. His voice sounded weak.

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Mandy didn’t mean to stall on the way to his room, but room service came to drop off her snack plate when she opened the door to leave. She layered the cheese and grapes on top of the crackers and popped a few in her mouth. She snacked as she made her way to Derek’s room. His door had been propped open slightly with a small bar of soap. She knocked quietly on the door and heard a muffled, “Come in.”

  “I brought your bracelets,” she announced as she walked through the doorway. She put them on the nightstand table next to where Derek lay on top of his covers. He was paler than he’d been at dinner. “You look worse.”

  His low laugh resonated in the small space, as he fumbled with the small plastic container. “I feel worse. I can’t stand up straight without feeling sick.” He failed to open it with one hand and shifted to bring his other hand up. In the process he moved his head and then grabbed it in pain.

  Mandy took the container from his hand. “Allow me,” she said, opening the container and handing him the bracelets. The poor guy looked miserably out of it. “Aside from the nausea, do you have any other symptoms?” She held in a laugh as he tried to stretch the small bands around his wrists without luck.

  “Dizzy and lightheaded,” he said, struggling to fit them on. “How do these even work?”

  “The pressure on your wrists normalizes your body’s hyper awareness to your motion sickness. I’ll leave you the instructions, and you can read up on it when you feel better.”

  “Like this?” he asked, his fingers pushed at the bracelets, leaving them by his wrists.

  “Here let me adjust them for you.” She took his hand and moved the band down. “They need to be three finger lengths down from your wrist.” She bent his hand at the wrist, and then placed his other hand next to it, keeping his three fingers together.

  He watched her every move, and Mandy realized how close she was to him.

  She cleared her throat. “Your hands are much bigger than mine, so to be accurate you need to position them using your fingers, like this,” she said, nodding to what she was doing.

  He nodded but the movement caused him to wince.

  “You’ll feel some pressure where the knobs stick into your wrists, but it should take away your nausea within an hour or two.” She finished adjusting both bands and released his hands. Both were warm, and they left heat on her own hands. She glanced around, aware of how attractive he was. She needed a distraction. “Do you need some water?” She motioned to the half-eaten desserts on a tray at his desk. An unopened bottled water stood next to it.

  “Thanks, Mandy.” He shut his eyes as she grabbed the bottle and broke the seal. She handed him the bottle, and he sat up to drink before handing it back.

  Mandy tilted her head toward him.

  “What?”

  “You’re a little bit warm,” she said as she closed the water bottle and set it on the nightstand. “But you’re not hot, so it’s probably just a reaction to the motion sickness medicine you had before—”

  “You don’t think I’m hot?” His smile twisted slightly and when he moved his head he winced.

  She flushed. “Not what I meant. You’re not burning up, so it’s probably a related side effect and not another sickness.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Do I have you to thank for the dessert tray that arrived tonight?”

  Giving a half shrug she said, “Dessert was good. I didn’t want you to miss out.”

  “It’s a two-week cruise. I don’t think I’ll be missing out. But thank you.”

  “Would you like me to put it outside your door?”

  “Good plan.” His eyelids fluttered a little. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow and dripped onto his pillow. Maybe she’d been wrong to assume it was just a low-grade fever. She finished her own crackers and cheese and put the plate with the half-sampled desserts on the tray, outside his door. She opened the bathroom door and ran cold water over a washcloth, squeezing it out until it was only damp but still cold.

  She approached quietly. His breathing was steady but seemed faster than someone who slept soundly. He must have been exhausted to fall asleep so quickly. She put the back of her hand to his forehead, but he felt the same. She brushed his hair away from his forehead and put the washcloth across it. He didn’t seem to notice the coolness.

  “Call me if you need something,” she said. She reached into her purse for a sticky note and a pen, wrote a quick note, and attached it to the bathroom mirror before she left, closing the door soundlessly behind her.

  Derek’s world had stopped spinning. What seemed like violent rocking of the ship yesterday felt like a lulling today. His previously spinning head was able to focus, and when he walked, the walls stayed perpendicular to the floors again. A dry washcloth was on the floor. He picked it up only to throw it on the bathroom floor before showering. As he wiped the foggy mirror, he noticed a small pink square in the corner. It read, “Hope you feel better. - M”

  He lifted the note, reading the one line again. One side of his mouth curved upward. She hoped he felt better. It was because of her he did feel better. His anti-nausea medicine had never kicked in yesterday, and as he replaced the bands on his wrists he tried to push away the memory of her concerned face from last night. Her blue eyes captivated him, even in the midst of his spinning head.

  Grams and Mandy already had their food when he arrived at Giani’s for their sit-down breakfast.

  Grams spoke first. “We weren’t sure if you’d be joining us and didn’t want to call in case we woke you.”

  “Feeling better?” Mandy raised both her eyebrows.

  Derek held up both of his hands. The bands were still securely in place. “Much better. Thank you. Your bracelets worked.” He watched her fumble with her spoon, her cheeks pinking slightly as she dismissi
vely waved her hand at the compliment. “What are your plans today?” he asked Grams.

  Grams looked up from the paper schedule she studied as she drank her coffee. “A full day of fun. We’re going to do the water aerobics after breakfast and then, should we go to the origami towel folding class?” She turned to Mandy.

  Mandy swallowed her yogurt. “I’m game for whatever you’d like to do, Alice.”

  “I suppose I should change into my swimsuit then?” he asked.

  Mandy coughed. “You’re coming to water aerobics?” she asked, her eyebrows raised high.

  “Why not?” He hadn’t considered it too seriously. But he could tell she didn’t want him there.

  “No reason.” Mandy looked down and her face flushed.

  He could tell a guilty face from bad business deals. He knew it. She was trying to get something over on Grams the second he didn’t join them. He had to give it to Mandy. She played her scamming part well. Was she nervous he’d be sticking to them like glue? Maybe she was just annoyed? Either way he enjoyed throwing her off her groove.

  Just because she gave him bracelets and helped him recover from his motion sickness didn’t mean he was automatically going to trust her. He’d be accompanying Grams and Mandy on every activity they did together. He needed to figure out her angle.

  He joined them at the adult pool after changing into his swimsuit. Mandy’s bright coral swimsuit showed off her long legs. He was close enough to her to notice the light sprinkling of freckles across her nose and the dark lashes framing her light blue eyes. If he didn’t focus on the water aerobics he’d be mesmerized by her. She was beautiful.

  “This trip is about trying new things,” Grams said to Derek when they started the warmup. “You can’t discover new oceans unless you have the courage to leave the shore. Isn’t that right, Mandy?”

  “That’s how the saying goes.” She jumped up and down in the pool.

  Discovering new oceans. What was that supposed to mean? He couldn’t concentrate on anything except how ridiculous he felt in the pool. “How much longer is this class?” he muttered under his breath as he followed the instructor in the complicated moves.

  Mandy giggled. “You’ve survived the first five minutes. Only twenty-five to go.”

  He glared at her. “You think this is funny?” He huffed out the question with difficulty as he moved his arms while treading water, trying not to focus on Mandy and all of her curves.

  “That you’re ripped but you can’t keep up with your grandma jumping around in a pool for half an hour? It’s kind of funny.” Mandy and Grams paired up for the partner weights.

  “You make this look so easy.” He pushed the weight against the side of the pool trying to mimic the moves without a partner to stop the weight from floating away.

  Grams swapped Derek out for the next set of moves and Mandy pushed the weights to Derek. Within a few sets he got the hang of it. It was surprising how much smoother it was with a partner. “This isn’t so bad,” he said to them.

  The instructor realized that they were in a group of three, and partnered with Grams, leaving Mandy to partner with him. Mandy looked like she wished it had been him to go up to the front of the class instead of Grams.

  “She’ll be back,” he said, wishing he wasn’t as attracted to her as he felt. She’d helped him feel better, gave him her sea-bands, and written him a note. He shook his head, that didn’t mean she was thoughtful. Only that she was acting thoughtful. He scowled. He wouldn’t be taken in by a pretty face.

  After only a day Grams seemed to like Mandy, and that only made things worse. He couldn’t let Grams get attached to Mandy. He needed to be sure she was trustworthy. His assistant, Adam, was working on her background check right now. With any luck Derek would have an update on her before lunch.

  With Grams out of earshot, it was a good time to do his own digging, but Grams quoting Mandy had him curious. He pushed a water weight toward her and asked, “Your little saying about discovering new oceans—what’s it supposed to mean? I didn’t hear you talk about it this morning.”

  “Alice and I talked about it last night after you left. It means a lot of different things to different people.”

  Last night? When they were talking about Grams’ love life? “So, you’re trying to convince Grams to fall in love again?”

  Mandy arched an eyebrow. “She doesn’t need help to be convinced, only to follow her heart.”

  Meddling in Grams’ personal life was not Mandy’s place. He was getting off topic. He should be finding out about her.

  She continued, “In your case it’s probably just a thought to let go of your regular routine and enjoy your vacation.”

  He latched onto her words. “And what about you? Is it justification to enjoy your vacation?”

  Mandy barely spoke above a whisper. “This isn’t my vacation. This is Alice’s.”

  “So we’re in this pool right now because Grams wants to be here, and not because you wanted to attend this class?”

  “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but you don’t have to be here right now. I’ve got this covered. You can go do something else.”

  “I’m here to spend time with Grams,” he said defensively.

  She snorted. “Okay. Then we both have the same goal.”

  Their goals were not the same. The class ended and Derek kissed Grams and took off to change and check his e-mail. He needed to know what Adam had found and fast. Then he needed time alone with Grams and less time alone with Mandy and her fiery personality.

  Chapter Four

  After lunch Mandy took her two-hour break, while Alice went to a lecture about the ship with Derek. Mandy pushed down the emotion that felt something like jealousy. She wasn’t jealous of Derek, of all people. He’d worked most of the morning after the water aerobics class before lunch. Not that she cared. It was nice to have Alice all to herself. But seeing him smile smugly at her as he and Alice went together without her made her miss her own grandma more. She’d never felt lonely while being someone’s travel companion.

  Heat spread across her cheeks as she remembered Derek joining her and Alice in the water aerobics class. He didn’t get all of the moves right, but he’d given it a valiant effort and she’d have been blind not to notice his muscles.

  She pulled her hat brim low and settled into her lounge chair on the top deck. She generally spent most of her time sketching during her time off, but before she started she needed some sea breeze to clear her head.

  The sun beat down on her, and she sipped her lemonade. She pushed her foot flat on the chair, raising her legs. Relaxing time was over, and she needed to get to work. Pulling out her sketchbook, she rested it against her thigh. In less than a month, she would turn in a portfolio to apply for the lead graphic artist with The Edge—a premier graphic design company specializing in custom work where she did freelance work. With only two hours a day to work on it, she was on a tight schedule. If she didn’t make considerable progress, she’d be drawing during the late and early hours too.

  An hour later, she took off her hat and rolled her neck. She completed several sketches and mock-ups for The Edge’s Tropical Line. They were good enough she should send them in for a preliminary approval so she could create larger ones at home. The thought caught hold. She would be swamped with deadlines, but if she could show real progress, maybe the schedule wouldn’t overwhelm her.

  She took pictures of each new sketch, zooming in on the details of the larger tropical sketches.

  Once finished, she headed inside and skipped down the stairs to deck three to look for Spencer. He would be able to help her.

  Spencer looked up from his information desk. “Ah. Miss Jones. I was hoping I’d see you today. A social visit?”

  She smiled and slid her camera’s SD card toward him. She couldn’t upload anything to the ship’s computers without signing the waiver and letting them run virus scans through her material. She didn’t mind, much. “Always a social visit,�
� she said. “How are things?”

  He gave her a wan smile. “I’m working, same as you.” He took the card and put it into a reader, then gave her the customary paperwork.

  “You know, I wish I could just keep these forms on file, so I don’t have to fill them out every time.” She rolled her eyes playfully.

  He nodded and gave her an apologetic smile. “Wish it were easier that way too.” He clicked his mouse a few times and typed quickly on the keyboard. She handed him the completed form, and he filed them in a drawer. She tapped her nails across the edge of the glass top desk. He glanced at her then back to the screen.

  “All right, Miss Jones. You know the routine and you’re all set. This card reader is secure. It is checked out for you for this card. It must be returned to me today. You may upload your pictures and other files onto the ship’s computers. Your card will not come out of the reader until it is returned to me. Any other cards you would like to upload must first be checked out at this desk. Any questions?”

  She shook her head. He gave her the same speech multiple times each week when she was on this ship. She knew he had to follow protocol. He was required to explain. “Thanks, Spencer. You’re the best.”

  “Enjoy the rest of your day, Miss Jones.”

  Walking away from Spencer’s desk, Mandy headed toward the ship’s version of an internet café. She had just enough time to upload and send the pictures if there was an open computer. She walked into the bright space and surveyed the room. Every computer was occupied. She looked at the sign-in sheet. A few should be open soon. The clock above the front desk stared at her, continuing to tick her time away as she stared back at it.

  A tall man walked away from a computer, and Mandy looked hopefully toward the employee behind the desk. “Sign here,” he said to Mandy. She signed the release form and headed to the vacant computer, plugging in the reader before she sat down.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” a deep voice to her right said. She looked over, though she’d be crazy not to know the voice addressing her. Derek’s sideways glance felt like yesterday’s scrutinizing ones.