“And,” I say, “you were blown away by breathtaking magic.”
“Not to mention the psychic—though she forgot to pull the get-left-behind-on-an-island-with-no-passport card.”
“She can’t knoweverything, Felix.”
Now I’m thinking about the other card I didn’t pull.
The Empress.
The sweet drawing he made for me.
“Do you know what my favorite night was?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says.
“No you don’t!”
He looks me dead in the eyes.
“Of course I do. It was when we ordered room service, and then I ravished you.”
He’s right. It was not only my favorite night of the cruise, it was one of my favorite nights of my life.
“Actually,” I say, “I think it was the other way around. I ravishedyou.”
“Who can recall?” he says. “It happened so many times.”
He’s being playful, but he also has a gleam in his eyes.
It says:I still want you.
And my God, I want him too.
“What if we did that tonight,” I say softly.
He goes very serious. “Hope…” he says. “Is that wise?”
No. It’s not wise at all. But I want it anyway.
“We’re leaving tomorrow and probably won’t ever see each other again, right?” I say, putting all my cards on the table. “We’ve had a rocky go of it. It would be sweet to end on a high note.”
He’s silent for a long beat. And then he looks at me, his eyes hooded.
“Making love to you would definitely be a high note,” he says.
I try not to read too much into those words,making love to you. But the intensity in his gaze tells me he means them.
“Then let’s do that,” I say.
He looks at me even more gravely. “Yes. But first: room service. It’s tradition.”
“You order this time,” I say, trying not to give away how shaky I am. “If you leave me in charge we’ll definitely run out of Monopoly money.”
“Deal,” he says. He takes my hand and shakes it, and I feel his touch with my whole body.
I’ve missed it. I’ve missed him.
When we get back to the room, I take a long, sensuous bath, imagining the next few hours. It’s like foreplay.
