“She sure is,” Felix says.
“Well, enjoy your evening,” the man says with a wink.
“We certainly will,” Felix says with a wink back.
“Oh no,” I say once they pass us. “Now we have to be in a fake relationship every time we see them.”
“Tragic,” he says. “How will we convince them it’s real?”
“Maybe we could make out,” I suggest, because I have fully bought into my own narrative that it’s fine to throw caution to the wind on a cruise ship.
“What a compelling idea,” he murmurs.
He stops walking, pushes me gently against the wall, and kisses me.
It’s just a brush of the lips, but it is agoodbrush of the lips. A brush of the lips that portends additional pleasures to come.
Felix takes a deep breath. One that freely admits he felt it too.
“Was that all right?” he asks softly, smoothing a strand of hair off my cheek.
“No,” I say. “Apologize.”
“I’m sorry.”
And then he does it again.
And had the boat not shifted suddenly under our feet, I suspect he would have kept doing it. But I stagger on my heels, and he has to brace me to keep me from toppling over.
Which I like. But I’m worried this is going to get worse, and I’ve heard that motion sickness medicines don’t work if you already have motion sickness when you take them.
“So, about that infirmary,” I say.
“Right,” he says. “Let’s go.”
We find it at the end of the corridor.
The door is locked. Felix points to a sign on the window that says it will reopen at nine in the morning.
“Apparently ship doctors keep banker hours,” he says. “Maybe we could check at the boutique.”
“Pretty sure they only sell designer caftans and fine jewelry.”
“Do you think a designer caftan would help?”
“I’m good on caftans. Lauren packed about thirty of them.”
He looks at me with concern.
“Do you feel sick?”
“No, I think I’ll be fine,” I say. In truth I am beginning to feel a little off, but I don’t want this night to end. “Do you want to go up to the casino?”
He considers this. “Not especially.”
I’m a little deflated, until he says, “I’d rather invite you to my room for a cup of tea.”
I laugh. “Tea, eh? Subtle.”
