“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, who had died way too young. He’d never gotten the shot to enjoy the spoils of his hard work. Mom had admitted they had such grand plans for their golden years, but that had vanished without warning. I promised myself I wouldn’t end up the same way. It was the main reason I’d taken that job with Sunset Cruises all those years ago. Not needing the paycheck, spending my days on a luxury cruise ship and meeting people from all corners of the world had sounded like a great career. Marco had the same desires when he’d become their cruise director. Meeting him had shifted my fate in a direction I hadn’t envisioned back then but couldn’t imagine not having now.
Our business had always been a means to help people create memories they’d always treasure. By hiring a strong staff, and by adding an executive layer, we’d set our company up in a way that enabled us to take a step back whenever we needed to. It had been an easy decision to let Marco and Rebecca enjoy these precious years with their kids. And with nothing requiring my attention at this stage of my life, I could easily jump back in if need be.
Just as I tapped the send button on my email, Rebecca flinched and rubbed the side of her belly. “What… what is it?”
“This kid is much more active than Antonio was.”
“Don’t scare me like that, cookie puss. I draw the line at playing catcher if that baby were to shoot out of you on my time.”
She drilled her big blue eyes into mine and sighed impatiently. “It doesn’t quite work like that.” The smirk that came next snapped me into a memory. It looked so much like Cooper’s when he was annoyed, which had been often when in my company. It’d been six weeks since Sam and Lydia’s wedding cruise, and except for hearing bits and pieces of his life through Rebecca, I hadn’t had any contact with him. That didn’t mean he didn’t appear in my thoughts often.
“Bella?” Marco’s deep voice reached us before he appeared in the doorway. An electric smile spread when he saw his wife. “There you are.”
“Hi, baby. Just bothering Ricky.” He bent and placed a kiss on her lips, licked what I assumed was a ton of salt off his own, and then placed a kiss on her belly.
“I would love to aid in that, but I need you in the galley for a quick minute.”
Rebecca placed the almost empty bowl on my desk and dusted the crumbs scattered on her belly to the floor.
“Hey,” I said.
“Cleaning will handle it,” she said with an impatient wave of her hand before taking Marco’s and leading him out of my office.
“I get no respect around here,” I mumbled, diving into another email. But soon the vibration of the wood beneath my keyboard stole my focus. “What the hell is that?” Another round of buzzing drew my attention to Rebecca’s cell, sitting beside the bowl of chips. Normally I’d ignore it but seeing Cooper’s smiling face on the screen caused me to reach for it.
“Rebecca’s line.” Silence. “Hello, Cooper.” More silence.
“Ricky.” Yet another pause, and I could practically hear his audible gulp. “Is my sister around?” His deep voice rumbling over the line stirred something within me. I stood to stare out the window at the ocean beyond, drawing its energy to settle my pounding heart. My reaction wasn’t exactly a mystery, since I’d been experiencing flutters whenever I remembered our kiss. But over the weeks, I’d decided the need to save him was what had me desiring him.
Hero complex, as Rebecca labeled it.