“We actually live together, so it’s not a long distance relationship at all. We’re very happy together,” I said.
Amanda’s expression chilled, and she made a small sound before turning her attention to Knox and Ally. I watched as she rested her hand on his knee, and Knox shifted, clearly uncomfortable. He was too polite to say anything, though. “And what about you? It’s Ally, right? Do you work?” Amanda asked.
Why were these people giving us the third degree?
“I’m a teacher,” Ally said, with an overly large smile on her face, and I knew she was about to make things even more awkward. “Also, Amanda, would you mind taking your hand off of my boyfriend’s leg? It’s rude to touch strangers without their permission.”
I heard Amanda gasp, pulling her hand away from Knox like she’d been burned, and Jonathan coughed into his fist. Luckily, the waiter reappeared with our food at that moment, and the four of us ate quickly, eager to leave the dining room.
“Well, that was delicious,” I said, folding my napkin up and placing it next to my plate as I stood, “but I believe that you’re all hat and no cattle, and you both could certainly talk the ears off a mule. So, it’s time for us to put out the fire and call in the dog. G’night.”
“And, bless your heart,” Ally added.
As soon as we were far enough away, Ally started laughing, and Knox was smiling broadly, so I couldn’t help but join in.
“That was a good save, Ally, but I think we’re going to have to find a different spot for dinner from now on,” I said.
“I think they should find a different spot for dinner,” Ally argued. “She was awfully ballsy, basically feeling Knox up right in front of me.”
“If we do end up at their table again, I’ll be sitting on the other side from her,” Knox said. “Did you see her long fingernails? I know some women think they’re classy, but I was scared for my manhood. They could’ve easily caused an injury.”
“That’s probably why she was flirting with you. She’s already unmanned Jonathan, so she’s trying to find some fresh meat,” Kassidy joked. “Also, I’ve heard that ‘bless your heart’ is an insult, but Evan, I have no idea what you said to them before we left.”
Knox answered before I could. “Basically, he told them that they’re full of shit and they talk too much. And that we were leaving.”
“He went full cowboy on them,” Ally added.
Kassidy snorted with amusement, and the rest of us started laughing. I loved that she was starting to relax and enjoy herself around my friends.
There was a Broadway-caliber show scheduled for after dinner, but instead of attending that, we returned to our cabins and pulled out our maps of the ship. We hoped that most of the other passengers would attend the show, which made this a good time to start looking around the ship. While inside our room, I grabbed my knife from my suitcase, and I knew Ally and Knox would be grabbing theirs as well. While we hadn’t been allowed to bring weapons onto the ship, Knox, Ally, and I had all packed small pocket knives, and we were trained in hand-to-hand combat if needed. I hoped we wouldn’t end up in any situations requiring violence, though.
“This mission is recon only,” I reminded the others, but my gaze was pinned on Kassidy, who just rolled her eyes at me. “We’re not here to rescue anyone or cause a stir.”
We circled our floor and the floor below, which were both mostly abandoned at that time of the evening, but when we reached the floor two levels beneath ours, we hit the jackpot.
“Doesn’t that door lead to the private crew area?” Ally asked quietly, gesturing ahead of her towards a door that was propped open. No one was nearby, and I couldn’t hear anyone except for the four of us, so we walked closer. Ally peeked behind the door, then gestured for us to follow her. Once I was behind the door, I saw that Ally had been right. In front of us stretched a dark hallway, so long that I couldn’t see the end of it, and there were multiple doors on each side. I could hear banging and talking coming from a few different directions, and I hoped we weren’t going to be caught snooping on the first day. We began walking, trying every door as we passed it, but they were locked. Eventually, we reached the end of the hallway and had to turn back.
“Well, that was a disappointment,” Kassidy said once we were out of the hallway and back in the main area of the ship.
“Let’s try the other floors. They may have doors that aren’t locked,” Ally said, and she led us to the next level down.
We spent over an hour looking around the ship, but most of the doors in the private areas were locked. Once we’d tried every floor, we relaxed for a few minutes on the top of the ship, before finally calling it a night.
“Hopefully we’ll have better luck tomorrow,” Kassidy said once our cabin door shut behind us, and I grunted in response.
I heard her shuffling around behind me, and I walked towards my suitcase near the porthole, grabbing my toothbrush, and shorts and a t-shirt to sleep in. I turned back around, headed to the bathroom to change my clothes and brush my teeth, but before I could take a step, I had the shock of a lifetime. Kassidy stood near the bed, completely naked, the side of her body facing me, as she innocently looked through her suitcase. I almost swallowed my tongue, and I couldn’t stop myself from taking her in, head to toe. Her red hair flowed over her back, long and glossy. Her skin was pale and creamy, dusted with the same endearing freckles that she had on her face, and I wanted to touch every inch of her. Her curves were perfect, and her arms and legs were toned. She looked like a renaissance painting come to life, and I could’ve stared for hours—months, even—but then I realized how much of a pervert I was being.
“What the hell are you doing?” I growled at her as I closed my eyes. I heard her gasp, as if I’d scared her, but I just tightened my eyelids and turned away from her.
“What are you talking about?” Kassidy asked me, and with my eyes closed, her accent was even more distinguishable, making her even harder to resist. She’d already turned me down, though. I didn’t have a choice.
“Why are you naked right now?” I asked, and I could hear that my voice had gone up an octave or two.
“I’m getting changed,” Kassidy said, as if I was an idiot.
“In front of me?”
I heard her sigh. “I always forget how sensitive Americans are about nudity, compared to Europeans” she said. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”
“It’s a big deal to me,” I argued.
“Why?”
I didn’t have a ready answer for that one. I couldn’t very well admit that I didn’t want to see her naked because I liked it too much. That would just move things from uncomfortable to extremely awkward. I decide to avoid the question.
“Can you please get dressed?” I begged.
“Not until you tell me why it’s a big deal,” Kassidy responded.
“It’s just how we are in the US. I don’t know why,” I said.
I could feel my control slipping, but I was doing my best to hold onto at least a shred of it, since I knew she wouldn’t appreciate me ravaging her, especially after last night. I also started to wonder how Finnish men reacted when beautiful women were naked in front of them—was that really just a normal day in Finland? Then my thoughts shifted again, and jealousy surged through me at the thought of other men seeing Kassidy naked.