“I can take care of myself.”
“Oh, we definitely know. You’ve made that very clear, Sunshine,” Evan quipped. “But regardless, I don’t want you out of my grasp. I’m not letting anything happen to you.” He gave me a little bit of leeway, though, removing his arm from my waist and taking my hand in his instead. I squeezed his hand in thanks, and decided to let the arguing go, at least temporarily, and enjoy our day.
We walked for a few more minutes, until we reached a crossroads.
“Well, where to first?” Knox asked, as we looked around. The tropical city stretched out in front of us, with historical buildings straight ahead, restaurants to our left, and modern shops to our right.
“I’m hungry. I vote we find something to eat,” Evan said, his gaze fixed on the restaurants that lined the street.
“We literally just ate breakfast!” Ally laughed, smacking Evan on the arm lightly.
“Hey, I probably burned that off already,” Evan responded, smiling.
“I’m hungry, too,” Knox said. “And at some point today, I’d like to try some authentic Caribbean food. I read that Conch meat is popular here.”
“What about you, Kassidy?” Evan asked me.
“I’m most interested in the historical parts of Nassau. And I’m not hungry yet, either, but I’m fine with stopping somewhere so that you two can get some food.”
“I want to see the shops,” Ally said. “What if we go left so the guys can get something to eat, and then make a circle? That way we’ll hit some of the historical sites, and then end up in the shopping area.”
I was worried about getting lost, but they assured me that Ally had a photographic memory, and that one look at a map of Nassau was enough to get us anywhere we needed to go. Her plan ended up working well, with the men grabbing some Conch fritters and rum cake, and then we made our way to the Queen’s Staircase and Fort Fincastle, past the Balcony House and the Government House, and then continued down the part of Bay Street housing most of the shops.
By then, the heat had drained all of my energy, and I had a feeling my sunscreen had pretty much worn off, so we made our way back onto the ship to start the investigation part of our day.
“It’s like a ghost town in here,” I said a few minutes later, as the four of us made our way through the ship. Most people were still gone on different excursions, and the hallways were so quiet and empty that it felt like we were the only ones onboard. “This is a great time to do some investigating.”
“Okay. On one condition,” Evan answered. “You agree to actually relax and enjoy the entire day on the private island, the day after tomorrow. No investigating, no scheming, no worrying.”
“And what happens if I don’t agree to that?”
“Then I’ll physically carry you off of the ship and stick you in a beach chair for the day. I can’t force you to have fun, but I can at least temporarily keep you from role-playing as Sherlock Holmes.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Try me,” Evan challenged, and the look in his eyes told me he was serious.
“Kassidy, a relaxing beach day sounds awesome. You’ve been working really hard, and you need a break. One day won’t hurt anything.” Ally spoke up.
I huffed out a breath. “Fine. As long as we make some headway today and tomorrow.”
19
KASSIDY
The next day was the port day in Freeport. Since most people would be getting off the ship and going on excursions, we decided to stay aboard and spend the day investigating.
Evan insisted on pairing up with me again. I tried to say no to him and pair up with Ally instead, but the big brute of a man wouldn’t let me, so I gave in. I didn’t want to waste time arguing.
We’d only been looking around for a few minutes when I found something. “This door in unlocked,” I whispered to Evan.
We were in the heart of the private crew area. He stepped in front of me and opened the door slowly, and when he didn’t see anyone inside, he pushed it open the rest of the way and gestured for me to go in.
“It looks like a cabin for crew members,” Evan said as I walked inside. “Go ahead and look around. I’ll stand guard out here.”
I nodded, and he shut the door behind me. I quickly searched the drawers and closet, and studied the small bunk beds, and it didn’t take long for me to make a discovery. I used my phone to take some pictures, then re-joined Evan again, and we kept walking. We’d have time later for me to share what I’d found.
As we walked, the sounds of beeping and clanking slowly became louder, and we eventually made our way to a kitchen area. Evan pulled me into a tiny alcove nearby, and we hid there, listening to the crew as they talked with each other. It sounded like they were speaking Spanish, but that wasn’t one of the languages I knew, so I couldn’t tell what they were saying.
“I speak Spanish,” Evan whispered into my ear, like he’d just read my mind. “One man just said he’s been peeling potatoes for 11 hours straight today, and is complaining that there aren’t enough workers on the ship.” He paused for a few minutes, continuing to listen, before he spoke again. “Can you record what they’re saying on your phone? It’s pretty incriminating.”
I nodded my head, and did as he suggested. Since Evan knew what they were saying, though, and since I had no idea, I had nothing to do as we stood there, except hold onto my phone. The boredom got to me quickly, and as time went on, it became harder and harder to ignore how close Evan and I were. We were pressed against each other, chest to chest, forcing me to think about all of the muscles hiding underneath his shirt. Because of how close we stood, one of his hands rested on my hip, and even through my clothes, the touch of his fingers was sending wave after wave of desire through me. And if that wasn’t enough, every time one of us took a breath, it was an exquisite type of torture, as we rubbed up against the other just the slightest bit. It took every bit of self-control I had to remain still, not giving into the pull I felt towards him.
After what felt like hours of hiding, I heard someone come into the kitchen area and begin shouting. The woman was also speaking Spanish, so I had no idea what she was saying, but I could tell from her tone and the volume of her voice that it wasn’t good. Then I heard what sounded like plates and dishes being moved around and placed on trays, and a few minutes later, they’d made their way out of the kitchen. We waited a few extra minutes to be sure, but eventually, Evan whispered to me that we could go. At that point, Knox and Ally were probably wondering what happened to us, so we decided to head straight back to the rooms, returning the way we came.
“Excuse me. What are you doing here? This area is private!” I suddenly heard a loud voice say from behind us. I froze, afraid of what would happen since we’d been caught, but Evan squeezed my hand reassuringly as he turned around.
“Oh, thank God,” Evan said to the man who’d addressed us, and relief was evident in his voice. “We must’ve taken a wrong turn or something, because we’re completely lost. Can you help us get out of here?”