❦❦

How do I look?" I did a twirl and glanced at Hal Foster, who was sprawled on the bed.

His eyes roamed over my bikini-clad body and made an appreciative sound. "If I were into girls I'd definitely go for you."

I laughed, studying myself from the full-length mirror in the small cabin. The yellow two-piece bikini accentuated my curves. "You don't think it's a bit too much?"

"You look like a long limbed golden skinned goddess."

I rolled my eyes at him. Hal had been my best friend since college and he was dramatic as hell. I grabbed my beach bag and pulled Hal off the bed. "Alright, let's move. Time to get wasted."

"It's only 10 in the morning."

"We are on vacation." I planted a noisy kiss on his cheek and threw his shades at him. "I want a nice cool tropical cocktail." I put on a loose crochet top before stepping out of the cabin.

Hal and I were spending our week-long vacation on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean. It was the second day and we had just come back from exploring the beautiful town of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

When we reached the main pool area on deck 15, a lot of people were already taking advantage of the beautiful day. Servers dressed in white crisp shirts and black slacks offered drinks to the guests who were catching some sun.

"Check out that hottie." Hal muttered under his breath as we made our way to the bar. "10 o'clock."

Grinning I snuck a quick glance. "He looks alright."

"Alright? Kate, that man looks like sex on legs. You should go and talk to him."

"You're forgetting that I'm engaged." I raised my eyebrows, holding out my left hand. I had left my engagement ring back in my cabin as I was afraid of losing it. I was always losing things - rings, bracelets, keys. My fiancé, Peter would be so disappointed if I were to misplace the engagement ring.

"Peter is not the man for you." Hal shrugged. "You deserve better than him."

"Hal."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He ruffled my hair affectionately.

"You are not sorry at all." I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed.

"Two piña coladas, please." I smiled at the woman behind the bar. She looked to be in her early twenties and had really pretty eyes.

"I'm going for a dip." Hal stretched his hands above his shoulders and eyed a bunch of men by the pool. "Maybe I'll get lucky tonight." He winked and strolled off towards them after warning me not to touch his drink.

I was supposed to be on this cruise with Peter. I had arranged this trip to celebrate our two-year anniversary but at the last minute he couldn't make it. He was a junior partner working in a Chicago law firm and he decided to go hunting instead with one of the senior partners. He assured me it was necessary to be in the good books of his boss, as it would be a plus point for him in the upcoming promotion. And since he couldn't make it, I had asked Hal to join me.

Peter and I met while I was visiting my family in Chicago. He worked in the same law firm as my sister, Paige, and she was the one who introduced us. He was 33 years old, ten years older than me, but we hit it off really well. His maturity and steadfast character appealed to me.

After almost a year of being together, he proposed and I said yes. Hal wasn't happy about the engagement. He kept telling me I had rushed into it without really getting to know Peter well. I understood Hal's worries. Peter lived in Chicago while I lived in LA, and because of his busy work schedule, we only got to see each other once or twice a month. But even so, we talked on the phone a lot and I felt like we knew each other well enough.

Hal accused Peter of putting his work always ahead of me. Over the past two years, a lot of weekend plans had been cancelled because Peter had to attend last minute work obligations. I didn't mind because I had known when we got together that he was ambitious. His goal was to become a senior partner of the law firm and I wanted his dream to come true. So instead of complaining or nagging, I supported him.

"Here you go, ma'am. Two piña coladas."

I was jerked out of my thoughts when the bartender placed two drinks in front of me. "Thank you." I smiled and gave her the cabin number so that she could charge the drinks to our bill.

I decided to take the drinks and join Hal but I saw him deep in conversation with a tall lanky guy. They appeared to be really taken with each other and I couldn't help grinning. It looked like he was right. He was definitely getting lucky tonight.

Hal and I met in our freshman year at University of Texas. He was a commercial and advertising art major while I while I was doing interior designing. After graduating two years ago, we moved to LA and Hal joined an advertisement agency.

My plan was to start my own interior designing business but before that I knew I had to get experience in the field. So I got a job at an architectural firm and worked there up until last week. Before coming on the cruise, I submitted my resignation and it was accepted by the management.

So here I was, officially unemployed. It was a risk, giving up a stable job that paid extremely well, but I wanted to try and make it on my own. Besides, I had a healthy amount of savings stashed away so I wasn't at the risk of financial complications. My plan was to get independent jobs where I could do interior designs for small clients and work my way up to bigger clients.

Taking a sip of my drink, I glanced around, watching the crowd of people before me. Everyone looked beautifully tanned and happy. Since this was an all adult area, no kids were around. I spotted several couples, looking so much in love and blissful as they enjoyed the day.

It was nice to see such happy people but I couldn't stop the pang of envy that struck me. I had been so looking forward to coming on the cruise with Peter, and to be honest, I was actually disappointed this time. It was our anniversary, after all. The last time we had spent quality romantic time was when he proposed to me a year ago. We had spent four glorious days away at a sea side inn in Malibu. But since then, the time spent together had been very few and extremely rushed.

Sighing, I willed the doubts to fade away. Peter would be getting promotion within a few months and after he became a senior partner, his working hours would be flexible. I reassured myself. Then we would have plenty of time to spend together.

❦❦❦

❦ ❦

I saw her as soon as I stepped out on to the upper deck. It was impossible not to spot her. Her long red hair with the copper and gold undertones made her stand out from the crowd of people on the lower deck. While I watched, she pulled off the white crochet top she wore and my mouth went dry. She was wearing a yellow bikini, which left nothing to the imagination. Her skin was tanned to a golden shade and the long legs seemed to go on forever.

My body reacted to her involuntarily and I tightened my hands on the deck railing. The shock of seeing her wore off to be replaced by anger at myself. It had been six fucking years but she still had the power to affect me like she had from the first moment I met her.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Nathan said as he joined me with two drinks. He handed me one glass and looked down at the deck below us and then stilled, disbelief clouding his face. "Holy fuck! Is that Kate?"

"So I'm not dreaming." I muttered taking a sip of my drink.

"Damn. She is still as hot as ever." Nathan whistled and I shot him a glare. He smirked raising his eyebrows. "You don't look happy."

"Why should I be?"

"Considering she is the only girl you ever loved I..."

"Loved. Past tense." I cut him off.

"Right." Nathan was still smirking but I ignored him and glanced at Kate again. A blond guy was walking up to her and as I watched, she slipped an arm around him, smiling at something he said. I didn't know what pissed me off the most. The fact that her smile sent a kick of lust through me or the fact that it bothered me to see her with another man.

Disgusted with myself, I went back to my suite telling Nathan I had urgent work to attend to. Which was true but I also wanted to take my mind off of Kate. Seeing her had been an unwelcome shock and I needed a distraction.

Burying myself in work had always been my escape, sort of like a stress reliever. After college, I had stepped in as the CEO of Perez Holdings, relieving my father of all the work. Under the Perez brand, there were 5200 hotels and resorts across almost 100 countries. They were categorized into sub-brands ranging from luxury, upscale, upper upscale, mid-scale to budget. Apart from that we operated a number of casinos, nightclubs, restaurants and exclusive country clubs all over the world.

My phone rang and I answered on the first ring. "Yes, Andrea." I had been expecting my assistant's call.

"Good evening, Sir. I have emailed a copy of the documents you asked to Mr. Alderman's office. Also, the jet has been refueled and will be ready for you by 6 in the morning at St. Maarten. Is there anything else, Sir?"

"No, that will be all."

After disconnecting the phone, I leaned back in the chair massaging the back of my neck. Thomas Alderman was an American businessman who owned one of the best hotels in Bali, Indonesia. After a lot of bad business decisions over the last couple of years he was going to sell it to cover his debts. Buyers were lined up to buy the hotel from him but he had come to me. It was a good business deal and I wanted to finalize it quickly. That was why I was leaving to LA the following morning.

Nathan walked into the suite a few minutes later. He was holding his cellphone to his ear as he snapped several instructions into it. From the sound of it he was talking to his assistant.

Nathan was the owner and president of Hyde Industries, which operated a lot of subsidiaries under it, including an airline, real estate firm and an investment and financial consultancy firm to name a few. His name was the most well-known name in the financial world. In his free time, he played the stock market, buying and selling shares, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. He usually bought underperforming companies, turned them into successful ventures and then sold them at a high price.

In fact, just a week ago he had bought Caribbean International, a company which operated cruises in the Caribbean. They owned six luxury cruise ships including the one we were staying on right now. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy when Nathan stepped in and bought it. His plan was to put the company back into shape and sell it within a month.

When he told me he was spending five days on the cruise ship so he could monitor its operation and management, I decided to join him for two days. I hadn't taken a vacation in a long time and spending a couple of days cruising in the Caribbean seemed like the perfect way to unwind. But I had so much work I hadn't been able to relax like I had planned. Ever since I got here yesterday, I had been involved with working on the final details of the Bali deal.

Nathan finished the phone call and headed to the bar. "So want to tell me why you've been hiding in here since morning?" He grabbed an Evian bottle from the bar and turned to me with a grin.

"I'm not hiding." I muttered turning back to my laptop. "I just have a lot of work to do."

"Seems to me like you're burying yourself in work to distract yourself from thoughts of Kate."

"I'm not thinking about her." I scowled at the screen as I typed up an email. "I've closed that chapter of my life a long time ago. And I'm not interested in opening it again."

"So you won't mind if I ask her out?"

"She is off limits to you." The fury that went through me at the thought of Nathan and Kate together even shocked me.

Nathan was smirking at me. I realized too late he made that comment just to see how I would react. He was goading me. "For someone who says he is not interested, you're acting pretty territorial."

"Fuck you."

"You wish." He grinned, coming up behind me and grabbing me in a playful headlock.

Scowling, I smacked his arm away. "Get out. I need to finish this."

"No. What you need is a fucking drink down at the bar." When I started to protest he just smirked. "My ship, my rules."

❦ ❦ ❦

There were more than 40 clubs and lounges on the ship that offered night time entertainment and I had to end up in the one club where Kate was. She was sitting on one of the white leather sofas in the lounge area with the same blond man from earlier that day. I wondered if he was her boyfriend or if he was more than that. They appeared to be having a great time, sipping on drink after drink. She hadn't seen us because we were sitting in a reclusive corner of the club.

"You still have a thing for her, don't you?" Nathan smirked at me as he saw me looking at Kate.

"I'm not a teenager anymore. I don't have a "thing" for her."

He scoffed. "I'd have believed that if you hadn't been ogling her since we came in here."

He was right. I hadn't been able to take my eyes off her. "Can't fucking help it." I admitted in frustration. "It just feels strange seeing her so unexpectedly after such a long time. Just surreal."

"Well, why don't you go and talk to her?"

"Not interested."

"You mean you're too chicken to actually go in front of her." He smirked, watching me carefully. He was trying to goad me again, I knew that but I couldn't help rising to it.

"Fuck off, man."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Prove me wrong then." He nodded towards Kate's direction. "Her friend is dancing with someone else now. She's sitting there all alone. Here's your chance."

I didn't bother looking. "I don't think he's just her friend. Boyfriend, probably."

"Well, based on what I'm seeing, I'm guessing that's not the case."

I glanced at the dance floor and sure enough, the blond guy was dancing with another man. Their arms were wrapped around each other and as I watched, they shared a slow kiss.

"Told you." Nathan said smugly. "So now are you going to go over and talk to her?"

"I don't see the point." I shrugged carelessly. "There's nothing to talk about and it's better to..." I broke off when my wandering gaze landed on Kate. She was still sitting on the same sofa but she had her elbows perched on her knees and her face buried in her hands.

I tried to ignore the stab of concern that flashed through me at the sight but couldn't. I was hit with the impulsive need to go and see if she was alright. Ignoring all the warning bells in my head that it was not a good idea, I drained my scotch glass and stood up.

Nathan smirked and open his mouth to say something but I glared at him. "Not one fucking word. I'm just going to make sure she's okay. That's all."