Chapter 4

Robin spent the morning exploring the ship.

There was a pool and hot tub, with lounge chairs lined up in front of both and a few people already sunning themselves. Just needed a good book from the library, and it"d be the perfect place to spend the day.

Robin walked by a gym –pass –and a bar – too early in the day –and she got directions to the library from one of the crew members, who gave her a weird look for the request. Yes, okay, she owned her status as a world-class nerd who"d rather learn about the marine life of the Galapagos than have a daiquiri by the pool.

But before she made it to the library, she found the ship"s spa. What made her pause outside its open doors was not the sweet, earthy smell of the mud bath or the serene music pumping through the sound system.

It was the sight of Scarlet standing at the counter, her long locks tumbling down her shoulders.

Robin stepped inside. "Hey, you."

Scarlet looked up, her eyes brightening. "Oh, hey! I was gonna come find you after this, Raina dragged me in here. Are you getting a spa service?"

Robin looked to the receptionist sitting behind a bamboo desk. "Can I get whatever she"s having?"

The woman gave her an apologetic look. "I"m sorry, we don"t have any availability right now but I"d be happy to make you an appointment."

"Oh." Robin disguised her disappointment. She"d never had a spa treatment in her life, but suddenly she wanted nothing more. "No problem. Scarlet, you have fun."

"Wait." A woman popped up from a chair in the waiting area. Robin hadn't even noticed her there, but Robin recognized her as the Begonias" bass player. "Are you Robin?"

"How do you know my name?"

She shot Scarlet a sly grin, didn"t answer the question, and said, "Take my spot. I"ll come back later."

"Oh, no, I couldn"t–"

"You can and you will," she insisted, then looked to the receptionist. "Is that okay?"

"If that"s what you want, sure."

The bassist left before anyone had another chance to object, and Robin turned to Scarlet, flummoxed. Scarlet laughed. "That was Raina."

"And she knows about me?"

Scarlet"s cheeks colored the prettiest pink, and the receptionist said, "Your masseuses will be out shortly to get you both."

Robin shot a look at Scarlet. "Masseuses?"

"Couples" massage," Scarlet said with an impossibly casual shrug.

The massage room was cozy, with low lighting and not much room for anything but two tables and a pair of masseuses. The same soft, instrumental music from the waiting area was piping through this room, and Robin looked at the folded towels on top of each table.

"Disrobe, lie face down, and drape the towels over your backs," one masseuse told them. "We"ll be right back."

Yep, that"s what Robin thought that towel was for.

As soon as they were alone, she gave Scarlet a bashful look. "Do you want me to step out?"

"I"m not shy," Scarlet said, a challenge in her eyes. "Are you?"

Robin swallowed hard. She watched Scarlet turn her back and undo the button of her shorts. She looked away just as the soft linen started to shimmy down Scarlet"s hips, her heart in her throat. Robin undressed and climbed onto the table as quickly as possible, feeling a bit like she was at the gynecologist"s office as she arranged the large towel over her back. Wrong part of the anatomy, but the vibe was the same.

When she stopped hearing movement from Scarlet"s side of the room, Robin chanced turning her head toward her. Scarlet was smiling at her.

"This is a little awkward, huh?"

"A little?" Robin balked. "I"m having flashbacks to speculums and warming drawers over here."

Scarlet scrunched her face, cute little wrinkles forming across the bridge of her nose. "Yuck."

There was a light rap on the door, the exact way Robin"s gynecologist gently let herself into the exam room, and Scarlet"s mind must have gone to the same place because they were both giggling as the masseuses returned.

"Are we ready?" one of them asked.

"As we"ll ever be," Robin said.

She put her head down through the hole in the massage table and listened to the two masseuses oiling their hands, then felt her towel being peeled down her back, folded neatly at the small of her back. Warm hands touched her shoulders, then started to knead.

"Oh, wow."

Scarlet laughed. "Good, huh?"

"Very."

"Now you see why I let Raina talk me into this," she said. "Never had a massage before?"

"Never." She"d never had anyone who would suggest it, and it wasn"t something she"d think to do on her own.

As the masseuse worked, her hands going methodically down Robin"s back and then spreading out to her shoulders and upper arms, Scarlet chatted comfortably as if it was only the two of them in the room and this whole thing was perfectly natural and easy for her.

"So, you"re flying solo on a couples" cruise," she said. "What"s the story there?"

Robin"s cheeks warmed. "Ouch, called out."

"Not really. I"m here and single too. So are Raina and Tasha."

"Yeah, but you"re here to perform," Robin pointed out. She told Scarlet about the coworker who"d bought her this ticket. "All her friends have been coupling up lately. I think she hopes I"ll get my nose out of my books and meet someone."

Scarlet laughed. "Says the woman whose first mission on the ship was to find the library."

"I haven"t gotten there yet," Robin confessed. "I got sidetracked by a cute girl in the spa."

She wouldn"t have been able to say that if she"d been looking at Scarlet. Score one for the face hole on the massage table.

"So you"re a workaholic," Scarlet said. "That"s why you"re single?"

"I guess." Robin had never really thought about it. "I just figured love would come to me when it should, but if I was going to be the best in my field, I had to actively go after that."

"And what is your field?"

Robin told Scarlet about her classes, and that the research was what she was really passionate about. "What about you? What"s your excuse for being single?"

"I"ve dated," Scarlet said. "Nothing serious, though. I guess you could call me a workaholic too. I just don"t have the time for a long-term relationship between recording and concerts and trying to promote the Begonias online. It"s a lot of work."

Robin nodded, even though Scarlet couldn"t see her. "It must be challenging."

"It is," Scarlet admitted. "But I wouldn"t trade it for anything. Music is my world."

As the masseuse worked out the knots in her back, Robin asked, "Do you ever feel like you"re sacrificing too much for your career?"

It was a thought that had occurred to her before about her own work, but never one she"d bothered to take the time to reflect on.

Scarlet answered surprisingly quickly, though. "No. We only have so much time, so many opportunities to make it big. I have to throw my whole self into it while I have the chance, or I"ll regret it forever."

Robin was surprised by how much she related to that sentiment. Maybe it was a cynical way of looking at it, but love could wait. Her vocation was what mattered the most.

For Scarlet, that was music. And for Robin, it was her research.

"So, where are you from?" Scarlet asked.

"Granville."

Scarlet made a choking sound and Robin peeked at her.

"That a problem?" she asked.

"No, it's just that I'm from Granville too," she explained with a grin.

"What are the odds?" Robin laughed.

"Well, I know Zoe did a lot of word-of-mouth advertising in the Midwest because she has contacts there."

Robin thought back to the conversation they'd overheard. Had Zoe bootstrapped this entire cruise?

Still, the chances that the two of them would be from the same city and never meet, and now be lying on massage tables next to each other on a luxury cruise partway around the world…

It was kind of unbelievable.

Kind of like fate.

Robin settled her head back into the massage table, smiling.

By the time the massage was over, she felt like a happy little puddle on top of the table and she was reluctant to get up and get dressed. Somebody else was waiting for this room, though, and she"d have to move eventually.

She slithered off the table and into her robe, too blissfully relaxed to avert her eyes when Scarlet did the same. Robin drank in the soft, supple curves of her ass as they disappeared behind the linen shorts, then Scarlet pulled on her shirt and turned to face her.

Caught her looking.

Robin blushed. "Sorry."

There was a soft smile on Scarlet"s lips, though. "I was wondering if you"d have the nerve to peek."

"You"re not mad?"

"I would have been disappointed if you hadn"t."

"You"re beautiful," Robin told her.

Scarlet"s eyes were locked on hers. Her voice was breathy when she added, "So are you." And then she turned and walked out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "Get dressed and you can buy me a drink poolside."

Robin practically flew out to the reception area. When she got there, she found Scarlet talking to another passenger, a tall, lean woman with short, tousled hair and an air of confidence that radiated all the way across the room. She had her elbow propped against the desk, oblivious to the dirty look the receptionist was giving her, and she was showering Scarlet with compliments.

"I was hoping I"d run into you, you know?" she was saying. "The enigmatic and beautiful lead singer… Yeah, you"re exactly the kinda girl I"d love to have a drink with."

Jealousy crept up Robin"s neck and she wanted nothing more than to show this too-forward woman where the life rafts were located.

But Scarlet didn"t belong to her. They'd had a couple conversations, that was it. Who was Robin to intervene if Scarlet liked this other woman? Robin paused in the doorway, observing.

Scarlet gave the woman a polite smile, extending her hand. "Always means a lot to meet a fan."

"Lex," she introduced herself. "And I have to confess, I hadn"t heard of the Scarlet Begonias before the cruise, but I"m certainly a fan now. Actually, I"m our other entertainment. I do comedy."

"Oh, Lex Madden," Scarlet said, "yeah, I remember seeing your name on some promotional materials."

"The one and only," Lex said with a big, cocky grin. "I could get you a front-row seat for my show tonight if you like."

"I thought all the events were first-come, first-served."

"Yeah, well, I can pull some strings."

The way she was looking at Scarlet made the singer giggle, and a new swell of jealousy rose in Robin. She wanted to be the one making Scarlet laugh, the one earning her attention.

"Well, I was gonna get a facial, make sure I"m looking my best for my set tonight," Lex said, "but it looks like you"re just finishing up here. Would you be interested in–"

"Oh, there you are, Robin," Scarlet turned, giving Robin a look that made her think she knew she was there the whole time. Scarlet looped her arm in Robin"s. "We were just heading out, actually, sorry. Enjoy your facial, Lex."

"Bye, Lex," Robin said, unable to resist a slight smirk of satisfaction.