4. Grace

Chapter 4

Grace

" C ome in, mother bird, come in!" I was pacing my suite in my nighty, nibbling on my gold-painted nails, and trying not to freak out.

"I assume," a sardonic British voice said over the walkie, "that you are trying to reach Sebastian?"

I let my head fall back and groaned. Wrong stupid channel! "Um, yes. I'm so sorry; I put this channel in by accident! Let me check the channel he gave me." I quickly checked what I'd written down yesterday and felt myself turn beet red, which was difficult to do with my olive complexion. I pressed the button again. "He's on channel one. I don't know why I thought it was channel two. I'm so sorry."

The Brit laughed. "No problem. Can I help you with something? Sebastian is napping. He worked late into the morning."

I slumped onto my rumpled bed. Of course. I should have thought of that. "Um, I think I lost Kazi. He slept with me last night. When I woke up this morning, he was gone. I think he's been lion-napped."

The Brit roared with laughter. "My name is Rafe, by the way. I know you're calling me the Brit in your head, love."

I felt myself turn red again and put my hands to my flushed cheeks. Seriously, get a grip, Gracie. Missing lion! "I'm so―" I started to stammer, but he laughed and stopped me.

"No worries. Sebastian still calls me the Brit. It's unfair, really. Our crew is diverse. He doesn't call others the Nigerian or the Australian. It's only me who's singled out."

I shook my head and laughed. This Rafe guy seemed like a crack-up. "It's probably because he feels the most comfortable with you." I mean, that felt obvious to me. I always hesitated to say what was obvious to me because I thought it sometimes came off as condescending, but thankfully Rafe didn't seem to be bothered. In fact, he sounded thoughtful.

"Huh. I never thought of it that way. I think I have some apologizing to do."

I grinned and then sobered. "Do you know where Kazi is? Did someone come into my bedroom and steal him?"

"I can assure you that no one broke into your room, but I'm fairly certain Kazi let himself out. He can work the handles on doors. Helpful for going out, but less so for going in."

Because going in, he'd need a key card... and opposable thumbs.

I slumped in relief. "Thanks, Rafe. I'd feel better if someone had eyes on him, though. I want to be sure I didn't fail at cat-sitting on my very first day."

"Understood. Give me a moment."

Our channel went quiet. Now that I'd inadvertently used channel two instead of channel one, I was glad I had. I would have felt bad waking Sebastian up after he'd worked the whole night. I'd gone to bed at one in the morning. I could only imagine what late—or rather early—hour he'd gone to bed. Was owning a cruise ship so difficult that owners worked twelve, fifteen, or even eighteen-hour days? I didn't know, but I was looking forward to finding out.

The walkie squawked again. "Come in, baby bird. Come in."

I depressed the button. "Harty har har." I said it sarcastically, but it was actually funny.

"Kitten is found. I repeat, the kitten has been found."

I fell back on the bed, cracking up laughing. It was partly naked relief, and partly because Rafe was playing along with my silliness. I always appreciated people who could handle my silly.

"Roger, mother bird. That's a ten-four." I got my giggles out and then pressed the button again. "Thanks for the recon, mother bird. Do you know a good place to get a really tasty Colorado omelette and hash browns for breakfast?" I figured it didn't hurt to ask the staff. They always knew the best places to eat.

"The Saucy Sunrise Cafe on deck four makes the best omelettes." And then silence. I was about to thank him for his suggestion when the walkie squawked again. "Can I join you for breakfast?"

I bit my lip. I didn't want to ask him straight up if he was deeply in love with someone, which would deaden my pull on him. Or, the weirder ask, if he had a strong will and a strong mind, which experience had taught me also deadened my pull. I mean, I wished I could just ask that of random strangers, but this wasn't Star Wars, unfortunately. I shrugged. He seemed okay. I would be in a public place, and I knew the owner. I felt confident that if things didn't go well, I could always ask for help from Sebastian.

"Roger that, mother bird. I'll be down in ten minutes."

The Saucy Sunrise Cafe was adorable. It felt like a retro fifties diner, except more upscale. I quickly found a booth—it was a seat yourself—and opened the menu. I was pretty sure of what I wanted, but I wanted to check over the menu just in case.

I was startled when a man in his late thirties sat down across from me. "Baby bird?"

I choked on my laughter, nodding. "I'm assuming you're mother bird?"

He sat back, a huge grin on his face. "I am so glad you woke me up this morning."

I groaned. "I'm so sorry! I feel so bad. I was just actually congratulating myself on not waking Sebastian up after his late night, and instead I woke you up."

He waved a hand like it was no big deal. "I don't actually get to sleep much. It's no trouble, really. I'd much prefer to be here with you, making a new friend."

I grinned and held out a hand, which he took and kissed the back of. I had to laugh. I thought he was just naturally charming, and not really flirting with me. "How can you be so charming at 7:30 in the morning? I'm Grace, by the way."

"Am I charming?" he asked with a grin that said he knew he was. "I'm Rafe, as I said before. It's nice to meet you, Grace." He picked up his menu. "So, tell me about you and Sebastian's date. Did he tell you he pawned part of his to-do list on me so that he could go?"

"No! But do tell."

Over breakfast, Rafe told me about what he did on the ship as the cruise director. Basically, he was the face of the ship, and a man who wore many hats. He was constantly busy and rarely slept. He was an eagle shifter who frequently took flights over the ocean and back to the ship to stretch his wings. He was charming, intelligent, and very handsome, and I felt absolutely no sparks. I think he felt my lure, but thankfully he was one of those rare individuals with a strong mind.

He had warm, light-brown skin and pale-blue eyes, and was built like a swimmer. I suddenly wanted to change my manuscript and put Rafe in as the MMC instead of the male I'd already chosen. He was ideal for the role. After all, he was an avian shifter. It didn't get more perfect than that.

"So, Rafe." I put my chin on my palms. "Would you mind being the star of a paranormal romance I'm writing?"

He choked on the sip of hot chocolate he'd just taken, and then roared with laughter.

I thought our friendship was off to a great start.

By noon, Kazi had found me again. We were currently lounging together in the sun. I was on a tube, floating on the water, anchored to the side of the pool with my hand as people played all around me. Kazi was snoozing next to me on the deck of the ship, shamelessly flopped onto his back, his mouth wide open. I was happy the humans could only see his Main Coon form, or else they'd be terrified of his teeth.

I poked him, and he snorted, eying me to see if I needed something. "You freaked me out this morning." I kept my voice down. Plenty of people talked with their animals, but few, I thought, expected the animal to listen. I fully wanted Kazi to listen. He'd created a mess—a mess that had ended well—but still. "Just... wake me up if you sleep with me again and want to leave in the middle of the night, k?"

He moved his head a few inches to snuffle my face in apology. I laughed and batted him away. "Don't come any closer. You'll pop my tube." After a few more minutes, I sighed and pulled myself out, looking at the lazy river that circumnavigated the ship. Most ships had waterslides. Sebastian's had a lazy river, complete with tropical plants, blue tile on the bottom of the riverbed, crystal clear water, and plenty of waterfalls. I wanted to try it. Lazy rivers were up my alley.

I kissed Kazi on the head and walked to the entrance, dodging couples and individuals. When I reached the tube entrance, I felt someone's eyes on me. I glanced behind me, only to find about ten guys, their eyes all intently following me. I whipped back around to the lazy river attendant, fear spiking through my body. The female attendant seemed confused at my hesitancy to get in, and at the sight of the guys behind me that were holding up the line. I leaned forward and whispered to her, "Could you please call Sebastian on the walkie? Tell him where I am and that it's an emergency."

It wasn't yet, but I knew that it soon would be.

She nodded slowly, as though unsure she should really bother her boss, but when a few of the guys came forward and threw their arms around my shoulders roughly, her eyes widened and she immediately started talking into her walkie.

"Get off me!" I said, trying to throw their arms off by jabbing my elbows out.

When guys moved from following me to putting their hands on me, I used my elbows judiciously. I wished I'd been allowed to bring my taser onboard, at the very least.

"Now, sugar, a sweet thing like you could use some relaxation. What do you say you and I go up to my suite and get to know one another?"

"Let her go, dude. I saw her first."

"She's not a chew toy," a female further down the line said. "Leave her alone!"

My pulse pounded harder. The surrounding crowd was growing restless and people were starting to take sides. I felt like a cornered rabbit as some of the other guys moved forward to surround me, touching me and my hair, stroking my bare shoulders, grabbing my hand and trying to pull me toward them.

"Back off! I don't want to go with any of you!"

The attendant, after a moment of complete confusion, scowled and started forward, plowing through the guys to get to my side.

"Get off!" she said. "The lady said no!"

A snarling roar came suddenly, breaking up the shouting, and then two of the men crashed to the ground as Kazi took down the two guys who wouldn't release my shoulders. I rubbed my arms, staring at Kazi with wide eyes and a pounding heart. My arms ached and stung. The grip of the men had been so tight that my arms bore marks of a twist burn.

Kazi snarled in their faces once they were down, and the rest of the men backed off quickly, holding their hands up to show they weren't touching me. Unfortunately, the two men on the ground were fine. Just a little shaken up from being thumped into the deck by a lion. I wondered if they were paranormals, or if they just thought a very large house cat had taken them down. I almost hoped they thought he was a house cat. It'd do their egos good to think a domesticated feline had bested them.

I was so grateful to Kazi showing up that I wanted to wrap my arms around him and promise him anything he wanted to eat, as well as endless belly rubs. The situation could have escalated into something truly horrible.

And then Sebastian showed up, looking like a feral hedgehog that had come out of hibernation too early.

"Grace!"

He took one look at me in my swimsuit, shivering from nerves and fear, and came over to wrap his arms and a towel around me, leading me out of the line a little. Three security guards followed him, and Sebastian nodded toward the guys Kazi was still snarling at on the ground. They were hauled to their feet and carted off, and the rest of the guys who had been harassing me left peacefully, melting away from the crowd. The line moved forward once more, and one of the sweet women that had been further back in the line stopped to check on me.

"You alright, doll?" she asked. She looked like a Southern belle, in full makeup and a white bikini that showed off her long, tanned legs. "I couldn't believe my eyes. The nerve of those men, treating you like that!"

I just stood there, shivering, unable to say anything. I must have been looking at her with big, traumatized eyes because she tsked and wrapped me in a warm hug. "Aww, honey, I'm so sorry. People can be such jerks sometimes. You hang in there, okay? It looks like help has come." She smiled and waved as she picked up her tube and got into the lazy river.

"Grace, what happened?" Sebastian was trying to warm me up with his hands, frisking them over the towel, which had been warmed by the sun. It smelled really nice, like sunshine and the tropics, and the scent was enough to snap me out of my funk.

I shook my head. "I just wanted to go tubing on the lazy river. I think those guys followed me from the pool." I looked at Sebastian. "Kazi and I were by the pool for a little while, and then we split off. He went... somewhere, and I came here. I noticed them following me. They had that missile-locked look, and I got a bad feeling about them. I told the attendant to get you on the walkie. A few of the guys started grabbing me, the people in the line started taking sides, everyone was yelling... It happened so fast." I shook my head. This. This was why I was a hermit in my late thirties.

Tears started pooling in my eyes. A reaction to the adrenaline spike and subsequent fall junking up my system. At the sight of my tears, Sebastian gently took my arm and led me to the poolside lounge area.

"You need sugar and something to eat. What do you want?"

I tried to smile at the bartender, who was looking at me with concern. That was when I realized I hadn't really had any issues with Sebastian's staff. Huh. It was food for thought. "I'd like a virgin piná colada please, and maybe some chili fries?"

"Sure thing, Miss."

When I got my fruity concoction and loaded chili fries, I dug in. It only took a few bites for me to feel a little better. Sometimes a girl just needed something cold and sweet to drink and some hearty, fattening food to feel better. "Thanks, it's already helping."

Kazi had jumped up onto a chair next to me, and was nosing my stomach, which made me giggle. "Yes, yes, thanks to you, too." I leaned over and gave him a big hug. "You really saved me. Thank you." I kissed his furry head, and he made that purr-growl sound I'd heard from him a few times.

Sebastian was on his walkie, so after I finished my mini-meal, I slumped into the nearest chair and leaned back, closing my eyes. I could feel when Sebastian crouched in front of me. "Want to go tubing with Rafe and I?"

Kazi growled, and Sebastian laughed.

"Kazi can come too."

I sat up so quickly the rest of my piná colada sloshed onto my thigh. I winced but otherwise ignored the icy, sticky mess on my bare legs. "I would love to!"

So, that was how I ended up floating down the lazy river with a vampire, an avian shifter, and a mountain lion. Kazi was on a wide, foam bodyboard that wobbled precariously underneath him. He held on for dear life, relaxing during the slow parts and whining and growling when the river picked up speed. I was the complete opposite. I lived for the moments when the river picked up speed and the rapids tossed me around.

"Woohoo!" I yelled, as we went down another rapid, and the tube bumped into the side of the river. The leafy green plants that covered our shoreline occasionally tickled my feet as we went past them.

Rafe and Sebastian laughed at my enthusiasm. We were in a three-person tube shaped like a diamond. A wide umbrella anchored to the middle of our raft covered us, protecting us from the sun.

I splayed my legs and arms out like a starfish, trying to soak up as much sun as I could in my modest one-piece swimsuit. Rafe was wearing a lime green Speedo (I kid you not) and sunglasses. Sebastian simply wore swim shorts and a long-sleeve black UV tee shirt. His eyes were protected by sunglasses, too.

To be fair, I was also wearing sunglasses. Rafe and Sebastian had bullied me into wearing them. Something about a star, thousands of kelvins hot, burning a hole in my retinas without them. Except, these were the cool kind of sunglasses. The ones made for water activities. Through my polarized lenses, the water was so blue that it looked like I was floating on pure alpine streams.

I was practicing my author observational skills, using all five of my senses to get all the sensory details of the moment. The water felt like cool silk on my hands as I weaved them through the river over the sides of our tube. It was chilly but not cold. The perfect temp. The air smelled like lemons, papayas, and green things growing. I closed my eyes and took a good sniff. Mmm, that scent was heavenly. Everywhere I looked, I could see plants and flowers. Some even hung down and touched the water. The river made a pleasant sloshing sound, and I occasionally heard the gentle thunder of of a waterfall or a place where the river dropped. I couldn't taste anything other than my piná colada, but I was okay with that. I didn't exactly want to go lapping up the water, no matter how pretty it looked.

"So," Rafe said, taking a sip from his icy drink and putting it back in the cupholder. "What shall we talk about?" He waggled his eyebrows, like we were about to talk about something salacious.

I flicked water at him. "We could talk about your inner motivations, desires, and fears so I can have a good base for my MMC."

"Pass," he said with feeling.

" What now?" Sebastian asked, looking between the two of us.

Rafe sighed. "She's decided that since she was already writing a paranormal romance between an avian shifter and a cat shifter, and I'm an avian shifter, that she's going to change her main male character and base him off of me." He turned to me. "You know I'd never fall in love with a cat shifter, right?" He scoffed. "I mean, that's just not going to happen."

My grin was devious. "You never know, Rafe. You never know."