Hearts Afire. Deborah Fletcher Mello

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      Chapter 2

      Even with the enthusiasm her family had been projecting over her impending trip, Maitlyn was more convinced than ever that the month-long excursion was not a good idea. As she approached the docks, she couldn’t begin to fathom what she would do with herself for all that time. She was half tempted to say so out loud when Tarah interrupted her thoughts with a squeal of excitement.

      “There’s your ship! Look how big it is!” Tarah chimed, pointing out the window of their brother’s SUV.

      Peering where her sister pointed, Maitlyn was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion; the sheer size of the luxury cruise liner took her breath away. The Coastal Galaxy, ranked as one of the world’s largest vessels, towered above the shoreline. The megaship looked like a floating skyscraper lying sideways.

      Kendrick Boudreaux laughed as he navigated his car into the Port of New Orleans and headed toward the Julia Street cruise terminal. He pulled into a no-parking zone, shut down the engine and jumped swiftly out of the vehicle.

      Maitlyn tossed her sister a look and shook her head. “Only your brother,” she said matter-of-factly.

      They both watched as Kendrick shook hands with the traffic officer on duty. The two men exchanged words before he returned and opened the rear hatch to the automobile.

      “You’re going to get a ticket,” Maitlyn said.

      Kendrick laughed. “No, I’m not,” he responded casually.

      “How are you not going to get a ticket?” Tarah questioned, cutting an eye toward Maitlyn.

      Their brother smiled and winked and then passed Maitlyn’s luggage to a porter, who seemed almost too eager to be of assistance. Kendrick was the master of not answering questions. Tarah was used to it, but it galled Maitlyn to no end. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance as she dug into her handbag for a tip, but the man and her luggage were gone before she could get her hand out of her billfold.

      Kendrick laughed. “What’s wrong, Mattie? You’re usually on top of your game. You seem a little slow this morning.”

      “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted. “And I definitely don’t know why I agreed to do this!”

      Her brother shook his head, dropping his large hands against the curve of her shoulders. “Go have yourself a good time.”

      “How can I have a good time when I don’t even know what it is I’m supposed to be doing every day?”

      Tarah jumped up excitedly. “We took care of that,” she said as she passed her sister the bag with all her travel documents. “Me, Mom and Katrina have booked you for all the spa treatments and offshore excursions. You’re going to have a blast!”

      “All of them?”

      “Well, the good ones,” Tarah responded, shrugging her shoulders easily.

      Kendrick laughed, shaking her lightly before wrapping his arms around her in a warm hug. “It’s going to be okay. Just go have fun!”

      In that moment Maitlyn couldn’t fathom what fun might entail. But she had to admit that all her sister’s teasing had her fantasizing about a prospective encounter that might leave her completely satisfied without the burdens of commitment. Wild, passionate sex with a nameless, hard body just might be the kind of medicine she needed to get past the drama that had been her life. And if she could have wild, passionate sex with a stranger and never have anyone in her family find out, then why not, she reasoned. Her thoughts were interrupted when Kendrick suddenly did an about-face and called out to a stranger who was handing off his own luggage to a porter.

      “Zakaria?”

      “Kendrick Boudreaux!”

      Kendrick moved forward in greeting and eagerly shook the handsome stranger’s hand. The two slapped palms and gave each other a warm hug.

      Maitlyn took a step forward, staring at where the two stood. Both men had clearly captured the attention of everyone around them. Her brother’s good looks had never fazed her, but his friend, with his warm complexion, luxurious black curly hair and his chiseled features, was tall, dark and handsome to the nth degree. Behind her, Tarah murmured under her breath, “My, my, my!”

      Both women stood back as the two men fell into conversation. Maitlyn cut her eye toward Tarah, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat as she moved her body in closer and leaned heavily against her arm and shoulder. Mischief danced in the younger woman’s dark eyes.

      “Don’t you dare,” Maitlyn admonished between clenched teeth.

      Tarah giggled, whispering back, “I was just going to say that you might want to rethink doing it with the cabin guy and consider doing it with that guy.”

      Kendrick suddenly gestured in their direction.

      “Maitlyn, let me introduce you. This is Zakaria Sayed. Zak and I did some business together years ago, and we’ve been friends ever since. Zak, this is my sister Maitlyn Boudreaux. This is her first cruise.”

      “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Boudreaux,” Zak said as he wrapped a large palm around her hand, his dark gaze meeting hers evenly.

      “It’s very nice to meet you, too,” Maitlyn murmured, heat wafting in a large wave up her spine. She pulled her hand from his, her fingers tingling from his touch. She clenched her fist, drawing her hand behind her back to stall the sensation. Her eyes were still locked with his.

      Tarah cleared her throat, her eyebrows lifted.

      Kendrick laughed. “Oh, and that’s Tarah, our baby sister.”