I blinked. “Sorry, what?”
“The singles cruise. Around one hundred and fifty of the guests are here for that purpose.”
“Oh, God no. My brother booked this for me because he works in the casino. I just needed a bit of time away from my regular life.”
“Ah.”
I mentally scolded myself. What if he was here on the singles cruise and I just insulted him? I slowly made eye contact with him and asked. “Um, are you here for that reason?”
He laughed. “No. This cruise was the only one that worked with the timing I needed to get to Cozumel. I work for a charity that provides clean drinking water and improves sanitation around the world, and I’m meeting some people there to discuss a new project. I hate to fly, so I usually tag along on whatever cruise is available when I need it.”
I tilted my head to the side. “You’re scared of flying?”
“Not scared. I just don’t like not being able to move. And unless I pay for extra legroom, it’s way too cramped for me.”
I belatedly realized he was over six-foot-four.
“Oh. That’s cool.” I saw a familiar face making its way towards me. “Hey, there’s my brother.” I waved my hands in the air so he could see me.
“I’ll leave you to it, then,” the guy said. “I’m sure I’ll see you ‘round.”
“Yes! And thank you for checking on me. Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Wells.”
“Hi, Wells. I’m Olivia. Liv, for short.”
He smiled broadly and backed away before Patrick reached us. I was still looking in his direction when Patrick nudged me with his shoulder.
“Who were you talking to?”
“I don’t know. Just some guy.”
“Hooking up already?” he teased, wriggling his eyebrows.
“No! And before we go any further, you didn’t tell me there was a singles cruise on this boat!”
He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, about that…”
I looked at him, stricken. “You didn’t…”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Wait, wait. I didn’t do it on purpose. It just turned out that the only cabins left were part of the singles package. So you’ll be sleeping near them, but you don’t have to be part of their schedule if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean you don’t think so?”
My brother looked behind him. “Oops, sorry. I have to go. I need to attend the orientation briefing.” He shoved a key and a piece of paper at me. “Come find me later and we’ll chat.” He hurried off, leaving me there on my own.
I almost called out after him, but I knew it would be pointless. I couldn’t believe my brother! Springing something like that on me.
I looked down at the key and paper. Originally, I’d hoped that Patrick would give me a tour and then show me to my room, but that obviously wasn’t happening now. The paper revealed my room number and a few instructions about life aboard the Oceanic Aphrodite, the vessel I was currently standing on.
I decided to do a little exploring on my own. The current level contained a couple of restaurants, some boutiques and a theater. Up a few floors were the pool and exercise areas. There were people everywhere, but admittedly, they didn’t all seem as wild as the beer-pong players. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Finally, I went back down to find my room. I must have timed it just right, because I didn’t see anyone else in the corridor. I wasn’t mentally prepared to engage in any awkward small talk yet.
I quickly let myself into my room and looked around.
Okay. I could work with this. At least Patrick had booked me a private room, so I didn’t have to share. I had a king bed, a narrow desk, and even my own bathroom. I didn’t have an ocean view, but I figured if I wanted to enjoy the scenery, I could always find some quiet corner of the ship above deck, or in the library. I couldn’t believe this ship had a library and an artist’s studio!
I sat down on the bed. So. This was going to be my home for the next seven days.
I tried to rationalize the situation. Seven days wasn’t long. And it had to be better than what I was leaving behind.
Maybe I would be able to avoid the people who were part of the singles cruise. After all, it wasn’t like I had to wear a fluorescent name-tag advertising the fact.
And who knew? I might even manage to have some fun.
Ready to read more? Grab I Thought it was You here!
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you to the other authors in this awesome series: Holly Kerr, Laura Heffernan, Kirsty McManus, Holly Tierney-Bedord, Delancey Stewart, Monique McDonell, and Sophie-Leigh Robbins. This project took many months to put together and into motion. It’s been so much fun and I love that I took this journey with you.
Stephanie Pajonas. Would I ever get through writing a book without you? I don’t think so. Thank you for being my sounding board, my motivator, and my friend.
To the members of my reader group, krimm & sugar, I love having you as part of my group and I hope you’ve had fun so far!
Chrissy Wolfe, thank you for copyediting and proofreading this book. EFC Services, LLC is spectacular!
Thank you to my husband for being the provider for our family and affording us the opportunity for me to be a mom and live my dream as an author.
And thank you, coffee, for being there for me always.
Copyright © 2019 Tracy Krimmer
Circle in the Sand is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.
Copy editor: EFC Services, LLC
Cover design by Kirsty McManus
Also by Tracy Krimmer
All That Series
All That Glitters
All That Doesn’t
All That Matters
Pastime Pursuits Series
Caching In
Jay Walking
Sparing the Heart
Standalones
Dating for Decades
Lipstick & Lattes
Ugly Beautiful Girl
In With the New
Something Just Like This
Landing Luck
Pieces of it All
The Right Equation
Mixtapes & Roller Skates
Candy Christmas
Early Bird Special
About the Author
Thank you for taking yourself on this journey with Isla and Asher. I hope you check out the rest of the books in the Oceanic Dreams series. Please check out my other books at www.tracykrimmer.com/books and subscribe to my newsletter at www.tracykrimmer.com/newsletter.
The Oceanic Dreams Series
Book 1: I Saw Him Standing There by Holly Kerr
Book 2: Time of My Life by Laura Heffernan
Book 3: Circle in the Sand by Tracy Krimmer
Book 4: I Thought It Was You by Kirsty McManus
Book 5: I Will Follow Him by Holly Tierney-Bedord
Book 6: Take a Chance on Me by Delancey Stewart
Book 7: Shut Up and Dance with Me by Monique McDonell
Book 8: The Best of You by Sophie-Leigh Robbins