Free Love At Last (Lily's Story, Book 3) by Christine Kersey

completely absorbed in his laptop during the flight, so he probably hadn’t even registered my presence, except to note that I had a baby with me.
    Now, however, he seemed to take notice of me, which did something funny to my stomach. I wasn’t sure if it was his attention, or the fact that his eyes reminded me of Trevor, but when his gaze met mine, I felt exposed somehow, vulnerable.
    “He’s single,” Alyssa whispered in my ear.
    I broke my gaze with Cameron and looked at Alyssa. “That’s nice.”
    She tried to hide a smile. “And so are you, my dear.”
    I laughed. “Are you going to try to play matchmaker again?”
    “Hmm. I guess that didn’t work out so well the first time, did it?”
    “Maybe I should have listened to you when you were pushing me toward Justin.” I paused. “What’s he up to, anyway?”
    Alyssa smiled. “He’s doing great. He and Pamela got married.” She looked at me with a question. “Did you ever meet her?”
    I nodded. “Yeah.”
    “He wanted to come on the cruise, but it just didn’t work out.”
    “Hey, buddy,” Cameron said to Ty, who was sitting next to Alyssa. “How’s it going?”
    I looked at him and noticed him glancing at me.
    “Hey, Cam,” Ty said. “Come sit with us.”
    I felt Alyssa nudge me in the leg, and I bit back a smile. Then I thought about Marcus and how much I cared for him—maybe even loved him. Then I thought about his new girlfriend, and how our future together was so murky. I had no obligation to Marcus. Besides, it would be fun to get to know more people on the cruise—it was just a week of fun before going back to my everyday, hum-drum life. I needed to expand my circle of acquaintances, and this would be the perfect opportunity.
    “Cam,” Ty said, then motioned to me. “This is Alyssa’s friend, Lily.”
    Turning to look at him, I smiled.  
    “Hey,” he said.  
    “Hi.” I could see in his eyes that he found me attractive and it made me feel desirable. For the past eight months I’d been so focused on being a mother that I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to have a man show that kind of interest in me.
    “Where are you from?” he asked as he slid into a seat across from Alyssa, Ty, and me.
    Enjoying his attention, I smiled, and told him the name of the small town an hour south of Sacramento.
    “Is that so?”
    “What about you?” I asked.
    “I actually don’t live too far from you. I’m just up in Sacramento.”
    I nodded, not terribly surprised, since we’d left from the same airport. “Have you ever been to Alaska?”
    “No. But I understand this is a good time of year to go. What about you?”
    “No. First time in Alaska, and this is my first cruise too.”
    He smiled, which deepened the dimple on his cheek. “Well, maybe I can show you some of the fun things to do on the ship.”
    My smile grew as he made his intentions clear. “I’d like that.” I paused as a thought occurred to me. Most likely he didn’t know I had a baby. Would that change his mind about spending time with me? Natalie was part of me, so there wasn’t much I could do about it, but I thought it would be better to make the truth known up front. “I guess you don’t recognize me.”
    He looked puzzled. “No. Why? Have we met before?”
    I laughed, secretly worried about his reaction. “Sort of. You sat next to me on your flight this morning.”
    “I did?” Then he looked confused. “But I sat next to a woman with a baby.”
    I pointed to Barbara. “Yes. Alyssa’s mom is holding my daughter.”
    His gaze went to Natalie, who was watching the people around her, then focused back on me. He laughed, but he seemed uncomfortable. “Sorry, I guess I didn’t pay attention on the flight.”
    “That’s okay.”
    He didn’t say anything for a moment, then he looked at Ty and asked him a question, effectively dismissing me. Though I kept a smile on my face, disappointment shot through me that his interest had shut off like a light