Free Seducing Her Rival by Seleste deLaney

disentangling herself and winding her way toward the pools. The sports deck was as logical a place as any to start her search, especially on their first full day at sea. Strolling along the deck, she scanned the heavy activity zones. No Lucas.
    She’d really hoped to stumble across him at one of the pools where she could make nice with him and soak up some sun at the same time. But there was still no sign of Lucas when Mercedes reached the beach pool. The ship was just too big and she didn’t know it well enough yet. With a thousand places he could be tucked away, she might never find him.
    A lounge chair in the water opened up and she bee lined for it. Considering at the moment she was debating slipping a note under his door, she needed to figure out a better plan, and there was no harm in letting the water lap at her toes while she did it. Mercedes untied her sarong, draped it over the lounge chair, and eased her still-aching muscles onto it.
    A waiter stopped by a few seconds later with an empty tray and flashed her a smile. “Good to see the extra drink yesterday didn’t do you in.”
    Mercedes shielded her eyes as she tipped her head up. The waiter, Wilhelm by his nametag, was the same one she’d met upon boarding…and possibly the key to solving her problem. “Hello again. Please don’t regret giving it to me, but I ended up spilling the drink all over someone after I went inside.”
    He laughed and squatted down next to her chair. “Ten minutes on board and someone deserved to have a drink thrown at him already? That has to be a record.”
    She flinched, recalling the way Lucas had joked about how refreshing it was that she hadn’t thrown it. “No. He didn’t deserve that until today. Sadly, I had no booze in hand at the time. And I actually need to find him again. Any chance you can help?”
    “Probably not. Too many people on board for me to be much more than an extra set of eyes, but I can get you a drink at least.”
    Not the level of help she wanted, but at least it would dull her nerves a little. “Something fruity and intoxicating would be fabulous then.”
    “Sounds good. I’ll be right back.” He pushed off from the chair and disappeared into the crowd.
    Too bad Lucas wasn’t as good about popping in at the right moment as Wilhelm the waiter. At least he showed up with booze whenever she needed it.
    Then again, the last guy who made a point of getting her what she “needed” hadn’t exactly been a knight in shining armor. The night after Marco’s shooting in the park, she’d had to deal with her boyfriend screaming at her for giving the police his name after he ran. The stupid deal had been Cole’s idea—see how the other half lived and buy there instead of having the drugs delivered. She’d been such a fool, falling for his money and sweet-talking only to have him turn around and badmouth the neighborhood. Only to have him shatter two lives into a million pieces with his idea of “slumming it.”
    Cole had spent his tirade acting like she’d done something wrong when he’d been the one who took them to the park. He’d been the one who left Marco there to bleed to death. He told her he’d already lawyered up and in the next breath he’d said, “You’re on your own. I’m over my cheap Mexican whore phase. The only reason I stayed as long as I did was how much I liked to fuck your fine little ass. Until you figure out whose boots you lick to get ahead, you’re never getting out of that shithole you grew up in.” Then he’d hung up.
    She shuddered at the memory, forcing a smile as Wilhelm brought her drink. He waved off her card. “Consider this a replacement for the one you spilled.”
    “Thanks.” This time the smile was real. Why was it so much easier for her to accept Wilhelm at face value than someone like Lucas? Even if she ignored the property thing—which she could manage for all of about ten seconds if she tried really hard—she still found herself questioning