Free Beauty & the Beast by Nancy Holder

arrived at the cruise lines hub at the Port of Los Angeles, located in the town of San Pedro, she hadn’t had a handle on the scale of the ship. It was like a small floating city rising high above the dock, topped by a control tower as tall as three billboards. Aboard, the walls were painted in beautiful murals of coral, blue, white, and silver and washed with golden California sunlight. Wood and brass gleamed everywhere. Many of the other passengers were wearing aloha shirts and flowered dresses. Vincent had on a loose light blue silk shirt and khaki pants, and Cat was wearing a white shell top, dark blue linen walking shorts, and matching blue wedges. Her straw purse, a gift from Heather, was tiny.
    “Three pools, hot tubs, a spa, a dozen restaurants, and a casino,” Vincent said happily. “Are you feeling lucky?”
    “Oh, yes. Every minute of every day.”
    Hand in hand, they joined the line of check-ins boarding the Sea Majesty. Hawaiian slack-key guitar music was playing and as each passenger stepped onto the ship, a woman dressed in a coral-colored sheath and a necklace of darker coral placed a lei over his or her head and said, “Aloha. Welcome to your journey to paradise.” It sounded corny but Cat didn’t care. She’d been looking forward to this cruise for months. Last night’s bump in the road had only served to underscore just how badly she needed a vacation.
    At their hotel last night, it had been too good to be true to assume they wouldn’t get a visit from LAPD before they went to bed, and sure enough, after their whirlpool soak, one Sergeant Gutierrez had taken their statements and double-checked to make sure they hadn’t discovered that something was missing. When Cat had revealed that she was NYPD, he’d been a bit more forthcoming about the burglaries, even though there wasn’t much to tell: They suspected that it was some local teenage rich kids who made a game out of breaking into homes and hotels in the area on a dare.
    “We can’t prove it yet,” he continued, and he sighed. “Even if we get something ironclad, it might just go away.”
    Cat lifted a brow. “Let me guess. Rich kids have rich parents.”
    “Rich parents with publicists,” he affirmed. “Those movie stars you see on the big screen? They’re too busy being famous to raise their kids. The kids notice. Act up to get attention. And it still doesn’t work.”
    Ouch. She thought about Mitchell Samosa. What if he’d already had kids of his own, who learned of his tryst because of this stunt?
    Back on the Sea Majesty , Vincent gave her hand a squeeze. “You’re off duty,” he reminded her. “You’re still thinking about the break-in, right?”
    She flushed. “Is it that obvious?” She moved her shoulders. “There. I’m letting it go.” She nodded. “It’s gone.” Wrinkled her nose. “Almost.”
    Soon there was just one passenger in front of Vincent and Cat, a man in a black business suit wearing a pair of sunglasses. He looked distinctly out of place, and reminded Cat of one of the many FBI agents she’d dealt with since her life with Vincent had begun. Curious, she watched him accept his lei but wave away the offer to have his photograph taken in front of a backdrop of curving palms framing a beautiful Hawaiian sunset.
    “Ready to be aloha’ed?” Vincent asked her. His eyes glittered mischievously.
    “So is that what we’re calling it these days?” she replied, snuggling up against him.
    Once upon a time, their secret world had consisted of lies, sneaking, and stolen moments. Now it was made of shared memories, in-jokes, and code words. They had traded the thrill of danger for the excitement of building a life together—one rooted in true love.
    “I can’t wait to aloha with you in our cabin,” Cat whispered.
    Then, as the woman in the sheath prepared to put the sweet-smelling lei over Cat’s head, she looked over at Vincent and said, “Wait. I think you two need to be photographed together. I