Free Alaskan Exposure by A.S. Fenichel Page A

lucky. By early afternoon, the clouds are expected to be out of here and
we should have bluebird skies.”
    The smile that lit her face had him thinking of missing his
shift for the first time in his career.
    “Great. I have to go.”
    She was at the door in two steps and he practically had to
leap over the bed to stop her before she darted out into the passage.
“Charley?”
    She looked shocked at his hand firmly pressing the door
closed. “What? What’s wrong?”
    He wanted to kiss that stunned expression off her face. He
yearned to see her passion return. “You are running out the door without so
much as a ‘have a good day’.”
    Her cheeks were bright red when she turned toward him. She
didn’t look him in the eyes. “Sorry. Have a good day, Kyle.”
    “Will I see you later?”
    Her eyes drew together and the most adorable confusion
crossed through them. “Do you want to?”
    He maneuvered so that his back leaned against the door and
there was no way for her to exit unless she wanted to jump over the balcony
rail. He was not entirely sure she wouldn’t do just that to get away from him.
His stomach churned and hunger was not the reason. “I think I’m getting
insulted again. What is it that you expect? That we would make love most of the
night and then I would never want to see you again?”
    “I don’t know what I expected. We had a good time. You were
right. I wanted you. I just figured you would want…” Either she wouldn’t or
couldn’t finish her thought.
    Either way, rage that he would not have believed he could
feel for a woman, erupted inside him. “What? You thought I’ve had sex with you
and now I’m going to move on to my next conquest?”
    Her eyes scanned the floor and she wouldn’t meet his gaze,
but he could see that was exactly what she thought and his gut twisted.
    “I didn’t say that.”
    He tried not to say something terrible and then leave her
standing in his cabin. He failed. “Congratulations, Ms. Ballantine, you have
managed to make me feel cheap, and I didn’t think that was possible. Why don’t
you go ahead and leave me a few dollars on the nightstand? That way we can call
this what is was, at least what it was to you. You see, I thought we had a
mutual attraction and had a pretty nice evening together. While you were
evidently a horny cruise guest who used me for sex. No problem. The sex was
great. You have a nice day.”
    He caught a glimpse of her horrified expression as he
turned, opened the door and stormed out of the stateroom. He continued walking
and he must have looked furious because the crew members who passed him didn’t
even say good morning. By the time he reached the bridge, his temper had cooled
but his feelings were still a bit sore. He thought he understood women, but
Charley Ballantine was a complete mystery to him.
    He distracted himself with work. The captain docked the ship
with amazing skill and the efficient crew secured them to the dock, lowered
gangplanks and made announcements to the guests about visiting Ketchikan.
    Kyle was sitting with another mate tracking weather, other
ships and plotting the course for the next leg of the journey, when Captain
Cristou came over and slapped him on the back.
    “Kyle, you are required to spend the day in Ketchikan.”
    “What? Sir, I didn’t see any change in my duty schedule.”
    “No. You will remain on duty. The corporate office has
instructed me to have Ms. Ballantine guided by the most knowledgeable people. I
have determined you have the most experience and can be spared for a few hours
today.” Cristou smiled and puffed up his chest.
    “Am I allowed to decline this assignment?” Kyle asked.
    Cristou’s eyes narrowed. “Of course not.” Then he smiled.
“What can be so terrible about showing a beautiful photographer where to get
the best pictures?”
    The entire bridge was now listening to the conversation. He
definitely didn’t want to let everyone know about what had happened the