Free Alaskan Exposure by A.S. Fenichel Page B

night
before or that morning. “No, Sir. I’m happy to play tour guide.”
    “Good. I have sent her a note that her guide will meet her
on the dock at ten o’clock. The clouds should be moving off by that time.”
    “Very good, Sir.” He didn’t want to see her again. He kept
telling himself that even though his heart beat faster at the thought. Dammit,
how did she get under my skin?

Chapter Five
     
    It was early, so very few people were in the corridors,
elevators and common areas that Charley navigated through to get to the
stateroom she shared with Jules.
    Every room was marked with a bronze number plate that also
served as a mail holder. The crew would put the daily schedule and any other
pertinent information in the slot for each room. When she arrived at 8088, she
took the envelope from the door as she quietly entered.
    Jules no doubt, had a late night with her new friends. Maybe
Charley could sneak in, shower and sneak out without being interrogated.
    No such luck. The minute the door shut, her friend sat up.
With her hair in a nest and her eyes barely focusing. “Where the hell have you
been all night. I want details.”
    “Do we have to do this?” Charley sat heavily on the end of
her bed.
    Jules pushed her covers back and sat beside her. “What
happened? Did that first officer hurt you?”
    She sighed. “No. I think I hurt him.”
    “What? How?” Jules’ eyes narrowed.
    Charley told her everything, leaving out the details of the
sex itself. When she finished the story, Jules sat wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
    “I would never have believed that story if you had not told
it to me yourself. You are always so concerned about everyone else’s feelings.
I’m always trying to get you to worry about yourself and not let people walk
all over you. But that was pretty insensitive, Charley. Why’d you do it?”
    For Jules to find her actions offensive meant that she had
really gone too far. “I don’t know. It never occurred to me that he would get
so angry.”
    “Because you thought he was just some dumb sailor out for an
easy lay?”
    When she put it that way, it sounded terrible. The guilt
that had begun to gnaw at her in Kyle’s cabin settled in the pit of her
stomach. She was a bitch. “No. Maybe. I didn’t really think at all. I was
embarrassed and I wanted to get away.”
    Jules got up, opened the sliding door to their veranda and
pulled on a robe. “But from what you told me, he was a perfect gentleman and
actually having sex was your idea. Did I get that wrong?”
    “No, he was so sexy and charming and I wanted him.”
    “I don’t understand your reaction this morning. What was
there to be embarrassed about? How was the sex?”
    “Jules,” Charley whined.
    “What? If the sex sucked then you might not want to see him
again anyway. I think it’s kind of a shit way to getting rid of a lover, but it
probably worked.” She sat on the couch, crossed her legs and waited for an
answer.
    “He is a very generous lover. He was kind and thoughtful. We
even talked about Pete. The entire night was amazing and intimate.” Just the
thought of their lovemaking had her nipples and clit tightening all over again.
    “This doesn’t make any sense, Charley. You must have had a
reason to be so cold to him this morning.”
    She gave it a lot of thought. It was all she had thought of
ever since Kyle slammed out of his stateroom. She put her head in her hands. “I
think I got scared. I should never have shared so many intimate details of my
life with a stranger. There’s no future with this guy, Jules. He’s a merchant
marine. He’s at sea all the time. He probably has a different girl at every
port and a new one on the ship every week. I’m still trying to figure out why I
find him so damn irresistible.”
    “Look, I’m no expert on making relationships work. My last
one turned into a disaster, as you well know. I’m also completely on your side.
If you don’t want to have anything to do with Kyle,