Just thinking about that conversation and how everything he said to her was just that sweet had her smiling and feeling all warm and fuzzy. The warm fuzzy feelings went up in flames the moment she looked up from the foo-foo drink she’d been drinking on the deck with her dad and saw Grayson walking toward them.

“Looks like we’re gonna have beautiful weather for the trip.” He smiled big, taking the seat next to her dad.

Ella didn’t know how to ask without sounding rude, but he had to know she was wondering why the hell he’d failed to mention he’d be coming too. He’d said from the beginning he’d never been into cruises or Cold Duck. She could already feel her insides warming. The sneaky jerk!

“I didn’t know you were coming too,” she said, staring at him and not caring much if her stare crossed over into a glare.

“I wasn’t until my cousin let me know he hadn’t been able to get rid of the last four tickets he had.” He waved a waiter down and ordered a drink and another round for Ella and her dad. “I asked around work and was able to get rid of three more for him. He’s been going on and on about this cruise for years. I haven’t taken a vacation in a while. I didn’t want him to have to eat the last ticket, so I figured why not?”

Ella couldn’t believe it never once crossed her mind he’d do something like this. He’d been all about helping her with her father’s issues and just the other day made mention of how cool it was that she and her dad were going to have this time alone.

The way he was making himself so comfortable at their table now Ella could already tell she and her father wouldn’t have much alone time this entire cruise.

Right on cue, her phone rang with a call from Felix. After his morning calls, she usually didn’t hear from him until the evening once he was done for the day. But this morning he’d told her he wanted to talk to her before she left to see her off.

She stood up, taking her drink with her, and addressed her dad. “I have to take this.”

God! How was she supposed to tell Felix this cruise had now turned into one she’d be spending with her ex, a guy Felix had never actually said he couldn’t stand but Ella knew without doubt he couldn’t?

His usual “Hey, baby” was replaced with a cheery “Bon voyage.”

“Thank you,” she said, walking over to the side rail and looking out into the busy port.

“Are you already moving or still at the port?”

“We’re still here.” The loud horn went off, and she covered her ear. “Hold on,” she said as the announcement came on over the loud speaker, letting everyone know they were about to sail. “I guess we’re about to leave,” she shouted into the phone.

It was a bit broken up, and between the wind and the announcement, Ella was able to make out Felix asking her if she wanted him to call her a little later. She said yes and hung up.

By the time she got back to the table, her second round had arrived. She was almost done with her other one and had set it on the table since it’d gotten a bit watered down. As the ship began moving, the announcement came on about everyone reporting to their muster stations with their life jackets for the mandatory muster drill.

“Our rooms are right next door to each other,” Grayson said with a smile, “so we’re assigned the same station, the Lido deck.”

Ella peered at Grayson. Right next to each other? That just confirmed that his lying ass hadn’t gotten the tickets at the last minute as he claimed to have done. He’d planned it this way from the beginning. If her dad weren’t there, she’d tell Grayson off. Telling Felix about this had just gotten worse. Way worse.

But she absolutely had to. She’d picked up on something from Felix loud and clear. He was practicing honesty all the way—no matter how uncomfortable or upsetting.

They all made their way down to their rooms to get their life jackets. Grayson seemed to pick up on her annoyance, so he chummed up with her dad instead of trying to talk to her. Of course, Felix’s next call came when they were in the middle of the drill, and she couldn’t take it. She snuck in a text to let him know about the drill and that she’d call him when it was over.

She laughed at his response saying Noah was going to kick his ass for slacking off so much today but he’d wait for her call regardless. That only made the knot forming in her stomach a little tighter. Hearing how much he was looking forward to talking to her warmed her as it always did, but she hated that she’d be informing him about Grayson. She almost wished she could just hold off telling him until she got back because she didn’t want to ruin his weekend and she knew this just might.

Ella had yet to tell her dad about Felix, but she’d begun to think this cruise might be the perfect time to tell him. He’d likely be excited about it, and she now believed in her heart that Felix was really in love with her. This relationship might actually have a fighting chance of making it even with their erratically different lifestyles. Although this phone call she was about to make had her worried now.

Things got worse before they got better. By the time the drill was over, Ella and her dad were now part of a group. Grayson introduced them to his cousin Fredo and his wife Hannah. Then there were the people from his work. An older detective and his wife and his wife’s sister also joined them. Apparently, all the extra rooms his cousin had were all near each other.

Grayson introduced everyone, annoyingly referring to Ella as his ex-girlfriend who he was still good friends with, as if that were even necessary to point out. Then came the even more annoying part. The detective’s wife’s sister, Margie, was a lady who looked to be in her late forties early fifties. But she dressed and did her hair and makeup as if she were in her twenties. She had the look of a woman on the prowl or at least a woman who was there to let her hair down. And she was eyeballing Ella’s dad. That wasn’t the annoying part. The annoying, almost enraging, part was that Grayson made it a point to introduce Margie to her dad and even mentioned what a big Dodgers fan her dad was—just like Margie. It appeared this was likely a part of what was beginning to feel like a well-planned scheme of Grayson’s.