Love's Call by Jala Summers

walked toward her, another young man, clearly no more than twenty two years of age, beat him there. Liana sat down in her lounge chair and gave the young man a polite smile. But she seemed completely uninterested in his advances.  
     
    Kyle reached them and dropped his towel on the lounge chair next to her. “Hey there," he said. “Sorry. I was late.  Got held up.”
     
    Liana’s eyes shone when she saw him, and gave a toothy grin. "Well, hello."
     
    Their act worked, and her potential suitor took that as his cue. He walked off, leaving them alone.
     
    "Thanks, that was a close one."
     
    “If I can get you to smile like that, I’ll do it more often.”
     
    They spent the rest of the afternoon basking in the sun’s rays and enjoyed swimming and splashing in the cool pool waters.

Chapter Thirteen
     
    Liana pulled a white pantsuit out of her suitcase, and went into the cabin’s tiny bathroom to put it on. It was the night of the White and Sexy party and the dress code was all white.  
     
    She turned to one side and then the other, inspecting her image in the short bathroom mirror as best she could.  She was satisfied with what she saw and knew that Kyle would be as well.
     
    She stopped, catching herself in the middle of her thoughts.  Lately, her mind remained on thoughts of Kyle, and she realized that it still felt strange.  She hadn’t allowed herself to let go in this way since Brian.
     
    Sure, he seems like a good man and kind enough, but I barely know him , she thought to herself, as she left the bathroom and waited on the bed for Alyssa to finish getting ready for the evening.
     
    ***
     
    Kyle felt a soft touch, as long, feminine fingers wrapped around his arm. He turned, expecting to see Liana’s beautiful face, but instead met the face of one of the women who’d approached him after his karaoke performance the first night on the ship.  
     
    “Hello there, stranger.  I’ve been waiting to get you alone.”
     
    Kyle looked up to see Liana, a vision in white, enter the room.  She stood at the door’s entrance, hesitant and watching them from afar.  He reached up and waved to her and gently extracted the woman’s hand from his arm. “I’m sorry.  I’m actually meeting someone here.”
     
    He quickly maneuvered through the crowd and made a beeline for Liana.  She stood there, a question on her face. He knew exactly what she had to be thinking.   Who is that woman, and why was she all over him?  He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently. His eyes were locked onto hers, “You look beautiful tonight.”  
     
    “Thank you,” she said, as she tried to force herself to stop blushing.  Then her face changed, becoming more serious as she looked over his shoulder at the woman he’d left behind. The infuriated woman frowned at them, storming off in the other direction. “What was that about?”
     
    “You didn’t realize it, but you were returning the favor from earlier.” He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. A slow song was on, and he took full advantage, pulling her in to him.  “I need you to stay here, so no other women get any ideas.”
     
    Liana felt the familiar tingling, that had now become a regular sensation since she’d met him, run through her body when she felt his hard chest against her. Liana pulled away slightly, still hesitant about allowing herself to lose control of the situation.
     
    Kyle looked down at her, “Are you okay?”
     
    I won’t be if you keep looking at me with those sexy eyes , she thought.  But aloud, she said, instead, “I’m fine.”
     
    “Good,” he said, and pulled her in closer again.  
     
    She started to pull away again, but stopped. I’m a grown woman, this is my vacation.  And what happens on this cruise, can stay on this cruise, she rationalized.  She may have normally been an analytical person who operated by hard and fast rules.  But now, she told herself, was time to be that woman she’d never before