Because, as it turned out, Tennessee Turner was pretty damn entertaining to be around. Or, at least, she didn’t blow smoke up my ass and treat me like I walked on water (although I didn’t doubt for a second she’d unceremoniously toss me off the ship just to be sure).
She was the only person in Fairhope who saw past my shiny exterior, and I was curious to know what, exactly, she was seeing.
We made our way to our room. I carried her straw beach tote, grateful to have something to conceal my raging hard-on as she blabbered happily about the strategy we’d use for the open buffet we’d chosen for dinner.
She seemed to mistake a cruise vacation for a war, and was getting pretty animated about it.
“The poultry and meat section is always packed. The lines are terrible, I noticed yesterday. I suggest you stand there and get each of us double portions while I take care of the pasta and salads. Unless you want potatoes with your meat? I don’t know. I don’t think I can look at potatoes the same way since I started working at Jerry & Sons. Coulter has done some pretty dreadful things with them over the years.”
“I eat there every week, you know.”
She waved her hand to disregard me, something I found oddly endearing. Even her fingers were sexy.
“Nothing too unhygienic. Besides, you always order the BLT with a salad on the side.”
“Comforting.”
We left the elevator and rounded the hallway leading to our room. In the distance, I spotted two women dressed in management uniforms and a middle-aged couple talking animatedly.
“So how come you never looked for something else for work?” I asked.
“I’m not very bright.”
“Not many people are.”
Pointing out that she was smart, or at the very least more quick-witted and eloquent than anyone I knew, would be considered ass-kissing.
Plus, I had a feeling she wasn’t going to believe I saw her as a fully rounded, nuanced human being, no matter how fervently I pleaded my case.
“Fairhope is a small town. Not a whole lot of job opportunities.”
“They pop up every now and then.”
“Come on, Cruz. I appreciate it, I do. But people don’t like me, and it would be cruel to make me want to try.”
I was starting to get irritated, but I wasn’t sure if it was with her, with the town we lived in, or both.
“It’s a chicken and egg situation, Turner. No one knows what came first. You’re not even trying. Of course people think the worst about you.”
“Good. Let them.”
As we came closer to the couple and the management representatives, their voices grew louder. The middle-aged lady was crying and flinging herself against the wall dramatically, while her husband rubbed her back to comfort her, looking at a loss.
“I just didn’t think it’d happen somewhere like this. Shame on all of you. This is completely unacceptable, and I’ll have you know I’ve already contacted a lawyer.”
“Ma’am, I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this. I’m sure it can be explained.”
“Nothing can be explained!” the woman shrieked, throwing her arms in the air. She was a solid woman, with bright red tresses and jewelry that looked heavy to carry. “I had fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of jewels in that suitcase. How could you just dump it in the hallway?”
The two management representatives exchanged helpless looks, while the lady began to sob again, burying her head in her husband’s shoulder.
“Well, ma’am, things like that don’t happen very often. If there was a mix-up—”
Tennessee and I swapped frowns as we came to a stop in front of our door, which happened to be the one directly opposite to the couple’s. We both smiled politely as I slid our electronic card into its slot.
“Maybe they have it,” the woman sniffled behind us.
Tennessee froze, grabbing my wrist all of a sudden, like a little girl.