Part 8 (1/2)
”What?” mumbled Candi, obviously panicked.
”Never mind, just follow me.”
Sarah led her over to the bar.
”We'd like two margaritas, please.” She smiled at the bartender and leaned a little towards him at the same time, giving him a nice view of her cleavage.
The bartender smiled back. ”How old is your friend?” he said, gesturing with a slight tilt of his head towards Candi.
”Old enough,” answered Sarah, still smiling, with very enticing promises in her eyes.
Candi nudged Sarah with her toe. Sarah kicked her back. Luckily the bartender couldn't see what was going on down below the bar top.
”Here you go,” he said a minute later, putting two very large margaritas on top of the bar in front of Sarah.
”Thanks, sweetie. What time do you get off tonight?” Sarah asked, flirtatiously stirring her drink.
”Not 'til three,” he responded with a playful frown.
”That's too bad. Maybe I'll still be around then.”
”I hope so.”
Sarah turned to Candi who she caught rolling her eyes. ”Come on, Sugar Lump, let's go find us a seat.”
”I really wish you'd stop calling me that,” Candi said to her back.
Sarah just ignored her.
They walked over to a dark corner where a comfortable couch and a couple of tables were gathered together. They dropped down onto the couch, setting their drinks on the table in front of them.
”So, what kind of meat is at the market today?” asked Sarah, scanning the room slowly from left to right, her eyes locking onto two guys who stepped away from the bar and began heading in their direction.
”A-ha, yes. I thought so. t.i.ts out, Sugar Lump. Incoming.”
”What?” was all Candi could get out before two really hot guys were standing in front of them. She looked over at Sarah who was mouthing the words 't.i.ts out' at her and throwing her shoulders back at the same time.
Candi leand in and whispered, ”What is this, Animal Kingdom?”
”Yes,” deadpanned Sarah.
The big blond guy on the left spoke first. ”Hey, what's up? What are you girls drinking?”
”Margaritas, of course,” answered Sarah, evenly. She didn't seem fl.u.s.tered at all, just really s.e.xy.
”Mind if we join you?” asked the other one, looking at Candi.
”Sure, sit ... for a little while, anyway,” answered Sarah, knowing instinctively that Candi would be too tongue-tied to respond properly.
”Uh-oh, Jack, we have a dangerous one here,” said the blond, smiling. They moved some nearby chairs so they could sit across from the girls.
The guy named Jack got comfortable, setting his drink down across from Candi's. ”So, I'll break the ice ... we're Jack and Mason, I'm Jack, he's Mason, and we're from New York. What are your names, and where are you from?”
Sarah answered for both of them since Candi seemed to have been struck dumb. ”I'm Sarah and this is Candi; we're both from North Carolina.”
Candi looked over at Sarah, looking as if she were trying to send a silent message, her eyebrows raised.
”What?” asked Sarah, looking directly at Candi.
”What?” responded Candi, acting innocent, while also raising her eyebrows again and giving a nearly imperceptible shake of her head.
Sarah deliberately ignored her and turned back towards the boys. ”Is this your first time on this s.h.i.+p?”
”Yep,” answered Mason. ”How 'bout you guys? This your first time?”
”Yes, it is,” answered Sarah as she reached out, lifting her drink off the table and taking a big drink through the straw before she continued. ”We haven't really seen anything here yet. Is there a dance club on this s.h.i.+p?”
”You bet. Up on B-deck, just down the hall from our rooms, in fact.”
Sarah got a sour look on her face. ”B-deck. Isn't that near the top? With the ocean view balcony rooms?”
”Yeah, how'd you know? Is that where your room is too?”
Candi blurted out, ”No! I mean ... no. We're down below that area. Our room doesn't even have a window,” she finished sheepishly.
Jack jumped in, trying to bring the mood back to a happier place, ”I've stayed in those rooms before, they're not bad. You hardly spend any time in them anyway, if you're lucky.” He lifted his eyebrows encouragingly at Candi. His message was clear. Sarah could tell he was more than willing to give Candi a personal tour.
Sarah smiled. ”I like that idea ... spending no time in the room.” She looked over at Candi. ”See? We just have to stay out dancing all night. Problem solved.”
Candi smiled back nervously.
”The club opens at nine, but Jack says it doesn't really get going until ten or so. We were going to go over there later ourselves,” said Mason. He lifted up his drink, holding it up in front of him. ”Here's to having a good time, staying out all night, and dancing and drinking until the sun comes up!”
The others reached for their drinks, clinking them together across the table, toasting to a night of revelry. Everyone finished their drinks with big, long gulps.
Candi put her gla.s.s down on the table a little too hard, laughing nervously at her own clumsiness.
Jack looked into her eyes and grinned. He had the cutest smile. Candi took a minute to really look at him. His eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen; paired with his dark hair, broad shoulders, and trim waist, they made him look like some sort of underwear model or something. He had a really manly jaw, square with a hint of beard shadow. She didn't know what to say to a guy this cute. He was almost as cute as Kevin. She wondered how old he was. He looked at least nineteen, maybe older.
Sarah nudged her and whispered in her ear, ”Stop staring, dork.”
Candi laughed self-consciously and looked down for a moment at her hands, trying to force herself not to twist them nervously.
”How old are you, anyway?” Mason asked Sarah.
Candi looked up to see what Sarah's response would be.
”How old do I look?” She started at him with a dare in her eyes.