Awakening Lucy Read online

  I nodded at this and headed off the way Nick had indicated, perplexed that he must have been watching my face. When I got to the perfumery, I forgot about Nick however when I saw the array of perfumes awaiting me. I love different perfumes, I have lots of little bottles on my dresser at home. For a while I was engrossed in smelling the different scents, spraying the test bottles on the little cards kept for that purpose, and trying to remember which was which. While I was waving one little card in the air to dry it, I masculine arm stilled my hand. It was Nick. As he moved my hand, which was grasping the card, to his nose, his eyes were locked on mine. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. I took in a deep breath. For some reason I found that incredibly sensual. Perhaps I was imagining Nick smelling the perfume on my skin, as I usually spray a mist between my breasts, I had created a mental image of Nick’s head at my breasts, and I was having difficulty concentrating.

  “I like this one”, Nick said softly, as he took the bottle out of my hand, and turned my hand over, “but how does it smell on skin?”

  He then turned my hand over and squirted some scent on my wrist, and raised that hand to his nose, after releasing the other hand. He bent his head to my wrist and again, inhaled deeply. I was suddenly shocked at my reaction to this simple gesture. I felt a sudden heat between my legs, and my panties started feeling a little damp. I should have pulled my wrist back, but I could not have moved if my life depended on it, I just stared at Nick’s lowered head, various carnal thoughts going through my mind. Where had these come from? I had not been interested in men for over twenty years, and now I could not get my mind out of my pants!

  Nick exhaled, raised his head, and stared at me, not releasing my hand.

  “Buy this one”, he said with a small catch in his voice, “It smells” – there was a pause – “unbelievably enticing on you”.

  Seeming to become aware that I was transfixed, he released my hand and turned me around towards the counter, giving me a little push. I blindly paid for the perfume, not even completely aware which brand it was. One thing was for sure, I would be wearing that scent often!

  When I had finished, and had the little bag in my hand, I realized that Nick’s hands were empty and asked whether he had changed his mind about his purchase.

  “No, I bought some”, he replied, “but they won’t let you take it with you. I guess if you had your own supply of alcohol, you wouldn’t need to buy it in the bar! They say they package it for travel and deliver it to your stateroom the night before we dock, so you can pack it in your luggage. Anyway, I was wondering if you want to do anything this morning? Adam and Sarah were going to go to trivia with Judy and Tom, do you want to join them?”

  As I had nothing better planned, I said I would, so we headed off to the bar where trivia was held. We joined our friends, and before the game started, both Sarah and Judy asked what I had bought, so I opened the package so they could both smell it. Sarah said it was lovely, and Judy told Tom that she knew what he could buy her for her next birthday. The game then started, and there was no more time for talk.

  Afterwards, the six of us headed up to the pool deck for a walk around in the fresh air before heading off to lunch. I didn’t know how I could possibly fit in any more food, I was still quite full from breakfast, but somehow I managed. I noticed some sweet interplay between Adam and Sarah as Adam pointed out that there was a delicious sounding bisque on the menu, and caught Nick’s eye as he watched them also. We both smiled at each other, and for the first time, I relaxed around Nick.

  6.

  That relaxed feeling didn’t last all that long however, as after lunch our companions said that they wanted to try the dancing lessons. I wasn’t very enthusiastic, but didn’t want to put a dampener on the afternoon’s entertainment, so I went along. Today’s class was a Cha-cha-cha – talk about throwing beginners in at the deep end! We started off in lines, watching the instructor and trying to copy the moves, and there was lots of laughing and falling about as the un-coordinated among us soon managed to fall out of step and give up. Sarah had to sit out after a while, although she was only in the early stages of pregnancy she found the gyrating too strenuous and was soon puffed.

  I was not surprised to see that Nick was a good dancer. Although he didn’t know the moves he managed to pick them up quickly with a minimum of stumbling, and as I also was one of the few who hadn’t given up when the going got difficult, it was only natural that when it was time to take a partner he turned to me and extended his hand. Dare I? I did. I took his hand and we did the best we could to keep up with the instructor. There was something so very sensual about these latin dances, even though I was so busy concentrating that I really didn’t have much time to think, I did notice the gyrating of Nick’s hips, and that mine were matching his. I don’t think that all of the heat I was feeling was just because of the physical exertion either.

  At the end of the class, after the instructor congratulated everyone who attempted the lesson, Nick and I walked over to where Adam and Sarah sat, with my arm still linked into the crook of Nick’s arm. Sarah was looking at us speculatively, and I dropped Nick’s arm, flapping my hands at my flushed face and making a fuss over being hot from the dancing.

  Adam, ever the gentleman, reached behind him and produced a couple of glasses of a fruit punch, saying that the dancing looked like thirsty work, and he thought we would need a drink when we were finished. I accepted my glass and took a sip to check if it was alcoholic, as it wasn’t, I drank more greedily. I didn’t want a repeat of last night quite so soon! Nick asked after Judy and Tom, Sarah said that they had gone for a swim, neither was enjoying the dancing very much so they had decided to do something else. Sarah then said that she and Adam were going for a nap before dinner. Yes, well, Sarah did look tired, but the look she and Adam exchanged led me to believe that napping was not on the agenda.

  So there stood Nick and I, empty glasses in hand, still flushed from dancing, when Nick suggested:

  “Swimming sounds like a good idea, that class was quite physical. Will you join me?”

  I inwardly squirmed at the idea of Nick seeing me in my swim clothes, but I was hot too and didn’t want to deny myself a dip in the pool. When Mum and I had gone shopping, I had bought a colourful one-piece – the saleswoman had called it a maillot. Whatever it was called, although it covered more than a bikini did, the legs were rather high cut and the bust very low. Mum, however had talked me into buying it, saying that I looked very nice. I paired it with a gauzy shirtdress to get from the stateroom to the pool and both Mum and the saleswoman declared that it suited me.

  I changed in my stateroom – Mum was nowhere to be seen and I hadn’t seen her since breakfast – and headed to the pool. As I looked around for Nick, I heard my name being called and turned to see Judy waving at me. Just then, Nick appeared just behind me and said:

  “It looks like there’s a couple of spare sun loungers near Judy, let’s go”. He led the way towards the loungers and dropped his towel, glasses and sunscreen on one lounger. He turned to look at me, and then said:

  “Did you put sunscreen on? You have fair skin, you will burn in no time up here”.

  At this, Nick picked up the sunscreen from his lounger, and turned to me expectantly. For just a moment I hesitated, although the mental image of Nick rubbing sunscreen into me was wonderful, years of closing myself off from men made me wonder what to do first. Fortunately Judy saved me by jumping up from her lounger and saying:

  “It’s ok Nick, I’ll do it”, and quickly taking the tube from Nick she looked at me with a determined glint in her eye, and I quickly took off my shirtdress. Nick went to the pool to join Tom, and Judy said as she squirted sunscreen on my back:

  “I hope you didn’t mind, you just looked a bit uncomfortable. Nick is as gorgeous as his brother, but he can be a bit intense, can’t he?”

  I nodded as I held my hair out of Judy’s way, grateful for her perception. She was right, Nick was very intense. Although that was pa
rt of what made him compelling, it was disturbing also to someone such as myself. I thought about my interactions with men, and I realized that I didn’t even know how to flirt. I had jumped straight in to being sure that I was in love, and afterwards had frozen men out of my life, so I had missed out on all the little flirtations and byplays between men and women, and had no idea how to conduct myself.

  When Judy was done, the two of us headed to the pool, where we found Nick and Tom in a spirited ball game with some children. I slipped in to the water and sighed in contentment. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had been swimming, I had missed so much – this was divine! Nick turned to smile at me, I think I had sighed a bit too loudly, and I grinned back broadly as I bobbed past.

  We all spent the afternoon at the pool, and then when it was time to change for dinner I said my goodbyes and headed to my room. Mum was there, and while I selected my clothes she talked about the bridge game, and the things she had done that day. I quickly showered and changed, this time into a black full skirt and a lavender coloured blouse. I applied some light make up, slid on some black pumps, and Mum and I headed to the dining room.

  Somehow, everyone had arranged themselves so the only two spare seats were next to Nick and Percy. Mum, moving more quickly than I would have believed, slipped into the seat held out by Percy, leaving me to smile at Nick and accept the seat he was offering me. So that was how it was going to work now – everyone was paired up except for the four of us, so we were going to be paired off together!

  7.

  After dinner, everyone went to the show, but of course there weren’t twelve seats together, so we all sat in various places. Somehow I ended up sitting next to Nick, and wasn’t surprised by that. I sat there wondering what Nick was thinking of this development. Was he amused that people seemed to be trying to match us up? If he was, he gave no indication, he seemed happy enough to be in my company, so I was grateful that he wasn’t showing any discomfort.

  I quite enjoyed the show, there were lead singers who told most of the story through song, and a group of back up dancers. I was amazed that all of them were so surefooted – no-one slipped even once, even though the ship was gently swaying from side to side. I suppose they were used to this, but I still thought that they were very talented. At the end of the show, I applauded with everyone else and waited for the initial crush of people to pass before I tried to leave. As Nick and I left, we found Robert and Josh waiting outside the women’s bathroom for Amelia and Lana. When Nick’s sister and niece came out of the bathroom, we all went for a walk through the ship, and then found a bar where a karaoke set was in full swing.

  Just as we walked in, a group of people left, so the children raced to the recently vacated seats and we followed at a more sedate pace. I found myself sitting next to Amelia, and during a break in the songs, Amelia turned to me and said:

  “I’ve been dying to meet you. I have heard so much about you from Adam, and – (at this point she rolled her eyes) – I also heard a lot about you, that wasn’t very nice, from Lisa. Kudos to you for getting under that cat’s skin so well, I decided when I used to hear her complain about you that you must have a wicked sense of humour and I have wanted to meet you since then. Did you really try to get her to look after Katie when Adam went on a business trip?”

  I laughed at the memory. I had been truly awful, and did not regret it for a moment. Adam was invited to a conference, and while I would normally look after his dog, Katie, when he was out of town, this time I had said that Mum was sick (which she wasn’t). I had suggested to Adam – keeping a straight face – that Lisa might like some time with Katie so that they could ‘bond’. When Adam returned home on Sunday night, he was confronted by a wildly complaining Lisa and a clearly disgruntled Katie – the weekend had not gone well. I had suggested it because I thought that Lisa would not get along with Katie, and thought that Adam should know this. I had secretly apologized to Katie, and given her lots of liver snaps and pigs ears in an attempt to make up for my bad behaviour. Katie never forgave Lisa however, and whenever they were in the same room, Katie’s would turn her back to Lisa and sit down, clearly indicating her displeasure.

  “Don’t ever tell Adam”, I said between giggles, “He might not forgive me for making Katie spend time with Lisa”, and we both laughed heartily.

  From that time, Amelia and I became fast friends. She clearly adored her brothers, and had also become very close to Sarah in the last few months. As I watched the interplay between Amelia and Nick, I realized what I had missed being an only child. There was a comfortable familiarity between them, these two adults who had grown up together and had probably fought a lot as children, but got along so well as adults.

  After a while, Lana got up to take a turn at the microphone, and after she was finished, everyone in our party joined in with enthusiastic applause – she had actually been quite good and came back to us with a big smile on her face. I felt very warm and included sitting with these people, I had forgotten how good it felt to be with friends and to feel like part of a group. I was really beginning to enjoy myself on this cruise.

  Perhaps that was why when Nick suggested dancing in the nightclub, I readily agreed. Amelia and Robert cried off, saying that they needed to get the children to bed at a reasonable hour, so Nick and I went alone. The music was very loud and very modern, and although I didn’t know much of it, I tried as hard as I could to join in the dancing. There was a stretch where the DJ played some ‘oldies but goodies’ which were songs I recognized, and I threw myself into that part of the evening more enthusiastically. Then came a set of songs which sounded slightly latin, and before I knew what was happening, Nick grabbed me by the waist with one arm and indicated that we should try our Cha-cha-cha steps to some of the tunes. In the crush of people, we found ourselves pushed up against each other, and the resultant swaying of our hips together became very erotic. As we were pressed so closely together, I felt Nick’s arousal against my abdomen, and stilled for a moment, wondering what I should do next.

  Just then someone bumped into me and pushed me hard up against Nick, and as he steadied me, he spoke loudly into my ear:

  “If you’ve had enough dancing, I have too, it’s probably time to call it a night”.

  What did he mean? Was he expecting me to invite him back to my room? Or would he invite me to his? Nick’s next words caught me by surprise.

  “If you don’t mind, I’m a bit tired, so after I see you to your room, I might call it a night”. And he did. Nick left me at my door without even a good night kiss. Well, what did I expect after last night? I went into my room, only to find that Mum wasn’t even there. I got ready for bed, and thought I would wait up for Mum, but without even realizing it was happening, my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep.

  When I awoke the next morning, Mum was still in bed. I shook her gently, and her eyes opened sleepily.

  "What are you waking me up in the middle of the night for?" she complained.

  "What are you talking about Mum, it's eight o'clock in the morning, see?" and I swished open the curtains, letting in the bright morninng light.

  Mum squinted, "Well, it's still too early for an old body who has been up late. Percy and I met with some other people from the bridge classes and we were playing in the card room for hours. I might give breakfast a miss, and see you at lunch", and she turned over and went back to sleep.

  Well, this was a first. Mum had been out later than I had!

  I went to breakfast and found Nick sitting with Adam and Sarah. Apparently he was telling a similar story about Percy, as everyone looked at me with glee.

  "Was Rose a grouch this morning?" Adam asked with a smile on his face.

  "Yes", I responded, "Apparently she was out late and is going to sleep it off. She plays bridge at home, but has never been out late like this, clearly she is enjoying the freedom of not having to work out how to get home from a night out like she would at home".

  I took my seat, which was
next to Nick, and the day unfolded much like the previous day had happened. Nick asked me if I was ready for another dancing lesson, this time it was again a latin dance, the Rhumba, and Sarah decided to just sit out the lesson and watch instead. Adam was going to sit with her, but a woman who didn't have a partner grabbed him by the arm and dragged him onto the dance floor, not listening to his protests about wanting to sit with his wife.

  "You can sit with her after the lesson", the woman said laughing, "Right now, I think I need a partner more than she does, and a strapping young man like you should be able to keep up. She was almost wrong, even though she was clearly a few years older than Adam, she seemed to have boundless energy, and Adam was struggling to match her steps. I couldn't watch for long as I needed to concentrate also, this dance was difficult, and the fact that I was partnered with Nick was making it even more so. This dance was much more sensual than the last, and Nick was very disturbing to my piece of mind.

  We again spent time at the pool, and this time we were joined by Mum and Percy. I passed the tube of sun lotion to Mum, not trusting myself to not react strongly if Nick offered to rub the lotion into my back, but as I was about to head towards the pool, Nick stood in my way, smiling and holding his sun lotion. As I took it, he silently turned his back, clearly expecting me to rub it in. I had a mean moment, hoping it was cold, and squirting it straight onto his skin, rather than into my hands first. As I rubbed my hands over his broad back, I had to try to think of anything else rather than what I was doing. I failed, and rather enjoyed watching my hands trail over Nick's tanned back. I started imagining what it would be like to do this in private, without a shipload of people around, then quickly recapped the bottle and told Nick that I was done. I dropped the bottle onto the sun lounger and headed into the pool to cool off.