Sailing with My Sister’s Best Friend (Cruisin With Curves)

Chapter 11

Seeley

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face every time I looked at the ring on Aurora’s finger. It wasn’t as beautiful as my fiancée, but it was damn close. Now if I could only figure out a way for us to get married right away everything would be perfect.

We shocked the hell out of everyone when we walked into breakfast hand in hand the morning after the martini bar. Even more so when I announced we were going ring shopping. I had been content to just get her whatever ring I could find here and then upgrade it to a proper diamond when we got back home. Luckily, the ship had all the major jewelry stores on board. I was able to get a pretty good deal on a one point five carat ring that looked perfect on her hand.

“I still can’t believe you two,” Darby had been saying the same thing for the last three days. “First you finally admit that you dated while I was away at college, which I sort of suspected, and now you’re engaged.”

“We didn’t know how you would react.” Aurora replied for the hundredth time. Personally, I was over it. We explained everything to my sister, but it wasn’t as if we had needed her permission then. We certainly didn’t need it now.

“What do you mean? I would have been ecstatic, the same as I am now.” She smiled at Aurora. “We are going to be sisters.”

I shook my head. While I was happy that Darby was so accepting, she was really starting to get annoyed with how many times she was repeating herself. I wasn’t patting Wade on the back telling him we would be brothers. Although they weren’t engaged yet. Who knew how I would react when the time came.

Aunt Kelly just smiled at all of us. She hadn’t said much since we announced our engagement, but you could tell she was happy.

“So what do we need to do first?” Darby asked. We were all sitting by the pool. It was another sea day.

“I have no idea.” Aurora shrugged.

“How about we see if we can get married when we get to our next port?” I suggested. I had been trying to get her to agree to get married before we got off this ship since I proposed. I wasn’t trying to rush her or anything. I just didn’t want to take the chance I could lose her again.

Aurora opened her mouth, but Darby cut her off. “Why wait? The captain of a ship can marry people.” She smiled. “It worked in that pirates movie.”

“That movie was set during like the eighteen hundreds. I’m sure it’s different now.” Aurora argued.

I swung my legs over the side of my seat. “Let’s go find out.” I liked this idea.

“No way.” She was shaking her head. “It would kill my parents if I got married and they weren’t here.”

“Okay, so we get married here for us. Then we can have a huge wedding back home for everyone else.” I’d marry her ten times so long as the end result was the same.

“I like that idea.” Darby bounced in her seat. “Plus, Wade and I already looked into it. So I know it’s possible.”

“Excuse me?” I looked between my sister and her boyfriend, then over at Aunt Kelly.

“I already knew this information.” She admitted.

“What’s the big deal? It isn’t like we are planning any surprise announcements.” She lifted Aurora’s left hand and waved it at me. “We just figured we met on a cruise, it makes sense to get married on one.” Wade nodded from his seat behind her.

I looked over at him. We were going to have to talk. I liked the guy and I trusted him with my sister, but I wanted to make sure he understood I would hunt him down and destroy him if he hurt her. She was all I had left of our parents and there was no way I wouldn’t protect her. He had sisters. I was sure he felt the same.

Speaking of my parents. “What if we get married on the last day of the cruise?”

Aunt Kelly gasped and Darby blinked rapidly. A soft smile covered her face. “You two would have the same anniversary as Mom and Dad.” I saw her lip shake just a little. “I think they would love that.”

Aurora squeezed Darby’s hand and looked back at me. “Can I talk to you for a moment?” She stood and walked over to the rail of the ship.

I followed behind. My arm went around her waist automatically, but she shook it off.

“What’s wrong?” I reached for her again and she backed up.

“What’s wrong is that I don’t appreciate you trying to emotionally manipulate me in front of your sister and your aunt.” She had her arms crossed over her chest and was staring daggers at me.

I didn’t understand what she meant. Aunt Kelly hadn’t said a word and all Darby did was be supportive.

Aurora let out a huff and dropped her arms. “Seeley, we just got back together. Why do you want to rush everything?”

“I don’t want to rush. I just don’t want to wait.” I told her. “It already feels like we’ve lost so much time. I don’t want to lose anymore.”

“I get that, but it doesn’t mean we have to get married right away.” She put her hand on my chest. “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying being engaged for a while.”

“I know that. I just thought it would be nice to share our anniversary with my parents. Plus it would be perfect if we went home man and wife.”

“It’s just a lot to take in. I’m not sure I’m ready for such a big change in a matter of days.” She put her arms around my waist. “I’m just getting used to you being back in my life. Let alone our being engaged. I need time before I’m ready to walk down the aisle.”

“Alright.” It wasn’t what I wanted, but if it was what she needed then I would wait.

“Thank you.” She raised and placed a quick kiss on my lips. “And I wasn’t kidding. My parents might have liked you before, but after everything that happened they aren’t exactly your biggest fans. If you walked back into their house and announced we got married without them there.” She shook her head. “Daddy might well take you for a walk with his rifle.”

I pulled her tighter into my arms. “What if you were pregnant?” The way I had been making love to her every night I was definitely upping the odds in that direction.

“One step at a time.” She smiled at me. “If I was pregnant, you might not even get the walk. Daddy might pull out the gun right in the living room and shoot you dead.”

“We wouldn’t want that.”

“No, we wouldn’t.” She patted my chest. “Let’s just enjoy the few days we have left before real life catches up to us.”

“This is real life.” There was something in her eyes when she said that last part. Something that worried me. “Whether we are on this ship or not, I love you and I’m going to marry you. Nothing is as important as that.”

Her smile was a little tight. “I know.” The words didn’t reach her eyes. There was something she wasn’t telling me, but before I could ask, Darby came and stole her away.

I watched the two of them for the rest of the afternoon. What was going through Aurora’s head and was her parents' approval the only thing holding her back or was there more?