Page 74 of Hired Husband

He nodded thoughtfully, coming over to me with his hands in his pockets and a puzzled expression on her face. “I’ve lived my entire adult life telling myself ketchup counts as a vegetable just to justify spending money on a condiment, and now I’m here?”

“It does count as a vegetable when you’re desperate,” I said. “I almost feel guilty just for being here.”

“Same.”

Zara drifted into the bedroom with strides as smooth as if she was being carried on a cloud. “Oh, there’s a fruit basket. How sweet!”

“Don’t touch it,” Joseph said suddenly.

“Why?” she asked, popping her head back out again. “The fruit is fine. It looks gorgeous, actually.”

“Yeah, but I don’t trust complimentary fruit. A single grape probably costs as much as my monthly rent. What if you eat it and they add it to our⁠—”

Joseph cut himself off when Jasmine walked in, wearing flowy, linen pants, a cut-off T-shirt, and oversized sunglasses perched on top of her head. I’d last seen her less than twenty-four hours ago, but she still managed to knock the air out of my lungs just by existing.

“I take it you’ve never done one of these cruises before?” Jasmine said with a tiny, knowing smile as she glanced at Joseph on her way into the room. “You can eat the fruit. It really is complimentary, but you can’t have the fruit in this suite, because it’s mine.”

“It’s your fruit?” he asked.

She sighed. “It’s my suite. You guys are next door and Zara is in another suite just down the hall. I’m pretty sure we’ll all have our own fruit.”

“Good to know,” he said lamely, then turned to me. “We’re roommates. Do you want to go check it out?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Jasmine walked toward the balcony doors and pushed them open, letting in a warm breeze from the river. “Before you go, start thinking about what you’d like to do or see while we’re on the cruise.”

I frowned. “Don’t these things usually come with a set itinerary?”

She turned to smile at me over her shoulder. “Usually, yes, but it’s the off-season and it’s not a full cruise either, which means that we get to pick our stops.”

“The summer is the off-season?” I asked, beyond confused. “Are you sure?”

She laughed. “This late in the summer? Yes, and I’m sure.”

“Okay, then.” I held her gaze for another beat before she winked and turned back toward the river. “We’re going to go check out our room, but we’ll meet you at dinner.”

“See you there.” She stepped out onto the balcony, strode over to the railing, and slid her sunglasses over her eyes again.

Zara raced out to join her. The two girls sank into loungers while Joseph and I exchanged a glance and left. I pulled out the keycard I’d been given when we’d been shown to the suite, swiped it across the reader, and pushed open the door to the room that was apparently ours.

While it wasn’t exactly the same as Jasmine’s suite, it was still one of the nicest places I’d stayed in at least a decade. We had our own massive windows, two queen-sized beds, and enough space between them to lie down vertically and extend our arms.

Also like the suite, we had marble in the bathroom, a giant fruit basket, and a little sitting area. Basically, the only difference was that the bedroom wasn’t separate.

“You know what I don’t understand?” Joseph asked as he shut the door behind himself.

I twisted to look at him. “There’s only one thing?”

He laughed. “Today? Yes.”

“Okay, what’s that?”

“Why are we here?” he asked, his eyes wide as he looked around the room. “If Jasmine Saad wanted to go on a cruise with her girlfriend, she didn’t have to invite us along.”

I shrugged. “I think she feels responsible for us losing the bid. She probably wanted to cheer us up.”

“Why?” He frowned. “I barely know her. Why would she care about cheering me up?”