Finding Justus (2 page)

“Oh, please. We’re on vacation.”

“Yes, but haven’t you ever heard stories of how people gain five to ten pounds on cruises? Now I see why, it’s all about the food.”

“All right, you’ve got a point there. I guess I will do something,” Krystal said begrudgingly.

“We might as well start today. Let’s go look for something to do while our food settles. Let’s check out the activities scheduled for today.” They were scanning the list together when Justus suddenly burst out, “Latin dance lessons!”

“Yeah, sounds fun. I’ve always wanted to learn how to salsa.”

“Oh, this is gonna be so great, we’ll learn how to meringue and flamenco with the best of them. Everyone back home will be so jealous! There’s a lesson at one and another at four today,” Justus paused a moment to consider the options, tilting her head to the side and tapping her index finger on her chin as she did.

“How about the one o’clock? That will give us some time to wander around some more before we get in our workout.”

“Sounds good to me, s
alsa, here I come,” Krystal said, doing hand and feet motions, in her own rendition of salsa dancing.

“Easy there, J.Lo,” Justus said teasingly.

“Oh yeah? You’re the one with her um,
ass
ets,” Krystal teased back.

“Oh, thanks for the compliment.”

“I was being sarcastic,” she said with a sweet smile. Laughing together they went toward the sundeck. “Look at this water, Jus! Isn’t it beautiful? I never knew the ocean was so large. It goes on forever; it’s all you can see.”

Justus only half-listened. As she looked out into the horizon she felt herself grow pensive.
When Krystal stopped chattering abruptly, Justus turned to see what had caused her exuberant friend to suddenly become quiet.

“Oh, what’s wrong Justus? Are you
okay? Are thinking about being here with Alex?”

“Yes and no. I mean not really him as much as the idea of being here with a
man. Cruises can be a romantic experience that should be shared with a significant other. I don’t really know why I feel this either.”

“Well, cruises don’t have to be romantic, they can also be fun and relaxing,” Krystal interjected.

“I know, it’s just, on the one hand, I’m pissed at the entire male population. I think anything with a penis should be hung by it, as disturbing as that sounds. On the other hand, I almost have this itch, for lack of a better word, to get out and try again,” she furrowed her brow in confusion and looked to Krystal for advice on the matter.

“What do you think? Is it just the romantic atmosphere or is it rebound?”

“It’s probably a little bit of both. I think cruises in general do have some mighty powers of romantic persuasion. Personally, I’d love to meet a guy here too, but we’re talking about you here, and I think of course you can’t help to feel an absence since you were supposed to be here with a man. Maybe an uncomplicated fling is what you need right now to prove to yourself that you’re still desirable. It’s perfectly natural.”

Justus didn’t say anything at first; she let Krystal’s comments soak in, then she said, “You know Krystal
, you really missed your true calling, you’d make a great shrink. Not to mention you’d make a lot more money. But joking aside, I trust your advice, and I think you may be right. It’s really weird but it seems like memories of Alex are becoming more distant as each day passes.

“I still feel hurt, betrayal and a lot of other negative feelings, but it’s the idea of the betrayal, not actually missing him. Don’t get me wrong, the thought of being rejected still hurts, but that’s more about bruised pride than a broken heart.

“Amazingly, the more I think about it, I think I don’t really care as much about losing Alex as I do about losing face. We had our good times, I mean I was in love with him, and certain parts of me still are, but it’s that way with any relationship.

“I still cling to feelings for other boyfriends from my past. But isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? Don’t you miss a couple things about each guy?”

“Of course there’s always been,” Krystal stopped to clear her throat comically and raised her left eyebrow, “
parts
I missed, if you know what I mean.” They both burst out in laughter and Krystal said, “Seriously though, you’re not alone. I think everybody feels that way.”

“Yeah, isn’t that what those sappy love songs are about? Loving and letting go, but always keeping something with you. I guess it’s
a universal experience that everyone goes through.”

“Yep. Not to change the subject, but can we walk that way? I suddenly have to use the bathroom.” 

Justus was looking around outside of the restroom waiting for Krystal when she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, but somehow lost her balance and started to stumble backward a couple of steps. On her descent backward she stepped on someone’s foot and felt someone place a steadying hand on her shoulder. Embarrassed by her notorious clumsiness, she turned around.

“I’m sorry, I…” She stopped when she saw who she had just stepped on. Right in front of her was the gorgeous man from the pool yesterday. Shirtless. As smoothly as she could, Justus took in his tanned ski
n and the muscled physique.

She
fought the urge to lick her lips. She started to open her mouth to say something, but was at a loss for words. What did one say to a hot guy after you’d just trampled his foot? Suddenly sorry didn’t seem like enough.

“Are you okay?”

Justus nodded dumbly and dashed into the restroom on her right. As she walked into the ladies room she heard Krystal’s peppy voice echoing through the large bathroom, and as usual, she had found someone to talk to. It figured.

Once she was safely ensconced in the ladies room, the magnitude of her actions hit her. Justus struck her forehead with the palm of her right hand. God, she was an idiot!

Justus walked back outside, and looked around for the handsome stranger. There was no sign of him. It was probably for the better. She was almost certain he was taken by the skinny blonde she’d seen at the pool. On the bright side, odds were in her favor, she reasoned, that she wouldn’t have to embarrass herself further and run into him again. Two times was coincidental, but there was no way she’d run into him a third time, she told herself as Krystal emerged from the bathroom and the two headed towards dance class.

When they walked into the dance studio, Justus noticed mostly women made up the class. The few men that were there had a bored, I-can’t-believe-you-made-me-come-with-you-look on their faces. As she looked around, she noticed the blonde woman from the pool yesterday. W
ith a gulp, Justus realized maybe running into people was more commonplace than coincidental. She was surprised that she’d ran into two different people two days in a row.

Krystal nudged her. “Look at him! I hope he’s the teacher, I’d be glad to learn a few things from him.” Justus nodded and raised her left eyebrow at Krystal and began lustily
admiring the teacher as well.

He was about five foot ten, broad shouldered, and black haired. He
was wearing a bright red, long-sleeved shirt, and tight, black pants drew her attention to his trim waist, slim hips and taut, rounded bottom. He was speaking quietly with a few women in a corner, demonstrating various dance steps. She strained her ears to hear him. He had a nice voice. It had a sexy hint of a Spanish accent.

As though sensing their stares
, he turned around and started walking toward the center of the room. Justus gasped softly. Out of all of the thousands of people on this damned boat, why in God’s name did she have to keep running into him?

Krystal misinterpreted her gasp, “I know Jus, I feel the same way. He’s completely gorgeous,” she whispered. Justus said nothing, and continued to stare at their instructor.

“Good afternoon, ladies, and gentlemen,” he nodded in the vicinity of the handful of tortured men in the class. “My name is Miguel Amores.”

“Such a sexy name, don’t you think?” Krystal whispered in Justus’ ear, who chose to ignore her friend and pretended she was concentrating on what Miguel was saying.

“…And we’ll also be learning the tango, meringue, and the samba.” Justus felt betrayed by her stomach and the way it fluttered when he pronounced each dance with his Spanish accent.

“So what I’d like us to do is pair up into partners, let’s see, how many people we have here?” Miguel said taking a quick head count. “Fifty-three. Somebody will have to dance with me.” Hands shot up all around the room, all but one. “How about you? Come on, come on, don’t be shy.”
Justus stared at him blankly when he pointed at her. She couldn’t believe her rotten luck today. She was a terrible dancer. Hadn’t she already embarrassed herself enough for one day?

“Oh, but I’ve got a friend. I mean, we came together, maybe you should pick someone else who is here alone.” Justus prayed he would leave her alone and pick one of the other girls in the room, who were gesturing frantically and calling to Miguel.

“Oh don’t be silly, Justus,” Krystal said looking at Justus as though she had suddenly sprouted another head. “I wouldn’t dream of denying you this…opportunity to get an in-depth lesson.” Krystal nudged her toward Miguel. He took that as her way of accepting his proposal and took her hand.

“Justus, is it? Very pretty name, different.”

“Thanks,” she said as she let him lead her to the center of the room.
Damn Krystal and her big mouth, she wouldn’t know what tact was if it bit her on the butt!
Justus turned her head to give Krystal a dirty look, which she in turn, pretended not to notice.

“Okay, everyone, pair up,” Miguel said as he turned to face the class. “We’re going to start with the tango. It’s just a series of steps, let’s go ahead and get it down before we start any of the other dances. You’ll start in this position,” he demonstrated by taking Justus into his arms, one hand at the small of her back, the other hand clasped hers. It seemed to Justus as though it was taking an extremely long time for everyone in class to get into position.

She felt her palms start to sweat. She had been avoiding his face up until now, but she wanted to know if he noticed her sweating palms. She stole a peek out of the corner of her eye. He looked completely composed and not at all disgusted by her sweaty hands.

“The tango is a passionate dance, so everyone please bring your partners in like this,” he said and demonstrated by bringing their bodies together and closing in all the gaps.

Justus was about to gasp from the feel of his hard body aligned with hers, but then she remembered this was just a part of the lesson, essential to learning the dance correctly. She also reminded herself of the scene by the pool. It had really looked as though he had something going on with the blonde, so she knew she shouldn’t read too much into the dance lesson. Her head was telling her that’s all there was to it, but her hormones were scoffing at her simplistic nature. If she were being honest with herself, she’d admit that the air between her and Miguel was charged with the powerful current of sexual attraction.

“Music please,” he told his assistant. “And here we go, start by taking slow steps to the opposite side of the room, once there change arm positions and start back toward
the direction you came from.” Miguel addressed the instructions to the class while he held his cheek mere inches from hers. Justus had been watching him from the corner of her eye and admired the sense of presence he commanded among his eager pupils. She inhaled deeply as a means of soothing her frayed nerves, but instead her nostrils were greeted with his clean scent and the smell of his woodsy cologne.

“Very good. I see I’ve got a group of fast learners here. We’re going to go over this a few more times, and then we’ll be moving on to the meringue.”

Again Justus’ stomach fluttered, because of the way he said the dance with proper Spanish pronunciation. In an attempt to steel her wavering tummy, Justus tried to make an objective assessment of Miguel. What was the big deal with him, anyway? So he was easy on the eyes. She almost scoffed out loud to herself. She knew that was an understatement. He was a feast for every pair of female eyes.

And why shouldn’t he be?,
she asked herself. He was a perfect physical specimen and very sensual. He seemed to positively ooze sex and eroticism with his every move, look, and touch. Justus turned her head toward him to steal a glance at his profile, but he caught her looking at him.

When their gazes connected she almost gasped. H
is eyes were so arresting, they were a dark, fierce green, like beautiful shining emeralds. She also noticed flecks of gold laced through them, reminiscent of cat’s eyes. But not any ordinary house cat, these were the eyes of a wild predator.

Yes, she decided, with his sexy, sleek moves, black hair and green eyes he was more than a man. He was a panther
. She sighed to herself, so much for her objectivity.

“You’re doing so well. Have you ever danced before?”

The intimate tone he used startled her out of her lusty reverie. It took her several moments to gain enough composure to answer him.

“Oh, no, I’ve never taken dance lessons before, but I used to go out and dance a lot.”