Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
ROSE
After I ate every bite—Jell-O, fruits, a yogurt, and a blueberry muffin—he left to put away the cart. I considered everything we had discussed.
The good news? I was safe from harm unless I was the most unfortunate person on earth and the man chasing me had also boarded this boat. Roaming the cold streets with unbearable hunger and a killer on the loose was unappealing.
The bad news? At some point, I would have to evacuate the medical suite for paying customers who may fall ill.
Without money or a job, it was impossible to rent a cabin on this luxurious boat.
I only had a place to sleep as long as Dr. Maxwell vouched for me.
The way he had said, “You’re the furthest thing from disposable,” made it sound like he wouldn’t get rid of me, but what motivation did he have to keep me around?
It wasn’t like he was romantically inclined toward me or anything. Right?
He would be out of my league even without another woman in a five-hundred-mile radius.
On a scale of one to ten, the doctor was a twenty.
And that was before he took his shirt off last night.
If those magazine articles were any indication, women knew it, too.
He had endless choices. The class distinction between us was vast, and we were nowhere near being equals.
“Good morning, ma’am.” A cheerful voice stopped my emotional spiral.
An unfamiliar man stood at the doorway. He was young and dressed like one of the crew members from yesterday.
“I brought toiletries for your bath,” he said with a kind smile.
Amelie mentioned she would order toiletries for the room, but I assumed she had forgotten about it since I never saw her again.
“I didn’t receive a list, so I included one of everything.” He stashed a white shopping bag on the nightstand, listing off all the items inside: shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, face wash, lotion, deodorant, toothbrush set, shaving kit, sunscreen, comb, cotton swabs.
“Thank you,” I murmured, marveling at the bag. It was made of thick material with a glossy finish. Olympus was carved across its belly in gold font, and the handle was adorned with a fake butterfly. I never knew a shopping bag could be so beautiful.
“If you need anything else, my name’s Jace.”
“Jace,” I echoed.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, his shirt crisp and perfectly tousled golden-brown hair framing his pleasant face. Was everyone on this boat required to look a certain way? As if good looks weren’t enough, they were also the epitome of professionalism.
The fact that he kept calling me ma’am made me giggle. “I’m not a ma’am.” I laughed. I think I was in my early twenties, and there was no way he was much older.
“My apologies, ma—miss,” he corrected himself.
“Please, call me Rose.”
“Yes, Miss Rose.”
I shook my head. “Just Rose,” I insisted.
He gave me a conceding smile. “May I get you anything else?”
A thought came to me. “Actually, yes. Do you know whether this boat is short-staffed?”
“Um—”
“I need a job,” I explained.
His mouth gaped as if I had made the most impossible request. “B-but you’re with,” he paused, unsure how to end the thought. “You’re a guest.”
“A guest who needs a job.”
“But you’re Dr. Maxwell’s guest,” he emphasized as if there was a difference.
This conversation was the last thing he expected.
A guest asking for a job was uncharted territory, but I couldn’t tell him that calling me a guest was a reach; I was more like a stowaway.
The owners would make me walk the plank once they discovered I had boarded their luxury vessel without paying their zillion-dollar entrance fee.
“I-I am Dr. Maxwell’s guest.” Technically, it was the truth. “But I don’t want to be in his debt, and I can’t afford to pay him back without a job. Can you help me out?”
Comprehension finally dawned on his face that I was like him and belonged in the third-class cabins. The good doctor had taken enough interest to entertain me for a few days. Sooner or later, I’d be out of luck.
Jace seemed torn, but eventually suggested, “I could ask the kitchen if they need an extra hand.”
I beamed at him. “That’d be great. Thank you, Jace.”
“It’s my pleasure, m—” He cut himself off at my pointed look. “It’s my pleasure, Rose.”
The exchange made us laugh. “The pleasure is all mine.” I extended my hand. “It was very nice meeting you.”
Jace took my hand in a surprisingly soft grip and stared at my face intently for a moment.
“What the hell’s going on here?”
I jumped at the deep voice and pulled my hand back.
Jace immediately straightened. “Good morning, Dr. Maxwell.”
I turned to be met with lava eyes, ready to set the room on fire. Dr. Maxwell’s jaw was tight. In fact, all his visible muscles were tense. The glimpses of danger I had seen in the man had returned.
“Hi,” I started nervously. “This is Jace. He was dropping off some toiletries.”
He wasn’t impressed, and his gaze burned a hole between me and Jace. My heart rate spiked as he strode toward us, his blue eyes blazing with an emotion I couldn’t quite place. Anger? Frustration? Something else entirely? He crowded us until Jace was forced to step away from me.
Damn. What had Jace done to provoke such a reaction?
“No one other than authorized personnel is to have access to this section,” he breathed with venom in his voice.
Why was this section blocked off? Surely, the medical floor should be accessible in case of an emergency.
“I asked Amelie ,” he emphasized the name, “to drop off the toiletries. I was very clear in my instructions.” Dr. Maxwell looked ready to kill Jace.
All he had done was drop off a bag. Whatever the reason, I wanted to de-escalate the situation.
After what happened with the delivery guy, I didn’t want anyone else to lose a hand.
“H-he was dropping it off because Amelie didn’t know where the toiletries were stocked,” I stammered, unconsciously leaning back. Whether it was the truth, I had no idea. It sounded convincing enough, and I hoped Jace would play along.
Dr. Maxwell’s lips curved into a sardonic smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Is that right, Jack?” he asked in a steel voice.
“It’s Jace, sir,” Jace corrected mildly.
“Your point?” Dr. Maxwell gave him a look that said his name had no significance or bearing.
Heat crept up my cheeks. I opened my mouth again, but his sharp voice cut through the air like a knife.
“Tell me, Jack, do you often make a habit of breaking the rules on my boat?”
His boat?
Jace was wise enough not to argue about the intentional name slipup. “Someone at housekeeping told me to drop them off. I didn’t think?—”
“You don’t get paid to think,” he interrupted sharply.
I glanced between them, my stomach twisting into knots. This was awful. Why was Dr. Maxwell acting like this? And why did it feel like there was more simmering beneath the surface of his anger? “I think there has been a misunderstanding?—”
Jace stepped forward like he wanted to take the heat for me. “I apologize, sir. It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t, or you’ll be getting off the boat at the next stop,” Dr. Maxwell barked. “Make sure everyone else on this ship knows it, too.”
“Yes, sir.” Jace walked away, throwing me an apologetic glance over his shoulder. But I should be the one saying sorry. He got chewed out because of me.
I found myself alone with the doctor. The air was thick with tension, and I couldn’t shake the feeling this was about more than Jace accessing the restricted section.
His gaze cut to mine, making me shrink back. “Never, ever, lie to me again, especially to protect another man,” he demanded, his voice low, almost a growl. “Are we clear?”
“What!?”
It was the wrong thing to ask because he was ready to hit the fan. “I know every detail about things that belong to me, including this boat. That boy came here to spy because the staff was curious about you. Amelie didn’t send him, she would never defy my direct order.”
There was a lot to unpack there, but only one thing stood out. “Why would the staff be curious about me?” I was nobody.
He ignored my question, courtesy of the anger festering in his eyes. “What were you thinking, talking to a stranger?”
I frowned. “Stranger? He works here.” Apparently, he works for you , I added internally. Dr. Maxwell owned the boat and didn’t think to mention it.
“So what?” he snapped. “There’s a man out there trying to hurt you. You said so yourself. Do you think it’s wise to be friendly with strange men at a time like this?”
The words stung because he was right.
I wanted to defend myself, explain that I wasn’t a fuckup who put myself at unnecessary risk.
However, I’d woken up on the streets, roaming the wrong part of town, and I spent the better part of the night with a man I had just met.
Granted, I felt incredibly safe with him for reasons that defied logic.
Probably because I was on my last leg and would’ve been dead without his help.
Nonetheless, Dr. Maxwell was an anomaly. After experiencing dangerous men firsthand, the last thing I should’ve done was let my guard down around unknown men. Perhaps he had a point. I didn’t have the best track record.
Nurse Amelie’s perky voice pierced through the awkward tension. “Rise and shine! How are we feeling today?”
I forced a weak smile, turning to face the bubbly nurse.
Her brow furrowed as she approached, sensing the tension in the room. Her gaze bounced between us. “Dr. Maxwell. You have a phone call in Exam Room Two,” she said cautiously.
“Tell them I’ll call back,” he snapped, eyes never leaving my face.
“I tried,” she said in a whisper, handing him a note. “I can’t hold them off any longer. They’ve been calling all morning.”
He straightened, his expression unreadable.
I wanted to ask him to stay and squash the silly argument.
But the words died on my tongue as I gazed into his detached eyes.
He marched toward the door, pausing beside Amelie to whisper something.
He glanced back at me for a final time. For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something in his eyes—concern?
Regret over the conversation? But then the mask of indifference slipped back into place, and just like that, he was gone.