Accepting Owen (Emilia's Perspective)

Chapter Fourteen

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, blowing out soft breaths as I tried to get comfortable under the burning sun. We had arrived just after noon, but the boarding line for the cruise was taking forever. I checked my watch. "We've been here for over an hour. I didn't expect it to be so busy," I said.

"I didn't either," Owen said, pushing his sunglasses back up on his sweating nose. "We're almost there, though."

"I hope it's cooler in our suite. I forgot how hot the south is."

"It's so humid. I feel like I'm in a sauna."

I giggled. "That's one of my favorite things about being on the ocean. The smell of saltwater, too. I love it."

We stepped closer to the check in people as the line moved forward. "I'm so excited for this." He bounced on his feet a little, smiling brightly. "I mean look at all these palm trees!"

"We're going to be seeing a lot of them over the four days."

"I can't wait to put my feet in Caribbean sand," he mumbled as we walked up to the check in spot. Owen handed our passes to the woman, who scanned them.

She passed our bags through a machine and gave us a pair of neckbands to wear. "Welcome aboard. Enjoy your cruise," she said with a fake smile.

We walked forward and a teenage-kooking boy approached us. "Hey, guys! I'm Tim! Let's get you to your room, okay? Can I see your tag?" He pointed at the card hanging from my neck.

I blinked a few times to take in his incredibly high energy level. "Yeah," I finally said when I snapped back to reality. "Here." I handed it over and peered around the ship. There were three pools of different sizes and with different purposes in front of us.

"Ooh, honeymoon, huh? Congratulations!" Tim said excitedly. "Follow me," he said. He pointed out the bar was we walked past it, and then quickly we arrived at our suite. He used the card I'd given him to unlock the door. "Here's your room. Do you have any questions?"

"No, I think we're good. Thank you," Owen said, getting my key card back from him. He waved for me to go ahead of him, then shut the door behind us. We both sighed in relief as the cool air hit us.

"This is so pretty!" I said, looking around the room. The room was much larger than I had expected. It was entirely white, from the comforter in the bed to the floors to the walls. There was a window on the far wall that showed the beach from where we were.

Owen slipped his arms over my shoulders from behind, peering out the window over my head. "We're officially on our honeymoon," he said before kissing me gently on the cheek.

I flipped open the brochure on the table next to the bed. "This says tomorrow morning we'll be at Half Moon Cay."

"Ooh, that sounds nice. I figured it would take longer to get somewhere. We aren't leaving the dock for another two hours. What should we do?"

"I need to take a shower," I answered. "I'm sweaty."

~

I emerged from the shower feeling like a brand new woman. "That shower was amazing!"

Owen was sitting on the edge of the bed and held his arms out to me. He was still glistening slightly with sweat. His tattooed arms looked especially muscular, exposed in a beautiful way by the t-shirt he was wearing with the sleeves cut off.

I stepped between his legs and into his arms. "Are you okay?" I rubbed at his hair as he leaned his head into my chest.

"I'm okay," he whispered. "I just want to hold you."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just love feeling you close to me."

I scoffed. "You scared me." I massaged the muscles in his arms. "You're really sexy. Do you know that?"

He chuckled, looking up at me. "Look who's talking! You're basically a model. I'm kinda of sad I haven't been featured on your verified Instagram!"

"I am not verified! You're being silly! I have less than five-thousand followers and it's just because of traveling places. We'll take some pictures today and I'll post you." I leaned down to kiss him, and he pulled me into the bed.

"I can't believe this is happening," he whispered, holding my face.

"What? What's happening?"

"I was really nervous to take a chance on this whole arranged marriage thing, and look! I'm on a cruise ship, going to the Bahamas for my honeymoon, with my beautiful, smart wife. I just didn't quite picture it turning out this well for me," he admitted.

"Why not? Why wouldn't good things happen to you? You're a good guy," I said reassuringly.

"My life has always just been average. Not bad, but not great. I've been average at everything, everywhere, all the time. I don't feel average at this. I feel like..."

"It's perfect? I know. I'm sure we'll have bad days, but I agree. Right now it kind of feels like I hit the jackpot. I thought I was going to end up with a guy with no emotions, no... humor. I was scared I'd feel lonely, but I don't with you. I feel like I can relax with you."

"It's freeing," he whispered, before capturing my mouth with his. "I kind of feel like taking a nap. I'm wiped out from all the sunshine."

"I think a nap sounds good."

He rolled over so his back was to me, but pulled my arm over his body.

"Oh, I'm big spoon?" I said with a giggle.

"Sometimes a man wants to be the little spoon. There's nothing wrong with that."