I do not own Blindspot or its characters.
The Orion was due to set sail in thirty minutes.
Captain Weller leaned against the railing as the announcement blared over the loudspeaker. To a casual observer, he was watching the passengers milling around on the deck below, but in reality he was hyper-focused on one passenger. One man.
The owner of the ship, Rich Dotcom.
Rich was the one thorn in his side in a job he otherwise loved. The man had begun taking an unreasoning interest in his love life while on his honeymoon voyage last year, and if the glint in his eye when he'd come onboard was any indication, it was going to be a long cruise. It was as if Rich was so disgustingly happy that he couldn't rest until everyone in his orbit felt the same.
And it looked as if he didn't intend to waste any time working toward that goal. Weller's jaw clenched as Rich winked at him as he approached the cruise director that he had personally hired six months ago. The cruise director with whom he had gleefully noted Weller had serious chemistry and that he had made it his personal mission to get him together with.
Which guaranteed that this voyage was going to be his own personal hell. Kurt clenched his jaw as he forcibly tore his eyes away from the woman who occupied more of his thoughts than he cared to admit. As the captain of the ship, he had always tried to avoid the potential pitfalls that could arise from . . . entanglements with the women on the crew he commanded. It was a habit ingrained in him from his days in the military. Pity his boss didn't appreciate his sense of duty.
"Captain? We're ready to get underway," his first mate informed him, interrupting his musings just as he felt his eyes being drawn back to Jane.
"Thank you, Patterson." Weller was grateful for the distraction, and he strode to the bridge without a backwards glance.
They were well out to sea before he saw Jane again. He was taking his customary mid-afternoon stroll around the deck when the sound of raised voices caught his attention, and he saw her talking with Rich beside the pool.
"What do you mean, the cruise is overbooked?" Jane demanded as he approached. "Weitz would have informed Captain Weller if that were the case. Before we left port." She didn't care much for the chief purser personally, but the man took his duties far too seriously to allow such a thing to happen.
Weller got a sinking feeling as Rich adopted a chagrined look that he was certain his boss was very far from feeling. He knew that look all too well, and it signaled trouble. "What's going on here?" he demanded as he came to a stop just behind Jane.
"Well . . ." Rich drew out the word, relishing this moment to the max. "I'm afraid I didn't realize the ship was completely booked, and I invited a couple friends to accompany me at the last minute."
The hell he hadn't, Kurt thought furiously. He'd bet his entire salary for this cruise that Rich knew exactly how many passengers were on each of his ships at any given time. "Sir—"
"And naturally," Rich continued smoothly, "as the owner of such a respected cruise line, I can hardly ask two of my dearest friends to sleep out on the deck. I was just informing Ms. Doe here that I would need her cabin for the duration of the cruise."
"So you expect her to sleep out on the deck?" Kurt asked incredulously. "I seem to recall the owner's cabin having two bedrooms. Why don't you have your friends stay with you?"
Rich was horrified. "On mine and Boston's six-month anniversary cruise? Have a heart, Stubbles. We're still newlyweds. No, no. That would be far too uncomfortable for all of us. Ms. Doe can move in with one of the ship's crew. The doctor, perhaps. He seems like a nice fellow."
Kurt ground his teeth. Reade was indeed a "nice fellow," and he was a good friend, but the idea of Jane sharing a cabin—a bed—with him . . .
"Unless you'd prefer to offer Jane accommodations?" Rich asked blandly. "Your cabin is a good deal more spacious than the good doctor's, as I recall."
Kurt realized the trap too late. "Well, I . . ."
"Fantastic," Rich intoned as if that hadn't been his plan all along. "That's very generous of you, Captain. I do apologize for the inconvenience, Janie. I'll instruct a steward to help you move your things to the captain's cabin, and of course, you absolutely must join my friends and me for dinners at the captain's table for the duration of the voyage."
Dinner at the captain's table was always at least a semi-formal affair. "But sir," Jane protested, "I don't have anything suitable to wear. Besides, I should be working—"
"Nonsense," Rich interrupted. "You have to eat sometime. Your assistant can handle any . . . difficulties that may arise during dinner. And don't you worry about what to wear. One of the shops just got in a shipment of gowns, and I'll have them all sent to the captain's cabin. They're yours for being such a good sport about this. I'll see you at seven." He walked away before the stunned pair could offer any further objections.
"He planned this," Jane said unhappily. She could practically feel the fury radiating off Kurt, and she didn't dare look at him. She wished he wasn't quite so upset at the prospect of spending more time with her, but she couldn't blame him for resenting the intrusion on his personal space.
"Right down to the timing of his announcement, no doubt," Kurt agreed. His daily routine while at sea was well-established, and he never varied on the route he took on his walk. Clearly, it was time to change things up a little.
"I'm sorry, Kurt," Jane apologized. "Let me talk to Patterson and see if I can room with her." It would be cramped, but the two of them were good friends; surely they could manage it for the duration of one voyage.
"No." Kurt shook his head. "Rich clearly wants us together, and I don't want him pulling any more shenanigans to make it happen." God only knew what the man would come up with next if they crossed him. He placed his hands on Jane's shoulders and turned her to face him, feeling his ire drain away at the uncertainty in her eyes. What he wouldn't give to kiss away the doubts reflected there.
Instead, he dropped his hands and took a step back, hoping the distance would help him regain the perspective he was already in danger of losing. "It's only for a week. We can manage that, right?"
Was he asking her or himself? Jane wondered, but she simply nodded. It would be a week of exquisite torture, being so close to him and yet unable to indulge in the fantasies she'd had of the two of them, and she was anticipating and dreading it in equal measure. She knew it was too much to expect that their proximity would cause him to reconsider his stance on a relationship between them—he was far too stubborn for that—but though her head knew that, her heart was already dreaming of a different outcome.
She would be lucky if it didn't shatter into a million pieces by the end of this voyage.
"Okay, then." Kurt took a deep breath. "If I know Rich, he's probably already got your things packed and on the way to my cabin, so why don't we go get you settled in?" He started that way as he spoke, and Jane fell into step beside him. He glanced over at her, noting that she was gazing out at the ocean. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked almost too himself, speaking of more than the sparkling waters surrounding them.
"I never get tired of it," Jane agreed, feeling a flush stain her cheeks at Kurt's warm gaze. What she wouldn't give to know what he was thinking at that moment. To have the right to ask him. To be moving in with him not because Rich finagled it, but because he wanted her to.
Rich clearly wants us together.
She came to an abrupt halt as an idea shot through her brain like a bolt of lightning. "Why not?"
"Why not what?" Kurt asked in confusion, turning back toward a Jane whose eyes were alight with a mischief reminiscent of Rich Dotcom and which made him more than a little uneasy. And her next words confirmed he had been right to be concerned.
"Why not give Rich what he wants?" she suggested. "Look, he's obviously not going to give up until we get together, and like you said, who knows what other tricks he has up his sleeve to accomplish that, so why not play along?"
Kurt's brow furrowed as he considered the idea. "That might work. We could pretend to be getting closer as the week goes on, and by the time the cruise is over, Rich will think his work is done. Then he'll turn his attention to someone else, and we can go back to business as usual." He ignored the pang in his heart at the thought and studied Jane for a long moment. "As long as you understand that it's all pretense."
"Of course," Jane instantly agreed, lying through her teeth. She meant to secretly do everything in her power to aid Rich in his quest to get them together. She might get her heart broken in the process, but she would much rather try and fail than have the regret of might have beens hanging over her head for the rest of her life. "So do we have a deal?"
Kurt grinned, and the way his face lit up nearly stole Jane's breath away. It was so rare that she saw a genuine smile on his face, not the practiced one he used on passengers and crew alike. She wanted to see more of those. She wanted to be the cause of more of those. He held out a hand, and she felt electricity course up her arm as she took it.
"Deal."