A/N: Hi lovelies! Here's a new one for y'all :) and I know I need to be working on IOYO and All In but I've lost all writing inspo/motivation lately. Here's to hoping this new story sparks it up again. If this continues, it'll be a short one, probably 4-5 chapters max so let me know if you want me to keep writing it! REVIEW PLEASE; Motivate me againnnn :) xo
PS I own nothing, as usual.
"16C…" Erin Lindsay muttered to herself as she walked down the plane aisle in search of her row. She spotted her seat and breathed a sigh of relief that the entire row was empty as she took her window seat, shoving her carry on bag under the seat in front of her. She buckled her seatbelt and leaned back in the seat, her eyes falling shut as soon as her head hit the headrest behind her. She wasn't a morning person and the 4:00 am wakeup call for her flight to Florida had come way sooner than she would have liked.
She opened her eyes again when she heard movement next to her, turning her head to see a (very attractive) man taking the seat next to her. She offered him a small smile that he returned before looking out the window of the plane to the airport runway. Her thoughts drifted to how excited she was for the upcoming week. She'd be spending the next five days on an all-inclusive cruise far away from the criminals and cold weather of Chicago. Due to her near perfect attendance record at work Hank had put her on forced furlough and required her to take the week off, demanding she needed the rest. When she had vented to her friend Annie about how stupid the furlough rule was, Annie had recommended the trip to Erin, having had taken herself and Travis on the same cruise ship a few months earlier. Erin had looked into the cruise - a five-day, four-night journey that departed from Miami and visited Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau, and decided to book it. She had absolutely nothing to do in Chicago during that week - all of her friends would be at work – and after her recent breakup with Kelly, she needed a change of scenery to get her mind off things.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the plane took off and Erin smiled at the feeling of freedom flying through the air always gave her. It was only a three hour flight and once the plane was at cruising altitude, Erin reached into her bag for her laptop so she could watch Netflix to pass the time.
She was browsing through the Netflix homepage trying to decide on a movie to watch when she heard the man next to her say something.
"What?" she asked, taking one of her ear buds out as she turned her attention to him.
"Breaking Bad," he repeated, pointing to her screen. "Great show."
Erin raised an eyebrow as she glanced at her computer screen then back to him, noticing his blue eyes for the first time. Fuck, he was attractive. She couldn't even be mad he was watching what she was doing. "Do you want to watch?" she asked, offering him an ear bud.
"Really?" he asked, looking surprised. "I'm Jay, by the way."
"Erin," she introduced herself with a smile. He smiled back at her as he took the ear bud out of her hand and put it in his left ear and she clicked on the first episode of the series.
Two and a half episodes later, the pilot came over the speakers and told the passengers to prepare for landing. Jay returned Erin's ear bud and she packed her computer away, turning to look at him again once she was done.
"You're right, that was good." Erin admitted.
"I told you," he laughed at her original distrust, his eyes sparkling.
"So, Jay, what are you doing in Miami?" Erin asked. She normally wasn't so open to talking to strangers, but there was just something about this man. And he seemed equally as eager to talk to her.
"I'm going on a cruise. I got hurt at work and couldn't think of a better way to spend medical leave than away from the cold Chicago winter." Jay explained. "What about you, Erin?"
Erin's eyes widened and she tightened her lips in an effort to stop her jaw from dropping. "I'm going on a cruise too," she watched his eyes widen to a size equally as large as hers and bit back a laugh. "My boss put me on forced furlough… and well, I hate Chicago winters too."
"Forced furlough?" Jay asked. "You work for the government?"
Erin nodded. "I'm a detective."
"Me too," Jay responded, and Erin's jaw dropped this time. What the hell was happening?
"What?" she asked. She had to have heard him wrong.
"I'm a detective. Gang Unit, 15th district." Jay repeated, laughing at Erin's face but feeling just as shocked on the inside.
"Intelligence Unit, 21st district." Erin replied once she found her voice.
"Damn, the big dogs," Jay nodded his approval. "So what cruise are you going on?"
Erin blushed at his compliment. She knew IU was one of the best units in the city, but it always made her proud when someone else recognized it as well. "Carnival Sensation."
"You're kidding." Jay challenged.
Erin shook her head. "Don't tell me that's your ship too."
"Why? You don't want to spend five days with me?" Jay feigned hurt.
"It's not that," Erin laughed, surprised at just how eager she was to spend the next five days getting to know this man. "This is just crazy." This was the type of thing you read about in cheesy novels or saw in the stupid rom-coms Kim always drug her to see.
Jay shrugged, his blue eyes still sparkling. "Maybe it's fate,"
Erin had to fight back an eye roll at how much of a flirt he was, but she didn't exactly hate it. Things between her and Kelly had been so bad for so long she'd almost forgotten what it was like to have someone look at her the way Jay was. They jolted forward as the plane hit the ground and Erin reached into her pocket to grab her phone. "At least the Uber to the cruise port will be cheaper now," she opened her Uber app and ordered a car, passing the phone to Jay. "Split fare with me."
"Sneaky way to get my number," Jay winked at her as he entered his cell number into the app.
Erin actually did roll her eyes this time, but couldn't hide the smirk playing on her lips as she took her phone back. The plane reached the gate and everyone around them stood up to exit so they followed suit. It turned out Jay was a light packer as well – you didn't exactly need a lot of clothes when you planned to spend the next five days on the beach – and they didn't need to wait at baggage claim, both having only their carry on bags.
"White Honda Civic," Erin announced as she glanced back down at her phone and saw that the Uber had arrived. The Florida humidity hit them in the face as soon as they stepped out of the airport and they both simultaneously moaned at how good the sun felt on their skin.
Jay spotted the white car near the curb and pointed it out to Erin, placing a hand on the small of her back to push her toward the car and avoid separation in the crowd of strangers. It was an innocent act but Erin had to hold in a gasp at the spark she felt when his fingers touched her thin shirt. Shit. Jay opened the back door of the small car for Erin before getting in himself, and they both offered a smile to the older driver as he turned to face them.
"Carnival Cruise Terminal?" the driver asked, and Erin nodded as she reached into her bag for a bottle of water. "Honeymoon?" he continued.
Erin nearly spit out the water she'd just sipped as Jay's jaw dropped, similar to how it had on the plane earlier. "No," Jay said quickly, his cheeks reddening as he looked at the woman next to him who he'd barely known for three hours.
The driver chuckled but said no more as he turned back around and shifted the car into drive, beginning the final leg of their journey.
"Don't sound so disgusted," Erin smirked at Jay, glad to finally have her turn to tease.
Jay raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to respond when their driver interrupted them again.
"I was only asking because I drove a couple home from the port a few weeks ago who raved about Carnival's honeymoon suites. Was hoping I could give you guys the good news. Free champagne and chocolate covered strawberries every night apparently," the older man said with a chuckle.
"Oh yeah?" Jay asked, eyebrows still raised as he leaned forward towards the center console to get closer to the driver.
"Mhm," the driver nodded. "They talked about lots of spa discounts, some restaurant deals…" His voice trailed off as he pulled up to the port and parked the car on the side of the road.
"Thank you," Erin said with a laugh as she reached for the door handle and let herself out of the car, waiting for Jay to follow.
"So," he began before he was even fully out of the vehicle. "Let's pretend we're married."
"What?" Erin exclaimed, louder than she meant to, earning stares from people walking by.
"Ten minutes ago you basically said you wouldn't hate it!" Jay fought back, motioning for her to start walking towards the ship. "Come on. We look cute together when we check in, ask them to upgrade our reservation to honeymoon. We don't even have to see each other after. Come on, Erin. Spa discounts. Chocolate strawberries."
"There's no way that would work! People book their honeymoons months in advance. You can't just walk up to the port and request a honeymoon suite!" Erin couldn't believe they were having this argument. Couldn't believe there was a little voice in the back of her mind screaming at her to agree to this.
"It can't hurt to ask!" Jay disputed as the ship came into view.
"I don't have a ring," Erin sighed, but Jay could see she was beginning to concede.
"We're spending the next week in the ocean. You didn't want to lose it. Understandable." Jay explained as he fished his passport and boarding ticket out of his backpack.
"Jay," Erin sighed again as she copied his actions and retrieved her passport and ticket. This would never work. "You said we don't have to see each other after. That's not true. We would be sharing a room-"
"Erin, I'll sleep on the couch. Come on." Without warning, he reached for her hand and pulled her down the dock. Sparks again. Damnit, Erin thought. She didn't know why she was even fighting this so hard. She did know, however, if this did happen, she wasn't about to make him sleep on a couch.
"Fine," Erin let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "You can ask."