Perfect Timing by Brenda Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

against it. “Hey, you. Wake up. I think you’re in the wrong cabin.”
    Getting annoyed when he didn’t get a response, he tapped her again and repeated himself. Finally , he thought, when he noticed her body shifting as she tried raising her head off the pillow but had a hard time doing so. Christopher lifted a brow wondering just how many drinks she’d had. “Look here, lady, you can indulge in your hangover someplace else. I’d like to enjoy my cabin alone.”
    When she didn’t give any type of response he decided to take matters into his own hands and flipped her over onto her back. He frowned. Even with her eyes tightly shut, her features looked awfully familiar. His gaze studied the roundness of her face, the firmness of her cheekbones, and the fullness of her lips. Christopher was caught off guard when at that very moment she forced her eyes open and looked up at him, straight into his direct gaze. Even after ten years recognition hit him immediately. It was hard for a guy to forget the girl he had fancied himself in love with through most of his adolescent years. “Maxi?”
    Barely conscious from her drug-induced sleep, Maxi continued looking up at the man towering over her. She blinked once, then twice. He seemed to know who she was but at the moment everything appeared foggy and she couldn’t make out who he was and why he was in her cabin.
    â€œMaxi, are you all right?”
    The sound of his voice was soothing, assuring. She attempted to nod but couldn’t. She tried getting words out of her mouth but settled on the one word that described exactly how she felt. “Sick.”
    â€œYou’re sick?”
    She tried nodding again but couldn’t. She blinked a third time and the blurring in her eyes began clearing as her gaze stayed focussed on the man. She took in his facial features. Although she felt half-dead, and probably looked it as well, she could definitely make out the fact that he was attractive. Very attractive. And he looked very familiar.
    â€œLike what you see, Maxine Chandler?”
    She blinked again when she remembered that same husky voice and those identical words spoken to her one day years ago in school when she’d been caught staring. She forced herself to study his features more intently. “Christopher Chandler?”
    He smiled down at her. “Yes, in the flesh.”
    She wished she had the energy to tell him he wasn’t in the flesh when he had clothes on. Questions immediately began flooding her mind. But then another bout of queasiness hit her, this one worse than the others. She closed her eyes after mumbling softly. “I’m going to throw up, Christopher.”
    Her words prompted him into action when she placed her hand over her mouth. He quickly picked her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom and lowered her in front of the commode where she immediately released her lunch from earlier that day. When her stomach was completely empty the first thing she thought was that maybe she would live after all—if she didn’t die of embarrassment first. Of all the people to find her in such a sickly state and come to her aid, it had to be Christopher Chandler, the boy she’d had a crush on during her entire senior year of high school.
    All thoughts fled from her mind when she heard the sound of the toilet being flushed, and felt strong firm hands picking her up off the floor and a warm washcloth wiping her face.
    â€œFeeling better now, Maxi?”
    â€œYes, much better, thanks,” she replied, as she looked into the face of the man who had been her rescuer. It had been ten years since she’d seen it last but those years seemed to have agreed with him. He was handsome as ever. “Christopher, what are you doing here?”
    â€œI should be asking you the same thing.”
    She frowned. “I’m here for the class reunion cruise.”
    â€œSo am I.”
    That