NINE
The following night, close to midnight, when the men were engrossed in their poker game in the mess and digging into their second cheesecake of the day, Sassi slipped out onto the deck.
One of her favorite spots in the night was standing against the rail outside her cabin’s porthole that faced the back of the ship. She left the main passageway to get to the deck that swept around three sides of the superstructure. It was so quiet and calming that she felt like the only person on earth when she was there.
When she’d boarded Eros, she’d had no idea that after just six days on board, she would feel this intensely about the vessel or the voyage.
Standing there, contemplating her life, Sassi didn’t hear the captain coming toward her. Even when she became aware of him when he propped a
