Thomas heard the Mannon's before he saw them as he and Abigail stepped onto the ship. He hung back and let the long unseen daughter reunite with her family. And of course there was no avoiding setting eyes on the love of his life and the bane of his existence. As Vanessa waited her turn to hug Abigail, Thomas took in the sight of her from behind a luggage rack. She looked more beautiful than ever. Her wavy red hair hung down past her waist now and her big green eyes were as bright as ever. And damn, her soft, perfect curves were a bit more rounded with maturity. She was his vision of absolute perfection. The only thing different now was the subtly sad look that briefly swept across her face once in awhile as she looked around her. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of his impending presence on her family's vacation. He suddenly couldn't stand the thought of disrupting her reunion with Abigail, so he quickly slipped away.
**********
Vanessa took her seat and watched as Olivia and Mari greeted and fussed over their longtime friend. She knew she should say something, but the words just wouldn't come, not even a hello or a how are you old friend. Maybe it was the near glare Thomas was throwing her way. Or maybe it wasn't a glare, maybe he was just appraising her harshly as his eyes moved over her. Something about her obviously didn't make him happy anymore, but she fondly remembered a time when everything about her had pleased him.
Vanessa watched as he kept his eyes on her from across the table, and as he leaned toward Abigail and rested his hand on her arm. "Haven't seen you since we boarded Abby. Is the most beautiful Mannon sister enjoying the cruise so far?" Then his eyes shifted back to Vanessa and he winked. How dare he!Abigail leaned close to him to whisper in his ear."Using me to make her jealous, well played."
Thomas grinned and caught Vanessa's eye. He winked again.
She was fuming and trying not to let it show. There was no way there was something going on between Abby and Thomas. Was there? No, there couldn't be, Abigail had brought her own man with her. He was supposedly only her personal assistant, but there was no mistaking how they looked at each other. So what the hell kind of game was Thomas Playing?
Vanessa's attention was momentarily taken off of her former crush when Mari's soon to be ex Graham, his seven year old daughter Sarah, and his mother Eleanor unexpectedly arrived at the table. As soon as everyone had calmed down, her eyes automatically settled on Thomas again. If he was going to play a game with her, then she was going to make sure she won it. "So Tommy, I see The Marines hasn't changed you at all. Is that a pimple on your cheek," she teased.
"Think you need glasses Red, that's a battle scar." he returned.
Vanessa looked at him and smirked. "Having sex with a teenage girl in the pool house isn't war Paulson. She was probably clawing at your face to get you off of her." She swore she heard her mother laugh snort but didn't dare look her way. It was mortifying to think that Charlotte might know exactly what they had done in the pool house five years previously.
"Nah, this was from the real war Vanessa," he said running his finger along the scar. "The girl you were referring to," he lowered his voice, "well you know, she just laid there like a dead..."
Jackson choked on his soup, interrupting the sparring between his sister and best friend. Thomas smacked him on the back until he caught his breath. "You okay man?"
"Yeah, didn't really appreciate the visual of my sister dude!"
"You two are disgusting!" Vanessa seethed, looking around to see if anyone else had heard. She breathed a sigh of relief, noticing everyone was otherwise occupied. That is until her mother turned to her and winked. Oh God, how mortifying! Was there anything Charlotte Mannon didn't know?
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