The top of the ship had a walking track and miniature golf course, lounge chairs and the requisite shuffleboard, all in demand in nice weather. But on this nippy night no one was up there watching the city of Amsterdam slip away into the darkness except Sophie, and her pleasure in that was tainted, both by the cold and her upset stomach. She could very well freeze to death before she even managed to hurl. And hurl she was going to, she just knew it.

She leaned on the railing and groaned. Maybe she shouldn’t have come on this cruise after all. She hated the idea of being sick the whole time. She hated throwing up. It was such a nasty experience.

Dramamine tomorrow, she vowed. She’d take one first thing in the morning. If she survived until morning.

“You’re not going to jump, are you?”

She turned at the sound of the male voice behind her and saw a tall, beautiful specimen of manhood walking up to her. He wore jeans and a trendy-looking sport jacket with a maroon-colored sweater underneath it. He looked like he should be getting ready to pose for the cover of GQ.

In her current state of misery all she could think was, who cares who he is?

She waved him away with a hand. “I’m seasick.”

He didn’t go away. Instead, he came and stood next to her. “Wow, you must get motion sickness just watching car chase scenes in movies.”

Actually, she had once. She held her head in her hands and shut her eyes so she couldn’t see the water swooshing along-side the boat. “I think I ate too much.”

“Easy to do. All that great food. Lucky for you, I happen to have the cure for seasickness with me.”

She turned and looked at him hopefully. “Dramamine?”

“Something better.” He took a small chocolate bar from his jacket pocket and tore off the outer wrapping.

“Chocolate?” At a time like this?

“Chocolate with candied ginger. Ginger is great for an upset stomach. And you know how good dark chocolate is for you. All those flavanols and polyphenols.” He unfolded the white inside paper around the bar, then held it out to her. “Try a bite. It will help.” When she hesitated, he added, “I promise.”

She did love chocolate. And she knew ginger was good for an upset stomach. When she was a little girl her mom used to make her ginger tea whenever her tummy was upset.

She took it, broke off a piece and put it in her mouth. The chocolate was smooth and sophisticated, and the ginger added a sharp bite and brought back memories of herself stretched out on the living room sofa with a blanket and a pillow stuffed into one of her mother’s fancy embroidered pillow cases, her mom leaning over her with a pretty china mug.

“That is good,” she said to the man and took another bite. To make sure she got enough ginger in her stomach. “Do you always carry chocolate bars with you?”

“You never know when someone may be having a chocolate emergency,” he said. He leaned against the railing and smiled at her. He had the kind of smile that could drop a woman’s panties at ten paces.

She took another bite. “This is really good.”

“Thanks. I’m pretty proud of that flavor.”

She studied him. “Wait a minute. Is this … Are you a chocolatier?”

“As a matter of fact, I am. My name’s Trevor March, and I own a chocolate company.”

“That is seriously impressive,” she said and took another bite.

She offered the last third to him, and he shook his head. “You need it more than I do. Is it working?”

She didn’t feel so sick. “It appears so.” Chocolate wasn’t a cure for freezing to death though. She should go below, where it was warm.

She stayed put and tried not to shiver.

“Good,” he said.

“What’s the name of your chocolate company?” she asked.

“Cupid’s Chocolates.”

“Cupid’s Chocolates? Seriously? I just opened an account with your company. Sophie’s Helping Hand. We shop so you won’t drop.”

She gave up on the not shivering thing. She really needed to get back inside before she caught pneumonia, but she hated to end her conversation with Trevor March. It wasn’t every day a woman met a great-looking guy who owned a chocolate company. If only he was a doctor.

“I think I saw an order come through from you a couple of weeks ago,” he said as he took off his jacket.

She nodded. “For a non-profit fundraiser dinner dance. We placed your little truffle gift bags at each plate as party favors.”

“So you’re Sophie of the Helping Hand then?” He draped his coat over her.

“Thanks. Yes, I’m Sophie Miles.” Now she was a little warmer, but he was going to freeze. “We should get back down below before you catch pneumonia.”

“I never get sick. I get plenty of Vitamin C.”

“Oh, that is good for you I take one every day.”

“I mean the other Vitamin C.”

There was another she didn’t know about?

“Chocolate,” he said. “Chocolate cures everything.”

She snickered. “What a bunch of baloney.”

“You feel better, right?”

She did. “That’s probably because of the ginger.” Or pheromones.

“Let me buy you a drink to warm you up, a brandy or something,” he offered.

“Oh, I have people waiting for me.” Her sister would be. And if she didn’t get to the lounge and stake a claim on Doctor Rudy one of the older women would for sure. Trevor March was a treat, but he wasn’t a doctor.

“I’ll go down with you,” he said. “Who all are you here with?”

“My sister. And some other friends.”

He nodded as they walked toward the stairway. “Old friends?”

“New ones.”

“So you and your sister are doing some kind of girl trip?”

“Her husband was supposed to come. But at the last minute he couldn’t, so she called me. I’d never done a cruise before, and she convinced me it would be fun. How about you?”

“My brother suckered me into this. He got the bright idea that if he brought his German class he could get a discount on the cruise. Not sure the discount was worth it.”

“I saw that group,” Sophie told him. “It looks like they’re having fun.”

"They are, and they’re nice enough kids. But I’m not into babysitting.”

“Not into kids?” she half-teased. A lot of men didn’t like children. She had no intention of getting together with someone like that.

“Not thirty at a time,” Trevor said.

Did Doctor Rudy like kids? He was a little old to be starting a family. But lots of men married younger women and did exactly that. A woman would never have to worry when her children got sick if she was married to a doctor.

“So, your sister’s married. Anyone special in your life?” he asked. Getting right to the point.

How to answer that? “Umm.”

“Umm means not yet, right?” he said and smiled.

“Well.” That smile was what every girl wanted for Christmas. Trevor March, himself, was what every girl wanted for Christmas. Every girl who wasn’t prone to illness.

That wasn’t her. She had to stay focused. Anyway, Doctor Rudy had a great smile too.

They were below again, in the main part of the ship and on their way to the lounge.

“Anyway, if this other guy is only an umm, you want to stay open to other possibilities, right?” he argued.

“How do you know I won’t turn out to be an umm?” she argued, handing back his sport coat.

“I don’t. But I have a sneaking suspicion you won’t. I already know you have good taste. You like my chocolate.”

That made her chuckle. “Almost every woman likes chocolate.”

“But not every woman has such a pretty smile.”

Trevor March had a way with words.

They reached the lounge, and she looked to where she and her sister had sat the night before. There was Sierra and the older women, Catherine and Denise. And Rudy and his daughter, Crudballs. An older man, short and stocky, wearing a Santa hat, was joining them, taking the seat Sierra should have been saving for Sophie. Thanks, Sis.

“Do you see your friends?” Trevor asked.

She frowned. “I do, but it looks like somebody took my seat.”

“That sucks,” Trevor said, wearing the same smile. “I see two seats over here. How about joining me for a while and catching up with your sister later?”

There was no place to sit over by Doctor Rudy unless she plopped in his lap. “All right,” she said. She sure didn’t want to go back to her room now that her tummy was feeling better.

“We can talk some more and find out if either of us is an umm,” he said.

Sophie strongly suspected there was little about Trevor March that qualified as an umm. He was the kind of man who could easily pull a woman off course. Darn Sierra, anyway. She should have saved her sis a seat.