The Shipped Trip

What happens at sea, stays at sea.

Chloe's life would be falling apart-if it ever felt like it really got started.

Her dream of becoming a professional dancer was shattered in the same accident that totaled her car at seventeen. Ever since, Chloe has been drifting from one thing to the next, never quite finding her footing. Now, at twenty-nine, she's back living at home, working at her brother's bar, and failing spectacularly at learning how to knit.

Then a friend offers her a free Caribbean cruise. A fresh start, a change of scenery, maybe even a clue about what she's meant to do next. There's just one catch: someone else was supposed to go with her. And the man who shows up at the airport is none other than her brother's best friend, Holden Hartman.

Holden is everything Chloe is not: focused, successful, and firmly on track. He runs a thriving brewery and barely has time to breathe, let alone take a vacation. But when he hears Chloe needs a travel companion, he jumps at the chance. His feelings for her have always run deeper than he lets on, but risking his friendship with her brother feels like crossing a line he can't undo.

Once aboard, they discover the cruise isn't just a vacation-it's a couples cruise. To stay on the ship, they'll have to pretend they're together. As Chloe flips through the brochure, eyeing the endless classes and possibilities, excitement bubbles up. She could finally find her calling. Holden agrees to the farce, mostly because he will do anything for Chloe.

But as the ship sails on, pretending starts to feel easier. Sexier. More real. And somewhere between sun-soaked days and moonlit nights, Chloe and Holden must decide whether this is just a vacation fantasy or the beginning of something they've both been too afraid to reach for.