SS Valentine

"Come on, Jerry. I want to dance!" Niccole said.

Jerry looked surprised and after looking around the dance floor, said "Only if Frank and penny come along. I am not going to be the only youngster up there by myself."

Frank was about to tell him 'good luck' when penny said "Why not."

Frank looked surprised himself, but was even more so when Penny took his hand and pulled him to his feet as Niccole did the same to her husband. Frank could see the reluctance on jerry's face and had no doubt his own showed the same expression.

Frank had not danced since the last family wedding and even then it was only with one of his cousins at the urging of his grandmother. He had learned only because his family said it was something every man needed to know how to do. He was a bit surprised to see Penny wanting to get closer to him after her reaction to their meeting Sunday afternoon. He put his arm out and took her hand as they tried to get their steps in sync. He looked over at jerry and Niccole who seemed to be more comfortable with each other, but he still could see the look on Jerry's face that suggested he would prefer to be anywhere else.

It took a couple of songs before Frank and Penny got their steps matched enough that they were not stepping on the other's toes or bumping into themselves or others. Frank was not holding her as close as Niccole and Jerry were dancing, but he guessed they did this often enough and since they were married, did not feel awkward together. Still, Frank could feel the warmth coming from penny's body as she moved. She was also aware of just how close they got, but there was none of the uncertainty from before. A few more songs on the floor and Frank suggested they take a break. Jerry saw them heading for the table and he too gave up on dancing for the time being.

Frank had felt good in Penny's arms as they danced and she wondered if she should suggest that they get up again after they had rested. She was also not used to dancing any more than frank, but they had worked out how to do it without any problems. She was thinking how to go about it when Niccole suggested they go back out, this time changing partners. Frank and jerry each looked up in shock at the same time. Penny and Niccole saw their faces and started laughing together.

"You'd think we just asked them to go rob a bank." Niccole laughed.

"Aw, come on guys. We won't bite." Penny got caught up in the moment.

Before either could protest, the women had taken their hands and pulled them out of the chairs and toward the dance floor. Niccole was about the same size as Penny so Frank did not have any trouble positioning himself with her, but she moved herself closer to him than Penny had been dancing. Frank was aware of her body pressing against his and fought the thoughts of being this close to a woman. It took the first song for them to get comfortable dancing with each other, but soon they found a rhythm together and were able to finish several more dances.

Penny found the same issues as she danced with Jerry. He had unconsciously pulled her closer to himself, but she had seen how he had held his wife and realized that was just how he danced. She was also aware of how close he was and that her own body was brushing against him as they danced. Like Frank and Niccole, they continued to dance for several more songs then took a break as the music stopped for a short intermission.

Back at the table, the waitress had brought new drinks all around and all needed the refreshment after dancing for quite a while.

"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Niccole asked with a laugh.

Frank didn't think it had been that bad dancing with her but did not want to seem too agreeable. He didn't find it much different from dancing with Penny, just the closeness of her body that was her style of dancing was the main thing he noticed.

Each of them stopped speaking for a bit, taking time to work on their drinks. It did not take either Frank or Penny long to finish the second ones so a new round was soon ordered. Jerry had stuck with his Scotch and Niccole was working on her second tropical drink, not quite keeping up with Frank and Penny. Penny was starting to feel her face flush, she was not used to drinking very much. As the music started again after the short break, she grabbed Frank by the hand and pulled him back onto the dance floor. Niccole followed her lead, taking Jerry's hand and pulling him out also. Jerry and Frank looked at each other, each realizing it would be pointless to complain.

As they started dancing, Frank and Penny each unconsciously moved closer together. While no one would feel anything they did was inappropriate for public consumption, Frank could feel Penny's breasts brushing across his chest with each step they took. Penny could feel it as well and she started to notice her nipples growing hard at the feel. Maybe it was the drink and maybe it was the company, but penny enjoyed the contact and worked to keep her breasts against Frank's chest. Frank had also become aware of just how close they were to each other as they moved across the dance floor. He too was affected by the alcohol and was getting warmer the longer they continued to dance like this. Still, he did not want to stop and hoped Penny would want to keep dancing longer herself.

About midnight they decided to call it a night. Most of the older patrons had left earlier and there were far fewer people in the club as they finished up their drinks before leaving. Frank and penny agreed to meet Niccole and jerry for breakfast the next morning in the same dining room. As they parted to go to their respective rooms, Niccole and Penny gave each other a little hug and said they would have to do this again.

Inside their cabin, Frank and Penny sat for a minute to rest after the evening.

"That was a lot of fun, a lot more than I was really expecting." Penny started.

"Yeah, I guess it was. I haven't danced that much in – well, I have never danced that much." Frank countered.

Penny laughed and added "I haven't danced that much either. Usually, I only do it at some friend or relative's wedding."

"You too??" Frank asked with his own laugh.

"Yeah, I don't get out much unless it is some family event. Some of my girlfriends go clubbing all the time, but I just can't get into that."

"I know what you mean." Frank stated.

Their conversation started to slow and Penny said she would be first in the bathroom. Frank watched as she got her baby doll outfit from her suitcase and went into the bathroom, though she did not close the door. Frank watched as she got out of the blouse and skirt, then came back into the room with the blouse she had washed the toothpaste out of this morning. She hung that blouse before returning to the bathroom to finish changing. She had only been wearing her bra and panties as she walked in front of him and Frank wondered if she was consciously flirting or maybe just the alcohol was making her act like this. He could feel his own buzz as he started taking off his pants and shirt while penny was finishing up in the bathroom. He looked up in time to see her remove her bra, although she was faced away from him. The nightie went over her head and she came out of the bathroom. Frank did notice that she had not put on the panties that went with the baby doll top but rather just had her white bikini panties on. He was starting to feel stirrings in his loins but did not want to chance anything that might come back to him if Penny claimed alcohol impairment later.

Penny took a few minutes to put things away and then turned to Frank and asked if he was ready for lights out. He was, glad that the darkness would take away at least some of the temptation. Penny turned out the light and slid into bed as did Frank. He was ready to head off into dreamland when Penny moved over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for a fun evening. I'm glad we did it. Maybe we can even do it again."

Frank replied "I had a good time too. See you in the morning."

Penny slid back over to her side, the separation of territory back in effect.

*****

When morning came Frank awoke with a ringing in his head. He wasn't used to drinking and the tropical offerings last night seemed to cover the amount of alcohol. He was looking forward to getting into a hot shower to see if that would help him put his mild hangover behind him. Penny was still asleep as he got out of the bed and headed into the bathroom. He did not close the door completely, not intentionally, rather just leaving it partially open from habit and the effect of the drink. Penny saw his naked backside as he got into the shower but strangely, for her, did not give it a second thought. She got out of the bed and found clothes for the day.

The ship had docked in St. Thomas last night and passengers could go ashore. Frank and Penny had discussed the possibility briefly last night with Niccole and jerry, but nothing definite was decided. Today would also mean that they would find out if there was another cabin one of them could move to or if they would leave the cruise to head back to New York.

"Morning, Penny." Frank stated as he saw her out of bed as he emerged from the bathroom.

Penny was brought out of her musing by the words, she also was feeling the effect of last night's partying.

"Hi, Frank. I was just thinking about what we might do today."

"Any thoughts?" Frank answered.

"Not really. I guess we can talk it over with Niccole and jerry during breakfast."

Penny went into the bathroom to get her own shower. She also left the door open a bit, again not intentionally, but somehow it didn't get fully closed. Frank was putting away his clothes from yesterday when he looked up to see Penny step into the shower, getting a quick side view of her breast before seeing her backside as she stepped in. The thoughts he had recently at getting flashes of her in underwear came back, wondering if this was intentional or if she was just getting more comfortable around him and not even thinking about what she was doing. He decided the latter was more likely and tried to focus on other things than the recent view of Penny's bare bottom.

When Frank heard the shower stop, he looked away from the open door, he did not want to take any chances she might see him peeking and get pissed. In a couple of minutes Penny came back into the main part of the cabin and frank looked up to see her getting a blouse and shorts out of her suitcase. She was only wearing the bra and panties as she did this, but when she noticed Frank looking, she did not apologize as she had yesterday, she just finished dressing before asking if he was ready to go out. Just like yesterday, Frank nodded his assent and was glad to leave the room that suddenly seemed much warmer.

Walking toward the dining room, Frank and Penny noticed that there were red heart shaped balloons everywhere, the walls of the corridors also covered with little hearts and flowers. Frank was a bit slower than Penny, who explained

"Today is Valentine's Day. I hadn't even thought about it."

Frank had always considered Valentine's Day as something invented by the card, flower and candy companies to bring up sales during the cold winter months.

"Why the big deal?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, let's see what these signs say." Penny responded.

Stopping to read one of the heart shaped notices on the wall, she found that tonight would be a formal dinner and dance to celebrate the event. Passengers were requested to attend and have fun. Each had brought nicer clothes to wear to the formal dinner but neither was sure about this kind of event.

"What do you think about going?" Penny asked.

Frank wasn't sure, but had to admit he enjoyed the dancing and time with Penny last night.

"Might not be too bad. Let's see what Niccole and jerry have to say."

The 4 of them had breakfast and as last night, the ladies seemed to dictate what would happen. As they talked, each seemed to feed off the other's enthusiasm, making plans for the formal dinner and dance later that evening.

Frank and Jerry were less convinced, but deferred to the women for the moment. The next topic was what to do today. The ship was now in the harbor in St. Thomas and passengers could go ashore to spend time there shopping or just touring the island. The decision to get away from some of the seniors for even a few hours was one that was not difficult to make. After they finished the meal, they each would take a few minutes in their cabins to get ready, and then catch the tender to the dock ashore.

Frank and penny were walking back to their cabin when Gerard caught up with them.

"I'm glad I found you. We have had several couples leave us here, so I will be able to get one of you into a different cabin."

Frank and Penny had found that they were not as incompatible as they had originally thought, but the issue of separating was still a concern.

"I guess I can move." Frank started. "What do I have to do?"

"Just get together any of your luggage and I will have one of the crew come by to move it into the new cabin. Can you have that taken care of soon?" Gerard replied. "They can come by in about 15 minutes, I don't really have that much that needs to be moved." Frank answered.

"Good. I will have them come by soon."

Frank and Penny had each been waiting for this, but now that it was actually happening, each was uncertain. They had been able to get along well enough so far, but the need for separate cabins was still in the back of each mind. Neither said anything as they finished walking to the cabin.

As Frank was getting his luggage together, there was an uncomfortable silence between them. Finally Penny started

"I hope the new cabin is not too far away. I think we still need to stick together if we stay on the ship."

Frank had not thought about actually leaving, but realized that he could now that they were in port. Still, he found that the last few days had not been so bad once he and Penny worked together to blunt the presence of the old people.

"I don't plan to do anything to change the plans we have for today. After that, who knows, but if we can find things to do that keep us busy, maybe we can finish the cruise." Frank offered.

Penny had not even considered that one or both of them would have the chance to leave the ship today, but decided that if frank was willing to stay she might as well too.

Their thoughts were disturbed by a knock at the door. Opening it, Frank found a young man wearing the uniform of the cruise line.

"I'm here to take your things to another cabin. Here's your key card. If you want, you can follow me and find out where it is, but if not, your gear will be there when you get back."

Frank took the key card and saw that the cabin number was printed on the outside envelope. It looked to be 1 deck up so he wasn't going to be far from this cabin. After the man had left with his luggage, frank said "Let's go find Niccole and jerry, I am anxious to see what the island is like."

*****

The four of them took the short ride to the pier and then found a taxi to give them a quick tour of the area. Although the ship had not seemed like it was on the water at all, they found that being on actual land was a nice change. Once the tour was over, they found a restaurant to have lunch, and then spent the next few hours shopping. The women each found a few trinkets to buy, but no one made any real major purchases and about 5 they decided they needed to get back to the ship to get ready for the dinner dance this evening.

Back on board, Frank and Penny each felt funny as they parted to head for their separate cabins. Frank told Penny he would come by shortly to pick her up so they could meet Niccole and jerry in the dining room. Once in his new cabin, Frank felt alone for some reason. This was what he and Penny had each expected from the beginning, but somehow being together hadn't been all that bad. Penny had the same thoughts as she took a shower and started to get dressed for the event.

Frank did not take long to shower and get dressed himself, not needing much time for hair and makeup hastened his actions. He left the new cabin, his clothes not even hung from the move yet. He found his way back to Penny's cabin and knocked, feeling strange to have to do that. He heard Penny tell him to come in, so he tried the door and found it open. As he entered, he noticed that Penny was not yet ready, although that in itself was not surprising, he knew women always seemed to run late. She was wearing a sheer black strapless bra and matching panties, holding a black dress in front of her.

"I'm glad you got here a bit early, I might need some help here." Penny started.

She lifted the dress over her head and pulled it down until it was positioned more or less properly.

"Can you zip me? I always have trouble with dresses that zip in the back."

Frank was roused out of his surprise at seeing her like this, but soon moved behind her and looked for the zipper tab. He pulled it up to the back of her neck and locked it into place.

Penny was pushing and pulling at the dress to get it to lay the way she wanted. Frank was again watching her as she worked, he had noticed the cleavage she was showing and that the skirt was shorter than the one she had worn last evening in the night club. Penny went into the bathroom to check out things in the mirror and soon Frank heard "Damn!"

Was this another tooth paste spill? He hadn't given that thought a chance to gel before penny called him in.

"This doesn't really look right, does it?" she asked.

Frank wasn't sure what she was asking. a quick look seemed to show everything in place.

"I don't see anything that looks too bad. What is the problem?" he asked

"I don't want to look just OK. I want to look really good, but this damn bra makes the top of the dress look bumpy. It is pretty tight up there too. Do you think it would look better without the bra?"

Frank had not even looked that closely, he wasn't used to checking out women's attire closely enough to see those kinds of things. Sure he liked looking at women who went out in public without a bra, but right now he was starting to perspire and get flustered by the question.

To make things even more uncomfortable, penny turned around and started lifting the top away from the bra, showing him where the dress did not look right.

"See what I mean?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess so." He answered.

"Do you think I should take it off?" Penny asked.

This was getting into dangerous territory Frank thought. He wasn't sure how to answer, if he said no, she might get upset that he thought she looked good when she wasn't sure, but if he looked too anxious, she might think him only interested in getting her out of her clothes.

He wasn't sure, but offered "Maybe you could take it off to see. You can always put it back if you don't like the look without it."

"Unzip me. I'll give it a try without the bra." Penny stated, though frank thought he could hear a bit of uncertainty in her voice.

He slowly took the zipper tab and started pulling it down. He wasn't sure how far to go, but kept going until it reached the bottom of her back. Frank was totally shocked when Penny asked

"Can you unhook the bra?"

His fingers were trembling some as he took the ends and pulled the hooks apart and the bra was undone.

"Pull it out, I have to hold the dress." Penny continued.

Frank took one end of the back and started pulling as the other disappeared around the front. Penny had to let the front of the dress go some as the bra moved across her breasts and Frank could see them jiggle a bit as the bra moved past them. Once he had it in his hands, Penny pulled the top back into place and asked Frank to again zip the dress. Once done, she took stock and said this look was a lot better.