Arizona Skies: The Muse (7 page)

“Shelly, TMI. I heard you guys last night, and you weren’t quiet. I had to put in my ear buds and play my music loud to tune you out,” I said, remembering all the noises coming from her room.

“Oh, Bails, how old are you? What’s that you say, almost twenty-three?” she said, holding her hand to her ear like she couldn’t hear me.

“Yeah, so, what’s that supposed to mean?” I said, worried she was going to spill some personal information to Liza that I didn’t want everyone to know.

“Get with the program; it’s 2014, for God’s sake,” she said, swatting my shoulder. Everyone laughed at my expense. I breathed a sigh of relief; my secret was safe, and then it was forgotten. Liza agreed to meet us in our rooms, and we’d all go to dinner together. We were dressing to kill and decided it was time to go get ready. I gathered up my belongings, and as we headed below deck, I remembered the feel
of Jesse’s hands all over my body. It really did feel good; I had hated to stop him, but he was getting too close for comfort, and my inner alarm was going off—“Stop before it’s too late!”

I did my usual routine: shower, shave, and plenty of body lotion to protect my suntanned skin. I chose to wear my blue halter dress; it had a fitted top with a low back and full, short skirt. Shelly, my fashion coordinator, said it showed off my body and long legs. Shelly came bounding into my room dressed in a sexy, short black dress. She did my hair by pulling the top part back with a hair clip and then curling all of my hair into long ringlets, which she fingered through. It looked pretty cascading down my back.

“You should have been a hairdresser,” I said, looking at the back of my hair with a hand mirror.

“I like to play with your long hair, but I don’t think I’d want to do it for a living,” she said. “Little old ladies with blue hair are not my thing.”

“Oh, and snotty-nosed little kids are better,” I said, watching her curl her blond hair.

“At least I can teach them something and have a feeling of accomplishment when I go home at night.” She shook her curly locks.

“Oh, and making me look beautiful isn’t an accomplishment?” I asked.

“Bailey…you’re already beautiful; I’m just putting the frosting on the cake,” she winked. We both stood in the mirror side by side to do our makeup like we’d done since we were teenagers.

Shelly had this acute hearing or instinct. She ran to my door, grabbed the knob, and yanked the door open. Liza stood there with her hand up about to knock, jumping back when Shelly poked her head out and pulled her into my room.

“How do you do that?” I asked as when Liza came in the door looking shocked. I recognized the look on her face; it was exactly the look I got when she did that to me.

“Amazing hearing,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“I guess so, because I didn’t hear a thing.”

“You both look stunning,” Liza said, checking out our dresses.

“You look pretty spectacular yourself,” Shelly said, looking at her green dress. Liza was a tall blonde with blue eyes and pale skin. She told us she was a nurse and came on this cruise on a dare from some of her coworkers. She and Keith met at the bar. Keith had walked up to her and asked her to dance.

She said she was attracted to him right away and accepted. They had been together ever since.

I was looking at the clock on my nightstand as she sat there telling her story. I was anxious to meet up with Jesse—the feelings he had stirred in me earlier had me missing him and made me anxious to have more experiences like that. Finally, I couldn’t stand there and fidget any longer.

“OK, ladies, we all look fabulous. Let’s go; it’s five forty-five,” I said, grabbing my purse. This time I hooked Shelly’s arm as we headed up the stairs and walked around the deck to the dining room. When we opened the door, all three of the guys were waiting there. Jesse’s and Keith’s backs were to the door. Scott looked up, and his mouth fell open, which made Keith and Jesse turn around to see what he was gawking at. The lights went on in Jesse’s eyes, and his dimpled smile appeared.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Jesse said, walking toward me, his eyes sparkling in the light. He walked right past Shelly and Liza like they didn’t exist and pulled me into his chest for a big hug.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you too,” I confessed.
Here we go again, and I haven’t even had any wine yet
. But it was the truth.

“Bailey, you take my breath away,” he said, spinning me around.

“Hi,” I said, smiling at him.

“Let’s get a table,” he said, taking my hand to lead me into the room. John was already at a long table overlooking the ocean. We
took our seats and had drinks while we waited for our dinner, laughing at Scott’s antics. He had us all rolling in our chairs with his comedy. Shelly, of course, was all over him, hanging on his every word. I had never seen her so totally enraptured by a guy before; this was a new experience. They were cute, smiling at each other as Scott entertained practically everyone in the room. He was cute and quirky and charming. I could see people sitting at tables around us chuckling at him and his animated gestures. He was quite endearing.

I realized I really enjoyed hanging out with these guys. They all seemed to get along extremely well, teasing each other back and forth, nobody taking offense as they teased each other. It was obvious they all cared for one another.

Dinner, of course, was delicious. We joked as we ate, getting to know each other better. John laughed along with us, giving me this smile that reached his eyes every time I looked his way. I had caught him watching Jesse and me a lot the last couple days. I wondered if Jesse confided in him. Somehow I got the feeling he and Jesse were close; they seemed to have conversations without ever saying a word to one another. One would look at the other and nod, and they’d go back to whatever they were doing.

Suddenly John stood up, looking at his watch. “Time to go,” he said, giving the guys the signal like he was their boss. It was weird; that was the third time he’d done that.

“Meet me in the Green Room at eight o’clock, OK?” Jesse asked, kissing my cheek. I was confused, not understanding why he was asking me to meet him. “Please, Bailey, trust me,” he said, kissing my hand.

“But where are you going?” I asked as I watched all four of them get up from the table. I was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on with these guys—they were surrounded by mystery.

“Just promise me you’ll come. Remember, the Green Room at eight o’clock. I can’t tell you; it’s a surprise,” Jesse said.

“OK,” I said. He walked over to stand beside John and Keith.

Scott planted a big kiss on Shelly’s lips and whispered something in her ear. She nodded as he walked over to join the guys.

That was the second time today they’d left us. I was confused but smiled at Jesse as he turned and blew me a kiss. Scott clapped his hands together, raising his arms up. “Let’s do this,” he said loudly, walking toward the door.

They all laughed as Jesse slapped Scott’s back, pushing him right out the door. Everyone in the room laughed. Jesse turned, gave me a megawatt smile, and disappeared out the door.

“Well, there they go again,” Shelly said, plopping down next to me.

“What is it that they have to do?” Liza asked, sitting on my other side.

“Beats me,” I said. I sipped my wine, utterly confused.

“Maybe they’re burglars, and while everyone is out of their rooms eating dinner, they sneak into their rooms and steal stuff,” Shelly said with a sinister look on her face.

I chuckled. “No, I don’t think so; Jesse promised me he’s a good guy,” I told her. I hoped he hadn’t lied to me.

“Oh, they all say that, Bailey. But Scott has this innocent face, and if he’s lying to me, I’m…I’m just going to…I don’t know…cry,” Shelly said, picking up her glass. “Oh, hell, let’s just drink; we’ve got this whole bottle to finish. Then when it’s almost eight, we’ll go see what all this mystery is all about.” Shelly plopped her feet in the chair across from her and poured more wine.

“Agreed,” Liza said, holding up her empty glass. We finished off the bottle of wine, talking about our cruise and the good times we’d been having. My heart was beating so hard as I listened to them, but I remembered all the things Jesse had said to me and hoped he wasn’t playing me for a sucker. I really liked him. I knew some guys told you what they thought you wanted to hear just so they could get into your pants. But Jesse had been a complete gentleman, even though our kisses had become more intense. I wanted to believe him
in the worst way; it felt good to be in his arms, and I wanted to spend the next five days with him.

At seven forty-five we got up and headed on deck to look for the Green Room, finally finding it way on the other side of the ship.

“OK, here we go,” Shelly said, opening the door for us to walk in. I took a deep breath and followed her.

“Let’s see what these guys are up to,” Liza said.

We walked into a big room with a large wooden bar on one end. The walls were all a beautiful shade of forest green, with green-and-gold-patterned carpeting. A large wooden stage was at the far end, with round tables all around it. A hostess greeted us like she knew who we were and led us to a table with a reserved sign on it. We were sitting right in front of this stage with the curtain drawn.

“They damn well better show up, or I’m going to be majorly pissed,” Shelly said as she ordered us drinks.

“I hope this isn’t one of Scott’s practical jokes,” I said, looking around at all the full tables. The room was packed with mostly women, talking and laughing. The waitress took our drink orders as we all sat there watching the door for our guys to join us.

“Where the hell are they?” I said, completely baffled. I started to get nervous when I saw it was almost eight, and the place was packed.

“Where are our dates?” Liza asked, just as a spotlight came on the stage and a man walked out with a microphone. “How are you all doing tonight?” he asked. Everybody cheered and clapped. I was still looking around for Jesse.

“Good,” he said, smiling. “We’ve got an extra-special show for you tonight all the way from Arizona. Put your hands together for Arizona Skies,” he said, walking off the stage.

The curtain went up, revealing a band on stage. I sucked in my breath—Keith stood there with a guitar, John sat behind a set of drums, Scott had a guitar, and Jesse was standing in front of them with his back to the audience with a guitar slung over his shoulder. I looked at Shelly in shock. “
What the hell?
”

John hit his drumsticks together, signaling the band to start to play. Jesse turned around, walking toward the front of the stage with a microphone in his hands. His smile lit up the stage as he started singing “Don’t Stop Believin,” by Journey. I stared up at him with my mouth wide open. “Holy crap he’s a singer!” I said to Shelly. She looked at me looking just as stunned as I did. “I can’t believe this,” I said listening to his raspy voice sounding sexy as hell as it filled the room. No wonder he sounded so good singing to me.

My body was frozen in shock as I watched him strut across the stage singing that song. All the women in the room started screaming, making him smile that sexy dimpled smile. He had on black jeans, black boots, and a fitted white T-shirt showing off his very defined abs. He’s seriously sexy! Scott was singing back up and playing the guitar. Neither one of us said a word at our table as we watched them perform. When he finished the song, all the women were shouting. The band quickly started another Journey song, “Wheel in the Sky.”

Jesse’s voice was crystal clear as he sang into the microphone. He looked so comfortable up there, occasionally looking out into the audience with a sexy grin. I was mesmerized by how amazing he was. Women around us were screaming as Jesse sang into the microphone. Then the band turned it up a notch with an oldie, “Under My Thumb,” by the Stones, which had everyone up on their feet dancing. Scott was funny as he got into the music, jumping around with his shoulder-length blond hair flying all over. He was an amazing guitar player. Keith was more laid back, just playing and singing backup.

“Shelly we fell for rock stars.”

“I know; they’re really good,” Shelly said, clapping to the music.

I looked back at Jesse, who was watching me. He winked as our eyes connected then turned and strutted the length of the stage, moving his body to the beat, which had every woman in the place screaming. He smiled as he sang, dancing to the beat while he walked back and forth across the stage.

He sounded amazing and the women around us were screaming as he belted out a song. No wonder he sounded so good singing in my ear, he’s a fucking singer in a band.
Why didn’t he tell me
?
What’s with all the secrecy
?

He performed like he was born to it, he didn’t look my way again, maybe he was afraid of my reaction? So many questions ran thru my mind as I listened to him sing.
Look at how sexy he is in the tight shirt
?
Look at Scott jumping around like a crazed lunatic and John sitting up there pounding out the beat
, I chuckled to myself. All these thoughts ran thru my mind as I sat there watching them.

If I had known I wouldn’t have let him spend time with me. I’ve read how about the crazy lifestyle of musicians is, that shit was not for me. My life had been crazy since I was born; I needed normal, calm and quiet. I wondered how normal their lives were. But the more I watched him, the more I was intrigued.
What does he see in me?
I thought as I looked around the room at all the screaming women. Am I just a shipboard romance, what if he breaks my heart and leaves me a blubbering mess? I was a mess thinking about all of the what if’s.

Look he’s looking at me
, I thought as his eyes fixed on me as I tried to smile up at him. He winked and strutted back across the stage. Every time he came back across the stage after that he’d look right at me and smile. I looked behind me at all the screaming women. Maybe I could believe what he told me about me being his fantasy girl, but look at all those beautiful women screaming up at him. Why on earth would he choose me? I took a big gulp of my wine and tried to relax and enjoy the show. I wasn’t running away for now, I was determined to see this through and see where this attraction leaded.
Maybe a ship board romance wasn’t such a bad idea after all
, I thought. I could do this, he’s certainly handsome and sexy and want’s me, so why not!