Encore! (Tudor Saga Book 1) (4 page)

I locked the door behind her and headed to my desk and laptop. I fired it up and waited. Opening up my email account, there were two emails from Daniel.

Opening the first one, I carefully read the dates and times he’d given me. I needed to grab my calendar to compare. First, though, I needed a bottle of water.

I returned with my bottle, sat down and opened my schedule for the next two weeks, noting I would need to reschedule my two o'clock tomorrow, in order to make Daniel's meeting. It was a repeat client and would likely be fine with moving the appointment up to eleven. I sent her a text message.

Two of the other dates for the photo shoot were fine and there were no conflicts. Now, onto his second email. I cracked open the bottle and took a long swallow as I began reading. Yes, definitely more personal, just as I’d anticipated. Shaking my head I re-read the contents.

“Mr. Daniel Kennedy requests your address, so that he may pick you up for dinner at seven o'clock in the evening, tomorrow. This is his humble thanks to a certain Mary Stuart, aka Mary Queen of Scots, for rearranging her day to accompany him to a meeting with record execs. Thank you, kind lady.”

I had to give him credit. He was original. I simply wasn't sure if he was playing some sort of game with me or what. I was seriously beginning to wonder if he, in fact, knew more about me than he was letting on. That maybe he remembered more.
God, stop it! You've been through this and through this! Just leave it alone and enjoy it. He's a client for God's sake. A very nice, handsome one at that. And who has a sense of humor. The man is t.r.o.u.b.l.e.! But in a good way…

Quickly I typed out my address, letting him know I was quite grateful to him for making time in spite of his obviously busy schedule. I hit send.

Going back to the scheduling email, I replied which two dates and times worked for me, put him down on my schedule, and hit send, again.  Then I sat back to wait for his reply.

I didn't have to wait long.

"Confirming dates and times. Also confirming your address. See you tomorrow as we begin our new adventure. Sleep well, Mary Queen of Scots."

I sent back a quick and simple reply.

"You, as well. Until we meet again, sweet prince. Mary Queen of Scots."

As soon as I hit send, I immediately regretted it.
But, why? Just let it go. He's a perfectly nice man. Stop reading between the lines!

Chapter Three

Nervously, I walked up to the security desk and gave them my name and where I was headed. I wondered if my nervousness showed. The guard smiled and handed me a pen to sign in.

"Twelfth floor, Ms. Stuart. You're expected," The burly security guard replied as he handed me a visitor badge and pointed me toward the elevators—lifts as the Brits call them.
Sounds so much more civilized than elevator.

I nodded my thanks and headed over to wait for the next car. My heart pounded all the way up. I had been a nervous wreck all morning as I put the finishing touches on the PowerPoint presentation - just in case they asked or needed something more visual than Daniel's or my explanation.

The doors opened and I stepped into a sleek and contemporary foyer. Huge lettering left no question as to where I was. A well-dressed and coiffed young woman sat at a glass and chrome desk directly below the name of the music icon. She immediately looked up and smiled at me.

"Ms. Stuart? Good afternoon. If you'll follow me, everyone is already in the conference room."

Oh, wonderful, was I late?
I knew for a fact I wasn't. Ah, perhaps Daniel and his bosses had other things to discuss, like his upcoming tour and this new CD of his.

I flashed a smile and quickly followed her through a doorway and down a huge hallway. We stopped at a small waiting area with closed doors at one side. She asked me to sit as she proceeded to one of the doors, knocked, and stuck her head in. Then she turned and left, smiling at me as she did.

What was that about? Am I being thrown to the wolves? Oh hell. Daniel.

He walked over to where I had been seated and I stood up.

"Hello, Mary! Right on time. Are you ready?"

"Good afternoon to you, too! Yes, I'm ready."

"I've briefed everyone as well as I could, of course, without you. They're excited."

"Good. I brought a thumb drive with my ideas."

"Great! Let's go, shall we?"

I let him lead me to the door from which he'd just emerged, his hand on the small of my back. He bent around me and I caught a whiff of his cologne as he opened the door. Or was it simply him? The man needs to come with a warning label!

As soon as we were inside, Daniel immediately introduced me to the three men standing at the conference table. He motioned for me to sit. I did. And when I looked up, I was staring right into a larger-than-life-size face of my brother, Amadeus Tudor.

I couldn't help but stare. I really had no choice. Then, the alarms went off inside me.
Did he seat me here on purpose? Did he know? Well, if he thought he did, he was in for a rude awakening because I was not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking he'd solved my big mystery.

"Mary?" I heard someone say.

"I'm sorry," I coyly replied. "I had no idea Amadeus Tudor was a client."

"Yes," one of the suits said. "We're his record label in Europe. He's bringing his tour here in a few months, you know."

"So I've heard. A few of my girlfriends are clamoring, trying to get me to go see him when he comes to town."

"And you're going?" Daniel inquired.

"Doubtful. It's hard for me to make plans so far in advance."

"Of course," Daniel replied. He had a wicked grin on his face. He was toying with me. I could feel it.

"Well, Daniel, if you're ready, why don't we get started?" I pressed. I so wanted to be a million miles from where I was at this second, but I wasn't going to let Daniel Kennedy or anyone else mess up my plans.

"Why don't you start, Mary? I've been trying as best I could remember to explain your concept. I'll leave it up to your expertise to fill in the blanks and answer questions."

For the next hour or more, I went through my ideas for Daniel's music video. I answered questions, presented my ideas, and watched the men began to relax as they saw the concept unfold before them. All the time, my brother stared back at me, smiling from his framed photograph.

Joe Turner, head of video production for the portfolio artists, who had been sitting in his chair, quietly taking it all in, finally spoke.

"How much experience do you have in video production, Ms. Stuart? I know you're an expert with stills, but going to video is quite a leap."

"Not a lot, I'll admit," I replied. "But I have experimented in it and it is an area in which I am expanding my business."

"Joe would like you to come on as a consultant during the making of this. I do, too. I think you're the only one who can make sure this comes to fruition correctly." Daniel added, his dark brown eyes piercing me.

"That would be acceptable," I replied. "Quite acceptable."

"Well," Daniel announced, "if we could finish this up for today, I have an appointment and I'm sure Mary needs to get back to her studio."

I stood from my chair and shook hands with everyone in the room one last time. As I pushed my chair in, I couldn't help but glance up at the image of my brother and I smiled back at him. Daniel met me at the door and we left together.

"I thought that went extremely well, didn’t you?" He inquired as we waited for the lift. He stood next to me. Close. In my private space, close.

"Yes, I did. But you know them far better than I. How soon before they will want to begin production?"

He held the door open and allowed me to pass first into the waiting car. He followed behind me before answering.

"Next week. It shouldn't take but a day, perhaps two, to do the shoot. The post production is where I really want you to be involved. You can guide them. Make sure it is true to your concept."

"I'll be looking forward to hearing from either you or one of them about times and dates, then."

"Hmmmm."

We strolled quickly through the lobby. I barely had time to return my visitors badge. Once outside, Daniel hailed a cab for me.

"I'll see you at seven, Mary Queen of Scots." That was all he said. Just enough to make me roll my eyes as he shut the door.

****

At exactly seven o'clock, I received a text.

Cab downstairs. See you in a second.

I opened the door, startled to find him standing right there, changed and bearing a small bouquet of purple tulips and pink roses, along with a bottle of wine.

"For you, my lady. I didn’t know what sort of flowers you liked and these spoke to me, as did the wine."

"They're beautiful. And a very good choice with the wine, I might add. Thank you," I replied, turning to walk back inside. "Let me get these in water before we go. Do we have time for a glass of wine?" I asked, heading for the kitchen.

"Perhaps afterwards. I have reservations for dinner and the cab awaits. You have a nice place here. Cozy and functional."

"Thank you. Cozy and functional is about all I can afford right now. It suits my purposes, though."

The cab ride to the restaurant was quiet. He sat next to me—close enough to catch an occasional whiff of his intoxicating cologne. It sent chills through me. I couldn't recall the last time a man brought out these long pent up emotions.

On more than one occasion, I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye looking at me. I pretended not to notice. Instead, I kept our conversation on general topics like how the neighborhoods were changing or if he was familiar with a certain gallery or shop—anything to keep it from getting personal.

The cab pulled up to a small, non-descript restaurant I recognized as having been around for a number of years. The cuisine was French; and from what I had read, the chef was somewhat cutting edge.

Daniel offered his hand as I exited the cab. A gentleman, as always. I smiled and accepted. We proceeded through the door and into the restaurant. Walking up to the small desk, I stood beside him as he gave the hostess his name, in French. She peered down at her book and turned to speak with the maître d who appeared out of nowhere. He smiled and spoke to Daniel in French as we followed him to our table.

The décor was eclectic, a mixture of new and old. Very comfortable for a dining experience, I thought. Daniel sat to my right and I wondered if he was trying to impress me or if it was just a way to stay current in his native tongue.

"I hope you enjoy French cuisine. I wanted to take you somewhere quiet and I have been here many times. The food is always excellent. Very authentic, makes me think I'm home."

"Yes, I love French food. I don't get a chance to eat it very often, which is probably a good thing."

He grinned, his dark brown eyes dancing mischievously. "And why is that?"

"It’s quite rich, and therefore very fattening, Monsieur." I flicked him a grin, noticing an older man approaching our table.

The sommelier offered us some suggestions of wines to go with our meal. Daniel turned to me. "Do you have a preference of red or white?"

"Whatever you choose will be superb, I'm sure."

Turning back, Daniel made his selection and the wine steward walked away as our waiter approached. I hadn't really had a chance to look over the menu.

"Would you like me to order for you?" Daniel offered.

"Please, just as long as it's not escargot or anything else strange." He chuckled and effortlessly rattled off his choices.

When the wine arrived, Daniel approved the bottle and it was elegantly poured into our crystal goblets. I took a sip of the crimson liquid, which ran smoothly down my throat. Very well-balanced and aged, I noted silently.

"This is nice. Thank you. It really wasn't necessary."

"Perhaps not, but it gave me an excuse to ask you out."

I could feel myself turning fifty shades of red; but, for some reason, I didn’t mind. "You don't need an excuse, Daniel."

That provoked an instant mega-watt smile from him. I watched as he picked up his glass of wine and took a sip contemplating a reply.

"Good, I'm glad. I enjoy your company, Mary." He reached over, took my hand and squeezed it for a second before resting it on top of mine.

We sat there in a comfortable silence for a few moments before our dinner arrived. Daniel took his hand back and winked at me as our plates were set before us.

The meal was excellent. I politely refused dessert, opting instead for a cup of espresso. When we finally left, Daniel whisked me into a cab waiting outside. It had been a most enjoyable evening. But, for some reason, I began to feel a bit at odds with myself about what should happen next.

Arriving in front of my building, I breathed a sigh of relief as Daniel assisted me from the cab. We headed inside and upstairs. I easily found my keys and opened the door. I turned to him, not sure what I should say or do next.

"Would you like to come in for a glass of wine?"

He moved into the entryway, closing the door. "Perhaps another time. Thank you for a most enjoyable evening, Mary Queen of Scots."

He leaned down and kissed me.

"We can't be doing this," I said, breaking the kiss, our lips still touching.

"Why not?"

"You're moving too fast. You're a client. Plus, we're friends or have been. We’re just getting reacquainted. The last thing I want is for us to become fuck buddies—friends who have sex because they need it and don't have time for it or haven't found the right someone, yet."

He chuckled, moving back slightly. "Fuck buddies? I haven't heard that phrase in quite a while. Look, my music takes up all my time. I have no space for a serious relationship. Not right now."

"Oh really? Well that explains all the photos of you and your supposed girlfriends, then," I teased. "I'm afraid we're at a stalemate, my friend. I don't want just another roll in the hay or a good shagging, as the Brits would say. I’m really looking for something with more substance."