Arizona Skies: The Muse (11 page)

“I know, I have all these feelings when I’m around him; I have been upset that he hasn’t tried anything with me yet, so I think you’re right this is my chance. My shyness is fading and I really like him a lot Shelly,” I confessed. “I could do worse right?”

“So we’re OK then?” she asked, tentatively giving me a hug.

“Yeah, we’re OK. But now I have to go and face him.” I gave her a one-armed hug back.

“He respects you, Bailey! I give him a lot of credit—you saw those women last night falling all over him. He could have any one of them, but he hung on to you. She was right, he had women’s hands all over him, but he wouldn’t let my hand go. “Scott said he’s sick of one-night stands and is looking for someone special in his life, and he thinks you’re it!”

“How’s that going to work out, Shell? I live in Pennsylvania, and he lives in Arizona!” I said, shaking my head.

“I don’t know, but you can’t worry about that right now. I just want to enjoy every minute we have with them now. I don’t know what the future holds, so let’s go meet our guys and have fun,” she said, hooking my arm and pulling me up on deck. She marched straight for the restaurant with purpose. I loved it when she had her mind made up; nobody could stop her. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

I took a deep breath when we got to the doors of the restaurant. This was going to be embarrassing as my nerves kicked into high
gear. I nodded as Shelly started to push open the door and we looked around for Jesse.

From out of nowhere, he appeared with a big smile on his face. I couldn’t help but smile back at him as he stood there dressed in cargo shorts with a green T-shirt, looking very hot and happy to see me. Scott was behind him, heading straight for Shelly and picking her up with a big whoop. He definitely was the loud one in the group. Liza was already sitting at the table with Keith and John.

“Hey, there’s my girl,” Jesse said, taking my hand as he led me to the table. I blushed, looking up at him as he pulled out my chair for me.
He just called me his girl,”
I thought smiling at him.

“I thought about you all night sweetheart,” he said pulling out my chair. “So, what did you two girls do this morning?” he asked as he sat next to me.

“We went to the spa for some pampering,” I said, smiling at him.

“Great idea; you should always be pampered, honey,” he said, kissing my neck. “Mmmm…you smell fantastic!”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I wrote the lyrics for a new song; then we worked on the musical arrangement to go with it,” he said.

“Oh, how’s that coming?” I asked.

“Great, I think we’ll have it put together soon,” he said, tracing my jaw-line with his finger. I heard Shelly giggle and looked over to see Scott tickling her as she squirmed and laughed.

“Hey, can you at least act respectable out in public?” Jesse said, laughing at them.

“No problem, bro,” Scott said, holding his fingers up in a peace sign.

“He’s such a dick sometimes,” Jesse said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, but I’m loveable and damn hot; right, baby?” He smoothed back his long, blond hair as he smiled at Shelly.

“Damn straight, babe,” Shelly said, kissing his cheek.

“See, man, I’ve still got it,” he said as he raised his arms in the air with a big smile.

Keith and Liza were kissing, oblivious to what was happening at our table. “Man, get a room,” Scott yelled to Keith across the table.

Keith held up his soda. “Later, man.” We all burst out laughing at them. Keith just went back to kissing Liza.

“What a bunch of clowns,” John said, laughing along with the rest of us.

“My friends,” Jesse said, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles with a smile. I had to admit, these guys were not boring. Other people in the room were chuckling too, enjoying the comedians at our table. We ate lunch, listening to Scott talk music tracks with John, collaborating on Jesse’s new song, I assumed. It was interesting to listen to them talk about notes, chords, and chorus. I figured I was witnessing their genius at work.

“Hey, guys, thanks for helping me put that song together today,” Jesse said to his friends.

“Yeah, well, we had to shut you up somehow,” Keith said, taking a drink.

“He wouldn’t stop talking about this song he wrote. So we all gave up our morning to help him with the music,” Scott said.

“You’re welcome, Jess. It’s good to see you composing again,” John said.

“Do you write all the songs?” I asked.

“Not all, but most of them I do. John and Scott help with ideas. I haven’t been inspired in a long time, until I saw you,” he said, smiling at me.

“Me? What did I do to inspire such talent?” I asked eager to hear what he had to say.

“You just stood there on the dock looking up at me, so young and beautiful and just like that, a song came to me.” He snapped his fingers. “I can’t seem to stop writing when I’m around you. I think I’ve
found my muse,” he said, brushing back my hair with his dimpled smile.
I’m his muse!
I thought to myself.

“Bailey, you should know we’ve talked about kidnapping you to take you back to Arizona with us,” Scott chuckled.

“Really!” I smiled at him.

“Yep, you’re my inspiration, my reason to write again, baby,” Jesse said smiling at me.

“Will I get to hear this song you wrote?” I asked.

“Absolutely, we hope to have it ready to perform on our last night here. We still need to nail down the chorus, but it’s coming together quite nicely. I hope you’ll like it,” he said, stroking my cheek.

“I liked everything you sang last night. I’m sure I’ll love it. I suppose that makes me a groupie now,” I said.

He started laughing. “Honey, you’re nothing like the groupies I’ve been around, and thank God for that!”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I asked, confused.

“It’s all good. Bailey, you’re one of a kind, and you don’t know how damn happy I am that I met you,” he said, kissing my cheek.

“I’m glad I met you too, Jesse.”

“Mmmm…I’m glad to hear that. Let’s finish our lunch and go do something fun,” he said, drinking his soda.

“Yeah, I’ve had enough of this sappy stuff; let’s do it,” Scott said with a smirk.

“Is he always this expressive?” I asked, laughing at him.

“Oh, Bailey, he’s on his best behavior right now. It gets worse; believe me,” Jesse chuckled.

“I can’t wait to see that,” I said, drinking my soda.

“He’s a wild man but a musical genius,” Jesse said, taking my hand to help me up. “What’s it gonna be, folks: a movie, shuffleboard, swimming, or the casino?” Jesse asked.

“Let’s see that movie I’ve been dying to see,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
. Then we can hit the casino later after dinner,” Scott said.

“That sounds good to me,” I said.

“OK, movie it is,” Jesse said, leading the way out the door.

“Cowabunga, dudes,” Scott shouted, bursting through the doors and pulling Shelly along behind him.

“You guys go ahead; I can live without seeing karate-chopping turtles,” John said, laughing at Scott’s antics.

“You sure, man?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, I think I’ll work on some chords for that new song, and I’ve got some manager stuff to do. I’ll catch up with you at dinner,” he said, walking in the opposite direction from us.

“OK, John, see you at six o’clock?” Jesse said. John held up his hand and disappeared around the corner.

“Looks like it’s just the six of us,” Jesse said as we followed Scott around the deck toward the movie theater.

“What does he mean by manager stuff?” I asked.

“He’s the band’s manager. He’s signed us with a record producer; we start recording our first album after the holidays. He’s a busy man,” Jesse said. “We all rely on him to get us where we need to be. He booked us on this cruise, hoping it would relax me enough to bring me out of my funk and start writing again. I didn’t go into all the sordid details of why I was in the funk, she didn’t need to know that. We needed more original songs for our album, but my creative juices had dried up. He’s a very smart man, and his plan worked—now I can’t write lyrics down fast enough, and it’s all because of you, sweetheart.” Jesse hugged me tight.

“That explains why he’s always telling you it’s time to go, and you all get up and leave,” I said. It was all making sense now that I knew Jesse’s secret.

The movie was action packed and nonstop karate from those green turtles. I loved their names—Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael—very creative. The writer was a genius. It was an enjoyable movie and introduced me to a whole new world of karate that I never knew about, with no boys in my family.

Of course, Scott had to leave the theater emulating them, talking like them and karate chopping the air, which had us all laughing. We agreed to meet for dinner and left to go clean up and change.

“Isn’t he just the cutest thing ever?” Shelly said, laughing at him.

“Yep, he’s cute,” I said as Jesse squeezed my hand and walked away.

“Tonight is casino night; I hope we get lucky,” she said.

“I think we already did,” I said, looking back at our guys walking away from us. Even from the back, Jesse looked sexy, his shorts showing off muscular legs.

“Yeah, we sure did, didn’t we? They’re not only gorgeous but talented too. We hit the mother lode,” Shelly said with her arms up in the air just like Scott.

“Oh my God, you’re starting to act like him. Knock, knock, Shelly, are you in there?” I said, pretending to knock on her forehead.

“Oh, don’t be overly dramatic, Bailey; have a sense of humor, will you?” she said, shaking her head at me.

“Look who’s calling me dramatic. I do have a sense of humor; you’re my best friend, aren’t you?” I said, smiling at her, meaning every word. She laughed it off as we headed downstairs. Liza’s room was around the corner from ours; she agreed to meet us when she was ready. We exchanged cell-phone numbers and went our separate ways.

“See you in a few, Liza,” Shelly said, turning toward our rooms.

“Are we dressing to dazzle tonight?” I asked Shelly.

“Sure, it’s casino night; don’t want any other woman snagging our guys, now do we? I don’t know about you, but I’d fight for my guy,” Shelly said, holding up her fists and punching the air.

“OK, tiger, put the claws away. I’ll meet you after I’ve cleaned up,” I said. She stood there looking at me guiltily. She had been overly friendly all afternoon after I told her I was mad at her. I knew she felt bad about ratting me out to Scott. I had to put that out of my mind and concentrate on having a good time tonight. I smiled back at her, waiting to see what she was going to say next.

“Once I’m ready, I’ll be over to do your hair if you want,” she said, opening her door with a sweet smile.

“That’s OK, Shell; I think I’ll leave it straight tonight after our morning at the spa,” I said. I didn’t want her in my personal space for just a little while.

“OK, but if you change your mind, just rap on the wall,” she said.

I was still sorting out in my mind How I was going to deal with Jesse being aware of my virginity. I knew he was experienced with women—last night told me all I needed to know. If I wanted to hang on to him, and I did, I was determined that he was going to be the one. Obviously, he was enamored with me, and I’d fallen hard for him. I wanted him to make love to me, to be my first. I set the plan for seduction in motion. Tonight was the night.
Look out, Jesse Greene, ’cause here I come!

Jesse

W
e practiced and then worked on my new song all morning. The music was good; Keith and Scott had some good ideas for the melody. We just had to get the timing down, and everyone had to learn the lyrics.

We met the girls at noon and had lunch together before deciding to go see a movie. Scott lobbied for
Ninja Turtles
, so that was what we saw. I didn’t care as long as I was with Bailey.

Of course, going to the movies with Scott was always entertaining. He kept us laughing as he pretended to karate chop his way out of the theater. Nobody ever took offense with him; he had that way about him that made you immediately like him and accept him as the clown that he was. He’d always kept our lives interesting, and we loved him and his crazy ways.

Bailey and I sat on a lounge chair for a while just holding each other and watching the ocean. We talked a bit about the band, and I
told her about John. She smelled like coconuts and orchids, a heady combination. Her skin was so soft; I couldn’t stop my hands from caressing up and down her arms. She relaxed into me, and I knew she was the other half of me that I’d been missing. We were becoming comfortable with each other, not needing words to break the silence; just being together was enough. When she looked into my eyes with those soft, brown eyes of hers, I melted. I couldn’t help but smile around her; she lit up my life.

We agreed to meet for dinner, so I reluctantly let her go to get dressed, knowing I’d see her in a couple hours, which agonizingly dragged by. I watched those white shorts and long, tanned legs as she walked away from me. Her long, brown hair glistened in the sunlight as she glanced over her shoulder at me, giving me a smile as she disappeared around the corner. My heart was beating so fast that I had to do some deep breathing to bring my body temperature back to normal.