Arizona Skies: The Muse

by S. Cruz

“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

  We 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.

  We were going to have dinner and then hit the casino tonight. Scott and Keith wanted to gamble. I was a shark at the blackjack table, having learned from my father at a young age how to play cards. After a few years of losing miserably to him, I got really good at it. I always won at poker, blackjack, pitch, and any other card game my family played.

  I wanted my good-luck charm by my side tonight. I needed to spend as much time as I could with her, committing every conversation to memory. She’d had this profound effect on me and I didn’t know how I was going to function when we parted. She was my muse; she inspired me in so many ways. I actually enjoyed being with her, even though I hadn’t taken her to bed, I just wanted to spend time getting to know her. I was intrigued by how someone 22 years of age could still be so sweet and shy. The way she walked around looking so damn sexy, but never realizing the effect she was having on the male population. She was different, special and I wanted to make her mine.

  Scott wasn’t kidding when he told her we’d talked about kidnapping her and taking her back with us. They knew how she had changed me in just a couple days and frankly they were worried about me falling back into my self-destructive ways once this cruise was over. They were afraid of how I was going to react when I had to watch her walk away, frankly so was I. I was already dreading it and we still had five days to go.

  The only answer to my predicament was to find a way to persuade her to come to Arizona. This was going to be tough since she lived so far away and I was sure her family would try to stop her. I knew my parents would. I was convinced I’d never find another woman like her and I didn’t want to. I was convinced that she was worth the fight.

  Six

  Bailey

  Shelly and I decided to wear our flashiest dresses. Mine was hot pink and tight, hugging my body in all the right places. It was short and low in the back; the bright color showed off my tanned skin. Shelly went for a fire-engine-red halter with a very short skirt that had a ruffle along the bottom. We hoped when we bought them that we’d get a night to wear them, never expecting to find handsome men to wear them for. I put up one side of my hair with my silver-and-turquoise hair comb that looked like a butterfly and left it straight for tonight. I went for dramatic, putting on dark eye shadow that made my eyes look exotic.

&nb
sp; Shelly and I loved to play dress-up when we were kids; now we got to do it for real, and it was still fun after all these years. All those years of practice really paid off; we had glam down pat. We headed out to pick up Liza along the way. She seemed like a nice girl, quiet like Keith. She had on a navy-blue sheath dress that shimmered when she walked, tight and sexy.

  Dinner was wonderful as usual as we relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. It was nice having my best friend as happy as I was, and because Scott and Jesse were friends, we got to spend a lot of time together. I was surprised when the guys gave me a toast.

  “Here’s to Bailey, who inspired our boy and kick-started his creative juices again,” Keith said. Everyone raised their glasses to toast me. I blushed, lowering my head in embarrassment. Jesse put his finger under my chin and lifted my head, smiling at me.

  “Honey, I’m sorry about them. They’re annoying, but they’re all I’ve got,” he said. He chuckled as they bounced around ideas on how to steal me away and bring me back to Arizona with them. “I hope you can come out to visit; I’m going to miss you so much,” he said, kissing my lips. I liked that he didn’t care who was around to see us.

  “Whoa, man, not in public,” Scott smirked.

  “You’re a fine one to talk,” Jesse snarled at him.

  “Let’s blow this pop stand,” Scott said, standing up. “Gambling time, my friends; let’s go win some money. Night everybody.” Scott bowed at the waist to everyone in the restaurant as he walked out the door, dragging Shelly behind him.

  Jesse took my hand, following the guys out of the dining hall. People at the tables were chuckling at Scott as he strutted his stuff out the door. We walked to the casino in relative quiet, looking at the star-studded night. As we walked in one direction, the ship moved in the opposite direction. It was kind of neat watching the ocean flow by us like we were walking on the water.

  “Who feels lucky tonight?” Scott yelled as he burst through the casino door. He entered a room just like Shelly did, with force and purpose. I had to laugh at their similarities. They could have passed for brother and sister, as alike as they were. Both were blond, blue eyed, fair skinned, wild, and untamed. Talk about a perfect match!

  The casino was beautiful, with brightly colored carpets and machines everywhere. Further away from the slot machines were the gaming tables, which was where Jesse headed first.

  Blackjack and poker were his games, he said as he pulled me up to a blackjack table. “You’re my good-luck charm,” he said, putting some of his chips on the table. I couldn’t believe it as I watched him win hand after hand. His stack of chips kept growing larger. I could hear Scott yelling somewhere in the room, but I couldn’t see him or Shelly. Keith and Liza were at the next table over, and John was at the poker table. After a while Jesse decided it was my turn and took me over to a machine. He explained how to work it as I tried my luck. I wasn’t doing very well, but he encouraged me to try again as we moved on to a different machine. The machines were fun to watch even if I didn’t understand the game. I lost some of his money. Finally, we decided to cut our losses and headed back to the card tables again.

  Jesse kept winning at the blackjack table, and from what I could see, Keith was doing quite well too. He was quite animated for him, jumping up and down and hugging Liza. Jesse was more laid back, with a quiet confidence I admired. We moved around the tables, never staying in one place very long. When I looked at the clock, it was already midnight—time really does fly when you’re having a good time.

  “Ready to call it a night?” he asked.

  I nodded, ready to put my plan into action. We walked around to tell everyone we were leaving. The cool night air felt good as I walked over to the railing to look out at the moon that hung in the sky like a painting.

  “It’s so beautiful,” I said, looking out to sea.

  “It sure is,” he said, looking at me. He turned me and pulled me into his arms. “You look fantastic in this dress,” he said, inspecting my outfit. “It shows off your amazing figure sweetheart. Every man in that casino was watching you as you walked around.” He kissed me sweetly, cradling the back of my head. “I’m so damn glad you’re with me.”

  “I’m glad I’m with you too,” I said, reaching up to put my arms around his neck to pull him closer.

  “That means a lot to me to hear you say that. I’m so sick of women coming on to me because I’m a singer in a band. The rock-star lifestyle doesn’t suit me, believe me when I tell you I certainly gave it a good try,” he chuckled. “I love performing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the lifestyle I can’t deal with. It’s empty and meaningless without someone to share it with. I’ve been looking for someone like you for a long time. Now, way too soon, I’ll have to let you go. You don’t know how hard that is going to be. Bailey, I’ve fallen very hard for you,” he confessed as he kissed me passionately. He said all the right words to me tonight, everything I was waiting to hear.

  “Jesse, it’s going to be just as hard for me to walk away from you. Maybe we can make a promise to meet somewhere after the holidays,” I said.

  “Bailey, I don’t want to leave you,” he said, looking into my eyes. “Tomorrow we dock in Cozumel for the day. Let’s go ashore and check out the island; then tomorrow night we have to perform again. I’ll save you a table in the front, just like before, OK?” he asked.

  “OK,” I said, kissing him. We held each other tight, looking out into the vast night sky. I made a wish upon a star that our plan to meet after this cruise was over would come true.

  A chill went up my spine as the wind picked up. Jesse put his leather jacket around my shoulders. “Let’s get you inside; you’re cold,” he said, turning me around and heading toward the stairs. He took my hand to lead the way to my door. I opened the door and asked him to come in, not letting him walk away this time. Closing the door, I let his jacket fall to the floor and gave him another kiss. As I stepped into his arms, I rubbed my body against his. I could feel his hard cock against my stomach and knew he wanted me. Our conversation about leaving had me upset, and tears started to swell in my eyes.

  “Bailey, look at me,” he said, pulling my chin up to look him in the eyes. “Baby, why are you crying?”

  “Talking about us parting at the end of this cruise just hit me; I’m sorry,” I said, wiping a tear away. I leaned back into his chest, my head over his heart.

  “I know how you feel; it’s going to kill me to see you leave. I’ve never felt this way about any woman before—you’ve captured my heart, baby,” he said, stroking my back. “Listen; let’s make as many memories as we can for the time we’ve got together. We’ll figure the rest out later, because I’ll be damned if I’m losing you.”

  My heart jumped in my chest that was exactly how I was feeling too. I wanted all the experiences he had to offer and I was starting tonight. I explained, “I’ve only got six more months, and I’ll have my degree. Shelly will have finished her student teaching by then, and we’ll be free.” I smiled at him.

  “Bailey, do you think you could get time off from work during your winter break so you could come out to Arizona for a week? We’ll be recording our album then; it would be nice to have you there as my focal point. I could sing so much better if I had this beautiful face to sing to,” Jesse said, stroking my back.

  “I’ll try. Our winter break is the third week of February; that’s also the week of my birthday,” I let slip not meaning to. I was so excited that he actually wanted me to come to Arizona to be with him, that my mind ran away with my mouth.

  “Your birthday, that’s perfect. I’ll make sure you have the best one ever, sweetheart,” he said, kissing me. I kissed him back with all the feelings I’d been holding inside. I wanted him, and now I knew he wanted me too; it just felt right. I’d dreamed about this moment every night since we met. He wrapped his arms around me, picked me up, and carried me to the bed. He sat me down and sat next to me, never breaking our embrace.

  “Bailey, I want
you so bad,” he said, pushing my hair back and nuzzling my neck. Just what I wanted to hear.

  “Jesse, I’m right here; I’m not going anywhere. I want you too,” I said breathlessly.

  I was anxious to get this mystery over with. He was hesitant; I could tell by the way he sat next to me, our bodies not touching, only our lips. I leaned my chest over to touch his, needing that intimate connection to spur him on. I wanted him to relax and enjoy our time together, not leave us both emotionally charged like he did last night. That did it—he kicked our kissing up a notch, adding his tongue. I was lost in his embrace, wanting and needing more as he pulled our bodies closer together.

  “Bailey, I don’t think I can control myself around you anymore,” he said looking at me with his bedroom eyes.

  “Then don’t; I want you just as badly as you want me,” I whispered, clutching him tightly in my arms.

  “Baby, don’t say that just because you think I want to hear it. Say it only if you mean it,” he said, looking at me.

  “Jesse, listen to me. I don’t say things I don’t mean! You’re the first guy I’ve ever felt this way about. I…want…you!” I said with purpose. Shelly would have been proud of me. He had a deer-in-headlights look on his face as I sat there waiting to see what he was going to do next.

  “OK, sweetheart, simmer down; I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m glad you feel that way about me, because I damn well feel that way about you. You consume my every waking hour and my dreams at night,” he smiled.

  “Well then, what’s the problem?” I said, a little more gruffly than I intended. I knew what the problem was, but I wanted to hear him say it.

  “The problem…let’s see, how I put this?” he said, searching for the right words. I pulled back to look him in the eyes, gritting my teeth at what he was about to say. Damn Shelly and her big mouth; this wouldn’t have been an issue if she hadn’t blurted out my most intimate secret. I waited while he thought of just the right thing to say.