Arizona Skies: The Muse

by S. Cruz

  The next morning I jumped into the shower, ready to do some exploring and meet up with the guys later in the afternoon. I was drying my hair when I heard that familiar knock at my door. I opened it, and in flew Shelly, all disheveled and smiling from ear to ear. Here we go with more of her sex stories.

  “Well, did you do it?” she asked, leaning against the bathroom door.

  “Do what?” I asked, playing innocent.

  “Have sex with Jesse,” she blurted out.

  “Shelly, we just met! He was a perfect gentleman.”

  “Oh crap, I was hoping you’d give in. According to Scott he’s got it bad for you,” she said, twisting her hair around her finger with a big smile on her face. I already knew she’d had sex with Scott; the whole ship could hear them.

  “That’s nice to know, but I’m not you, and he knows that,” I said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she bristled.

  “Oh, nothing, just that you’re more experienced than I am, and I think he realized that,” I explained.

  “So what do you want to do this morning?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “I’d like to do some exploring after breakfast.”

  “OK, I’ll go get ready; give me thirty minutes.” She flew out of my room like the whirlwind she was, my door slamming behind her.

  I put on a pair of white shorts with a black top, fixed my hair, and was ready to go. I texted my mom and told her we were having fun and promised we’d take a lot of pictures. I went to knock on Shelly’s door, but it opened, and she flew out of it so fast I jumped back with a scream, my back hitting the wall. “Shelly, you scared me to death,” I yelled, holding my heart.

  “Oh, Bails, get a grip! Let’s go; I’m hungry.” She hooked my arm with hers as she dragged me up the stairs.

  We went to the breakfast buffet, which had every kind of breakfast food imaginable. Then we were off to do some exploring.

  We found health spas, gyms for exercising, a sauna, beauty salons, a movie theater, a casino, and a lot of boutiques for shopping. There was a nine-hole putting green, a sports court with basketball hoops and volleyball net, Ping-Pong tables, a couple swimming pools, and a video-game paradise for teenagers or immature adolescents like Shelly.

  I bought my mother a necklace and Taylor and myself ankle bracelets at one boutique. I knew my dad wouldn’t accept anything I bought him, so I didn’t bother.

  We got pedicures and manicures and ate a light lunch before heading back to our rooms. I put my hair in a high ponytail and changed into my turquoise bikini. I tied my long, floral sarong around the top and slid into my sandals just as a knock sounded on my door. I opened it, and there stood Jesse in surf shorts and a blue T-shirt looking absolutely scrumptious.

  “Hi, are you ready?” he asked, checking out my sarong.

  “Yes, just let me grab my suntan lotion and sunglasses,” I said, putting them in my bag with a towel. When we walked out my door, Scott was walking toward us just as Shelly’s door flew open. She bounded out, making all three of us jump.

  “Damn, Shelly, will you stop doing that?” I yelled.

  “Doing what?” she asked, oblivious. She handed her bag to Scott, and off she sashayed toward the stairs, her hips swaying as she jabbered a mile a minute. Jesse looked at me smiled and shook his head; we couldn’t get a word in edgewise, so we quietly followed behind her.

  It was a beautiful, sunny day on deck. We chose our lounge chairs away from the splashing from the pool and spread out our towels. I untied my sarong and set it on my bag, reaching to take my suntan lotion out of my bag. I heard a loud whistle and turned to see Jesse staring at me with a big smile.

  “My God, woman, I didn’t think it was possible for you to be any more beautiful!” he said, looking at my body.

  I was embarrassed, noticing everyone around us looking at me. I quickly sat on my lounge chair to hide, but Jesse just stood there staring at me. I reached into my bag and pulled out my suntan lotion.

  “Here, let me help you with that,” Jesse said, taking the bottle from my hand. I turned around and laid face down on the lounge chair so he could rub the lotion all over my back and legs.

  He seemed to be taking a long time as he rubbed and rubbed up and down my body. It felt good, but as his hand got higher up my thigh, I got nervous. I turned my head to look up at him. His eyes were glazed over; he seemed to be in some kind of trance, just staring at my body as his hands stroked my skin.

  “Jesse, are you putting on lotion or giving me a massage?” I asked. He looked down at me, shook his head, and smiled.

  “Sorry, you’re just so damn gorgeous,” he said, sitting on his lounge chair. I turned over to rub some lotion on my front as his eyes intently watched every movement my hands were making.

  “Would you like me to put some on you?” I asked.

  “Huh? Oh yeah, sure,” he said, turning around. His skin was smooth, and his shoulders were broad, tapering down to a slim waist. I took a little extra time myself, feeling his muscles as I moved my hands around his back and arms. I caught a glimpse of Shelly and Scott out of the corner of my eye. They were doing the same thing, only she was giggling the whole time he was rubbing lotion on her.

  Keith showed up with Liza. He pulled their lounge chairs up beside us. John was all by himself. I wondered why such a big and handsome guy like him was all alone. He pulled up a chair and took out a book from his bag. As we lay in the sun, Jesse held my hand, never breaking our connection. I must have fallen asleep, because I was woken up by a hand gently shaking my shoulder. Jesse’s sexy voice whispered in my ear.

  “Bailey, wake up; let’s take a dip in the pool to cool off,” he said. His green eyes were looking down at me, with his hand held out to me. I took his hand and followed him to the shallow end of the pool and down the stairs, sinking slowly into the water. The water was refreshing as we waded in deeper.

  We swam out to the deep end and treaded water, watching Shelly and Scott playing in the pool like a couple of kids. They were very comical, and I couldn’t help but laugh at them. They make a cute couple, I thought. Jesse swam over to me and put his arms around my waist.

  “Will you have dinner with me again tonight?”

  “I’d love to,” I said, sliding my arms around his shoulders.

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” he smiled. He suddenly launched himself backward in the water, taking me with him. I laughed as I straddled his body with water splashing up in my face. He was smiling at me as his legs kicked to keep us afloat—my very own personal and extremely handsome floating device.

  It was a very intimate position, but he was just playing, so I wasn’t feeling intimidated at all. We swam around and played in the water for a while, laughing and splashing just like our friends. It was fun and refreshing and a little sexual at times as our bodies entwined in compromising positions while we played. We finally rested against the side of the pool, his arm around me as we watched Keith and Scott still playing with the girls in the shallow end. They were running around like little kids, making a spectacle of themselves. John was still sitting on a lounge chair reading his book.

  “What’s up with John?” I finally asked.

  “John is engaged to Natalie, and he’s very faithful to her. The rest of us are single, if you hadn’t noticed.” He stressed his point with wiggly eyebrows and a smirk.

  “Is that so?” I giggled at his expression.

  “Any other questions, Miss Harris?” he smirked.

  “Not at the moment,” I smirked back at him.

  “Did I tell you how incredibly beautiful you are? Bailey, you have a smoking body,” he said, smiling his panty-dropping smile.

  “You’re not so bad yourself, Mr. Greene,” I replied.

  “Let’s see, if I recall correctly, you said that I was beautiful,” he said, throwing my words back in my face with a chuckle.

  “Did I now? It must have been all that wine.”

  “So tell me, did you dre
am of me last night?”

  I blushed. “You may have crossed my mind a couple times.”

  “Only a couple, I’m crushed,” he said, putting his hand over his heart and falling backward in the water for effect. “You were all I dreamed about, beautiful,” he confessed.

  “I hope they were good dreams,” I said as he swam back to me.

  “Oh, honey, they were the best dreams ever.” He grabbed me and twirled us around in the water. We were both giggling as John walked over to the edge of the pool and waved at Jesse.

  “Jess, let’s wrap this up; it’s four thirty,” he said, pointing to his watch.

  “OK, man, I’ll be right there,” Jesse said, releasing me. I looked at him, wondering what was so important that he had to leave after only a couple hours together.

  “Bailey, I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you at six o’clock in the dining hall, OK?” he said, kissing me.

  “I’ll be there.” I watched him pull himself up the side of the pool. He gathered his stuff, and Scott and Keith followed him, leaving us girls alone wondering what the hell had just happened.

  Shelly and Liza swam out to me as we watched them walk away laughing and talking to each other.

  “Where are they going in such a hurry?” Shelly asked.

  “I don’t know. Jesse didn’t explain; he just said to meet him at six in the dining hall,” I told her.

  “Us too,” Liza said, watching Keith. Scott had his arms up in the air in a victory pose, telling the guys something that had them all laughing.

  “He’s crazy,” Shelly giggled, watching him.

  “That makes two of you; you’re a match made in heaven,” I chucked.

  “Yeah, well, I like him a lot, and he’s pretty damn hot in the sack,” Shelly said with raised eyebrows and a giggle.

  “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.