2 Queenie Baby - Out of Office (13 page)

"So what other business ventures do you have going on?" I asked, getting back to the task at hand.

He glanced over at me. A little suspiciously, I thought.

"There are a couple of projects that I'm trying to wrap up in Atlanta. Ed wants me to take a look at some property in South Carolina once we get back. Enough to keep me busy, for sure."

Which brought me to another topic. "So how's this all going to work with you living in Atlanta and flying all over the world to who-knows-where all the time?" I asked petulantly.

He sighed. "Couldn't we have just had sex?" he asked. "Do we have to do this now?"

I knew I wasn't being fair, but who said love was fair? And this was starting to feel like love. At least on my part. I wasn't sure about James Bond here. I was really getting my fur up thinking about him lying to me about his past. Why do men do that? Don't they know we always find out?

"I guess since the trip is almost over, I'm starting to think about the future. What's going to happen when we get back?"

He turned to me and pulled me close. I inhaled his heavenly scent. He really was the best smelling man ever. "You're going to go back to work for the vampire. Maybe do some more singing with Carlos. I'm going to help Ed with the new building and tie up loose ends in Atlanta."

I looked up. "Tie up loose ends," I repeated.

He nodded.

"As in 'tie up loose ends because I'm moving to Annapolis?'" I asked hopefully.

He nodded again. "Did you think we were going to get off the plane in Baltimore and just go our separate ways?"

"No, but we've never talked about the future. I really don't know anything about you," I said in a soft voice.

"Well, then let's keep working on that," he said, kissing my forehead and then moving down to my lips.

A knock at the door interrupted our mini-make out session. Mark groaned and pulled away. I went inside and opened the door.

It was the housekeeper with an armful of clothes. "Mr. Carlos say you to be pirates for the party," she said, handing me the clothes.

"We're supposed to dress as pirates?" I asked dumbfounded.

I could hear Mark groan behind me.

"Jes," she said with a nod.

"Do we have to?" I whined.

"He say you walk the plank if no' dressed. He loco," she added, making the crazy sign on the side of her head and slipping out the door.

I turned to Mark with the armful of pirate clothes. "I guess the Captain has spoken."

"You so owe me for this," Mark grumbled.

My wench costume left little to the imagination. The white bodice, accented by a wide black belt, was a couple of inches too low. The sapphire blue skirt was cut well above the knee in the front, and ruffles cascaded jauntily down the back. The garter belt with knife holder was actually kinda cool.

I glanced over at Mark and giggled.

"Don't say a word, or I'm taking this crap off," he growled. He was dressed as more of a deckhand than a pirate. His hat was an old red bandana tied in classic sailor style, and his pants were tattered to the knees. My favorite part was the large green parrot built into the shoulder of his shirt.

I giggled again. "C'mon and shake a leg. We're late."

"Aye, aye, m'lady," he said, offering me his arm. The parrot bobbed back and forth on his shoulder.

Andre was attending the entrance to the pool area. His costume was divine: classic pirate garb complete with hat, sexy black pants and boots, and a white cotton shirt open to show his impressive pecs.

Mark took one look at him and mumbled under his breath.

"Like the costumes?" Andre asked with a smirk. "I picked them out myself."

"Thanks," Mark said. "I'll make sure to return the favor someday."

"Anytime," Andre replied.

I glared at Andre and grabbed Mark's arm. Didn't need a mutiny before the party had started.

"Ah, there she is!" Carlos called. "Looking like the mighty fine wench she is."

"Great," said Mark, "now I've got to keep an eye on him too. Your wench costume is gettin' him all hot and bothered."

Carlos was giving my cleavage a good once over. I snapped my fingers up at my head. "Eyes here, Carlos," I said.

He had the good manners to blush. "Ah, m'lady must forgive me. I am quite taken with your costume." He kissed my hand. He waved a finger at Mark. "Very authentic, mate."

I thought I heard Mark growl at him.

"When are we going to play?" I asked, glancing around at the crowd of thirty or so pirates and wenches.

"We'll do a full set. Break for some gruel and then do two more," he replied. "Not much time to get this thing together." He rubbed his hands together like he couldn't wait to get started.

The night passed with a whirl of cups of ale, pirate punch, and a couple of mock sword fights. Our sets drew several rounds of applause. Roger and Phil looked pleased, but I still didn't trust them. I needed to get them alone and grill them about their plans. It wasn't going to happen tonight, as I didn't think my wench garb would get me taken seriously. I knew it all hinged on what happened at the concert tomorrow night. I had to admit that I was feeling a little nervous about playing to such a large crowd.

I said as much to Mark in between sets. "You're a rock star," he said taking a swig of his grog. Definitely not his first I noted. "That's what rock stars do." The parrot on his shoulder nodded in agreement.

It was really distracting talking to him with the parrot on his shoulder. The few times he'd tried to lean down and kiss me had been really awkward. I swear the bird was sneaking a peak down my blouse.

"But an audience of ten thousand?" I said. "That's a lot more than a busy night at McGlynn's. There's all the room sound dynamics that are different," I worried. "And don't even get me started about playing with a band I barely know."

Mark put his hand over mine. "I think you're making this way too complicated. Carlos!" Mark shouted like he was looking for the waiter. "Where is that kook?"

"At yer service mate," Carlos called, sweeping over to us. "Appears yer a bit in yer cups tonight matey."

Mark raised his cup in acknowledgement. "Your first mate here is gettin' cold feet about tomorrow. I'm tryin' to help her out."

Carlos nodded.

"See, I think this is pretty simple. Success is made up of expertise, experience, and motivation," Mark continued.

I leaned in. Drunken Mark seemed to be quite the philosopher.

"Now both you and Diana have expertise and experience. Hell," he said, waving a hand at me, "she's got a lot more experience than you do, Cap'n'." The bird nodded furiously in agreement.

Carlos let that pass. I think he was just as interested in Mark's words of wisdom as I was. Maybe he was feeling pressure about tomorrow as well.

"So you both have the first two covered. That just leaves motivation. Diana," he said looking at me. "What're you doin' when we get back to Baltimore if this big show is a bomb?"

I cringed at the thought. I'm not sure this was helping. "I'll be going back to working as a temp and playing in local bars," I replied hesitantly.

"Pimpin' for a vampire and playin' for drunks is more like it," Mark said, taking another swig of his grog.

I gasped.

Carlos jumped to my defense. "There's no cause to be rude, mate."

Mark turned on Carlos. "Whatchya do three months ago before you became a big time star, Cap'n' Carlos?" he asked.

Carlos looked uncomfortable. "I was a waiter and an actor."

Mark laughed. "You worked at a Chuck E. Cheese and wore a rat costume."

It was Carlos' turn to gasp. "Who told you that?"

Mark leaned back in his chair. "I do my homework," he said smugly.

I wasn't liking Drunken Mark anymore. Carlos drew himself up and said, "It isn't wise, matey, to disrespect a captain on his ship."

Mark laughed. The parrot rocked merrily on his shoulder. I was starting to hate that bird, too. "Don't challenge me to a duel yet. I'm gettin' to my point."

"Then get there already," I snapped.

He looked up. I think he just realized what an ass he was being.

"My point is this," he said leaning in, "you both have a lot of motivation. You can't help but succeed tomorrow. Do you want to work for a vampire and wear a rat suit, or do you two want to be rock stars?"

He had a point, but I was too pissed at his delivery to speak.

Carlos looked at me and smiled. "It's rock stars or bust, matey." He offered me his hand. "Let's give the folks one more set."

I looked over at Mark, who was resting his chin on his hand. "Go on. Knock 'em dead," he said, his words slurring slightly. His phone rang and, without even a glance, he sent the call to voicemail.

Interesting, I thought.

An hour later, flushed from another round of ovations and, okay, another round of grog, I went looking for Mark. I found him snoozing peacefully on a lounge chair. Even in his silly pirate garb he looked delicious.

Andre appeared at my side. "Need help getting him upstairs?" he asked.

I debated just leaving him where he was, but decided to get him to our room.

"You know he's going to snore all night," Andre said.

I glared at him. Not exactly info I needed when I was trying to be a kind, loving girlfriend. "How can you possibly know that?"

Andre shrugged. "He just has that look." We both stared at him a second. The green parrot was snuggled up against Mark's head. Mark gave a little snort as he stirred. Andre gave me a 'told you so' look.

Mark's cell phone fell out of his pocket and onto the floor as we were dragging him to his feet. I tucked it into my own pocket and draped one of his arms over my shoulder. With Andre on the other side, we made our way slowly to our room. Mark woke up long enough to grope me on the stairs. Andre grumbled, but restrained himself from what I was sure were thoughts of pushing Mark down the stairs.

We flopped him down on the bed with a heave-ho. Mark rolled over on his side, his back to us. The parrot, still perched against his shoulder, leaned against Mark's head.

"If you don't take a picture, I will," Andre said.

I dug my phone out of my pocket and snapped a quick shot. Something to blackmail him with tomorrow.

As I walked Andre out to the hallway, he asked, "So did you ask him about his retirement status?"

I was not in the mood to discuss this right now. "Not yet," I said. "I'm still gathering data."

"Data gathering?" he said sarcastically, "Is that what you call burying your head in the sand?"

"Not that I owe you an explanation, but I don't want to accuse my new boyfriend of being a liar for the second time this week," I shot back.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll have a perfectly good reason," Andre replied.

Patsy Cline's "Crazy" blared from my pocket.

"Your pocket's playing old country music," Andre pointed out.

"It's Mark's phone," I said, digging for it. I thought it was cute that he had changed his ringtone since hearing me sing the song.

I looked at the display. The name Marsha appeared with an unfamiliar number across the top. I could feel Andre challenging me to answer it.

I clicked on the call.

Andre leaned over and hit the speaker button.

I smacked his hand away, but before I could do anything a woman shrieked, "Oh, finally decide to answer my call, huh? You can run, but you can't hide from me, Mark." I heard her take a breath and then launch back into her attack. "You send me to voicemail, really? After five years together? What is going on with you?"

I stared at the phone in horror. I was paralyzed.

"Hello?" she said. "Mark, are you there?"

I squeaked. Andre grabbed the phone and pressed END.

"Wow," he said, shaking his head, "I wasn't expecting that."

"Me neither," I said taking a seat in the nearest chair.

I stared at the floor, sure when I looked up there would be pity in Andre's eyes.

"Maybe it's not what it sounded like," Andre began.

I held up my hand. "Don't do that," I said angrily. "I can't stand it!"

"Okay," he said. "No pity. How about revenge instead?"

I looked up at him. "What would you suggest?"

"Well, you could spend the night with me. That would really get him back," he joked.

I glared at him. I wasn't ready to laugh about this.

"Okay, sorry, wrong timing. How about I toss him out in the street?"

I sighed. I had a big day tomorrow. I needed sleep not more drama. I shook my head. "How about you find me another room? I can't deal with this now."

"Done," he said putting his hand on mine. "Gather what you need."

I collected my things out of the bedroom as quietly as I could. I threw Mark's phone at him as I closed the bedroom door. I don't think he even flinched.

Alone in my cozy little room on the third floor of the villa, I allowed myself a few tears. For the first time, I seriously questioned picking Mark over Rick. Rick didn't have a mysterious past that he protected with layers of lies. He sure as hell didn't have a mysterious woman he forgot to mention either. No, Rick was sexy, dependable, and tried and true. Oh, and he loved me enough to let me go. He was the reason I was in Puerto Rico with Mark. He had convinced Mark that, despite evidence to the contrary, I wasn't sleeping with him. Now here I was alone in bed and second-guessing myself.

How did I get myself into these situations?