And so would Blake. Was that good?
“We can’t predict the future,” Axel said. “There’s just what we choose to do now. We need to focus on what we can do. If you can’t get along with Blake, for whatever reasons, then let Corey and those willing do what they can. However, you all are required to talk to both Ethan and Blake with respect, even if you don’t like him. Which means no attacking him without a definite reason. That counts for both verbal and physical.”
There were slight shifts among them all. Corey appeared pleased with the results, but his brother seemed dour. Kevin tilted his head back and forth, like he wasn’t totally sure how he felt. Raven sat back, rolling his head back, relaxed. Maybe he chilled out when it was clear we weren’t going to fight. Marc was the only one whose reaction I didn’t understand. He kept his eyes on me. It was an uncomfortable stare, like he was waiting for me to say or do something.
There was nothing to be done. I agreed with Axel. No matter what, I’d gotten myself into something deep. If Ethan trusted me and brought me into his circle, then I would remain. If I wanted the boys to stay, then I had to get the Academy on my side, too. No matter what, we were linked now. We had to make this work.
Axel clapped his hands together once. “Just keep me updated. Slight change in the lineup, too. Kayli and I will be taking the lead together as far as appearances to everyone on the ship. She and I will be working closely on everything, which means we need to stick together. The rest of you will have to coordinate with each other.”
“But I’ll need to work with her on who we might need to lift phones from to switch them out,” Corey said.
“And Corey and I were going to be her ‘date’ to switch out phones,” Brandon said. “Just like last time.”
“I’m her date from this point on,” Axel said. “You can still do this without the same pretext. I need to be around in case there’s any decisions that need to be made quickly between her and Ethan and Blake.”
I grimaced. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work if Axel never left my side at all. It left no room for me to work with the others if some opportunity should arise. I also wanted to check in with them, and maybe smooth things over.
Corey looked at his brother, and Brandon shrugged. “I guess we’ll figure it out, then,” Brandon said.
“Then everyone knows where you need to be,” Axel said. “Focus on Nightingale and where we can, we’ll spread out to other companies. We’ll knock them out one by one if we have to. Get ready. I need to go take Kayli over for a wardrobe change.”
I was going to ask what was wrong with what I was wearing, except everything was wrong with what I was wearing. I wasn’t outfitted for a luxury cruise vacation with snobby rich people. “I just need a new shirt,” I said, trying to make a joke and ease the tension. “Maybe some flip flops.” And underwear. And a bra. And basically everything.
Axel turned toward the door, opening it and motioning for me to step through. “Sweetheart,” he said. He motioned to his own white pants and the blue polo. “If I have to wear these ridiculous yacht fashions, you do, too. I’m not suffering alone.”
It was hard to imagine Axel suffering. It wasn’t exactly a bad look for him. He blended in pretty well. I swallowed, though. Not thrilled to think I might end up in white pants.
WARDROBE ASSISTANCE
Later, we got directions from Avery to Fancy’s room. He even gave us a little paper map of the ship and marked off where it was. That was helpful. I asked if he’d make sure the others got a map as well.
Axel and I took a few wrong turns at first, getting lost amid the corridors of the ship. Eventually we got the hang of the map and how the ship was situated and set off in the right direction.
“We need to scope out this ship,” I said as we walked through luxurious hallways and passing the occasional crew member on their way with deliveries of snack baskets and other tasks. I was glad to see Avery had been taken seriously about the baskets. It was a nice touch. “I can’t get lost every second, even with a map.”
“It’s a huge ship,” he said. “Before the crowd gets here, we need a tour. I’ve taken a bit of one, but it can take a couple of hours to check out even just the guest portion of the ship, let alone the crew decks down below.”
“Then maybe you and I need to focus on just the guest portion,” I said. “Kevin and maybe Marc and a couple of the others can monitor the crew. We don’t have enough time to keep up with everything.”
Axel looked over at me as we walked. “You’re really thinking things through.”
I didn’t know what to say to this and I waved him off. “I’m just trying to make this work.”
“It’s working,” he said. “You don’t make a bad co-lead.”
“With Blake?”
“With me.”
I laughed a little. “You mean with your A... amazing team.” I almost said Academy and then caught myself.
“The boys listen to you, for the most part. I think because you’re a girl.”
“Then wouldn’t that mean they don’t listen to me?”
“No,” he said. He reached out, taking my hand, holding on to it and weaving his fingers between mine. “Because all of them grew up down here, except for Raven, but even he gets quiet when you talk for the most part. They listen to what you say and want to do what you ask.”
“Because it’s polite to be nice to a girl,” I said.
“Don’t mock that southern hospitality,” he said. “It’ll be to our advantage here.”
It was funny to be holding his hand and doing it openly. My eyes went around the hallway, as if the other guys would come across us at any moment. Sure, we were supposed to look like we were together now since the change up, but I wondered if it was part of Axel’s plan to get the other guys to accept we were a couple as part of some transition plan he had. What would Raven say to that? I wondered if the others had given up their romantic notions.
I was sad at that thought. I wished I wasn’t, but I was. My mixed feelings were even more of a mess now. I wanted Brandon and Marc to like me, maybe even more than like me. It was weird how close I’d been before and then now I wasn’t sure if they were still interested in at all. It was an out for me, a reason to say yes, I was with Axel or I was with Raven, but at the same time, I missed them a lot.
Again, I wondered if I could be comfortable on this team. Could I openly date Raven, knowing the others had crushes on me before, or that I’d had crushed on them? If during our job here, I had to share a bed with Marc to sleep, would Raven not have a fit? Would I be able to resist Marc?
I was starting to doubt my previous idea of simply selecting one to date. Even that didn’t end the problems of being a girl amid a group of guys like this. What happens when Kevin and I are forced to share a bed? I wasn’t interested in Kevin, but would Kevin be uncomfortable, given his soon-to-be fiancé would be on his mind?
It was like being on this ship, and now aware after recovering, that I realized I really needed to consider more than just my own desires as far as who I might want to date. It was a lot to think about.
We eventually found the right room. I stood beside Axel after he’d knocked softly on the door.
“I don’t want to ask Fancy for clothes,” I said.
“You need to blend in and you won’t without the right clothes,” he said. “We already run the risk of the crew wondering why you’re here. If they’re asking questions about you, then those might get passed on to the guests. That’s something we don’t want.”
“But why Fancy?”
“She’s your partner in this,” he said. “We need to work with her and maybe we can use her to coordinate wardrobe for everyone while we’re on board. I don’t think the crew wears much else other than black, but you and I need to dress up.”
I sighed, tilting my head as we waited. “I don’t want to wear a dress.”
“You might have to. We’re going to be limited to whatever she has with her, and what we can purchas
e from the shops downstairs. I didn’t bring any cash and I’d rather not use a card while we are here. I don’t want to have us identified while we are on the ship. I hope you’ve brought plenty of underwear. I don’t know if you’d want to share hers.”
I shivered at the thought of wearing anyone else’s underwear, despite the fact that I often wore Corey’s clean boxers often enough. There’s just something not right about sharing girl underwear. “I’m not wearing any underwear right now.”
This caused the slightest lift of Axel’s lips. He recovered quickly and then knocked louder at the door.
“Why can’t a girl get any sleep around here?” Fancy boomed through the door in her man voice. There were muffled footsteps and then the door was unlocked. Fancy appeared wearing a sheer robe...and nothing else. Perfect perky breasts poked out at us in greeting and thick male junk hung below. Fancy displayed all. Her hair was short now, slicked completely back. She squinted out at us. “Why?” she said, her pitch changing to a deeper version of her female voice and then raising to her usual tone as she continued. “Why, why are any of you here at this ungodly hour?”
Axel grunted, diverting his eyes. “Sorry, Fancy,” he said. “I need to talk to you about your plans. And Kayli needs an outfit.”
“Of course she does,” Fancy said, opening the door further and stumbling back into the room. “That girl’s been in need of my help since we met. Pretty damn thing still doesn’t know how to use her God-given gifts.”
We followed her into the room. Axel kept diverting his eyes from the mostly-naked Fancy.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered, recalling the first time I’d met him and he hadn’t even been wearing a robe. “Can’t stand your own medicine?”
Axel shook his head, but there was another slight smirk again.
Fancy’s room was larger than ours, with plenty of floor space that was home to a couple of hot pink rolling suitcases stacked one on top of the other. The top one was open. The bed was larger, too, and piled with blankets and a ton of extra pillows.
“How’d you score this room, Fancy?” I asked.
“You flirt with the boss enough, you get the best.” She squeezed her biceps against her breasts, causing them to push out even further. “I think he thinks these are real, bless his heart.”
Did Ethan know?
“I offered to share with Avery, but he turned me down.” She wiped at her eye and then curled a finger at me in a come-hither motion. “All right, miss Kay-Bay-Bay. It’s time for team Fuck You again. F. K. You. Actually, let’s change that.”
“Because using the same name is cliché,” I said.
“Right,” she said. “Let’s try team Kick Ass. No...that’s been done. Team...damn. Thought I had something.”
“Can we focus on getting dressed?” Axel asked.
“Sure, sure,” Fancy said. She waved her hand at him. “Sit down, sweetie. I’ve got some work to do. I may need to order up some more clothes. I’ve got some outfits but we need a different style between the two of us. If they aren’t attracted to me, I need them to be attracted to a different type and that will be you.”
It turned out the getting dressed part was only for me and nothing to do with Fancy. She worked in the robe the entire time, much to the horror of Axel. He focused on the floor as Fancy pulled out her outfits and mixed and matched socks with shoes and dresses and shirts.
I argued against a dress, but she didn’t have much in the way of pants that weren’t leather, Spandex, or very short shorts.
In the end, I wore a light beige corduroy dress, light colored knee-high socks and brown leather loafers. She used double sided tape to ensure the sock stayed above my knees. I kept wanting to slide my foot across the floor because I was afraid the shoes would fall off, being that my feet were swimming in them.
“We’re not exactly the same shoe size,” she said.
“You’ve got much bigger feet,” I said.
“Blame my big man piece,” she said. “You know what they say about big shoes.” She reached down and adjusted herself a little through the sheer material. She turned then, catching how Axel was looking at the floor. “Are you even paying attention?”
“I’m listening,” Axel said.
“Do you even see this girl?” she asked. “I was going for smart-ass Kayli, cute and diminutive.”
“It’s the only dress with pockets,” I said.
Axel looked up, at first catching an eyeful of Fancy and quickly looked at the wall. His eyes shifted again, going more slowly until he focused on me. His lips parted slightly. He tilted his head as he checked out the loafers and then the dress. “Is that even you?”
I turned slightly, holding my arms up. The dress only showed a hint of my boobs, and it was mostly showing off legs. Cute, but not really me. “Dorky?”
“It’s a different you,” he said. He stood up and then made a circle around me. I started turning to face him as he did, but then he put his hand up in a stopping motion. “Don’t move,” he said. “I just want to look.”
“The skirt is too short,” I said. I smoothed my palms down, and my fingertips were brushing against skin at my thighs. “I feel like I’m going to flash my butt.”
“Good,” Fancy said. “You should flash some ass once in a while. Make them crawl to you, begging to give up their dirtiest secrets.”
“Is that your angle?” Axel asked. “We didn’t even talk about your role in all of this.”
“My role is kicking ass with Kayli,” she said. “We’re going to work with that floor.” She motioned to me. “Diminutive, innocent and smart or…” she slicked her hands down her stomach and her hips. “Take a chance on the seductive and steal-you-away-from-your-wife Fancy.”
“I hope you’ve got a plan B,” Axel said.
Fancy put her hands down in a harrumph. “My plan B is a Glock in their nose until they confess to everything. No one can ignore a gun.”
“Let’s try to go without the guns,” I said. “We’re just looking for info.”
Fancy looked at me and then slowly trailed her eyes up and down my body. “You know, it’s missing something.” She went to a handbag that was on a side table near the bed and pilfered through it. She plucked out a pair of large brown-rimmed eyeglasses and brought them over to me. “Try these.”
“I don’t need glasses,” I said.
“They’re for fashion,” she said. “Clear lenses.”
I put the glasses on, finding them to be decorative rather than prescription. They were a little weird-feeling. I thought they’d fall off my face so I kept touching the bridge over my nose and then holding onto the side of them. They didn’t seem to move but still felt loose. “I’m going to lose these,” I said. “I feel like they’re going to fall off.”
“They just need adjusting,” Axel said. He scooted around again and then for the first time since he’d been on board, he actually smiled. “Fancy,” he said. “Don’t believe anything anyone else says about you. You’re a genius.”
“What are other people saying about me?” she barked, almost dropping into her man voice. Then she waved her hand as if to ward off his answer. “Doesn’t matter. Nope. This Fancy doesn’t give a shit. Jealousy is the only thing she hears.”
“Right,” Axel said. “Anyway, if you can pick out more outfits for her that are like this one from the shops downstairs, we can work this angle. And if you’re willing, flirt with the men from Nightingale to see if they’re receptive. Are you comfortable with that?”
“Never a problem,” Fancy said, swinging her hips as she went to pose. “Do you want me to get down and dirty with them?”
“Ew,” I said.
Axel didn’t react. “Actually, if you’re willing, do you think you could capture a couple of dirty images if you do?” he asked. “Discreetly?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Let’s go, Kayli,” Axel said.
“Why are we doing this?” I asked.
Axel shrugged and then moved tow
ard the door. He put his hands into his white pants pockets as he moved. “We might need them later.”
“Why?” I asked, clomping after him in the oversized loafers. I turned and went back for my clothes, and realized I wasn’t going to be able to pick up the boots and other things without bending over, and then I’d be flashing my bits at them. “Axel,” I said.
He stood at the doorway but didn’t turn. “Because there’s going to be a time when we’re going to try to knock a few out of their positions. We might need the blackmail.”
“Axel,” I said again with a little more whine.
“I don’t suppose you have another suggestion.”
I blew a raspberry to get his attention. “Axel.”
He turned this time and looked at me.
I pointed to the clothes on the floor. “Half of those don’t belong to me,” I said. “I need to give them back.”
“Burn them,” Fancy said, waving her hand at the pile. “Don’t even bother.” She moved to the suitcase, and this time, she bent over, pushing the one on top out of the way to get to the one below it. She was exposing her butt to Axel, all the deep dark corners of it. “But now it’s my turn to dress up.”
Axel crossed the room, picked up the clothes, grabbed my elbow and practically carried me along with the clothes to the door. “Thanks, Fancy.”
She wiggled her butt in his direction and then stood slowly, winking over her shoulder at him. “Thank me later, sweetie. Maybe you and I will get to go over those pictures privately.”
MAKING AMENDS
As we left Fancy, I slipped down the hallway in the loafers, trying to get used to them, as Axel carried the clothes. It wasn’t until we were several doors away down the hallway that I realized I’d have to return tomorrow for another outfit. I’d have to go through that again? “When we get back to Charleston,” I said, “and if we’re still involved in this, I’m going to need my own wardrobe. I don’t know if I can handle this every morning.”