Encore! (Tudor Saga Book 1) Read online

  He chuckled, moving back slightly. "Fuck buddies? I haven't heard that phrase in quite a while. Look, my music takes up all my time. I have no space for a serious relationship. Not right now."

  "Oh really? Well that explains all the photos of you and your supposed girlfriends, then," I teased. "I'm afraid we're at a stalemate, my friend. I don't want just another roll in the hay or a good shagging, as the Brits would say. I’m really looking for something with more substance."

  He pulled back and stared down at me. "And right now I can't promise that; so let's remain friends and see if it leads to anything else. Fair enough? No pressure from me, I promise."

  "Sure. If it's meant to be, it will happen, you know?"

  He nodded his head. "Of course, and you are right. I apologize for my behavior. I…"

  "Stop right there. You don't owe me an apology. I am quite attracted to you, but I just need things to move at a slower pace. You're quite an intense man under all that quiet exterior. Let me get to know you again."

  He chuckled, a sound I was beginning to fall in love with. It was like no other I'd heard. "And you shall, Mary Queen of Scots. You shall."

  We stood there facing each other in silence. I noted a subtle grin come over his face.

  "What?" I asked. "Do I have food stuck in my teeth or something? What's so amusing?"

  "No, there is nothing at all wrong with the way you look. I simply find you a breath of fresh air to be around."

  "I suppose I should take that as a compliment."

  "Yes, please do."

  "Thank you, then."

  "You are welcome. It is late, I should go. I am out of town until Monday. I shall see you Tuesday for our photo shoot?"

  "I'm anxious to work with you. I hope you have a wonderful weekend."

  "You must come see me perform sometime soon. It would help you get a feel for our more casual photo shoots, I think."

  "Yes, I'd like that. Let's discuss it on Tuesday, shall we?"

  "We will. But for now, I bid you goodnight." He leaned over and kissed me softly, but intensely, on the cheek. "Good night."

  "Good night," I replied, watching him walk through my front door and down the stairs.

  ****

  I was jolted awake by the sound of the front door buzzer. Grabbing my robe, I hurried to the door and peered through the peephole. All I saw was flowers. Opening the door, a delivery boy held out the largest vase of red roses I'd ever seen.

  Thanking him, I took them, closed the door and locked it. I walked to the living room and set them down on the coffee table. There had to be two dozen red roses– and they weren't the usual red that women get all the time. No, these were a shade I'd never seen before. I picked up the note, knowing who they were from without looking.

  I opened the envelope. Daniel.

  "These are from my heart. Thank you for a most memorable evening. The first of many, I promise you." DK

  The man had class. I had to give him that. Plus, he could kiss! I took the card to my bedroom and placed it in one of my dresser drawers for safe keeping.

  Something told me this was only the beginning of Daniel's campaign to woo me and that was fine with me. Bring it on. I had no intentions of stopping him. I would simply have to stay alert. It was obvious from last night he was more a gentleman than most men I'd known, and he seemed okay with my ground rules. As hard as he was to resist, I was not interested in merely being his friend with benefits.

  Walking into the kitchen, I began heating some water for a pot of tea. As I waited, I filled a glass from the tap, in case the roses needed some. Seeing they didn't, I placed the vase in the center of the table and headed back to the kitchen, passing Daniel's other flowers from last night sitting on the dining room table. I giggled, wondering where I could possibly put more if he sent them.

  Hearing the kettle, I hurried to turn it off and brewed a pot. I grabbed my phone from the charger in the kitchen and put it in the pocket of my robe. Pouring myself a large mug of tea, I returned to the living room and sat in front of the massive arrangement of roses.

  I placed my cup on the table next to the sofa and reached in my pocket for my phone. I checked it for messages. One from Ellie reminding me, again, of what a party pooper I'd become. There was another from Daniel. No mention of the flowers, just a simple good morning.

  "Good morning. Am getting ready 2 leave for Brussels. Had a wonderful evening. Miss your sass already MQofS!"

  Misses my sass? I grinned. What sass? I sat for a moment before replying to his text.

  "Sass? What sass? I, too, had a wonderful evening. Thank you so very much for the beautiful roses. They are exquisite!" MQofS

  I hit send and set it next to the vase. Picking up my mug, I took a sip and sat back to see if he would reply. He didn't, but I expected he was in route to the continent.

  Lord help me! Let the courting begin!

  Chapter Four

  Inside my small studio, I spent the morning in a rush. An idea struck me over the weekend as to how I wanted to photograph Daniel. I had even come in on Sunday to begin preparations, checking through props in my storage room. To my delight, I found almost everything I needed. Well, almost everything. A couple of things were missing. I sent Daniel a text reminding him to bring his violin with him and some classical sheet music. I wanted the contrast of the crisp white paper and black ink.

  As I waited on Daniel to arrive, I quickly went through everything a final time. Lighting was set and ready, as was the backdrop. A fan was strategically placed for a more dramatic effect with that trademark hair of his. Cameras and lenses sat ready, along with my laptop; so we could get an immediate look at today's work. I was also trying something a little different. I was going to take one of my DSLR cameras and use it in video mode. I wanted to see what I might capture of Daniel as we worked. It would have been nice to have a videographer, but it should still give me enough information to prove whether or not it will be helpful for future shoots.

  All of this had to be perfect for more than the obvious reasons. Since I worked alone,I had no assistant or assistants to help me move things around or change this little thing or that. In some ways, it made creative shoots, like this, more challenging, but and I wasn't sure I even wanted one and definitely couldn’t afford one right now.

  The door to the studio was locked, the closed sign out and the curtains shut as I always did when I was involved in a shoot. Everything was ready. I hadn't received but one text, yesterday, from him, informing me he was back and booked up, but looking forward to today.

  I absentmindedly took a drink of my bottled water as I looked over my set and sat down on my stool. Why in the name of everything beautiful was I so nervous? Was it what this series of shots could do for my career, or was it the man?

  Shaking my head I reached for my phone as a text came in. It was from Eloise, asking if she could sit in on my shoot today or perhaps help me in some way. I responded immediately. She knew I always worked alone and that my shoots were open to no one but the subject and myself. Nice try.

  "NO! You know how I work. You just want to know who it is I'm shooting. And don't be skulking outside either, in order to catch a peek."

  She responded immediately, as though she'd expected my response and had hers prepared.

  "I'm hurt, but understand. Good luck." A huge smiley face appeared next to the text.

  Just as I was about to put the phone down again, another text came through. Damn, Eloise! I didn't have time to be playing her silly games.

  "Pulling up NOW!"

  I jumped up off my stool and headed as quickly as I could to the front door. Peeking through the blinds I saw him exiting the black cab. He had his violin case along with another.

  Unlocking the door, I opened it and he quickly entered. I locked the door behind him before speaking. As I turned around to face him, I noted he was taking off his hat—an old fashioned Bowler. Hmmm, an idea clicked.

  "Hi," I half whispered. I was tongue tied at the sight
of him. This was business and I needed to stop all the silly emotions creeping up through me.

  "Hi, yourself. Are we ready to go?"

  "Yes, come on. You can tell me what you think of the set and I’ll share some of the ideas I have."

  "Good, I also had a couple of ideas of my own, but perhaps not for today." I pretended not to notice the slight smile curve up on his lips and wondered what sort of ideas he was referring to.

  He followed behind me to the set. I walked over and turned on the lighting. Right away I could tell he approved. He set his violin and other case down on the table and quietly began walking around, picking up various props and just looking.

  "I think our ideas are quite similar, Mary." He grinned and walked over to a stool and sat down.

  "What did you have in mind?" I asked.

  "Ah, we'll discuss it later. For now, I am yours for the rest of the day."

  "Perfect. That means I won't have to hurry through this. I want it to be perfect and sometimes, when you're in a time crunch, you miss things."

  "I know, which is why I made sure I cleared my calendar. So, how was your weekend?"

  "Quiet. I spent quite a bit of time in here, going through props and things."

  "Hmmm. May I ask you a question?"

  "Of course you may. What do you want to know?"

  "Do you still play violin?"

  "Yes. Certainly not nearly enough or as much as I once did. I was sitting in with one of the orchestras, but nowadays I get fewer and fewer calls. I was merely a back-up. Why?" An odd question, one that he already knew the answer to because we’d discussed it before.

  "Curious, that's all. When was the last time you practiced?"

  "I don't know if you would call it practice, but I did pick it up Saturday. I find myself playing more when I'm prepping for a shoot. Don't ask me why, I have no idea. Why?"

  "No reason." He had a twinkle in his eyes and a slight smile on his lips, again. "How would you like it if you and I practiced together? Like in the old days? I have a thought for something, but I'll explain it in more detail later. You game?"

  I really doubted he remembered us ever practicing together. Perhaps in a class we might have had together, but not with me in particular. But then, who knows? Perhaps he did remember me.

  "I'm game. Though I don't see how you'll fit something else into your schedule, Daniel."

  "Don't worry your pretty head about it. Leave everything to me, okay?"

  "Okay, I guess."

  "Perfect!" He exclaimed. "So you liked the roses?"

  I chuckled this time. "Yes, the color in particular. I've never seen that shade of red on a rose in any flower shop. Plus, they smelled exquisite. You never get that from florist roses."

  I looked over at him and saw that he seemed to be enthralled with what I was saying, a huge smile plastered over his face.

  "That is why I use a particular vendor. If they don't have what I'm looking for, they will make every effort to find it. The roses they carry are unlike any other florists. Very unique."

  "Well," I said, trying to steer the conversation to a more professional level than the personal one it seemed to be on, "Are you ready to get started? If you're in agreement, I'll run through my ideas and what I'd like to try and accomplish. Please feel free to add anything at any time, if you want something changed, you like it or don't like it…" I also explained the video and how I would take stills from it if something interesting came across as useable.

  It proved to be one of the easiest photo shoots I had ever done. Daniel and I seemed to click on ideas and the way things should be done. I made a remark about his knowing what the camera wanted and kidded with him that it must have come from all the extracurricular modeling he had done while we were in school.

  He laughed, shaking his head. I caught him like that. Unplanned. "How on earth did you remember I modeled?"

  "Um, like it's all over your bios, for one thing. I also do recall how you loved to brag about how your side jobs were paying your tuition."

  "Did I do that?" He chuckled as I continued to capture him.

  "Oh yes, you did. I'm sure you remember."

  Finally, hours later, when it came to shooting the video clip, he needed almost no direction at all. He knew what he was doing, walking around the set, playing his violin. I followed him, catching every essence of him and what he was attempting to articulate through his music. That was, after all, this quiet man's primary language.

  Hours later, exhausted, we finished. We sat on stools, in front of my laptop, and ran through everything I'd shot that afternoon. Though we were mere inches from one another, Daniel managed to keep everything quite professional.

  "When do you think you will have everything ready?" He asked, starting to pack up his violin.

  "I'm shooting for Friday. That is the day we're supposed to meet with your people, isn't it?"

  "Yes, and that would be fabulous if you could have something by then."

  "I've purposely cleared my schedule for this week because I knew you were on a tight deadline. I can always go back in and make changes to anything you or your people want."

  "Thank you again, Mary." He glanced toward the door. It was dark outside. We'd been working for hours, pretty much non-stop. "Could I interest you in some Chinese for dinner? We can share a cab and I'll drop you at your apartment building?"

  ****

  Two days later, I was putting the final touches on the results of the shoot. I was quite happy with what I'd captured. Even the video came together better than I'd thought it would, considering I was using it more for pulling stills than for the actual footage, itself.

  Even though Eloise and my circle of friends knew not to bother me when I was in the middle of a project, especially under such a tight deadline, Elle stopped by and brought me lunch and occasionally texted with the excuse of just seeing how I was. But I knew better.

  When my phone lit up, I thought it was her and was prepared to chide her for another intrusion. But, I picked up and looked at it. It was Daniel. I hadn't heard from him since our dinner after the shoot, a few nights ago.

  "Good afternoon, Mr. Kennedy. What have I done to deserve a call from you in the middle of the day?"

  "Things are going well, I take it?"

  "Yes, and you do realize you answered my question with a question?"

  He laughed into the phone. "So I did. I was merely curious. Do you think I could steal you away for a few hours this evening? Its work related, trust me."

  "Sure. I'm about through and I could use a break away from the computer. What do you have in mind?"

  He gave me an address. "Meet me there, say around eight this evening? And bring your violin."

  "Am I getting a lesson, Maestro?"

  "Something like that," he replied. "Are we on?"

  "Yes, of course. I'll see you then."

  I arrived promptly at eight. Before hanging up, he had mentioned it was his personal rehearsal space adjacent to his apartment. Made perfect sense to me. With my violin case in one hand and my purse in the other, I waited to be admitted.

  A young fellow with long, stringy blond hair opened the door. He took me off guard completely, but he never uttered a word, except perhaps an unintelligible hello or something.

  Peering slowly around the large room, I let my eyes adjust to the low light. I noted some umbrella lighting and spots throughout the room, and there was video equipment and computers in one area. I didn't think a thing about it, thinking Daniel probably taped himself playing all the time.

  Then I saw him off to one side, a dark haired young girl clinging to him. Funny thing, he wasn't acting like he didn't enjoy her affection. He was laughing with her, their heads together, over something she obviously thought was terribly funny.

  Looking up, I caught his eye. He strode across the room, the female firmly attached to his arm. Liar. No girlfriend, huh?

  "Mary! You made it and you brought your violin. Good!"

  "I didn't realize th
is was going to be a party," I replied sarcastically, standing my ground and waiting for his reply.

  "Come, let's get started. I want to hear you play some, first. Then we'll try something, together." He stretched out his free hand, the bimbo still attached to the other. And he didn't introduce her, either. I felt my blood begin to get hot. I said nothing, just followed, trying not to notice the smug look on his face, which I wanted to knock off.

  He showed me to a table against a wall and left me to myself. I took my instrument out of the case. Peering around, I noted a few more guys had come in. Or, maybe they’d been somewhere in the room and I simply hadn't noticed them. Whatever the case, I was feeling quite uneasy.

  Daniel approached, taking my violin from me. He began to play it, stopping to make adjustments in the tuning. I might not have had an ultra expensive instrument, but he could make it sound every bit as good as a Stradivarius. I was beginning to enjoy listening to him bring my violin to life when she had to ruin it all.

  "It's not nearly as nice sounding as yours, Daniel."

  Oh really, and you would know this how? I was definitely in a bitch slap mood, now.

  "Perhaps, but it is still an exquisite instrument." He replied, as he gingerly drew the bow across the strings. He flicked a grin my way. "Come, Mary, play for me."

  I took the instrument out of his hands. He walked back over to her and she proceeded to wrap herself all over his arm, rubbing his chest with one hand.

  At that moment, I noticed he was wearing a white shirt, unbuttoned almost all the way to his belt buckle, showing every bit of his chest. I put the instrument under my chin, trying to remember everything I could about the piece I had chosen to play for him. While I wanted to play for him, I did not want my anger to cause me to make any movement that might, well, remind Daniel of my alter ego.

  I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. Damn! She’s fondling his nipple! Does she have no sense of decency or does he lack it and I am just now seeing it? Whatever, the look on my face did not go unnoticed because he covered her hand with his and whispered something in her ear. The next thing I saw was him removing her hand from his body. Smart man. Good choice.