Free Voyage To Submission by Mlyn Hurn Page B

lie to themselves.
And I picked up a definite heterosexual vibe from you earlier.”
    “I apologize if you feel that—” he said
quickly.
    “It’s nothing you did towards me. Let me
see…two was straight. Three is that you appear to be fastidious so I doubt you
are a cruising Casanova.”
    Rick handed her the bowl and then reached
over for another spoonful as he considered her words. “You seem pretty good at
this. Are you a private detective?”
    Andy laughed. “No, but if I tell you what I
do, you’ll have to promise to keep it a secret.”
    “Of course,” he said, straightening his
spine. “I give you the word of an English butler, ma’am.”
    “You know what would be good with this?”
Andy asked quickly.
    She surprised him by the change in subject
so abruptly.
    “What?” Rick asked, thinking this was
definitely one of the oddest things he’d ever done at a passenger’s request. It
would definitely go down as one of his top ten oddest passenger encounters.
    Andy was already pushing the bowl at him
once more before she scrambled to her feet. Behind the bar, she began opening
cabinets.
    A knock at the suite’s front door stopped
them both for a second.
    “It’s probably David checking up on me.”
Rick spoke as he set down the bowl and crossed to the front doors. “He is the
guy serving the night shift.” Holding the spoon in one hand, he opened the
door.
     
    Andy nodded as she continued looking for
something she’d seen earlier. Most likely, the people who usually stayed in a
suite like this would be interested in champagne and unpronounceable wines.
Then she spied the squat black glass bottle with the signature gold paper.
Jumping up, she spun and danced her way to the entryway. “I found it!”
    Immediately, she saw his fellow butler had
not joined Rick. Rather Jack had returned, bringing Gayle and Ray with him. And
quite amazingly she noted lastly, they were all dressed in their pajamas and
robes. She met Rick’s gaze and saw his concern there. Instinctively, she
shrugged and lowered the bottle. Taking a deep breath, Andy realized that
everyone had gone from looking at Rick, to staring at her. As a person who
always avoided being the center of attention, she felt a heated flush cover her
cheeks. With false bravado to disguise the sudden rush of insecurity, she spoke
loudly. “I see we have guests, Henderson. We’re going to need more spoons!”
    * * * * *
    Andy cursed loudly as she turned over in
bed. She realized the curtains had been opened and the gentle breeze blew in.
Rolling over, she saw Rick, once again perfectly attired in his black suit,
carrying a tray in her direction.
    “Good morning, Miss. I’ve brought you some
tea. Would you care to have breakfast on the upper deck or the lower?”
    Andy pulled up the sheet over her head.
“What time is it?”
    “It’s nearly noon.”
    “Noon! Oh shit…crap. Sorry. I had things I
wanted to do this morning.”
    “Did Madam use all of the liqueur on her
ice cream after we left?”
    “Not all, but enough to make this
unpleasant. Did I apologize for last night? I don’t know why my friends all
showed up like that.”
    “Your friend, Miss—”
    “Gayle.”
    “Yes, she kept talking about a slumber
party, but your male friends didn’t seem in the party mood.”
    “I noticed that, too. Thanks for
shepherding everyone to the elevator.”
    “I sensed they wouldn’t leave until I did.”
    Andy sat up and pushed the hair out of her
face. “Yeah, well they aren’t sophisticated like I am and used to having a
butler about the place.” She waited to see if Henderson responded to her little
joke, but he was in perfect form.
    “Shall I run a bath for madam?”
    Andy drew up her knees and wrapped her arms
around them. “Okay, and I’ll sip the tea. I must skip breakfast because I have
to get to work.” Seeing the frown of disapproval on her butler’s face, she
smiled. “I’ll explain later. Thanks.”
    * * * * *
    Dressed casually,