And He Called It Research

"Well I don't agree with that at all, but she looked great."

"Okay, I confess, I told her about you making over me not long ago when I wore that inappropriate low cut blouse for you."

"What did she have to say about that?"

"She wanted to know if you and I had made love, and of course I said no, and then she added she wants to come work for you."

"I'm sure she said that. I loved that blouse you wore that day and I keep waiting for you to wear it again."

"Sure you don't mind if I wear that to work?"

"You can wear whatever you want. We're not meeting the public, so it's just you and me for now."

"Then maybe I'll just come to work in my jammies."

"Great, are they brief and sexy?"

"Sometimes."

"I'll be waiting to see you."

She smiled and said, "Like I'd go out in my pajamas."

"Okay then, wear a trench coat over here."

"A coat in the summer time?"

"With nothing under it of course."

"Mac, now you behave yourself. I haven't been naked outdoors since I was on the island."

"That's sad. Not even topless?"

"Where would I do that? You've seen where we live, with close neighbors all around us."

"That's worse than sad."

"You have no place to be naked outdoors either now remember."

"Are you trying to depress me?"

She smiled and said, "I just want you to remember, that we're all in the same boat now. Okay now a question. Why are you and I so determined to tease each other?"

"Well for me, I love to tease you."

"I can tell, and you're a totally bad influence on me."

"You can't blame me love, we're two of a kind."

She became about half serious then as she told him, "You know Mac, we really are a lot alike."

"Is Allie a lot like you?"

"I don't know. We get along just great, and we laugh at each others jokes and silliness. I guess we have the same taste in men considering I liked being with Martin those times."

"It seemed at dinner last night that you two have a lot in common."

"She has a better shape than me."

"Oh no. She has a nice shape and it's different, but it isn't better at all."

"You always say the right things, but what do you really think and feel?"

"Okay you asked for it. I love your butt and your breasts. I love your lips and your smile. I totally enjoy being with you while we work or as we are now. I'd love to see you naked and to make love to you. Want me to continue?"

She looked at him and recovered from his bluntness before she answered, "Wow! Okay yes, please continue."

"I have pictured your mound shaved and warmed by the sun and in my mind I've reached out and touched you. Okay then also, last night, because of her teasing and her low cut blouse that you chose for her, I wondered what Allie would look like naked, and if she would still act a lot like you."

She shook her head slowly and said nothing for a few seconds before she said, "I could just hit you."

"But I just complimented you."

"You were bathing me in compliments and tender words. You were pulling me into your erotic world and then right in the middle of all of that you started to talk About how Allie would look naked."

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to seduce you. I was just trying to be totally honest with you."

"But you had me naked on the beach with you and you were gazing at my bare tanned mound, and then you were lusting after Allie. That's pretty brutal boss."

"You're right of course. My mind works in strange ways sometimes. But I do still think about you...us on the island."

"And now Allie too right?"

"Not really."

"You know what I think?"

"You are all woman so I have no chance of knowing what you think."

"Very funny. I think you are horny and love starved."

"Does it show?"

Liz smiled and said, "No it doesn't exactly show, but you are. You have to be considering its been so long since you and Didi...well you know."

"You can say made love, or you can even say since we screwed," and he smiled at her.

She turned toward him and wrapped her arm across his belly as she looked up at him. You are...I just love coming over here and pretending to work with you. We get into near arguments sometimes and other times we get into some very dangerous areas. I mean talking about my mound is pretty intimate talk you know."

"It really is. Want to talk about my pecker for awhile?"

She slapped his belly and smiled as she said, "I don't even know how to reply to that one."

"Well you didn't say absolutely not."

"Well you caught me so off guard that I was at a loss for words. I mean...oh my god, talk about your pecker. You're crazy. I've never seen...never mind, forget I said that."

"Hey, I've never seen your mound and we've had a couple of nice chats about that."

"Okay, you talk about your pecker and I'll listen."

"No, no, I talked about your mound, so you're supposed to talk about my pecker."

"But I can't because...well for obvious reasons. I don't know if it's hairy or shaved, long or short, fat or skinny. I don't know if you're," and she quickly got up and said, "We better talk about something else."

"Well okay, but..."

"I'd feel more comfortable talking about Allie than your..."

"You could call it a cock if you'd rather."

"Mac, now stop that or I'll go home and forget what I'm doing and say something to Darren about your cock."

"You can't because you just said you've never seen it."

"Damn it, you know what I mean."

"Okay, so does Allie shave smooth?"

"She dropped back onto the couch again and said, "I give up. Okay, Allie shaves smooth and she has small lips down there."

"Oh, okay. Does Darren like her lips more than yours?"

"I don't know, he's never mentioned it."

"I would if I were him because I'd like yours better."

"You can't know that."

"You just said Allie's were small so that tells me that yours are bigger and I like that better than small lips."

She moved away from him a little and leaned back and started to study the ceiling again as she said, "I can't believe that we're sitting here talking about Allie's and my vulvas."

"Well we don't have any work to do, and this is a great way to pass the time."

"Can't we talk about...I don't know, something else?"

"Well we could talk about this," and he moved over and kissed her deeply. Her left hand went out but drifted in the air until it settled onto his back and she pulled him into her lips. The kiss surprised her and it scared her, but the kiss continued until she finally pulled back enough to look into his eyes. "Oh god Mac, why did you do that?"

He was nearly whispering as he told her, "Because I wanted to, and because now we have something to talk about."

"But Mac, I've worked for you for almost a month and we've not kissed like that before. Why did you kiss me now?"

"Well I think we really like each other."

She smiled and said, "I think we do too, but..."

"Because I've wanted to kiss you since...well since about an hour after you arrived here your first day."

"Really?"

"Very really."

"Mac, I'm going home because that kiss got to me. We have to do better about behaving."

He got up and putting his arms around her he said, "But honey, we haven't talked about that kiss."

"Damn you Mac," and that was as far as she got because they went into another long kiss as they stood in the middle of the living room."

They were talking in half whispers as he told her, "Maybe you're right. Maybe we better call it a day."

"I'll see you in the morning."

"Maybe we can talk about my pecker tomorrow," and he smiled at her.

She smiled and said, "Okay just maybe we can talk about your pecker," and she grabbed him between the legs and then froze. "Oh god Mac."

He pulled her closer to him again and said, "Well don't be so surprised because you're the one that created it."

She pushed him away and she took steps backward as she said, "I'm going to drive home slowly while I verbally beat myself to a pulp." He took two steps toward her but she said, "Oh no, you stay right there, and tomorrow we'll work at the table or in different rooms. Bye boss," and he watched her almost run to her car.

Chapter Sixty Eight

Liz didn't beat herself up as she went home. Instead, she called Allie and asked her, "Can you talk?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Oh god girl he really got to me today."

"Liz, why don't you just let go and make love to the guy?"

"I can't go through life like that Allie. It was one thing when we all went crazy on the island and I'm okay with all of that. But Mac scares me. I mean I really like the guy and I love working with him. But today neither of us behaved at all. We were shamelessly flirting and teasing and...and I almost lost control of myself."

"Are you afraid you'll fall for him?"

"I don't think so but...I don't know what I'm afraid of. He even talked about you."

"Me? Why me. Oh because of dinner."

"Well that started it, but...damn it he wondered what you looked like naked and if you shaved your mound and then he'd make jokes about everything."

"But you didn't get mad at him for bringing me into the conversation?"

"Of course not, but he did that right after he had talked so sexy about him and me being on the island alone and...well you know."

"It's easy to tell he's getting to you."

"God, I even grabbed him between the legs."

"Well you really are asking for it then."

"There's a story there, but Allie he was so very hard and ready for me."

"I'll just bet he was."

"And you should kiss him. Oh that man can kiss."

"I really should? Okay, I'd like to do that."

"I don't care. See what I mean? Do I just want his cock?"

"Gee, and wouldn't that just be awful. You keep saying how much you like him and being around him and that he's sexy and kisses great. Do you just want his cock? You are so funny."

"But I love Darren."

'Of course you do, and you loved him when you were on the island. Then you went home to him and you still love him. Look, I'm not saying we should go around screwing every guy that rings our bell, but you're with him all day everyday and you two seem intent on teasing and tormenting each other. Either quit your job, screw the guy or find a way to get both of you back on a business footing and nothing more."

"I know all of that, but...okay I want to make love to him."

"And so you will."

"I don't know."

"Oh my god, I thought you were making headway there. Okay, you keep working on it and I'll find a way so I can kiss him, how is that?"

"Great. Maybe if you screw him instead of me he and I will settle down a little."

"Not, and then I'll want more of him so I'll be in a bind along with you. Sounds great, but that's a bad plan girlfriend. But okay, if you insist I'll screw him, but I'm only doing it for you and I won't derive any pleasure from it at all."

"Liar. Talk to you soon."

"You better call me everyday on your way home from work. I want the fresh juicy details and maybe it will help you to talk about everything again."

"I'll call you tomorrow." Liz tossed her phone onto the passenger seat and drove home with her mind in a fog. It was a good thing that Darren was out of town because she needed quiet time and she felt the need to hide while she settled down.

Allie put the phone down just as Martin appeared and asked her, "Was the call anything important?"

"No, it was just Liz talking about her day at work."

"Calling that work is a little misleading."

"Isn't it though." Then rather than risk slipping up and saying something about Liz's dilemma, she distracted Martin by saying, "She did say that Mac was very flattering when I came up in their conversation today."

Martin smiled and put his hands on his wife's hips as he asked, "Oh, and what did he say that was so flattering."

She suddenly realized that she'd have to make something up, so she told him, "He loved my new blouse and she told me that cleavage does something to Mac."

"It does me too, so that's not surprising."

"They talked a little about being back on the island and getting all over tans again and...oh and then he said something about my figure, and then somewhere in there he wondered if I shaved between my legs."

"He wondered that because of a sexy blouse?"

"Honey I can't remember a lot of what was said, so this is coming out a little disjointed. I know she confessed to him that she wasn't clean shaven there and maybe that's how things progressed to me. I don't know but what they'd had a few drinks."

"So have they screwed?"

"She says no and I'm not sure that they ever will."

"Interesting."

"Oh and she said he's a great kisser and that I should really kiss him and see for myself."

"Is that right."

"You don't care?"

"Babe, we screwed others on the island, so a simple harmless kiss is nothing."

"Okay, I wanted to be sure I was getting the right signals from you."

"But do you just walk up to him and plant your lips on his?"

"I have no idea, and that may never even happen."

"Well if it does, at least tell me all about it afterward."

"I'll share every little tongue touch with you."

"Great."

At that same time, Mac's phone announced he had a call. "Mac?"

"Kate honey, I was going to call you?"

"Anything important?"

"You bet, I wanted to tell you how much you've been on my mind."

"Enough that I could come up there for a couple of days?"

"Only a couple?"

"I'm afraid so."

"How soon can you get here?"

"My only choice of flights puts me at your airport at seven tomorrow."

"So you're flying commercial."

"Yes, flight three ten."

"Oh baby you make me happy. I'll be there hon. How did you work it so you could get away?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Cecilia is here because she's covering for me until I get back and I have to go to the island this afternoon."

"If you see Didi, give her my best."

"I'll do that. In fact I'll make it a point to find her and give her your message."

"Thanks. I wish I could be there so we could walk the beach together again."

"I wish you were here too, but maybe me coming up there will be better in some ways."

"I'm not complaining that's for sure. You're call couldn't have come at a better time. I was feeling just a little down and now I want to celebrate."

"Save your celebrating until I'm with you."

"You know I will. See you tomorrow baby," and they disconnected. "Damn," he thought, "Great news and I can't share it with anybody." He would be with Liz all day, but how could he tell her about Kate and how he felt about her? That would not be a good idea. No he had to tell her she would be there because she was staying for...well for whatever, a day or two or three. He'd tell Liz that she didn't have to work until Monday of course, but...no he had to act as normal as possible tomorrow and just say that Melvin was sending her up to do something on her way to someplace else. That sounded obscure and believable enough to him.

Chapter Sixty Nine

Kate was on the seven o'clock ferry the next morning and was leaving the dock just after half past the hour. She went straight to the new Cabaña area and after a couple of minutes found Mark. "Morning, Melvin asked me to get this package to you so I decided to deliver it in person."

"That's high level service, and thanks Kate."

"No problem. How are things progressing for you?"

"Pretty good. The Cabaña is ready and the Bistro is almost ready for a test run. Once that's going we'll tear down the old kitchen area and clean that mess up."

Kate decided to take a gamble and asked him, "Have you had any trouble getting meals to Didi and Nat?"

"No. That's one of the reasons that Nat was keeping part of the old kitchen going. That and some of the workers can eat lunch there."

"Does Didi have much time to get down here and survey the progress?"

"Not like she was that's for sure. Of course I know I can call her if I need something."

"If she remembers to charge her phone."

"Oh, you've had that problem too. It's not been bad though really."

"Did Nat's wife ever get down here to see the island?"

"If she did I didn't see her, but then I have been pretty busy."

"You've really been busy Mark and Melvin knows that."

"Thanks, it helps to hear that."

"Better days are coming though right buddy?"

"Better days are ahead. Oh, and they're almost ready to open Tropic treat. I guess there was a problem with some of the furnishings, so Didi and Nat flew to St. Croix to work that out and those furnishings should be here in the next couple of days."

"How is it you know so much about what is going on?"

"I listen to the workers at lunch. Believe me, they don't miss much."

"Any juicy gossip to share. My life has been pretty uninteresting lately."

"Let's see. You know of course that Nat is living with Didi."

"You're kidding me right?"

"No kidding. Has been since about...oh maybe the second week that we started this mess. I've wondered different times if Mac knows about that."

"He's in the states so I don't know. Do you suppose somebody should tell him?"

"Probably, but I'm not getting in the middle of somebody else's marriage. He may know and is doing his own thing."

Her face fell as she said, "I hadn't even considered that possibility." Then she pasted a smile on her face and asked, "Anything else that juicy?"

"I don't think so. Well one of the workers found somebody's journal that they kept. Damn was that woman popular. Sorry Kate, that was in poor taste."

Kate laughed and told him, "I know what went on out her Mark so don't worry about that. I'm a long way from being a sweet innocent virgin."

He laughed and said, "Yeah me too."

"Have you seen Cletus? I'd like to say hi to him before I leave."

"Probably up at the dock someplace. The new ferry is supposed to arrive before dark."

"I'd forgotten about that. Okay, take care and if you need anything and can't find Didi, call my office. I'll be away for a few days, but Cecelia can probably help you."

"Cecelia helps me just by being Cecelia."

Kate laughed and waved as she drove off and headed to Didi's. She had her lies prepared in her mind, so when Didi answered her door, Kate smiled and said, "Pardon the interruption, but Mac asked me to deliver a message to you while I was here. To quote him he said, 'Tell Didi in person that I love her,' end quote." Kate saw Nat in the background before he slipped into another room so she was smiling inside. Then she noticed his work shoes near the backdoor, but she kept her eyes moving as she said, "That's all I had. Melvin sent me over to talk to Mark so I've fulfilled my mission and now I'm going to take a few days off. If you need anything just call and Cecelia will do her best to take care of you."

"Thank you Kate," Didi said with a smile, and then added, "Anything with Mark that I should know?"

"Not really. You two have a great day," and she turned about and headed down the few steps and jumped into her car as her inner smile continued. She was rather proud of how she managed to let Didi know she was aware of Nat living there.

As soon as Kate was gone, Didi asked Nat, "What the hell was that all about?"

"I guess it was like she said. Deliver the message to you and do Melvin's bidding or whatever with Mark."

"Well that all seemed so strange to me."

Nat shrugged his shoulders and said, "Seemed straight up to me. I mean Kate is just Melvin's secretary."

"Okay, I'm just jumpy today maybe."

As soon as Kate found Cletus she put her arm around his waist and said, "Sweetie, you're always here. Don't you ever take a vacation and go somewhere?"

"Missy, where would I go that's better than where I am now? And what would I do that's more fun than running the boats and other toys? I'm happy where I is."

"Good for you Cletus, and we're very lucky to have you."

"Thank you, that's a nice thing to say."