Chapter 11

“I had no idea Cinderella got so much action.” Mia slipped away and hurried up the ramp, doing her best to outrun the butterflies and Jaxon, who she was now going to call the Big Bad Wolf.

Another man in a white uniform helped her onto the boat. Somehow Jaxon got to her in time enough to hook his arm around hers and guide  forward. “Are you hungry?”

“Nope. I’m still full from that line you just handed me on the ramp.”

“That wasn’t a line. It was the truth.”

She tossed him a skeptical glance. “So you really have had sex with Cinderella? I should get your autograph.”

“Maybe if you’re nice.” He led her into a small room decorated in shades of beige. There was a vanity table against the wall across from them,  along with a bench, and rack of women’s clothing.

“My initial research was to get your clothing size. I needed the stores you shopped at and hoped the sales clerk would remember your size.”

She laughed. “And what did you find out?”

“You like to shop at Goodwill.” He frowned. “You know those are other people’s clothing.”

“Yes. I bet that brought down my sexiness a couple of notches.”

“Actually, I became more intrigued. You’re even thriftier than me.”

“Well, I actually have a budget, where as you have a monetary suggestion.”

“Regardless, I apologize for the invasion of your privacy.” He gestured to the gowns on the rack. “A team and I guessed your sizes.”

“A team? You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“I never shit people.”

She giggled and he joined along with her.

“Do you want me to put on a gown or something?” She asked.

“No.” He rubbed his hands together. “I want you to take off all your clothes and put on that white robe right there. You’ll need it for your massage. I’m a licensed masseuse.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Do I need to show you my certificate?"

“Is it fake?”

“Definitely.”

“Then I guess you shouldn’t waste both of our time. Give me a few minutes and I’ll change into the robe. I’m interested to see how much you’ve learned from pumping Cinderella.”

“Well, I never got much practice with Cinderella. Belle was the wild one.”

“Awww.” she nodded. “She did marry a beast. I’m pretty impressed that you even know her name.”

“Sadly, I know all of the Disney princesses. My mother used to love them. She never had any girls so she made Rhett and me watch every movie.” He walked off and headed to the door. “I forgot how much she used to love them.”

“Used to?”

He paused and turned her way. “Yeah. What?”

“Why doesn’t she like them anymore?”

That expression on his face cracked a little bit around the edges, allowing Mia to see the real man for the first time since meeting him. “Well my real mother passed away when I was eight.”

Her mouth dropped open. “But. . .well. . .it seemed like your mom was alive. You and Rhett kept saying parents during dinner, so I assumed that they both were alive.”

“My dad married two weeks after my real mother died. When he did, he asked us to call his new wife, mom. In my household, when Dad requests something, you do it without any questions. It just so happened that the woman he married was as sweet to us as our real mother, so it ended up not being too hard after the years went by. Plus we already knew her pretty well.”

“How?” The nosy person in her just had to know.

“How did you already know the new wife?”

“She was my mother’s best friend. I guess he’d been sleeping with her the whole time.”

Sounds like his dad was a great guy.

“Were you pissed with him when he married her?” She asked.

“No.” He put his back to her and opened the door.

“Not at all. I was too busy asking God to give me back my mom.”

And whether intentional or not, that was the first time Jaxon found a way to needle a path into her heart, too bad it wasn’t the last.

An hour later, Mia laid on her front as Jaxon's fingers massaged her back. He wore nothing but a pink bow tie around his neck and tiny shorts that said, Boy Toy in pink letters on his crotch. 

She had to focus on something else just to not double over with laughter. But it was easy to center her attention on other things.