Page 129 of Love Without Demands

“Boys,” Auburn said through gritted teeth. “If you don’t cut it out, you’re riding in the trunk.”

“That’s child abuse, Uncle Auburn,” Sully informed him.

The man lifted an eyebrow. “You wanna try me and find out?”

“Trust me, when he says that, you don’t,” Gianna said from beside me before whispering cheekily in my ear, “but I do it anyway. Every chance I get.”

The warning worked, and the little ones calmed down, though now they were alternating sticking their tongues out, trying to make the other laugh.

“It’s a shame Cruz couldn’t come today,” Kassie said from across the car.

“I know. He would have loved this, but he got called into work with the response team today,” I lamented, looking out the window. “Oooh, we’re here!” I sounded as excited as the kids.

The vehicle pulled up to the pier, and we all piled out… me, the Bouvier brothers, their wives and kids, Paul, Stella—who was,ahem,visiting again—Gianna’s dad, Tony, and his partner, Tora.

Gianna passed out tickets to each person as they emerged, and I let my eyes rise to the giant pirate ship docked in the harbor. This was so freaking cool.

Our entire group trooped across the gangplank and onto the ship, flashing our tickets at the young woman dressed in tan and brown. The creamy sails were artfully dingey, billowing with sharp snaps in the wind above us.

“Helloooo,” a man drawled in a fair approximation of Johnny Depp a la Captain Jack Sparrow. He stood on a wooden deck above us, leaning on the elaborate railing with a bottle of what looked like rum held loosely in one hand. “My name is Captain Hummingbird.”

Everyone in the crowd responded with laughter and applause as the guy swaggered back and forth in a fake stumble.

“Welcome to the Trinidad, my ship,hic. It’s a replica of one of Magellan’s ships.” The pirate sighed dramatically and lifted his eyes to the sky. “Ahhh, Magellan! How I do miss that rogue.”

Everyone laughed and he continued, swinging one leg over the other as he walked back and forth, addressing his rapt audience.

“My lovely maidens are circulating with a souvenir for our younger savages. But don’t you think for one moment that wearing them will make you the captain. I’m the boss on this glorious vessel.” He lifted his chin at a haughty angle and added, “And I’m obviously the best looking.”

That was met with a few good-natured jeers, and the man stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at the audience.Women in costume circulated around and handed out fabric pirate hats to the kids.

“This is so cute,” I squealed quietly to Gianna, and she nodded with a grin before helping Jane adjust her hat.

Captain Hummingbird lifted his bottle and slurred, “I’m in need of a saucy wench to help me with something. Are there any saucy wenches in this crew?” There was a titter of amusement, and a few women in the audience readily raised their hands. “Tell you what, everyone take a look at the back of your ticket. If you see a gold star there, raise your hand.”

Checking the back of mine, I nudged Monty beside me. “Mine has a star. Does yours?”

He shook his head and then pushed me toward the front of the crowd, calling out, “This wench has a star.”

I snorted out a laugh and smacked at Monty, but when I looked back up at the pirate, he wiggled his eyebrows at me and crooked a jaunty finger. Rolling my eyes, I made my way up the wooden steps to the next level to much cheering from the people in our party. The man snapped his fingers and called, “Maidens! See if you can find this woman something decent to wear.”

Two smiling women immediately surrounded me and led me through an oak door, introducing themselves as Amy and Melanie. “What the hell is going on?” I asked with a giggle.

“You’re going to help with the show. It’ll be fun,” Amy informed me, holding out a pair of chocolate-brown breeches for me to step into. She pulled them up over my leggings and tied them at the waistband.

Melanie handed me a cream shirt with puffy sleeves and ruffles on the chest. “Now put this on.” Then they turned their backs while I changed.

“I’m done.” They turned around and held up a brown leather vest that I stuck my arms into. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Just play along,” one of them said as she began lacing up the corset top. The other bent and changed my loafers out for pirate boots. When they were done, they tied a dark-red scarf over my hair and expertly knotted it on the side. “There ya go. All done.”

The whole dressing thing only took a couple minutes, and then they were pushing me back out the door and onto the raised deck. I took a little bow when the audience cheered, and my eyes met Gianna’s when she let out a loud wolf whistle.

And then my eyes narrowed on a young man in a red ball cap, holding a little girl wearing a pirate hat.Is that…

The thought was interrupted when something swung down from above and landed with a thud in front of me. Okay, more of a someone, really. Letting out a squeak of surprise, I stumbled back a step before he caught me by the shoulders.

“Careful, Tink.”

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