Ever since Caleb had called three days ago, she’d felt like this average life was suffocating her. All the more reason not to go home. Who knew what craziness she’d crave once she was exposed to the extravagant personalities that were her family.
“Well?” Dave prompted. “Are you going to be my New Year’s date?”
What did she do? Choose average but boring? Or go back to her lonely life, hiding away in her house and staying away from any real relationship? Before she could decide, her cell phone rang. A little ashamed at how grateful she was to hear the bluesy tone, Maya offered an apologetic smile, then glanced at the readout. Shocked, her hand trembled just a little as she lifted it for a better look.
Lilah Gomez?
Her best friend from high school? The lying, cheating slut who’d stolen Maya’s boyfriend?
How had she gotten Maya’s number? What the hell was she doing calling?
And why wasn’t the past staying nicely tucked away like it was supposed to?
She debated ignoring it. She had nothing to say to the woman. Then she recalled Caleb’s news about home. And her innate curiosity flared, making it impossible for her to resist.
“Excuse me,” she murmured to Dave, giving him a smile with enough charm to make him preen. “I have to take this.”
She slid out of the booth, hurrying through the brightly lit restaurant with its loud lunchtime crowd. She waited until she reached the garden enclosure just outside the restaurant before answering. “Hello?”
“Maya! Hi there. It’s me, Lilah. You know, from the good old days?”
“Is that how you remember them?” Maya mused aloud.
Lilah’s giggle was even more irritating than it’d been in the good old days.
“Your dad gave me your number. He’s hoping you’ll come home for the New Year’s Eve engagement party. I hope you do. I mean, can you believe Caleb is getting married? She’s so not worthy of a hottie like your brother. Yowza did he grow up into one delish hunk. And when he finally comes back to town, what does Pandora do? Grabs him up before anyone else gets a shot.”
Anyone else, meaning Lilah.
“Why, exactly, are you calling? You know, after eight years of absolutely no contact?” Maya wasn’t surprised that her father was keeping tabs on her. That was typical. But that he’d share anything with Lilah was a shock.
“I told you, I wanted to see if you were coming back for the engagement party. We have so much to catch up on. I want to hear all about your life, and I know you’re dying to hear about mine,” she said. Then, clearly not wanting Maya to die of curiosity, she started filling her in on the past eight years.
Tuning her out while she tried to figure out the angle Lilah was playing, Maya’s eyes swept the restaurant. Dave was happily texting away, sneaking bites of her slice of chocolate cake.
Her eyes caught on another man at the other end of the garden. She recognized the sexily tousled sun-streaked hair and wide, do-me-baby shoulders. Desire did a slow, loopy swirl deep in her belly. Was that the same gorgeous Southern stud she’d encountered at the company party? Or was she just imagining a resemblance because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the man?
“So, you know, I’m hoping it’ll be a double celebration,” Lilah was babbling.
“Sorry, what?” Maya asked, standing on tiptoes and craning her neck around the jungle of plants to see if it really was him. Yes, the man was off-limits due to his gorgeousness, his sexual magnetism and the fact that she was pretty sure she couldn’t be in proximity to him for more than forty-five minutes and not jump his bones. A bad idea for a woman trying to contain her wilder impulses. But still… She had the right to enjoy the view.
“Double engagement,” Lilah clarified, her words syrup sweet. “Caleb and Pandora. Me and Tobias. You know, your father.”
Maya’s jaw dropped. So did her feet as she fell from her tiptoes and almost landed on her butt. Knees like jelly, she reached out to grab the wall.
“No,” she breathed.
“Oh, yes,” Lilah said, her delight reaching through the line like a slap to Maya’s face.
“No,” she blurted out. “My father wouldn’t do that.”
He couldn’t. Hadn’t he learned anything from Greta the Grinch? The woman had used him, had tried to ruin him. She’d destroyed his life. Through her little hacking habit, Maya had kept track of Greta, finding comfort in the fact that her father had ended things with the bitch a few months after Maya had left home.
And now he was seeing Lilah Gomez? Had he fallen into senility? What the hell was wrong with the man?
“Poor Maya. I promise, I won’t make you call me momma,” Lilah said with a giggle. “But this will be so fun, won’t it? Your dad, he’s just so dreamy. And rich, of course. I love the power he holds over the town, too. That’s so sexy in a man, don’t you think?”
The only thing Maya thought was that she might be sick.
“He’d have to be crazy to go down this path again,” she muttered. Was he trying to ruin his life again?
“Crazy in love. I mean, he hasn’t asked yet,” Lilah acknowledged reasonably. But Maya knew her well enough to recognize the gleeful spite in her tone. “But he will, eventually. I mean, think of everything I have to offer. And Caleb’s engagement party is the perfect time, too. You know, New Year, new life. New wife.”
Her giggle was like nails on a chalkboard to Maya’s nerves.
“Too bad you’re all alone,” Lilah crooned. “Is that why you’ve avoided coming home all these years? Because you didn’t want everyone to ask questions about the lack of a guy in your life? Your dad said you were single. Still. That’s too bad. Maybe I can fix you up with someone when you get here?”
“I don’t need—”
Before she could reject Lilah’s offer, the other woman’s mouth was off and running, listing the variety of losers she figured might condescend to a date.
“Then there’s Marty Lankin. You remember him? Played tuba in the marching band. He moved back in with his mom last month after his gastric bypass and he’s ready to start dating,” Lilah continued.
Maya’s knees wobbled. What could be worse? Going home to the emotional pain and stress of seeing the father who’d betrayed her? Or touring the dregs of the Black Oak dating pool to affirm Lilah’s assurance that Maya was a loser?
No way in hell she was going back.
Maya’s heart sank as she shoved her hand through her hair.
This was her father, though. He might have let her down, he might have disappointed her. He was a criminal, a con and now apparently a lech. But that didn’t mean he deserved the likes of Lilah Gomez.
“I’ve got to go,” she muttered, disconnecting over the other woman’s protests.
Maya didn’t know how long she stood there with her fist clenched around the now-dead phone. The jungle of plants was a big green blur and her mind was filled with the sound of her own harsh breathing.
Finally, with a quick shake of her head and a couple of deep breaths, she forced herself to saunter back into the restaurant, putting a little extra swing into her hips as she did. Dave’s gaze locked on her like a missile on a target.
See. She didn’t need to be fixed up with momma’s boy losers who lived in their parents’ basements. Grateful to Dave for saving her ego, she gave him an extra-warm smile.
He responded with a loud gulp.
“Maybe we can do something special after the party this weekend,” he suggested.
“This weekend?”
“It’s my company’s Christmas party,” he reminded her. “I’ve got to go. Big promotion in the works, appearances count and all that. You’re still going with me, right?”
A loud, raucous party filled with people she didn’t know? Or preparing to go home and face her past, with all its nasty little demons and emotional pitfalls.
“Of course I’m going with you,” she gushed. “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”
SIMON DIDN’T KNOW EXACTLY what Maya’s intentions were, but she was definitely a woman on a mission. From what he’d overheard at lunch the previous week, Tobias was up to something new. Something she wasn’t happy about.
He wondered if that had anything to do with the news he’d gotten two days ago. An ATF connection of his had let it slip that there were a slew of stolen guns spreading through Northern California. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had narrowed the epicenter of the leak to the Santa Cruz Mountains. Which just happened to be where Tobias Black was. Coincidence? No way in hell.
This was Simon’s shot. If he could bust Tobias Black, his career would skip the fast track and hit rocket speed. All he had to do was make a solid contact with the old guy’s daughter. She was his entrée. A couple more conversations with her and he’d be able to claim her a friend when he visited Black Oak.
As if proving she was ready to be his new best friend, Maya chose that moment to stroll in, her arm tucked into the elbow of her guy friend. Despite the party in progress, Simon could clearly see the tension in the set of her shoulders, and the way she kept her body from curving into pretty boy’s.
It shouldn’t be too hard for Simon to move himself in. A little charm, a little distraction and a little luck were all he needed to pull this off.
He timed it carefully, putting himself in Maya’s line of sight, careful to look like a guest by exchanging friendly chitchat with strangers. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her frown, satisfied when it turned to heated curiosity.
He had to wait about an hour before pretty boy left to head to the bar and refill their drinks.
Then Simon made his move. He strode over to where she stood silhouetted against the wide bank of windows.
“Hello,” he said. “We’ve met, haven’t we?”
It was a lame line, but he was interested in seeing what she’d do with it. Gold eyes considered him for a second, then she nodded. “You were at the Braverment party last week, weren’t you? I’m Maya.”
“Simon Harris,” he introduced himself, using one of his covers. Then to put her at ease, he spent the next five minutes making idle chitchat.
Mid talk about the party and the potential for investors, they heard a soft chime over the music.
“Excuse me,” she said with an apologetic smile. Pulling her phone from her tiny purse, she glanced at the screen. The blood drained from her face, making her look like a wax doll in a horror movie.
“Are you okay?” Simon asked, quickly moving to her side. He glanced at the screen and winced. Having seen plenty of pictures of Tobias Black, he easily recognized the man in the photo. The brunette plastered over his chest like a wet T-shirt was new to him, but Simon figured no daughter wanted to see her father being used as a stripper pole.
A text flashed across the screen next.
Aren’t we a cute couple?
Well, now, that was interesting. Simon watched as red heat washed over Maya’s previously ashy complexion. Fury? The pictured coupledom clearly didn’t sit well with her.
“Friend of yours?” he asked, knowing it was a risk to get so personal. But he figured she was pissed enough to ignore the impropriety in her need to vent.
Maya shifted her glare from the phone to his face. She shook her head like she was trying to toss off the anger. “An idiot determined to ruin his life, is more like it.”
Perfect opening.
“That is a shame,” he said, leaning in just a little more. Not for the job this time. But because he liked feeling the warmth of her, seeing her golden eyes dilate so they were almost all black, and hearing her breath catch in such a sexy little way. Nice to know he could pull her out of her anger.
Then, as if knowing Maya’s attention had shifted, her phone chimed again.
They both looked down.
Simon frowned. What the hell? It was a picture of a wedding dress.
“Oh, hell no,” she hissed. Muttering cursewords under her breath, her fingers flew over the tiny keyboard at the speed of light.
He watched the text fly into the ether, excitement stirring in his gut.
“So you’re going home this weekend?” he asked, his tone as innocent as he could make it. “Where’s home?”
Maya wasn’t paying him any attention, though. Her gaze flew over the crowd until she gave a little hum. Then she absently patted Simon’s arm and said, “Excuse me.”