by Tara Randel
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I DON’T THINK this is a good idea.”
“Yes. It is,” Jewel said as she dragged Lilli to the beach where a huge bonfire served as a beacon to the people of Cypress Pointe. “You put too much pressure on yourself. You need to get out and enjoy yourself, not sit home on a Saturday night.”
“But I have—”
“That’s your problem. You always have an excuse. No lists. No worrying about the benefit. Tonight we’re going to have some fun.”
Lilli had to admit, it had been a long time since she’d been out, socializing and having fun. And to be honest, leaving all the business of the benefit and the promotion behind for a few hours took an enormous weight off her shoulders.
As Lilli drew closer to the fire, her muscles relaxed. Her mind cleared of the ever-present lists, worries and responsibilities. Being a type A personality had its disadvantages.
The flaming wood snapped, and sparks sailed into the dark night like fireflies escaping a jar. Smoke rose and drifted in the wind, leaving a pungent scent in its wake. She stood there, reminded of another night. Another bonfire.
That summer had been challenging, to say the least, with her additional summer studies and reading assignments for advanced classes the next school year. When Max had caught her attention, he’d taken her mind off her worries.
Something about him had gotten to her. Cute, yes, but beyond that. Maybe the aura of excitement surrounding him. So different from her staid life. She was tired of being the good girl, always following the rules, and that rough-around-the-edges guy had made her feel alive. She’d decided to see what would happen.
What she hadn’t expected was getting hauled off to the police station.
A young man ran by, jostling Lilli out of the past. Laughter and loud voices surrounded her, drawing her back to the present. Realizing she stood much too close to the heat of the fire, Lilli stepped back, looking for an out-of-the-way spot free from chatting people. Making her way to the outskirts of the rowdy group, Lilli sank down onto the cool sand, cooling her memories, as well. She hadn’t thought about the events of that night for years. Until Max had turned up in her life again.
Shaking her head, Lilli glanced over at Jewel, the life of the party, holding court with a group of her friends. So unlike Lilli.
Earlier, Jewel had showed up unannounced at her apartment, insisting Lilli accompany her to the beach. Every month the city allowed a public bonfire and Jewel had wanted Lilli to go along. Lilli had already settled in after a busy day, but Jewel wouldn’t take no for an answer. Throwing on a T-shirt, jeans and a lightweight jacket, Lilli had tagged along. So here she sat, in the sand, surrounded by people, many she didn’t know, relaxing for the first time in days. Between work and the charity event, she’d been on permanent fast-forward.
She glanced across the water. Moonlight trailed over the waves. A smattering of stars twinkled in the night. The comfortable temperature made it perfect bonfire weather. Even though there were plenty of people to talk to, Lilli hung back. Before long, a sense of loneliness enveloped her. Not exactly a new sensation. She’d battled this feeling all her life. Tonight it seemed more pronounced, like a clock counting down to some unknown future.
Securing the new account at work would help her move ahead in the company. But was that enough? Did she want more in life beyond the promotion? She’d been working toward the one goal for so long, she hadn’t had time for anything outside of work. The only extra activity in her life was the animal shelter. Now that her mother’s actions had immersed her in the historical society business, she realized she’d closed herself off from other activities. She missed being involved with other people.
Pulling her legs up, she circled her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. She might be in the midst of coordinating the charity benefit, but face it, once that ended Lilli would be back at square one. Good at her job but no social life to round out her days and nights.
She was so caught up in her revelation, it took a few seconds to register a pair of boots in the sand beside her. She glanced over, her eyes moving from the boots, to worn jeans, up over the UF sweatshirt, to meet the eyes of Max Sanders.
He handed her a bottle of water. “Thought you might be here.”
“Good guess.” She took the water bottle he offered, surprised and pleased to see him.
Max nodded to the fire. “Been a while since I came to one of these gatherings.”
“Probably because the last campfire we were at together ended so abruptly.”
“That and the resulting trip to juvenile detention.”
“And I apologized for that.”
He lowered himself beside her, stretching his long legs out before him, crossing his ankles and leaning back on his elbows. “And here I’d figured I’d made a positive first impression.”
“A little.” More, really, but Max didn’t have to know that.
He turned his head to her.
“You and your buddies were up to no good that night,” she reminded him.
“I remember we started out the night joyriding. There’s only so much driving around you can do until boredom sets in, so we got this brilliant idea to come down to the beach. Bad enough we started a fire, against city ordinance, but then we had to make things worse by tossing firecrackers and cherry bombs into the flames. Not our smartest move.”
“Except it wasn’t your move. You had nothing to do with it.”
“Because I was kissing you at the time.”
Heat that had nothing to do with the fire warmed her face. “Yes, you were. It was a memorable kiss.”
“Yeah?” A crooked smile curved Max’s lips.
“I guess it’ll always be a night to remember,” she said.
The wavering firelight cast his face in shadows. A shiver ran through her. Lilli couldn’t deny her attraction to this man. Not only his good looks, but the raw confidence he exuded. That, more than anything, kept her attention.
Max laughed. “The chief was not happy with us. I gotta say, the man is usually pretty even keeled, but you wake him up in the middle of the night over mischief like that, he can be downright ornery.”
“Especially when he had to deal with my parents.”
Max nodded. “Or when he came to find me. He camped outside Gram’s house until I came home. Caught me when I tried to sneak in.” He shook his head. “He pulled out the cuffs and made a big deal about putting me in the squad car.”
“I remember when he dragged you into the station. You were not a happy camper.”
“No, I wasn’t. Later, when we drove up to juvie, he told me it was for my own good. He definitely scared me straight. Once I got out of the detention center, we had a long conversation about my future. For the first time, I listened.”
“Your relationship goes way back.”
“Yeah. We’ve worked things out over the years.” He untwisted the cap from his water bottle and took a long drink.
“And here I thought I had you beat with my story of skipping out of lunch period with kids from the National Honor Society right before the induction ceremony. Guess not.”
“Induction ceremony?”
She grinned, remembering how scared and excited, she’d been. “My senior year, the school had this candlelight ceremony planned. Kind of a big deal. But before that, some friends wanted to go get lunch off campus. I went along. Guess who I ran into on the way back into school?”
“The principal?”
“Logical guess, but no. My parents. They’d come for the ceremony.”
Looking back on it now, Lilli realized she’d been shocked that day, but not by getting caught for skipping out of school. She’d been a good student and her leaving wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Besides, she’d left with National Honor Societ
y kids. Not exactly a gang of thugs.
No, her surprise stemmed from the fact that her parents had come to a function together.
“The chance of getting caught skipping class was part of the appeal,” Max told her.
“Yeah, well, it was my first, and last, time.”
His eyes widened. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Afraid not.”
“Edgy woman.”
“I may not have skipped a lot, but I had my share of moments.”
“Yeah, like I said, edgy.”
He grinned the grin that told her he was messing with her and enjoyed it. The bonfire flames lit the humor in his eyes. And once again, her stomach fluttered in a way only Max could make happen.
She shrugged, trying hard to ignore her attraction to Max and failing miserably.
“Lame story,” she muttered.
“Nah. Gives me hope.”
“For what?”
“That you’re not entirely the prim and proper good girl you want the world to believe you are.”
“That’s what you got out of that story? That I’m prim and proper?”
He shot her look that said, “You think?”
Okay, it was a given. But maybe she missed that girl at the beach who’d kissed a strange boy and liked it. “What if I’m tired of being the good girl? The responsible girl?” she asked herself as well as Max. “Maybe I want to prove to everyone I can be bad.”
“Slow down, tiger.” He chuckled. “In my experience, there’s always a bit of mischief buried in people. The secret is figuring how to channel it.”
Maybe that bit of mischief in her explained why she’d wanted to be his date for the benefit.
“So, you have experience helping people channel their mischief?”
“Definitely.” He stared at the fire. “But not anymore. Taking risks doesn’t appeal to me unless it’s business related.”
So much for hoping this reformed rebel might teach her a thing or two.
“I know one thing, though.”
She looked at him, noting the serious gleam in his eyes.
“Sanders Security comes first. I need to focus on getting it up and running, and making it successful.”
Just the way she felt about getting the promotion. Seems they had one thing in common.
* * ** * *
MAX DIDN’T SLEEP WELL with one particular woman invading his dreams—visions of Lilli dressed to the nines, informing him he’d been banned from the benefit because he didn’t own a tuxedo. She turned on her fancy high-heeled shoe and slammed a giant oak door behind her, leaving him outside the club, miserably calling her name. That brought him bolting up in a tangle of sheets.
He ran a hand over his face. “Get a grip.”
That had been 1:00 a.m.
After that, he’d tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning. Even Jake Riley had abandoned him, unable to get any sleep due to Max’s restlessness. When the alarm finally went off, he growled and knocked the clock radio off the nightstand. “Not now,” he muttered to no one.
He took a quick shower, dressed in charcoal-colored slacks, a striped shirt and black loafers, and straggled into the kitchen in search of caffeine to clear his head before heading to his grandmother’s house.
Gram had bacon sizzling in the pan when he and Jake Riley came through the back door. This morning she wore a sunny yellow dress, her short, gray hair set in soft curls. Her dazzling smile greeted him, the wrinkles around her cheery eyes a testament to years of laughter. She stood about five and a half feet tall, but loomed larger than life in Max’s memory. And she could still scare him straight with a few well-spoken words.
“Feeling okay?” he asked, as he did every day.
“Yes. I think that new prescription is finally working. I feel better than I have in ages.”
“You said having me around was the best medicine.”
She chuckled. “Of course it is. You know I love having you here.”
“I hear a but in that.”
“But I’m better. You don’t have to hang around here and worry.”
“Gram, I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
“I appreciate all your help, but I’m stronger. Start focusing on your own life. It’s time.”
“I have a life.”
“More than just work.”
Gram had been after him to get a more active social life. He explained over and over that the business took priority, but his words fell on deaf ears. Gram wanted more for him, even if he enjoyed doing security work and hanging out with Jake Riley. She made no bones about the fact that she wanted great-grandkids, which he figured had to be a grandmother thing because all her friends were the same way, constantly asking if he was seeing anyone and offering up their granddaughters as potential dates. Now that he and Lilli were working together on the charity event, he decided not to mention it for fear of Gram having visions of Lilli and him walking down the real marriage aisle.
“You’re sure your health is better?”
“I’m sure.” Gram broke eggs into a bowl. “What are you up to today?”
“Business forum,” he said before taking a gulp of coffee.
“It’s a beautiful day outside and you’re going to waste it on business?”
“It won’t be a waste. It’s called networking. I hope to get more security jobs to keep my new intern busy.”
“Intern? That’s new. Anyone I know?”
“Bart.”
She stopped, midwhisk. “Excuse me?”
The corner of his mouth quirked.
“What brought this on?”
“I was about to drag him to the police station yesterday and I remembered what I was doing at his age. Long story short, he’s going to straighten up.”
She stopped stirring the eggs, considered what he said and then continued with the job. “I think that’s a good idea.”
As usual, Gram surprised him.
“You do?”
“Yes. I think your influence will be good for Bart.”
“That’s what the chief said.”
“You do have plenty of experience getting in trouble, so you should be able to relate to the boy.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“It’s the truth, honey.” She patted his cheek. “Bart’s a good boy. He’ll figure it out. Just like you did.”
“Not before he makes me crazy.”
“It’s called payback.”
Max grinned. Gram had nailed it, as usual.
She set out the food and they ate quickly, both heading out in opposite directions. He had a few things to tie up at the office before going across town.
Before long he arrived at the forum. Searching for a place to park in the rapidly filling parking lot, Max found an empty space and quickly steered the truck in.
He sat for a few minutes, scanning the people walking toward the building. Was this a good idea? Max stared at the building, uncertain.
Because of his past, he needed to meet this challenge head-on. He entered the building, the first hurdle in mixing with the mainstream. He approached a young woman with pink streaks in her hair, greeting people at the door. He recognized her from the day he’d seen her with Lilli after his pursuit of Bart.
“Welcome,” the young woman smiled. “I’m...Max?”
“No, I’m Max. You’re Jewel.”
She blinked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“What, no open arms?”
“Just surprised is all. Lilli didn’t mention you’d be here.”
Why would it matter to Lilli? He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m here for the forum, just like everyone else.”
“You’r
e not here to cause trouble like you did with Bart, are you?”
“No.”
“Good, because the jury’s still out,” Jewel informed him.
“I’m going to find a seat,” Max said, moving out of the line of fire.
He wandered into the gym. Waiting for the first speaker to take the podium, people milled around, introducing themselves and shaking his hand. Trying not to act like a fish out of water, he spoke to people, hoping they wouldn’t notice his unease. He kept waiting for his past to catch up with him.
A deep, familiar voice, greeted him with genuine pleasure. “Max Sanders. Long time, buddy.”
“Dane.” The two men shook hands and Max said, “Heard you’d moved to Tampa.”
Dane smiled. “I did for a while, but I’m back now. Bought the old Grand Cypress Hotel.”
“No kidding.”
“Yep. Been living there while I remodel the place. Right now only the restaurant is open.”
Max had been tight with Dane Peterson during high school. The two had become partners, of sorts, in vandalism. They’d taken turns being on lookout while the other guy boosted a car. Committed petty theft. They’d been young and known it all. Or so they’d thought. Them feeding off each other’s troubles and encouraging each other’s bad behavior had made both families tear their hair out in frustration. When Dane had suddenly gone to live with an uncle and Max had enlisted, they’d lost touch.
Dane regarded his friend with a serious expression. “I have to say, this is the last place I ever expected to run into you.”
Max laughed. “Ditto.”
“We stirred up a lot of trouble.”
“Who woulda figured we’d end up respectable business owners?”
“Not our families, that’s for sure.” Dane shook his head, a ghost of a smile playing over his lips.
Max found himself relaxing.
“I heard you’ve set up shop in town. I’d like to make an appointment with you about security at my hotel.”
“How about tomorrow?”
“Sounds good. I’m free in the morning.” Dane shook his head, chuckled. “You. Doing security work.”
“Looks like we both turned our lives around. I appreciate you considering Sanders Security.”