“My sister’s son almost—” Dom didn’t finish the sentence, it had been too close to the reality of what just happened. “He almost drowned. We all took a course after that.”
“Well good job you did.” The lifeguard slapped him on the back and waved the paramedics over.
“Think your patient wants to say thanks.” Maya patted his arm again and pointed to Henry, now enfolded in his mother’s arms but with his own firmly wrapped around his dog.
Dom held out a hand. “My name’s Dominic. You’re going to be okay Henry. Lucky you had young Toby here. He knew something was up and told me to come get you.”
Henry smiled through the oxygen mask and shook Dominic’s hand before hugged the dog tighter. Now that he was sure his master was okay, the dog had settled down. Henry mumbled something.
“What was that?”
His mother gave a great sigh. “He said Toby always looks out for him. They do everything together.”
“Well thank goodness for Toby,” said Dom and smiled. “Someone coming to help you all out?”
She nodded. “My husband. There he is now.”
A man ran up to them and dropped to his knees, enfolding both mother, son and dog in a big embrace. Maya tapped him on the shoulder and he stood to take his little girl who was looking she was ready to have a turn crying.
“We’ll get out of your way. Take care of Toby. He deserves a big steak for dinner,” Dom said.
Maya fell into step beside him silently as they walked back up the beach to their pile of clothes and towels. “Did I say already that that was amazing? You were amazing.”
Dom shrugged then suddenly found his strength deserting him. “I think it’s time to get back to the hotel. And I may need a steak too.”
Maya had to fight hard not to slip her hand into Dominic’s on the way back up to the suite. Never in her life had she seen anyone save a kid right in front of her. Watching him unhesitatingly start pumping air into the little boy’s chest—she took a deep shuddering breath. It had sent a giant lump into her throat.
And even though she hadn’t known him long, she knew already that Dom’s first response would never be to run for help but to be the help. It shouldn’t have been such a shock to see him take control like that. But it still sent a charge through her to think that he spotted the kid when thousands wouldn’t, and knew exactly what to do to save him. With all the attention of the surf media focused on her charges, there was always a Jet ski ready to go drag a surfer out of the clutches of a rip or a reef. She couldn’t help but wonder, what would
Rick have done in the same situation?
She pushed open the door to Dom’s suite and after grabbing him another towel, pushed a room service menu into his hand. “You choose something, I’ll order and get you a drink. Sit.”
He didn’t protest and sat heavily on the couch, the towel wrapped around his waist and his hair still dripping.
Ordering up a steak and fries for him and an ice-cream float for herself, she found two beers in the fridge, opened them and pushed one into his hand.
“Perhaps I haven’t said this, but that was amazing. You were—“
The smile surfaced after he’d taken a long gulp of the cold beer. “Amazing. Yes, you did say something like that. Three times.”
She grinned. “Phew. I thought I was going to have to call someone to resuscitate you. You haven’t said a word since the beach.”
“Hardly. Just, you know, thinking about how it could have all gone so horribly wrong.”
“But it didn’t. Because of you. Your sisters must be so happy to have you as their brother.”
That got him. He raised an eyebrow. “You, clearly, have never met my sisters. And that’s probably a good thing. They’d eat you up for breakfast.”
“Oh I don’t know. I can hold my own, as long as I’m not being forced to flirt or wear flimsy bits of silk froth against my will.” She almost face-slapped herself. “The dress. Oh crap.”
Rushing over to where she’d dumped their things as they came in the door she picked up the pink silk crepe, covered in wet sand and screwed into a ball. “Shit. Sorry. I shouldn’t have put it at the bottom of my bag when I got changed, I didn’t think about what a wet towel and sand would do to it. Do you think it’ll dry clean?”
He laughed. Finally. “Don’t worry about it. Plenty more frocks in the ocean.”
She sat down next to him and they sipped at their beers in companionable silence. The knock at the door brought their food and Dom didn’t bat an eyelid at her ice-cream float. But as she spooned a taste of the creamy chocolatey goodness to her lips something he’d said stuck out.
“Frocks in the ocean. Trash in the ocean.” She turned to Dominic. “The kid’s mother. Henry’s. She said he’d gone into the water to fish out a bunch of plastic bags. That he hated seeing stuff like that floating in the water.”
Dom had his head down, carving great chunks of his steak and virtually inhaling them.
“Hey. Meatarian man. Did you hear me?”
He looked up and popped another piece of steak in his mouth as if to taunt her.
“I said did you hear me? That’s it. What Henry was doing. He’s our eco warrior.”
Dominic shook his head with a wry grin. “I think you’ve lost me. I know you got a cheap thrill out of Waiter-boy giving you his number, but Henry’s a bit young even for you.”
“Ha-de-ha-ha. No. Not for being the face of the campaign. For the environmental cause part of it. She stood up, then realized she was still only dressed in a towel and her swimming costume and sat again. “He only went into the ocean to get the trash out of it. He’s an eco-warrior. Back home in the States loads of parks run volunteer events around this sort of thing. They call them It’s My Park Day. People get together to collect the trash out of their local parks, heaps of kids, everyday walkers, corporate volunteers. We could do something like that except with the ocean.”
His eyes widened, then gleamed. “Like Clean Up Australia Day.”
She deflated a bit. “Oh, needs to be bigger than that. Okay, so we up the stakes. We do a cat walk show on each of the beaches you target for cleanup. And when you buy something from Wolfe’s clothing you go into the draw to win a ticket to one of the shows.
The day to day is a website where you see which beaches your garment helped clean up. And the events are the media highlight.”
“It’s perfect.”
She beamed. “Thanks.”
“Groups can be a part of the clean-up crews. People who walk their dogs could be in on it. Kids like Henry.” The smile on his face made the room seem brighter. Better.
“Sure. We could even have a little dog-walking kid icon as part of the promotion. Make a hero out of Henry.”
Dom put down his plate and took her ice-cream float from her hands. “You may be a terrible flirt, but you’re a genius.” He cupped her face in his hands and before she could protest her flirting prowess or complain she’d already told him she was a PR genius, he was kissing her. Kissing her!
She could have protested. She should have protested. But the words never formed, the intention melted away as ineffectively as if it were made of ice-cream. Dominic Wolfe was kissing her and dear lawd, kissing had never been like this before. As his lips stayed locked with hers she luxuriated in the plush softness of them. He tilted her head just a little and stroked the side of her neck. OMGawd! If her will had been ice-cream before, it was a puddle now. And the heat flooding through her blood was promising to melt a whole lot more besides, starting with her swimmers. A little moan threatened to escape and she put up her hands to grip the hair at the back of Dominic’s neck. But as his mouth kept up its insistent pressure and she felt the urge to open up all the way, to let his tongue invade and take her over completely, a tiny spark of sanity reared up and took control.
“Whoa.”
He pulled back and gazed deep into her eyes, his damp hair mussed from her fingers, his lips reddened by their contact. Not.
Helping. She stood and walked to the picture window. “I’m not sure—” What wasn’t she sure about? How great that kiss was? How those dark rimmed blue eyes sent a shiver of something much hotter than anything she’d felt for Rick through her body? Maya let the sentence hang in the air, hoping that Dominic would leap in and save her.
“Not sure what?” he growled and the tenor of his voice had her practically ready to pour herself into his mouth. She straightened, putting a picture of the apartment she would own and the life she would build in her mind’s eye to ensure her focus. “I’m not sure we should be doing anything like that.”
The passion dimmed a bit from his eyes. But only a bit. “Of course not.” He rubbed his chin and Maya couldn’t help but watch the strong fingers that only minutes ago had been cupping her chin. Calm down. He’d been caught up in the moment. She could have been anyone. Or at least anyone who came up with a solution for branding his new line with an eco message that wasn’t simply about putting green stickers on the packaging.
Then his face changed, as if he’d been struck by a light bulb moment. “It was a reward for your brilliant eco-concept. An advance on lesson number two.”
She frowned.
“In your seducing Prince Surfalot quest. Once you’ve nailed flirting, you really do need to be able to kiss the pants off a guy.”
Kiss the pants off a guy. Her eyes flickered down to his wet-towel clad waist and Maya almost died when she looked back up and Dominic was watching her. But the way he was watching her – a thrill of heat pooled between her thighs and Maya put a hand behind her to steady herself on the window ledge. “Um. I guess.”
“Hey.” His expression changed and he scanned her face. “There’s something you’re not telling me isn’t there?”
“No. I—“
“—don’t pretend. I have three sisters remember. If this—if I am making you uncomfortable—”
“—No.” She took a breath. “No. You’re not making me uncomfortable. Just the opposite.” She fumbled for something to say then let out a huff of air. “Oh crap. There’s no way round it. I was hurt. Bad. By a string of useless dudes. And after the last one—” She took a breath. “I haven’t been with anyone since. I get nervous, I am nervous, I just don’t know how to…and then you kissed me and…”
He smiled and the gentleness of his eyes made her almost melt all over again. “I kissed you and you realized you had nothing to be afraid of?”
If only you’d been in my head two seconds ago. “Something like that. I’m okay when I’m working, but I psych myself out when it comes to romance. If you knew where I’d come from you’d understand but,” she shook her head. “You’re right. Life is for living. I’m tired of being scared of messing up again.”
“There’s no such thing as messing up when it comes to romance. I’m sure I read that somewhere. The guys you were with must have been terrible.”
“Just terrible for my confidence. The last one told me I was a terrible kisser. Terrible in bed. Terrible all round.”
“Idiot.” Dominic paused. “Don’t let anyone tell you things like that. That’s part of the reason I do what I do. To give people confidence. To make them see their best selves. Someone in my family was hurt deeply by being bullied and I will never forget it. I’m glad you’ve found a way out of it.”
She paused. It sounded like he was admitting to something much bigger than he was letting on but he didn’t stop to let her question him. “I’m sorry I came on so strong.”
“Don’t be. You were trying to help. You were helping. Like I said, that’s the first time, well, you heard me.”
“I’ll back off.”
“No,” she put a hand on his arm and then instantly regretted it. Wouldn’t it be better if he did back off? The burn she got from touching him was about as far from professional fire as it was possible to be. Maya couldn’t help the rush of disappointment that ran through her. Disappointment? No. That didn’t make sense, it must just be the emptying out of adrenalin after their crazy day. “I appreciate your help. All your help.”
Dominic smiled. “Well then. Your foolish surfer won’t be able to resist you by the time I’m done. Now, how about we get back to work.”
Sitting at the table, photos and sponsorship lists spread all round them, Maya finally leaned back on her chair. “So you’re happy? We narrow it down to these six?”
Dominic nodded. “I’m not convinced about that guy,” he pointed to Rick. “But I can see what you mean about him having a certain something. And he does have an impressive record with other sponsors. I just don’t know if he’s got it.”
If only he knew.
“This guy though. I think he’s my favorite.”
Maya followed his finger and almost groaned. Holokai Keahi, one of the Hawaiians on the circuit, was great. Beautiful. He’d signed with a technology firm and footwear brand under her prompting. But he was notoriously picky. Ambitious sure, and he knew that to make it on the circuit, he had to have sponsors, but still…
“Your face fell. He not your favorite person? Or—no,” Dominic picked up the picture. “He’s not your surfer is he? Doesn’t look like the sensible, solid type to me.”
She huffed her breath out her nose to stop herself from laughing. “No. That he is not. He’s lovely. Just very choosy about who he works with.”
“That I can deal with. Just let me talk to him for a while and we’ll be okay.” Dominic stretched and rolled his shoulders.
Shoulders. Man he had nice broad shoulders. As good as Rick’s. Maya frowned. What the heck was she doing comparing the two of them? Again.
“So, out with it. Which one of them is he? I know he’s in the mix and I’m not going to bag you for it. You’ve got a business to attend to and everything. But you should really let me in on Prince Surfalot’s true identity. I could see it as insider trading if I weren’t such a nice guy.”
Maya’s focus snapped back into work mode. “What?”
“Relax. I’m only teasing. Just because you’re planning on marrying the guy, doesn’t mean he’s not going to be employable. And you’re too upstanding to put him up for work that you don’t think he should be doing.”
Yes. She’d only put Rick forward for this because he’d be good at it. Great at it. “Of course.”
“So then, I won’t be mad. Which one is he?”
Maya avoided looking at Dominic and pointed to the photos of Rick.
“Ha. Knew it.”
“Uhuh. Regular super sleuth you. You were guessing it was Holo only two seconds ago.”
He pouted. “Now, now, don’t be upset because I can see right through you.”
She looked up to find his eyes full of laughter. Damn him for being so quick. And charming. And—calm down. “I still think you should meet him. Just in case. In fact I think you should meet all of them. Tonight. There’s a function on at seven which I was going to go to anyway and they’ll all be there.”
“Kissing corporate ass.”
Maya rolled her eyes at him. “Aren’t we just discussing one of them signing up to kiss your corporate ass?”
“I don’t need them to kiss up to me or anyone at Wolfe Clothing. I want to sign them because we’re a good fit and we can use each other in a mutually beneficial way.”
“Pffft. That’s the same thing but with bigger words. I’m in PR, I know spin when I smell it.”
“No. It’s not. This is not just about money. I told you that already. I need to win back profit share yes, but we’ll only do that if we’re in it for the long haul. If we rebrand the company in a real way. I took my hands off the wheel and it shows. That’s not happening again.” The adamant reply sent a ripple of shock through Maya but she had to admit she was impressed. If he could be this passionate in private, perhaps he would have a chance winning over Holokai if that’s who he set his mind on.
“Okay okay.” She held up her hands. “I take it back. You’re a true man of integrity. But you’re still going to be corporate ass
at this party. Especially if you turn up with me and start interviewing surf talent.”
He shrugged. “Although if I turn up as your date, maybe Prince Surfalot will get jealous and see the error of his ways.”
She sighed. “Probably not.”
“Hey, don’t talk like that.” He tipped her chin up with his finger.
A flash of their kiss roared through Maya and she almost licked her lips in anticipation. Dominic took his finger away and she only just held the sigh in.
“You, my lovely, are going to wow Prince Surfalot—” he looked down at the photograph, “—I mean Rick Hunter. You’re going to channel whatever it was that you started with Waiter-boy and we’re going to make sure you look great too. Starting with doing something with that hair.”
Maya put a hand up to her shoulder length curls. “You can’t be serious.”
“Do I look like I’m joking? I’ll call my people and have a stylist come up to sort you out.”
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it,” Dom said. When the stylist spun the chair and he looked up from his tablet, Dom hardly recognized Maya. Gone were the too tight long curls, prone to a bit of frizz on the end, and, of course, hanging in her face. The woman in front of him sported a short, almost pixie cut with the sides shaved to give it a modern edge. Her curls suddenly cupped and framed her face and made her eyes and cheekbones pop out like they had when she was in the ocean. It left her neck exposed, her eminently kissable neck.
“Do you really like it?” she asked him with a tiny voice.
“How could he not? Sweetheart, it’s gorgeous,” the hairdresser gushed. “You looked nice with the curls, but with this, honey, it’s perfect. I have to take a photo.”
This coy pride suited her, Dom decided and his fingers itched to touch her. “It’s great. Come on. Go grab some clothes and I’ll meet you back at my suite.”
Dominic managed to fit in a series of calls and a bunch of emails while she was off getting dressed, and felt better about his firm’s prospects than he had in a while. But when he opened the door to her knock his confidence dropped. “You’re kidding?”
Making over Maya (Hot Tide Book 2) Page 7