Dominic cringed at Giselle’s imperious voice as he came back into the apartment. “Maya was here?” Dom looked at his watch. Things had either gone really well or really badly with Rick for her to have come back and gone out again so quickly. “Did she say how the wedding went?”
“No. She seemed more interested in giving us some space.” Giselle walked over to him, her red stilettos clicking on the floor like sharp knives.
Something twisted in his stomach. “What did you say to her?”
“What do you mean? I just let her know that we had a lot of catching up to do. I can’t believe you didn’t tell her about me. She seemed a bit lost when she saw the ring.”
“You flashed that in her face? On that finger? Shit.” Dom pulled out his cell and punched in Maya’s number. “Stay there, and don’t talk to anyone else,” he demanded of Giselle.
Closing the door to the bedroom he paced while he waited for Maya to pick up. “Maya.”
“Hi.” So cold.
“I’m sorry I missed you. Did everything go okay with Rick? How was the wedding?”
“Oh it was fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“Where are you?”
“Just out. We decided to go for a drink. I needed a jacket. Looked like you were all set for the night too.”
Dom rubbed at his face. “That was Giselle. The ex I’ve been telling you about. She came down here to explain about the sweat shop stuff before I could get on a plane. Sounds like she’s been doing exactly what she wanted even after I told her not to.”
“Uh huh. That’s nice.”
“Maya!”
“What?” Finally the flat cold tone in her voice snapped. “I should be okay that you slept with me when your fiancée was at home waiting for your call? That you were using sweatshops? What else Dominic? What else was a line? The philosophy, the dating advice, your whole history?”
“She’s my ex, not my fiancée. I gave her that ring for her birthday last year. It’s not a diamond. And it’s not an engagement ring. Like I said, I knew nothing about the sweat shops. I’ve just been on the phone to the lawyers. I’m going to sort this.”
“Uh huh.”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“Um, let me see. Why not? Your ex didn’t seem like much of an ex to me. Why would you lie about the other stuff? Maybe because you needed someone as gullible as me to sell you to a legit eco guy like Holokai? Maybe because you’re a business man with plenty of ambition. I don’t know. I’m sure you have your reasons.”
“But I told you about Giselle. About needing to end that. About how she’d been on at me to change everything. You saw how angry I was when she called. It was you who calmed me down.”
“And yet there she was. All six foot of her blonde fabulous self. Waiting for you. Wearing your ring. You told me she was your manufacturing manager. You didn’t tell me how close you were.”
Maya took a deep breath and Dominic wanted to reach through the phone and stroke her face. Make her believe that he was a good man. A real man. That what they had had was real. “We were close. Past tense. And I just told you about the ring.”
“So you say.”
The coldness of her voice finally got him. He heard his voice harden. “I’m not sure you get to criticize me when you were just out with another guy.”
There was a short pause. “Rick and I weren’t together, we’re still not yet. But it doesn’t matter anyway. You don’t need to deal with me anymore. Holokai is out and I don’t know who else I could get to sign up for you. You better find yourself a new PR consultant. I’m done. If I’ve left anything behind you can bin it. Apparently I have no taste in clothes anyway.”
The dial tone caught him by surprise.
“Shit.” Dom hit redial but her phone went straight to message. Again the second time and again and again. “Shit.” He stormed out into the living area. “What have you done this time? What a mess.” He paced the floor a moment. “We’ll need a new manufacturing set up. Oh man.” Dom looked up and saw Giselle coming towards him. She put a hand on his arm.
“I was only thinking of you. Of us. You needed to find a way to get an edge over ZeeMen’s. It’s a good idea. We can work this out. We can work everything out.”
He shook her off. “No. I should have done this when we broke up. Made a clean break of it. I’ll expect your resignation first thing.”
“My—you want me to quit?”
“Or I can fire you. Whichever you’d prefer. I figured quitting would look better on your resume.”
She looked shaken for a moment and he thought she might just leave. But Giselle never gave up that easily. “You’re right. We shouldn’t work together. But we’re a good team. I understand you. I want to give us another try.”
“You don’t. You never will. You’ve just proved it to me. And I’m in love with someone else anyway.” The words popped out of his mouth unheralded, but out in the open air, Dom realized how true they were.
“With her? That little mouse?”
“She’s no little mouse.”
The pause and then the bite. Giselle’s whole countenance changed. “Fine.” Giselle’s red nails clenched on her hips. “You’ll never make it to the top in fashion with your holier than thou philosophy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is kidding you.” She turned on her heel and stalked out the door.
Dominic just stood there for a moment, half expecting her to storm back in. But after a minute he realized that was it. It was done. Done with Giselle. And Maya? He walked to the fridge in a daze for a beer and marveled at how his life had turned on its head in such a short space of time. When he’d told Holokai what he was looking for in the new campaign, he’d inadvertently described what he was looking for in a partner. Maya was his maverick. Not in a rebellious way, but in the unconventional way. She was quiet, almost shy when it came to romance and yet she was a PR genius. And when he thought about what else he wanted, someone bold and playful but with a conscience and a heart, it described Maya to a T. “So now what?” Now he had to find her and fix this.
After an hour on the phone to his lawyers and the manufacturing department, Dominic felt calmer. The sweat shop thing hadn’t yet got underway. Giselle had a supplier in place in Taiwan, but the old manufacturers were still set up and with a month left on their contract, Dominic was able to keep the flow of products going. His last task was to get the lawyers to write up a memorandum to all staff, reminding them that Wolfe Clothing was sweatshop free and always would be while he was in charge. Then he dialed Holokai’s number and crossed his fingers.
Maya’s phone rang and she looked at the display. Brooke. Again. She’d been calling for the last two days. But the last thing Maya needed was a pep talk about how Dominic was never going to be there for her or a lecture of I-told-you-so’s about how Rick really wasn’t all that.
“I know you’re in there. I can hear your phone ringing. You can’t hide forever.” Shit. Brooke’s voice came from outside the door of the new hotel Maya had found.
“Maya, babe. Brooke’s ready to kill whoever has done this to you and if you don’t open the door I don’t know how I’m going to stop her just randomly going for the next guy that comes along. You don’t want that on your conscience.”
A tiny smile flickered at the side of her mouth at the sound of Summer out in the hall too and Maya took a long staggered breath.
“And also. I have vodka. If you don’t let me in I may be forced to make Summer drink it all with me and then you’ll have even more death on your conscience. You know how crap she is at holding her liquor.”
“Shut up. I am not.”
“Uh huh. You never end up under the table?”
“That was only once.”
The laugh came out as more of a snort but the mirth felt good either way.
“Ha. I knew you were in there. Let us in.”
Maya heaved herself off the sofa-bed and clicked open the door.
“Oh babe. What the hell happened? Who do I h
ave to maim?”
The sight of her girlfriends was such a relief Maya dissolved into tears all over again and it was a while before she could get the whole story out, helped along by a few strong doses of vodka, straight up.
“Well you already knew I thought Rick was a douchebag for not having the cojones to ask for a girl’s number in person. This just proves it. But Dominic, I thought he was decent,” Brooke said.
Maya sniffed. “Me too. God, what an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot.” Summer was stern. “Sounds like the guy had everyone fooled. I can’t believe he would pull the I’m-helping-you-out-by-teaching-you-how-to-get-laid card and then bail at the last hurrah.”
“Babe, I don’t think there is an I’m-helping-you-out-by-teaching-you-how-to-get-laid card. The guy played you, good and proper,” Brooke said.
Maya groaned and put her face in her hands.
“Hey, I’m not saying I wouldn’t have been fooled in your shoes. He definitely played the long game. Restyling your wardrobe, getting your haircut, encouraging you to date Rick-the-dick. I’ll give him total kudos for going the extra mile.”
“Don’t you think it’s weird though,” Summer said cautiously. “That he would do all that. Surely if he just wanted a fling, he wouldn’t have to bother?”
“Maybe it’s part of his thrill. Lure them in by making them feel better about themselves. Ooo—” Brooke’s eyes widened. “—maybe it’s some weird Cinderella fetish thing. Needs to feel in control before he can get off.”
“Brooke. Gross.” Summer scowled.
Maya groaned again. “Could it get any worse?”
“Don’t listen to her. He went for you because you are beautiful and he could see that. From what you’ve told us, he was definitely into you. The timing was just all wrong.”
“He went for me because he needed someone to buy his I’m a good guy line and pull in a name like Holokai. He went for me because I’m naïve and stupid and he could tell just by looking at me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.” Summer patted her on the shoulder.
“What do you care why he went for you anyway, B? You’ve moved on. It’s not like he really fitted in with your life anyway.”
Her life. On the WSL circuit. With her girlfriends. The life that was a big part of her plan. “I know. I guess after finally dating Rick, I was just starting to wonder if maybe I shouldn’t make a few changes. Stop being so stuck with my ten year plan and stuff.”
Summer patted her again. “You can make as many changes as you like. And Brooke and I will be there for you for whatever you need.”
“Too right.”
“Even if that means doing something different?”
Brooke opened her mouth but Summer jumped in. “Whatever you need babe.”
The three of them sat in easy silence for a moment and Maya suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. “Thanks. Sorry I didn’t tell you any of this earlier.”
“Hey, you were in the thick of it. Don’t worry.”
They chatted for a while longer till Summer patted her on the back and told her to go to sleep.
“Sweet dreams. Call us if you need anything,” Summer said as she propelled Brooke to the door.
“Yeah, like getting me to go kick some surf ass.” Brooke added and punched her open palm.
Maya laughed. “I will. Promise.”
The two women left and Maya fell back onto her sofa-bed. She stared at the ceiling, let the vodka lull her for a moment or two, then the lack of air conditioning started to kick in. Damn Dominic Wolfe for spoiling her. She’d been totally fine in her little room with her big plan stretched out in front of her. But since she’d had a taste of—of what exactly? Of what life could be like, she wasn’t going to be able to settle.
Tomorrow was another day. Women’s finals day. Another day, and another beach. What was she complaining about? Her life was a beach, or at least, was on a beach. Time to start enjoying what the world she’d created had to offer. She could work on what and where to go next on the way.
Chapter Fifteen
“What are you doing here?” Brooke’s voice was harder than an ice pick and just as sharp.
Dom took his hands out of his pockets and put them up defensively on instinct as he stood in the hallway outside their hotel room. “I came back to talk to Maya but she won’t take my calls and I don’t know where she is. She got the wrong end of the stick. I need to explain.”
“I’ll give you the wrong end of a stick. Except I’m not sure you’ll like how it feels.” Brooke’s face was all rock and no roll this evening.
“What she means to say is, it’s time you left Maya alone. You’ve crushed her confidence and her plans, and her heart ain’t doing all that well either.” Maya’s other friend Summer came into view in the doorway, just as stony faced but not as hard as Brooke.
“Her heart?” Oh crap. “But that’s what I need to talk to her about. Giselle was trying to stake out territory that she had no right to. I made it clear to her she and I have no future together.” Then what they’d said clicked. “Hang on. What about Rick? She was out with him, not me.”
“He wasn’t quite the whole package after all,” Summer said.
Dominic couldn’t help the grin. “I knew he was useless. He’s not nearly good enough for her.”
“And you are I guess?” Brooke’s face hadn’t softened.
“She’s the only one who can decide that,” he said. “But I know now that she’s the one for me. Does that count for something?”
The two women looked at each other.
He pulled out the papers his lawyers had sent through. “I’m not in the business of sweatshop labor. I would never be. I don’t know exactly what Giselle said to Maya but I’m sure it wasn’t glowing. It’s untrue. I am my word. And Maya—” he looked down at the papers. “Maya gets me.”
A second look passed between Brooke and Summer and he waited, the pause lengthening.
Brooke sighed dramatically. “She threw it all in with him when she realized she was falling for you.”
“Brooke,” Summer hissed.
Brooke shrugged. “He just said he was into her.” She turned to Dominic. “Maybe you are the douchebag that Maya thinks you are now, and maybe you’re not. One thing you are right about though is that Maya gets to decide whether you’re the man for her or not. So get in here. We need to make a plan. She only has a week left here before she flies back to The States.”
Maya couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The live feed from the Wolfe Clothing rebrand event was on every social media channel she was attached to. In front of her, Holokai came out wearing an amazing set of pants and a shirt. A shirt! Maya couldn’t remember if she’d ever seen Holo in a shirt before. The room was teaming with people. Models, actors, television reality celebrities. Behind Holo she could see Bondi beach stretching long and golden out to the ocean.
“How did he do that?” she said out loud, hurt that her client had gone behind her back and worked with Dominic anyway. She scanned the crowd and saw a couple of media reps she recognized and a whole lot more she didn’t. “Damn him.”
The camera panned and she gasped. “Brooke.” Now the text she’d received from her bestie an hour earlier made more sense. She flicked through her texts again until she found it. Don’t hate me. Wait till you hear the end of the story first.
Flicking back to her social media feed she watched Brooke saunter out in front of everyone till she stood next to Holo. He took her arm and Brooke winked at him. Every camera in the room was trained on them.
There was a knock at the door. “That better be you Summer. What the heck is Brooke doing in Bondi?” She swung the door wide. Her body froze.
Dominic seemed to take up the entire doorway. The entire doorway and all the oxygen. Maya struggled to find breath.
“Hi.”
That one word was enough for Maya to snap her mouth closed and inhale. “What are you—” she looked down at her phone
then back up at him. “What are you doing here? And why are you not there?” She pointed at the screen.
“I needed to see you.”
Maya felt her jaw starting to drop again but she wouldn’t let it.
“Can I come in?”
She expected him to walk in, take possession of the space. But instead he stood there. Waiting.
Not quite sure what else to do she nodded. Whatever was going on she wanted to hear the full version.
“I’m not with Giselle. And I would never let my company get caught up with anything as unethical as sweat shops. Giselle is a great sales woman so I understand why you took her at her word. But please believe me now. I don’t lie. Everything I’ve told you is the truth. Everything except the part about me being okay with you going out with Rick.”
Maya started to interrupt but he put up a hand. “Please let me finish then you can yell at me or whatever. But I have to get to the end of the story first. Please?”
The end of the story. Brooke. She wanted to be mad. She was mad, but the look on his face was so open, so raw, that she nodded. What else could she do?
“Rick never deserved you and I should never have let you believe I thought he did. I just didn’t want you to have any regrets. The flirting, the kissing, the love making. That was all real. All me. Every time I touched you I never wanted to let go, and telling you to go on that date almost killed me.
“I want to be the one that fits with you. I want to be the one you turn to with your problems, with your heartaches, with your dreams. We fit Maya Taylor, I knew it from the moment my lips touched yours.”
That was all she could take in one hit. Maya gulped, hard. “We fit?” He wanted to be with her. With her. And he’d never really wanted her to date Rick in the first place. The flutterflies that she thought she’d stoned to death burst from the bottom of her stomach and hammered at her ribs and heart. She’d been so fixated on the fact that she should follow her plan that there were too many obstacles in the way with Dominic she’d missed his true feelings. Feelings she’d convinced herself didn’t matter.
Making over Maya (Hot Tide Book 2) Page 17