“Little bit. I kind of like that about her though. She’s tough to get through to at first, but when you do…” He trailed off thinking about her that first night, and how she stiffened when he touched her arm or hand. Then how after a while she would touch him, but with respect and discernment. Blake cleared his throat and Bo met his gaze, realizing he’d been off in left field. “Sorry. What were we talking about?”
Blake lifted an eyebrow. “Their lunch today?”
“Oh, yeah. Glad they got along.”
Blake sort of scrunched up one side of his face in an apology. “Well, yeah, of course they did, but I think Seanna might have had some alternative intentions.”
There went Bo’s stomach again. “Some what?”
“Um, she may have talked to Maya about a job.”
Bo sat up straight. “What are you talking about?”
“Running the clinic from an operational standpoint.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Blake held up both hands. “Don’t get pissed.”
Bo leaned in. “Don’t you think that’s the kind of thing you might have run past me first?”
“I told Seanna we should talk to you before she set the lunch up, but she swore to me she was just going to mention the job existed and get a feel from her.”
Bo glared at him. “I’m guessing that’s not exactly how it went.”
Blake ran his fingers through his hair, finally meeting Bo’s gaze. “I guess she took it a little farther than she should have. She got excited for a minute. You know Seanna doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
“I didn’t say she was being mean.”
“What’s the harm, anyway? I thought you really liked Maya.”
“I do. But this is for her and me to figure out together.”
Blake cocked his head to the side. “Oh, sorry if you didn’t want me butting into your love life.”
Blake had him there. Bo and Chase had interfered quite a bit trying to encourage Blake to go for it with Seanna. “The circumstances were different. You were the one who was trying to leave town, not Seanna. Maya’s got the job of her dreams waiting on her when she gets back home on Monday. I can’t ask her to stay here and neither can you or Seanna.”
“We’re not asking her to stay. We’re telling her about a job possibility.”
“Well, quit it.”
“All right,” Blake said, and they sat in silence for a few minutes.
Bo gauged him. “Out of curiosity, what did she say?”
“Nothing. Just listened while Seanna talked. Apparently that’s what had Seanna talking more and more. She said Maya was so quiet that it made her nervous, and she just kept spilling her guts.”
Bo shook his head, just picturing Seanna’s mouth running away like a locomotive.
“Well, at least it’s out there now,” Blake said, “and you didn’t put it out there, so you’re in the clear.”
Bo glared at his so-called friend. “She’s gonna think I put Seanna up to it.”
“I’ll tell Seanna to clarify that—”
“You tell Seanna not to say another word about that job. Do you hear me?”
Blake held up both hands. “All right.”
They sat in silence drinking their beers, each of them staring at a television over the other one’s head.
“I think I’m going to ask Seanna to marry me,” Blake said.
Bo couldn’t help a smile, his heart warming for his friend. “If you’re sure she’s the one.”
“I don’t even have a single doubt.”
“Let me know when you’re gonna do it so I can cross my fingers she says yes.”
Blake smiled down at his beer bottle. “I don’t want to wait any longer. I’m ready to go all-in.”
“Kids and all that?” Bo asked.
“Someday. Seanna’s not ready right now. She loves this job with Chase’s company. She says it’s like she’s finally found her footing in life.” He huffed a laugh. “I asked her to come to Kansas with me last November.”
Bo frowned. “You did? I didn’t know that.”
“She came to see me Thanksgiving night. I was leaving for Kansas. She was moving here, and I was moving there. She laid it on the line for me, but I’d already committed to the hospital in Kansas City by then. I had to go, but I wanted her more than anything. Thank God she didn’t come with me. Chase would have hired someone else.”
Bo stared at his friend, the beer sloshing around in his gut. “It worked out like it was supposed to, didn’t it?”
Blake nodded. “Yep.”
The waitress set two bowls down in front of them. “Enjoy.”
As Bo ate, he thought about what would have happened if Seanna would have gone to Kansas City with Blake. Would they have even made it, or would Seanna be pissed because she gave everything up for him?
Maya’s sweet face was embedded in his brain. It didn’t matter how much he wanted her to stay, he couldn’t ask her to leave a job she loved and had worked so hard for. He wouldn’t do it.
He’d call her when he got back, maybe see her one more time before she left. He couldn’t be rude. This was Sebastian’s friend after all. He couldn’t end this cold turkey. Besides, it was poised to end that way naturally on Saturday. He just had to ride out the week as planned.
Now, if only he could figure out how to quit falling for her.
Chapter Fourteen
The host seated Maya, Felicity, and Sebastian at a round table for five outside by an infinity fountain. Felicity nodded at the empty chairs. “Who’s meeting us?”
“Seanna and Marigold. Ashe and Desiree are caught up tonight.”
It wasn’t that Maya minded seeing Seanna again, it was just that lunch had been a little awkward as Seanna was clearly trying to sell Maya on the area and possibly that job. But Maya had been thinking about it all afternoon.
“Hello,” came Seanna’s voice to Maya’s right, and then Seanna’s hand was on Maya’s shoulder. “Long time no see.” Seanna hugged Maya to her, kissing the top of Maya’s head. It was such a sweet and familiar gesture that Maya didn’t know what to do with it. She lifted her hand to touch Seanna’s shoulder, but she was already off to the next hug.
“Maya?” a blond girl asked, giving her the onceover. She held out her hand formally. “I’m Marigold.”
“Oh, hello.” Maya said, taken aback a little. For some reason, she wasn’t anything like Maya had pictured. For starters, she was almost glamorous, sort of a young Sophia Loren. Her dress clung to her thin frame, her ears dazzled with decent-sized diamonds, shy of gaudy though.
She took the seat next to Maya and leaned in. “So, you and Bo, huh?” Maya blinked, taken aback by this woman’s candor.
“Move,” Seanna said. “I’m sitting next to Maya.”
“Why can’t I sit here?” Marigold asked.
“Because she doesn’t know it, but she’s going to need a buffer.”
Marigold took a resigned sigh. “I’m told I’m a lot.” She air quoted, but dutifully moved to the other seat.
Maya smoothed out her skirt, getting herself prepared for the night. She wasn’t sure what lay ahead.
“Have you ordered drinks yet?” Seanna asked, and then a waiter showed up.
After they all gave their orders, Marigold rested her elbows on the table, leaning in. “So I’ve heard you and Bo are spending the week together.”
Seanna rolled her eyes. “Marigold.”
“Um, where did you hear that?” Maya asked.
Sebastian’s expression contorted into something resembling apology. “You know I’m a sucker for a great romance. I can’t keep these things to myself.”
Marigold squeezed her thin hands into fists. “I love this. This is huge!”
“It’s not huge,” Seanna said. “Don’t say it’s huge. That’s a lot of pressure. It’s nothing.” She glanced over at Maya with a deer in headlights look. “I mean, it’s not nothing. It’s something. It’s just not huge. It�
�s medium.” She gauged Maya as if looking for an answer, like Maya had a clue. “Shit, I don’t know what it is. Where are those cocktails?”
Maya looked at Felicity, who gave her a comforting grin in return. Being the center of attention wasn’t something Maya relished, typically, but with the enthusiasm this group was showing for her love life, she sort of didn’t mind it for once.
Marigold leaned in. “So, what’s he like?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows.
Seanna opened the menu. “I’m thinking about a salad. Maya and I had a big lunch today.”
“I mean,” Marigold said, “we all know he’s huge, but does he know how to use it? Ow!”
Seanna glared at her. “Marigold, I swear.”
Maya’s ears heated up like boiling eggs.
Felicity put her menu down. “She left that part out this morning. So what are we talking about here?” She directed her question to Marigold, presumably knowing Maya would kill her if she put her on the spot like that in front of this group.
Marigold sat back. “Well, I’ve not had firsthand experience with it, of course, but I did see it on New Year’s Eve.”
Maya shifted in her seat, resting her elbow on the armrest to look as casual as possible, brushing the hair back from her forehead. “Oh, yeah?”
“We were at Sebastian’s on New Year’s Eve,” Seanna said.
Sebastian and Marigold exchanged smiles. “I know,” Marigold said.
“You know about this?” Seanna asked Sebastian.
“I had to tell somebody,” Marigold said.
Sebastian held up both of his pointer fingers. “Let the record reflect that I can keep a secret when asked.”
“So what happened?” Felicity asked.
Marigold inhaled a deep breath. “It was stupid, I mean, even for me stupid. We’d been back and forth all night, giving each other crap, just for fun like we always do. But of course I had too much to drink and not enough to eat, and I had to take it too far.”
Sebastian put his hand on her arm. “Of course you did, sweetie.”
She gave him a look, and then went on. “So he goes to the bathroom, and I pull the key from the top of the doorframe, and I open the door, just as he’s getting ready to zip up.”
“You were going to intentionally walk in on him peeing?” Seanna asked.
“I told you it was stupid.”
Seanna rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“So I snapped a picture of it with my phone.”
“You did not,” Seanna said.
“Oh, I totally did.”
Seanna looked around the table for someone to be stunned with her and landed on Maya, except Maya couldn’t even blink at the moment, fascinated to hear this stranger tell a story about something that happened with Bo before Maya ever met him.
“Do you still have the picture?” Felicity asked.
Marigold pursed her lips. “No.”
“I think there’s more to this story,” Felicity said.
“Oh, you bet,” Sebastian said.
They all stared at Marigold, waiting for her to keep going. She clearly enjoyed holding court. “So I join everyone in the living room like nothing happened. And in a minute, he walks back into the room and just stands there waiting on me. I tried so hard not to look at him. I swear, I was determined not to look, but I could feel him right there, and my heart was pounding like the devil. So I finally look up at him thinking I’ve got this major poker face on, and he just stares at me and then walks into the bottom floor guest room.”
“Did you follow him?” Seanna asked.
“Like a lamb to the slaughter.”
Maya’s stomach quivered, imagining what was coming next. Marigold had said she didn’t have firsthand knowledge of Bo’s body, but this woman was talking about walking into a bedroom with the guy Maya was currently sleeping with. She didn’t know whether to be fascinated or horrified.
“So he closes the door behind me, and then turns to me and says in that low, Southern drawl of his, ‘You like what you saw?’”
Sebastian looked heavenward. “Yes!”
Marigold rested her forearms on the table and leaned in. “He backs me toward the bed. I know he’s up to something because I’ve been trying to get in his pants for years, and he’s never allowed as much as a kiss.”
Maya’s neck filled with heat. Marigold was gorgeous. Why hadn’t he slept with her if she really had been trying to get him to?
“But since I’m a glutton, I let it play out.”
The waiter arrived with the drinks and passed them out. “Have we decided yet?”
“Bring us your three favorite apps, and we’ll order in a little bit,” Sebastian said, leaning toward Marigold on the arm of his chair.
“Will do,” he said, and was off.
They all stared at Marigold, and she picked up her drink, casually, and then looked around, wide-eyed. “Oh, did you want me to keep going?”
“Yes, queen, please,” Sebastian said.
She wiggled in her seat, settling in. “So, he steps toward me and puts his hands on my waist, staring down into my eyes. Now I’ve known Bo a long time, and he’s never looked at me like this before. So I’m thinking, it’s New Year’s, we’re both single, maybe he’s finally decided to give me a try. So I sort of just sink into it for the moment.”
“Mmm hmm,” Sebastian said, lifting his eyebrow.
Maya didn’t think she’d been more interested in a story in her life. She found herself leaning toward the table and forced herself back into her seat. Hearing Marigold talk about Bo like this gave her both an odd tweak in her gut and a little tingle in her belly.
“So he moves in a little closer, leaning down like he might kiss me. I waited there for it, but he kept lingering close, teasing me like it was going to happen any moment.”
Maya bit her bottom lip, her stomach warming.
Marigold stared off at the roof of the restaurant. “He moves slowly across my cheek, sort of walking me toward the bed, and I’m thinking, oh shit. You know I talk a big game with Bo and Chase, but it’s only because they never take me seriously. But now, I’ve got to put my money where my mouth is.”
Seanna holds up a hand. “So you’re thinking you’re getting ready to have sex with Bo Harrison.”
Marigold sat up straight, her expression dead serious. “I was preparing for anything.”
Felicity and Sebastian shared a conspiratorial glance, and Maya couldn’t help a little giggle. The theatrics were too over-the-top not to have fun with.
Seanna gave Maya an eye roll, but she had a little grin on her lips. Seanna made a circular motion with her hand. “So…”
“So, I fall back on the bed, and he moves down on top of me, hovering over me. He’s so close I can smell that woodsy aftershave he wears.”
Oh, Maya knew the one. She could almost smell that subtle earthy scent right then.
“His fingers tug at the waistband of my pants, and my body is going ballistic at this point. I’m like full-on ready.”
Seanna held up a hand. “TMI.”
Marigold mirrored her hand, continuing. “So, just as I let out this little sexy whimper and sort of settle in, he’s off of me, leaving my body in a heap of frustration on the bed.”
Maya blinked. “That was it?”
Marigold nodded, sitting back in her chair. “He had my phone and was out the door. By the time I got myself together and met him in the living room with everyone else, he handed me my phone back with this triumphant little irritating grin and said, ‘Good try, darlin’.’”
“What about the picture?” Felicity asked.
“Gone.”
“But your phone had to have been locked,” Maya said, always with the details.
Marigold waved her off. “I didn’t keep it locked back then. I do now, of course.”
“So what’d you do with all that buildup inside of you?” Felicity asked.
“Not a damn thing. I just sat there for the rest of the night
horny as a jackrabbit.” She rested her forearms on the table. “So, what’s he like, Maya?” This time, Maya didn’t feel so trapped with the question. She felt…looser.
“How do you mean exactly?” Maya asked.
Marigold gave it some thought. “As a romantic.”
Maya liked the word. Bo, the romantic. “He’s very thoughtful and kind. Interested in what I have to say. That hasn’t been a common thread in men I’ve dated in the past.”
“Join the club,” Felicity said.
“He’s so confident in the way he presents himself, but I don’t find him to be the least bit arrogant one on one,” Maya said.
“So you like him, don’t you?” Marigold asked, but she wasn’t teasing. Her tone was matter of fact and earnest.
Still, Maya wasn’t sure how to answer. She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Yes. He’s really nice.”
Marigold smiled at her. “Well, I think I can see why he likes you.”
Maya smiled back, understanding the reason they all took to Marigold so well. The ringing of Maya’s phone woke her back to reality. She checked it, and her heartbeat sped up.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll just be a minute.” She walked over to the patch of grass behind the patio. “Hey!” She couldn’t help a giggle as she answered.
“Sounds like you’re having a good time,” Bo said. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No, you actually called just as Marigold was finishing a story.”
“Ah, okay. Anything good?”
She smiled into her phone. “Sort of. It was the one from New Year’s Eve? About the phone?” she asked, and then cringed as she waited for his response.
“Aww, shit. Just ignore her, okay?”
“It sounded pretty intense.”
“I just needed to get the phone from her. I figured that’d be the easiest route.”
Maya bit on her lip. “She’s really pretty. How come you never dated her?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t see her like that, I guess. She’s always carrying on.”
The name Angela laid heavy on Maya’s mind. Of course he’d had relationships in his past, but putting a name on one and seeing how agitated he was talking about her last night piqued Maya’s curiosity. “Who do you see like that? I mean usually.”
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