Desire in the Everglades

by Hoff, Stacy

  Stephanie sighed. Knowing Ana’s nature meant knowing Ana was also a Rottweiler. Ana never gave up on making her point or finding out what she needed to know. Stephanie observed Ana’s hopeful expression. “Don’t look at me like that, Ana. It’s just business. Mark wants me to entertain Croc Guy.”

  “Mark set it up for you? Holy smokes. You’re kidding, right? Because if you’re not, you are so lucky! I saw Croc Guy. He is gorgeous. That face. That body—”

  “Whoa there, Nelly. I get the idea.” Stephanie laughed, somehow managing to clamp down her own excitement about Croc Guy. Mark hated it when managers gossiped with the staff. Stephanie knew she had to play the whole Colin thing cool. And hope her television talent extended to acting.

  “I can’t believe you’re not excited. You’re single. He’s hot. What’s the problem?” Ana demanded.

  “For starters, we need dinner reservations,” Stephanie retorted with a smile.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll do it now. Geez.” Ana smiled sheepishly, closing the door behind her.

  Ah, alone at last. The day was going to move slowly until dinnertime. In the interim, she’d have to live with the twisted feeling in her stomach and damp hands sticking to the pages of the script she was reviewing. In a few hours she’d be sitting opposite a man who was almost too beautiful to look at. She had the feeling, however, that the whole person was even more impressive than the pretty package.

  Several sweaty pages later, she put the script down. Whether a single word had filtered into her brain was doubtful. She needed to get out of the office. Get some fresh air. Erase the restlessness in her. Pressing the intercom button, she said to Ana, “I’m going out for a bit. Do you need me to get you anything?”

  “Sure,” Ana’s eager voice answered. “Pick me up a Colin, will you?”

  Laughing, Stephanie got up to get her purse and headed out. With any luck, maybe tonight she’d pick up a Colin herself.

  Colin thanked the good Lord above he was almost done with the day’s five-minute meetings. Yeesh, these stuffed suits could talk a lot. All of them. Endlessly. Executives. Creative types. Some old guy who blathered on and on while emitting a blast of Old Spice and garlic. Breathing in too deeply around that guy was not recommended. Right now Colin was breathing in Mark’s cologne. Eau de Big Wig.

  Mark had been popping in and out all day, or sometimes his secretary had shown the next suit in. The secretary wore a suit herself, though he guessed she’d rather not wear anything at all while around him. The goo-goo eyes she cast his way made it clear she was his for the taking. Colin tried not to roll his eyes in response. The day he was interested in someone barely old enough to vote was the day he’d know he needed therapy. As a thirty-eight-year-old man, he was old enough to be her father. That fact didn’t seem to bother her, however. Every time she walked in, her hemline was higher, and the V-neck of her blouse was shoved down a little lower. He deliberately ignored her, her ample chest, and the obvious father fantasy she had going on.

  Stephanie, however, stayed in his mind. Thoughts of her seemed inescapable. There was too much that drew him to her. She dressed classy. Not slutty. She was real cute. And of legal drinking age. Tall for a woman. Slender. Physically fit, from what he could tell. Her reddish-brown hair reminded him of a fox. He wondered for the eighth time about her fancy, twisted-up, hairstyle. Her hair-do, like her nature, seemed wound up pretty tight. If anybody needed to let her hair down, literally and figuratively, she was the one. He was certain she’d do her best to remain professional and aloof. Ironically, that’s what drew him to her the most. She was a challenge, and he never backed down from a challenge.

  She was confident. Feisty. Maybe his time in the military made him attracted to ladies with a little bit of fight in ’em. Not that he dated when he served. Back then, he blocked women completely from his mind. Other than the occasional one-night stand, of course—he wasn’t completely bullet proof. But nothing more than that. Better to doom a relationship than doom a mission. Missions required intense focus at all times. Women were a distraction. A wonderful distraction, but high risk nevertheless.

  He could already tell Stephanie Lang was going to be one hell of a big distraction. It’d be mighty tough to keep up his focus. But he’d succeed. On this, his final mission, he’d be competing with the intensity of a man desperate for the million-dollar prize.

  Because he was.

  Suddenly, Colin realized he had no idea what Mark had been saying the past few minutes. His heart rate sped up, wondering if he already screwed up the mission by not listening to the operation plan. He shoved his brain back into focus. That worked. Until he became distracted by his stomach growls. God, what was happening to his focus?

  “Sounds like you can’t wait for dinner,” Mark jibed. “How about we walk over to my favorite coffee shop for a snack to tie you over?”

  “Glad for the offer, Mark. Thanks.” As they went to the elevator, thoughts of a better meal with Stephanie once again drifted into Colin’s head. He didn’t have long to dwell on her, however. Seconds later the glass elevator shot them down to the building’s marble and mahogany lobby.

  They pushed through revolving doors and stepped out onto the breezy sidewalk just in time to see Stephanie at the corner several yards away. She was crouching down to pick up an old lady’s spilled groceries. He shifted into a sprint position before noticing Stephanie had only a single, wayward orange left to retrieve. He saw her grab it and drop it into the woman’s brown bag. She lifted herself up to her remarkably tall height and gave the gray-haired lady a friendly wave good-bye.

  Geez Louise he liked her. Big time. Beneath her tough exterior he bet there was kindness. Compassion. Anybody who would stop to help an old lady had to have those traits. Very attractive qualities indeed.

  “Were you looking at some place across the street? I was going to take you to the diner I like, which is down one block, but if you see something better . . .”

  “No, your diner will be fine. I was just looking at an old woman who was standing there. She spilled her groceries and needed a hand picking them up. I was debating if I needed to run over, but someone was already helping her.” He declined to mention Stephanie. Who knew if she was even supposed to be out of the office? It seemed she was a senior enough employee to do as she pleased, but no need to test his theory.

  “Wow.” Mark said the word slowly, as if in disbelief. “We might actually be hiring a Boy Scout after all. Who knew?”

  Colin laughed. “Marine. Boy Scout. No big difference, I guess. Except for age. Whether America’s ready for an aging Boy Scout, we’ll see. Maybe you should name the show The Senior Scout, or, Scouting The Senior Way,” he suggested with a laugh.

  “No offense, but no.” Mark shared the laugh along with him. “Look, Colin, don’t sell yourself short. Not on age, or anything else. Trust me, you’ll hit all the right demographics. At this point, all Teleworld needs is for you to be truly on board. I expect us to make an offer this afternoon. Take the deal, because you’re going to be our next big hit.”

  Colin managed to clamp his jaw shut, preventing it from dropping open. But his lips did creep up his steely jaw and curve into a smile. “I think we can work something out.”

  Mark grinned even broader and offered him a fist-pump. “By tonight, you’ll be on board. I’m sure of it. I’d like to offer you a celebratory beer afterwards, but it looks like I’ve already farmed that out to Stephanie.”

  “I’ll have her put my beer on your tab, don’t worry.”

  “Once I have your signature on Teleworld’s contract, I won’t have any more worries. Not this week anyway. Who knows what they’ll ask me to do next week.”

  Colin smiled as they walked. Maybe he had been too hard on himself. About everything. Things were going his way. It looked like he was getting the show. Maybe he could also get the girl. Right n
ow, his sights were myopic, focusing solely on having dinner with her tonight.

  Chapter 3

  Getting ready for her “date” took Stephanie longer than she had expected. Outside the Carlyle Hotel two minutes early, she caught a reflection of herself in the dark stone paneling flanking the lobby’s doors. She was glad she actually used a curling iron on the loose tendrils that always managed to escape her chignon. Her decision to use eye shadow, however, was more questionable. Normally, she didn’t bother with the stuff. But tonight she had, unsure if the plumb shade complemented her purple silk wraparound dress or was simply overkill. Deep colors always accented her hazel eyes so she’d taken the fashion risk. With luck, he wouldn’t even be looking at her eyes, anyway. The dress cinched her waist and highlighted “the girls” with its plunging neck.

  Realizing her thoughts were wandering where they shouldn’t, she suddenly shook her head to snap herself out of it, sending stray, loose curls bouncing. After all, she was here to accomplish business, not pleasure. Mark expected her to entice Colin onto the show. It’d be hard to persuade Colin, though, when she still harbored her own doubts. Could she pull this off?

  Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the hotel’s revolving doors and found her way to the restaurant. Croc Man—Colin—was already there, waiting for her by the maître d’s podium. His blue eyes, complementing his dove-gray suit, sparkled when he greeted her.

  “Hi, there,” he said with a grin. “Shall we go to the table?”

  She nodded, feeling flush due to Colin’s hand resting lightly on her lower back. They followed the maître d to an intimate table toward the back.

  “After you,” Colin said, holding out a chair for her. Once she was seated, he took his own. “Your server will be right with you,” the maître d said and left them.

  “Thank you, Colin. Nice to know chivalry isn’t dead.”

  “Not dead. In my family, either we practiced our manners or we were dead.”

  “You’re polite to the crocodiles before you kill them?”

  “I try not to kill anything. I’ve had to wrestle alligators on occasion, but that’s a different story.”

  Realizing she was sitting on the edge of her seat she leaned forward. “I’d like to know that story,” her words gushed out. She suppressed a cringe, hoping to God she didn’t sound desperate.

  “Maybe someday I’ll tell it to you,” he teased. “If you ask me nicely. But for tonight, we should focus on more civilized topics, this being a fancy restaurant in an upscale locale.” Colin slid a menu over to her. “Glad you showed up,” he said more seriously. “I was worried my ‘wild man’ reputation would frighten you away.”

  Stephanie bit the inside of her lip to suppress her smile. “No, I don’t frighten easily.”

  “Hmm, I wonder if you can keep up that confidence in the wilds of the Everglades.”

  “Not sure we’ll find out. I can do all of the production work for your show from my office.”

  A tall, thin man in a black waiter’s uniform interrupted them. “Good evening. My name is Stefan, and I will be your server tonight. May I take your drink orders now?”

  “Thank you,” Colin replied. “I’ll take a Johnny Walker Black, straight up. What do you want, Steph?”

  “I’ll try that, same for me.”

  “Very good, right away,” the waiter said, leaving.

  “No one ever calls me ‘Steph’ at work. They’ve tried to, of course, but I immediately correct them. ‘Steph’ or ‘Steffie’ is reserved for my family and close friends. Maybe it’s a silly rule, but it’s one way to draw the line between my personal life and professional life.”

  “Maybe it’s not always a bad idea to mix the two together.” He arched an eyebrow up at her suggestively.

  Feeling her cheeks heat up, she decided to change the topic. “As long as we’re talking about personal stuff, can I ask you a personal question?”

  “You can try me.”

  “Why are you willing to do the show? I know Teleworld’s going to give you a lot of money, if you last out there, but—”

  “I’ll last.”

  “Okay, so you’ll get the money,” she corrected, not wanting to offend him. “Can I ask why you want it? In specific, I mean.” She felt her face and neck getting warmer—she should be ferreting out Colin’s motivation, not squashing it like a bug. She bit her lip. Maybe his motivation wasn’t any of her business anyway. Besides, Mark would kill her if she talked Colin out of being on the show.

  “Let’s just say,” he answered, “the money itself is not my motivation, though I do have a specific plan for it. All I’m going to say is that the reason is important to me.”

  Upset with herself for asking, she nodded, feeling her brows knit into their “V.”

  “Now it’s my turn to ask a question,” Colin said. “What do you mean you’re not going to the Everglades? You’re not going at all?”

  She shook her head. “It’s perfectly acceptable for the producer not to be on location. Going on location is what the director has to do.”

  “What is it you are supposed to do?”

  “Actually, I’ve still got to work out the details with Mark. I’m guessing he’s going to have me handle all the coordination and editing work. Normally I supervise the story editors and staff writers, but reality shows are different because they’re ad libbed. Mark says he wants me doing more reality show work, though, so I’ll have to get comfortable with this new format quickly.”

  “Then we’ll learn together. What other shows have you worked on?”

  “You might have heard about my favorite, Loving Linda. Best ratings out of any of my shows so far. Got some real good PR, too. I was the co-executive producer.”

  “I did hear about that show. Didn’t see it, but I’m impressed anyway.”

  “Thanks. I enjoyed doing it. Teleworld gives me most of their romantic programming. Except,” she added, looking sheepish, “not this time, obviously.”

  “Obviously,” he acknowledged. “No romance in my show. Assuming I sign on. No need for people to write much, either, since I’m supposed to ad lib the whole time, as you put it.”

  “Actually, your show is going to be more like a documentary than reality TV. Reality TV usually has defined plot lines and a basic script. You’re going to have absolutely no script, that’s way beyond ad-libbing.

  “I’ll try to be interesting,” he said dryly.

  “We obviously have faith in you. It’s me who should be a bit nervous. But I’m excited, too,” she said, immediately biting her cheek to help shut her mouth.

  “Well if you’re up for a challenge, going to the Everglades should also excite you.”

  She shook her head. “Not so much. I don’t do wilderness.”

  Colin frowned. “But if you’re not there, how are you going to get a true sense of what the show is about? The real dangers of the Everglades. All the work, all the endurance that’s required. If you’re going to showcase it to others, you’ve got to experience it for yourself. Seeing footage from the comfort of your Rockefeller office tower won’t do that.”

  The waiter brought the drinks and offered to take their order.

  “In a minute, thanks.” Colin dismissed him, not taking his eyes off Stephanie. “Look, I really think you should go. At least before my twelve-day odyssey begins. I’ve agreed to go down there with a small portion of the production crew on Wednesday to show them location options.”

  “That’s in two days.”

  “Right. You coming?”

  “Well . . .”

  “I thought TV executives needed to be decisive.”

  “We also need to think decisions through,” she said, shoulder muscles tightening. She pushed back a loose tendril with a swipe of her hand.

  “
Forget your mental gymnastics. Go with your gut instinct. My gut’s always worked for me. What does your gut tell you?”

  Pausing, she pretended to focus on the menu. It wasn’t her gut talking as much as it was an area lower down. Man oh man, he was good looking.

  “Stephanie?” He reached out to gently touch her hand.

  Warm, strong fingers sent a small shock wave down her spine.

  He was so handsome. Funny. Engaging. Enigmatic. The audience would take to him immediately. And he was so persuasive, she bet the gators would simply offer themselves up to him, belly exposed. If she weren’t careful, time alone with him in the Everglades would have her acting no better than the gators.

  “If that’s what it’ll take for you to do the show, I’ll have Ana set it up,” she said.

  “Then we have a deal. Let’s drink to that.”

  “Right.” Quickly taking a sip, she coughed from the hard liquor. “Holy smokes. Powerful,” she choked.

  Colin let out a laugh. “Let me guess, you’re used to wine. Why’d you order something harder?”

  “I don’t know. You did. I thought I’d try it.”

  “Same exact reason why you’re going to the Everglades, huh?”

  She stopped choking long enough to smile.

  Colin smiled back, opening up his menu and dropping the white linen napkin onto his lap. “I’ll get to spend more time with you. Learn what makes you tick.” He touched her hand again, stroking the back of it lightly and then picked up his glass, raising it in the air. He waited for Stephanie to pick up her glass again, and then smiled. “To getting to know you better. Much better, I hope,” he added smoothly.