Thrill Me

by Susan Mallery

  It didn’t matter that Rick wasn’t especially friendly. Being ignored by her mother’s new husband was far preferable to the attention from some of the woman’s previous boyfriends. She’d had her own room, with a bathroom! Three meals a day and two stepbrothers. While the older brother, Zane, had glared at her with contempt, little Chase had been adorable.

  Even more incredible, had been the town. Fool’s Gold had been clean, friendly and welcoming. She’d made friends, she’d had teachers who not only knew her name but cared about how she was doing. For the first time in her life, Maya had allowed herself to hope she could have a future. She’d dared to whisper the possibility of going to college.

  Now she drove onto the ranch property and headed for the main house. After her mother and Rick had divorced, Maya had stayed in touch with both Zane and Chase. While her relationship with Zane had been more adversarial than familial, she hadn’t given up on him. The previous month, they’d reconciled, helped by Zane falling totally and completely in love with Maya’s best friend, Phoebe.

  Maya parked and grabbed her oversize bag before heading toward the house. She knocked once on the front door, then stepped inside.

  “It’s me,” she called.

  Phoebe, a petite, curvy brunette, stepped out of the kitchen and smiled. “Yay. I love it being you.”

  They hugged, then walked into the kitchen, where Phoebe poured them glasses of iced tea.

  Maya sat at the old, battered table and watched her friend collect a salad from the refrigerator, along with tiny sandwiches.

  “You didn’t have to feed me,” Maya said, knowing Phoebe couldn’t help herself. She was born to take care of the world.

  “I thought you might be hungry.”

  Phoebe set the food on the table, then collected napkins and flatware.

  She moved easily—as if she’d always lived in the old house. Even better, Phoebe looked content. Happiness radiated out of her brown eyes. She was relaxed. Every now and then, she glanced at the diamond ring sparkling on her left ring finger. The beautiful solitaire would soon be joined by a wedding band.

  Phoebe sat across from her and grinned. “The ranch closed. I got my commission check.”

  It took Maya a second to make the transition.

  Recently, Phoebe had sold a nearby ranch to action movie superstar Jonny Blaze. It had been Phoebe’s last real estate deal before moving in with Zane and probably the only one where she’d made any money. Until the unexpected deal with Jonny Blaze, Phoebe had specialized in starter homes—a challenge in the expensive LA real estate market.

  “You’re rich,” Maya teased gently.

  “I am for me.” Phoebe sounded thrilled. “I have no idea what to do with the money. Zane told me to keep it in a separate account. That I earned it before the wedding, so it’s mine rather than ours.”

  Because Zane would always take care of her, Maya thought, still amazed at how falling in love had mellowed her usually tight-ass brother.

  “Are you going to listen to him?” Maya asked.

  Phoebe nibbled on her bottom lip. “I think it should be ours.”

  “Zane has the ranch. Keep the money. You’ll feel better having a nest egg.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You’re going to buy him something, aren’t you?”

  Phoebe laughed. “I haven’t decided. So what’s going on with you?”

  Maya told her about the videos planned for the town. “I’ll be working with Del.”

  Phoebe’s brown eyes widened. “Del, the guy you knew after high school? The one who wanted to marry you?”

  Maya shifted on her seat. If only it was that simple. “He’s the one,” she said, hoping her tone sounded light rather than guilty.

  “What’s that like?”

  “I don’t know. I thought it would be awkward, but he seems fine with us handling the project together.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Confused.” Maya pulled the tablet out of her bag. “I told you that Del and I fell crazy in love that summer.”

  “Uh-huh. It was after high school, right?”

  Phoebe knew enough about her past that Maya didn’t have to explain about her mother or how difficult times had been before the move to Fool’s Gold.

  “I loved him,” Maya said, feeling the guilt forming a knot in her stomach. “But I was so scared. Scared of what getting married would mean. Scared of getting stuck.”

  “Scared you’d turn into your mom.”

  Maya nodded. “I always knew that there wasn’t going to be a white knight on a horse riding in to rescue me. I knew I’d have to rescue myself. But with Del, I started to believe.”

  “Loving him wasn’t enough,” Phoebe said quietly.

  “It wasn’t. The closer we got to the date when we were going to run off, the more I started to freak. I finally had an opportunity to break free. To make something of myself. Was I really going to give that up for a guy?”

  Phoebe leaned toward her. “Did you ask him about that? About going to college with you or finding some kind of compromise? Did you tell him you were scared?”

  “No.” Maya swallowed. “I dumped him. I told him he was boring and this town was boring and that I didn’t want anything to do with him. Then I left.”

  The truth was, she’d run. Away from Del, away from Fool’s Gold. Part of her wondered if she was still running. Fear was a powerful motivator.

  “Ouch. You never talked to him again?” Phoebe asked.

  “Not until a few days ago, when he walked into Mayor Marsha’s office.”

  “How was he?”

  “Fine. Friendly. Charming. He didn’t say a word.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Guilty,” Maya admitted. “Like I have to apologize. But the timing is tricky. We’re working together. I don’t want it to be weird, but I owe him an apology and an explanation. Even if he has completely moved on, I need to do it for myself.”

  “Then you have a plan.”

  “I do. I also need you to look at a video I did. It’s a story about him. I have no idea how Mayor Marsha ever saw it, but she did and mentioned it to Del. So I’m going to have to show it to him. Can you watch it and tell me if it’s okay?”

  What she really meant was, were there signs of unrequited love or anything else remotely humiliating? But she wouldn’t have to say that to Phoebe. Her friend would understand what she meant.

  “I love watching your work,” Phoebe told her. “Let’s see what brilliance you’ve created.”

  Maya set her tablet on the table, then cued up the video. While Phoebe watched it, she crossed to the family room and took in the changes her friend had made.

  The chintz chairs and dark red sofa had been replaced with large couches covered in warm, family-friendly fabric. The walls had been painted and the artwork moved around. Fresh flowers in pretty vases had been scattered around the room.

  Phoebe couldn’t help improving everything she touched, Maya thought, a little envious of the skill. Phoebe had never cared about ambition. Her dreams had been about belonging.

  They’d met in college. Phoebe always told the story as if Maya had rescued her from loneliness and obscurity, but Maya knew it was the other way around. Her friend had been a rock—one of the few stable relationships she’d been able to count on.

  Zane had been there, too, Maya thought. In his own curmudgeonly way. And Chase. But Chase was a kid, and Zane and she had had some difficult times. Being friends with Phoebe had always been so very easy.

  Phoebe looked up from the tablet. “You’re so talented. I love this. You bring Del alive. I’ve never met him and I already like him. I love how you take us on the journey as he goes from extreme sport media darling to supercool businessman.” She looked at her watch. “In what? A t
hree-minute segment? There’s nothing to worry about. This is an impressive story told by a news professional.”

  Maya returned to the table and took the tablet. “Thank you. I don’t deserve the compliments, but I’ll accept them because I’m needy.” She paused. “So there’s nothing...”

  Phoebe shook her head. “No unrequited like, let alone love. Don’t worry.”

  “Thank you.” Maya dropped the tablet into her bag. “Enough about me. Tell me what’s going on with the wedding. Are you freaking out yet?”

  “No, but it’s in my eight-day plan.” Phoebe grinned. “Actually I don’t think I have to freak out. Dellina Ridge is planning everything and she’s so into the details. Oh, that reminds me. We’re going to have a fitting for our dresses soon. I’ll let you know the second they come into the store.”

  Phoebe had only wanted one attendant, and that was Maya. Chase would stand up with his brother. A family affair, Maya thought, still touched by the decision.

  “I can’t wait,” Maya told her, and meant the words. She wanted to be there when Phoebe married Zane. She wanted to be a part of things. She might not have gotten the network job she’d wanted, but coming back to Fool’s Gold was going to be a good thing.

  An hour later Maya hugged Phoebe goodbye. Before heading to her car, she detoured by the barn. Zane kept his office there. She found her ex-stepbrother working on his computer. When he saw her, he smiled.

  “Phoebe said you were stopping by. Did she mention the dresses will be in soon?”

  Maya stared at the man who had always seemed so disapproving and stern. “Seriously? You want to talk wedding fashions?”

  “If it’s important to Phoebe, it’s important to me.”

  She grinned and took the visitor’s chair. “Is that a chill I feel from the depths of hell?”

  “Just taking care of what matters.”

  Maya couldn’t believe how mean old Zane had changed. Although the truth was, he’d never been old or mean. He’d been the one trying to hold the family together after his father died, and neither she nor Chase had made that job easy. His younger brother had been more than a handful and she’d enjoyed pushing Zane’s buttons.

  She studied him now, taking in the handsome lines of his face. In truth, they weren’t blood relatives and they’d only lived in the same house for two years. A case could be made that they could have fallen for each other. Only from the second she’d met him, she’d seen him as a brother. An annoying brother with a stick firmly planted up his ass, but family all the same. From what she could tell, he’d thought the same about her. Minus the stick.

  Which meant he’d been available to fall for Phoebe. A fact that still made Maya very, very happy.

  “She does want to discuss what color the Jordan almonds will be. Lilac, light blue or mauve.”

  He made a note on a pad of paper. “I’ll talk to her about it later.”

  She blinked. “Really? Just like that.”

  “Sure.”

  Maya shook her head. “You really are crazy about her. There’s no Jordan almond question. I was just messing with you.”

  His mouth curved into a smile. “I’m happy to help her decide. After I look up what they are.”

  “Thank God for Google.”

  “Absolutely.” He studied her. “It’s nice to have you around, Maya.”

  “It’s nice to be around.” She thought about her earlier conversation with Phoebe. How she’d felt safe for the first time when she’d moved to Fool’s Gold. How her teachers had cared and she’d gotten a scholarship for college.

  “Was it you?” she asked. “Who funded my college scholarship?”

  Zane shook his head. “Sorry, no. I should have offered to help pay for it, but I didn’t think of it. Money was tight back then, so I don’t think my dad would have agreed.”

  She remembered. But their brand of money being tight had been a whole lot nicer than her mother’s.

  “I just wondered. Somebody put up the money. Mayor Marsha would never tell me who.”

  “Maybe they wanted to be anonymous. You should let it be.”

  She laughed. “Because I’m going to start taking your advice now?”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  “Maybe, but that’s not one of them.” She stood and circled the desk, then gave him a hug. “You’re going to research Jordan almonds, aren’t you?”

  “Of course.”

  Which only made her love him more.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  DEL SAT ON the front porch stairs of his cabin. It was late in the afternoon but still a long way from sunset. The temperature was warm and the kids in the area were out playing. He could hear shrieks of laughter, along with friendly taunts.

  Being lazy felt good, he thought, reminding himself he should enjoy the moment. Because soon enough he would get restless and want to be doing something. The question was what. He wasn’t an entrepreneur by blood. He’d stumbled into his sky board company in an attempt to please himself. Despite the many offers to collaborate, he wasn’t interested in trying to duplicate the success.

  A sleek gray convertible pulled up next to his battered truck. The visitor’s car screamed LA and he knew who it was before she got out.

  In the past ten years Maya had changed, the way women did when they grew up. Like the car, she was sleek, with great lines and plenty of power. The analogy made him chuckle. He doubted she would see the compliment.

  She wore jeans and boots. A simple loose T-shirt had been tucked into her jeans. She slung a tote bag over her shoulder as she walked toward him. She looked confident and sexy. A nearly unbeatable combination.

  For a second, as he watched her, he remembered what it had been like before. When Maya hadn’t been quite so in charge. When she’d stared at him wide-eyed, her mouth trembling right before he’d kissed her.

  Their first meeting had been a lightning strike—at least for him. He’d seen her and wanted her. Later, when he’d gotten to know her, he’d found himself as attracted to every part of her. Hearing her laugh had made his day brighter. He’d fallen hard, and for that entire summer, he’d known she was the one.

  When she’d accepted his proposal, he’d expected they would spend the rest of their lives together. He’d imagined kids and a yard and everything that went with happily ever after. When she’d dumped him...

  “Hey,” she said as she approached.

  He wrenched his mind from the past and focused on the present. Maya stopped at the porch stairs and held out her tablet.

  “I brought over a copy of that video Mayor Marsha mentioned. I thought it would give you an idea of how I work.”

  The video she’d claimed to know nothing about? Curious, he thought as he stood. Why had she pretended to be confused and why the change of heart? He thought about asking, then decided it was probably a chick thing and he was better off not knowing.

  “Let’s take a look,” he said, and headed inside.

  The cabin was simply furnished with an open floor plan. The kitchen and living room were up front with a half wall dividing the sleeping area from the rest of the cabin. The only separate area was the small three-quarter bath.

  Del walked to the square dining table by the window and sat down. Maya handed him the tablet, but instead of sitting next to him, she hovered just behind his right shoulder.

  “Just push the button,” she told him.

  “Nervous?” he asked without turning to look at her.

  “A little. It’s my work.”

  Which implied it had significance to her. He got that but, “It’s not like my opinion is going to make a difference.”

  “You’re the subject. Of course I care what you think.”

  Good to know, he thought as he glanced at the screen.

 
; The frozen picture showed him just after he’d jumped from an airplane. He pushed Play and the piece started.

  It was about two or three minutes long with Maya providing the voice-over. The footage was all stock stuff, easily available on the internet. There were clips from other interviews he’d done while he’d still been involved in the sport and later, when he’d transitioned to entrepreneur.

  When the video ended, he turned to look at her. “This wasn’t for your TV show.”

  She gave him a nervous smile. “No. You were famous, but not that famous.” One shoulder rose and fell. “Unless we were talking about your love life. Then you made the show.”

  “At the end,” he said absently, thinking that his relationship with Hyacinth—a world champion figure skater—had captured the media’s attention, if only on the periphery.

  “I did some freelance work,” she added. “Pieces like this that could be used on local morning shows.”

  He turned back to the tablet and tapped the screen to watch it again. This time he turned off the sound and studied the pictures. She’d taken ordinary shots and woven them together into something greater than the individual clips.

  She was a good editor—better than good. He’d taken some video himself and tried to edit it, and the results had been dismal.

  “Nice,” he said, pointing at the screen. “I like what you did here. You cropped the shot differently. Or something.”

  She pulled up a chair and settled next to him. “You’re right. The action was great, but you weren’t at the center of the frame. I moved you as best I could. The line of sight is better, too.”

  She kept talking and motioning to the action playing on the tablet, but he wasn’t paying attention. Not anymore. Not when he could inhale the scent of what he guessed was her shampoo, or maybe her lotion. Maya had never been one to wear perfume. Although he guessed that could be different now.

  She’d changed just enough to be intriguing, he thought. The line of her jaw was tighter. Her walk a bit more determined. He didn’t know what she’d been through over the past ten years, but whatever it was had honed her.

  She probably saw differences in him, too, but he found those less interesting. He knew what had happened to him. None of it was especially compelling.