“Uh, hey, nice to meet you too, Louise,” Maya replied, holding out her hand. After a quick handshake and recommendations, Lou left with our orders, leaving Maya and me alone. I saw that Francheska and her hags had left during all of this, thank fuck. I did not trust that bitch one bit.
I saw Maya watching me out of the corner of my eye and turned to look at her. She had such a sweet but beautiful face. I had never wanted to have that one person that fit me like a piece of a puzzle. I had never even given it much thought, aside from how suffocated I’d feel if it happened to me, but meeting Maya…I didn’t feel any panic inside myself, just peace, and a feeling that everything had slotted into place. From a distance, her eyes looked almost turquoise, but up close, they seemed to change color depending on her mood. They were mainly a bluish green-gray, so different from any eye color I’d ever seen, but then, she was so different from anyone I’d ever known. It was only right that everything about her was unique.
Aware that I had chick thoughts going through my head and that we were just staring at each other, I started asking her questions about her childhood. Listening to her talk about all of the countries that she’d lived in and visited, what she’d seen, how much she’d experienced, and seeing her eyes light up, I couldn’t help but think that she would be bored with me. Sure, I’d traveled, but I had a business here in Piersville. Was that going to be enough? Immediately after that thought, a more determined one hit me—I’d make it enough. We could still vacation and experience things together while we were based here, and she had her own business here, too.
I decided to ask about the business to see how committed she was to it. “So you’re pretty young to be the owner of an interior design business, aren’t you?”
“The company is a division of Uncle George’s business. He offered me the opportunity to set up a team that would take on independent contracts as well as fulfill contracts attached to his builds. Fortunately, there isn’t a company in this area that offers a full build and interior design consult that would save time and money in the long run for clients.
“I’ve just been offered the contracts for a further three homes on top of yours, as well as a company that wants a full refurbishment.” She blushed and looked down at her hands, which were tearing her napkin into pieces. “I love my job. I’ve been interning and working alongside designers since I was twelve, which was when we lived in London. When I was sixteen, we came back here, and I had to go to a school away from my parents, so I contacted a local interior design company who offered me an evening and weekend job with them after I showed them my portfolio. Since then, it’s all that I’ve wanted to do,” she finished with a huge smile that brought a little dimple on either side of her mouth that I hadn’t noticed before. Fuck me, she’s perfect!
“So, do you see yourself staying here?” Please say yes, please say yes, I was chanting in my head.
“Of course. The people are fantastic, and it’s a great place to operate from in the business sense because, if anything, being here opens up the business side of life for me because retro is the in ‘thing,’ and most people associate small-town living with retro and refurbished furniture. That aside, though, even after a couple of weeks I love it here, so I’m thinking there isn’t a chance that I’m leaving. Does that answer your question?” She had her head tilted, and her eyes were shining with laughter. Guess I hadn’t been that subtle after all. “So tell me about you.”
“I’ve got three brothers and a sister. Dad owns the ranch, and we all help out when we’re around. As you now know, I own the garage and built it up from the ground when I was twenty-two. I’ve lived here all of my life, but I’ve traveled to different places around the world, although not to as many places as you. Um, I played ball at school and college and studied engineering. I’m twenty-seven…” I trailed off. Figuring that now was the time to make my intentions clear, I said, “And I really li—” But then I was rudely interrupted by the shit stain that just wouldn’t wash out of my life.
“Hey, Ren and Maya,” Cole yelled, walking towards us.
“Fuck!” Maya and I groaned at the same time, and then looked at each other with matching grins.
Cole pulled a chair up to the table and went to sit down between us, but I kicked the chair out from under him, for the millionth time in my life, leaving Cole mid-perch with no seat. He tipped backward, and Maya lunged to catch him and lost balance. In a blurred twist of bodies, they both came down onto the tiled floor, making the sort of noise that only flesh hitting tile could make—that noise that you hear when a toddler falls and splats.
I stood up to help Maya, feeling like shit that I’d caused this, and saw that somehow Cole had twisted them so that his head was in Maya’s cleavage face down and that he was rubbing his face in it and sighing.
“There is a God! It’s the wrong time of year for Santa, but if he’s listening or God has him on speed dial—can you tell him that this is what I’ve been asking for all of these years? For Christmas, though, could they be a double D cup, please?” The last word ended on a squeak when I picked him up by his boxers and hauled him off of her.
“You okay, baby? Shit, I’m sorry.” I crouched down and looked her over as she just lay there on the tile floor. “Is anything broken?”
Looking at Cole, she wheezed, “Holy mother! How much do you weigh?" And how the hell did you land face down in my boobs?” I lifted her up off the floor and sat her back in the booth.
“It’s a gift,” Cole muttered, probably still picking his underwear out of his teeth and ass. “In fact, I have many gifts, Maya—”
He wasn’t quick enough to dodge the smack that I aimed at the back of his head. Cockblocking shithead!
Chapter Six
Maya
A fter a great lunch, laughing to the point of pain at Cole and getting to know them a bit better, we walked slowly back to the garage. The two of them pointed things out to me about Piersville while at the same time winding each other up. I could tell Ren had an equally cheeky side, but he was being reserved until I got to know him, and I appreciated that.
Halfway back to Ren’s garage, my phone started ringing in my bag, and I dug it out and answered without looking at the screen.
“Where are you, darling? I’ve looked everywhere for you!” I heard my ex Andy ask.
Thinking back to our last run-in with each other, I froze. I had been leaving my farewell dinner in Tampa with a huge client who was a close friend, and Andy had turned up out of nowhere and made a scene by grabbing me outside of one of the most expensive restaurants in Florida and begged me to take him back. I’d said no, and it had ended with my client’s security guards pulling him off of me and him being charged.
When I’d gotten home, I discovered he’d even broken into my apartment and had made a trail of rose petals from the front door through my living room, all the way down the hallway to my bedroom, and had also covered my bed with them, too. In movies and books, people swoon and think that that’s the most romantic thing a man can do, but firstly, he was a stalker. Secondly, he broke into my apartment. And thirdly, people in books don’t have to clean that shit up. Seriously, you can’t sweep it or vacuum it. If you vacuum, they attach themselves to your filter and block it up (my poor purple Dyson), and if you sweep, they just roll into cigars or split into pieces, and neither outcome is conducive to getting them the hell off your floors and furniture. After a long discussion with my parents, it had been agreed that a change of location needed to be made, so that was what I’d done when I’d moved here. And now the asshole was calling me—again.
“Are you kidding me, Andy? You were arrested for attempted assault and essentially stalking in Tampa. You were told to stay away from me, yet you called, and I gave you a friendly heads-up about breaking the warning that the police had given you. And now here you are calling me, again! What the hell?” The end came out with a shout. I could feel the shakes setting in and the anger building. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?
> He started to say something, but I cut him off. “You cheated on me for nine months! You fucked so many women you couldn’t even give a ballpark figure when asked. You even fucked almost every friend that I had. Is that not enough for you? I’m not interested, I’ve moved on, I don’t want you, and I am done!”
I heard him saying in the voice he used to use to get what he wanted, “But Angel,” just as my phone was taken out of my hand and Ren said, “Listen, man, I’m giving you warning—leave Maya alone. Forget her number and forget she exists, or you got trouble. You with me?”
You could hear the sniveling, diseased dick asking who he was speaking to before Ren cut him off. “I see you don’t hear so well, man. Name’s Ren. I’m looking after Maya now. You fucked up, and you lost. Move on and leave her alone. I only give one warning—I’ve never been a two-warning guy—and my best advice is to listen and fuck off, yeah?” Disease Dick must have hung up, because the next thing I knew Ren was pressing buttons on my phone as well as his own. I needed to speak to my provider about blocking his numbers or changing my number. I hated that I’d had such a fantastic day that had been ruined by that STD-riddled prick.
“Sorry about that, guys,” I whispered, feeling like an idiot because they’d had to deal with my ex and now they knew what I’d been involved with.
I felt hands gently cup my face on either side, and then they raised my gaze so that I was looking up into Ren’s beautiful gray eyes. “Baby, what the fuck? This isn’t on you, it’s on him. Now, I just spoke to the dick, and he had jack shit to say back to me, so I’m hoping that it’s scared him enough to make him fuck off, but if not, then you tell me and I’ll fix it. If I’m not around, you got Cole, okay, Maya?” He was looking at me so softly, and I flicked a glance at Cole to see him standing there with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. It was a shock to see him looking so serious, as he kept scanning around us like he was expecting someone to jump out. “Maya, baby, eyes on me. Do you get me? If he contacts you, you get one of us. I have his number, and I’ve programmed our numbers into your phone, so any issues, you call one of us and we’ll deal with it. Say you get me,” he ended, giving me a gentle nudge.
“Uh, I get you, but what’s Cole doing?” Ren turned just as Cole was standing on his tiptoes and doing a spin on the tips of his feet, looking left and right at the same time.
“I’m on the lookout; this ain’t no laughing matter!” he said, still doing it. He suddenly stopped and swayed to the left and a bit to the right before coming to a halt. He had his hand on his stomach and face had gone pale. “Yeah, uh, I think I’ll stick to just looking,” he said, still holding his stomach as he walked up to the wall to lean against it while taking deep breaths.
“Is he gonna throw up?” I asked Ren, who was frowning at him and had a tic in his jaw. “Seriously, he’s gone a bit green.”
“I told Mom he shoulda been adopted. I begged her for years, and now this is the shit I’m stuck with,” he growled. “Yo, Cole, there’s Francheska!” Ren shouted suddenly. Cole jumped up, grabbed my arm, and started dragging me back towards the garage.
“Walk faster, walk faster—there’re rabbits in danger!” he chided, still pulling me along. I couldn’t help but giggle at him, because he’d moved from vomiting to running in a matter of seconds.
Ren caught hold of my other hand and gently tugged me away from Cole, and I ended up chest to chest with him. I swear I could feel an eight-pack, maybe a ten… “Cole, man—don’t drag her, you’ll hurt her! I was kidding, you idiot. She left before you arrived!” He looked at the arm that Cole had been holding, and then at the hand he’d tugged me away from Cole with and checked it. “Did I hurt you, baby?” he asked with a soft look on his face. With every breath, the bumps on his stomach were touching my chest and tummy, which was not conducive to a normal thought process at all. “Maya,” he said, laughing and making the bumps touch me more frequently and with more pressure, which I was sure was the closest thing to heaven on earth that I’d ever get. Then he laughed even harder, and I swear I had a mini orgasm, which was fortunately and also unfortunately interrupted by a car as it drove past loudly at that precise moment, waking me out of my Ren-induced stupor.
Looking around to see if anyone had noticed or was watching, I heard Cole mutter, “Lucky bastard,” as he stomped back towards the garage.
“Sorry! Um, I wanted to have a walk and look at some shops before I go home to see what local items there are that I can include in my designs,” I said while trying to look but at Ren.
“Baby, look at me. Don’t be embarrassed, I feel the same way,” he whispered. Slowly his big hands framed my face, and he bent down and brushed his lips against mine to give me the sweetest softest kiss. “I need to get back to work, but I want to see you again,” he murmured looking at my lips still.
“Uh,” was all I could manage to get out while I tried to muddle through the mush in my head. What was today? “Oh, I’m going out with my cousins tonight to Jilly’s.” I’m sure I sounded as disappointed as I felt.
One corner of his mouth kicked up, “Good. I’ll see you there then. 8 o’clock?”
“Sure!” I was still feeling somewhat discombobulated by the kiss and with the added impact of a half-smile on the face of Renwick Townsend, it’s a wonder I could still remember how to breathe.
Then it got worse again as he hit me with the full Ren grin, and that’s when breathing became difficult. His face got closer, and he brushed his mouth against mine at the same time that I licked my lips. The next thing, his arms were holding me to him tightly, and his tongue was gently brushing and flicking mine. It would have been rude to ignore it, so I took the opportunity to taste Ren properly. A stroke of my tongue along his, a flick against the tip of his and then a flick a little further back. His arms got tighter, and the stomach bumps that had been tapping me were now pressed up against me so closely that I doubted even a postage stamp could have got between us. One hand was in my hair holding me in place and his other arm was tight across my back. I had my hand in his soft but closely cropped hair and my other hand had somehow found its way into the back pocket of his jeans. I tilted my pelvis towards his and just as I started to appreciate the size, length and hardness of what was against me, the most irritating noise that I’d heard in my life sounded.
“Ren and Maya sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N…” This was interrupted by the sound of an almighty smack. “Mother fu…” smack “Ow, stop hitting me!”
We turned towards Cole and I saw the sweetest looking old lady with a straw hat on her head and her purse over her arm chasing and hitting him with her cane. Cole was running and rubbing his head and kept looking behind himself, which turned out to be the ultimate mistake as he ran into the rolling door of the garage. It was one of those metal ones that you could roll up and down and he made an almighty thud when he hit it and then bounced off, just as the old ninja lady caught up with him.
“Gammy, that hurt!” He whined, pouting and rubbing his head.
“You deserved it, Cole Townsend. Making fun of your brother like that. Now get your butt in that garage and think about what you’ve done!” She used her cane to point towards the garage. I was laughing silently, but watching him walking into the ‘naughty garage’ to think about what he’d done whilst rubbing his owey’s and pouting at this tiny old lady in her straw hat was too much. I couldn’t hold in the very loud belly laughs anymore.
By the time I’d stopped laughing and straightened up ninja Gran was in front of me and watching me closely. I could feel Ren laughing quietly beside me; sly bastard.
Seeing her cane, I started thinking through all my possible exits just as Ren put his arm around me. “Hey Nana, I didn’t know you were visiting today. Have you met Maya Price yet?”
The old biddy looked me up and down and with a sniff said, “No, but I see that you have! Now, when you were a baby, Renwick, you promised me faithfully that you’d save all your sugar for me. Now I see you giving it away to some girl
that you hadn’t even introduced me to.” I could have sworn that she was pouting now too.
“Nana, I was 3 - you made me swear on that using a bag of jelly beans as bribery!” Ren huffed, and I had the delight of watching two pink stripes appear on his cheeks.
“Uh hi, nice to meet you ma’am.”
“Maya is George Montgomery’s niece Gram,” Ren was quick to add in after I stalled.
“Oh, your family lives near here does it?” She was eyeing me up and down again. I had a feeling she was as sharp as a tack but hid behind her innocent Nana garb and appearance. Then again, I’d just seen her in action and trust me that woman could move and swing like a professional batter.
“Yeah, as Ren said - my Uncle is George Montgomery. I work at his firm and Collette has asked me to make some changes to Ren and his sister and brothers houses.”
The expression on her face instantly changed from curious to delighted and with a clap of her hands she trilled loudly, “Oh how wonderful! It's about time. Ren and Cole have left their wood bare for so long there’s no telling what’s in it now!"
From the inside of the garage behind us came a roar of laughter from the men working in it who had just heard her excited, and very loud, exclamation about the state of their bosses wood. Looking up at Ren, I flashed him a huge gleeful grin just before he gripped his hair and looked up at the sky muttering under his breath.
Chapter Seven
Maya
A fter meeting Ren and Cole’s Nana, I drove Hulk to the park closest to the shops that I wanted to visit. My quick getaway was also so that I didn’t have to make eye contact with Ren or any of his coworkers" after the kiss almighty that we’d shared.
Providence Series Books 1-4 Page 4