truth was, she didn’t drink alcohol. Ever. But neither did she like explaining herself, so she kept that little fact private.
She folded herself into one of the chairs, enjoying the way Dave’s gaze roamed over her legs. In her quest for a normal, average life, she’d finally given herself permission to date a guy she might have a future with. Sure, this was only their third date, but she had high hopes for Dave. He was nice.
“A martini and a water,” Dave said, his eyes glommed on to her thighs. “Got it.”
With a grin and a wink, he turned on his heel and hurried back into the party. Maya sighed. It was pretty obvious that someone thought he was getting lucky tonight.
“He’s hot. Are you two serious?” Carly asked.
Maya glanced at the blonde before her gaze followed the path Dave had taken. He was hot. Sorta. Sorta-tall, sorta-dark, sorta-handsome. Sure, that sexy bad-boy edge that usually drew her was missing. But that was the point. That made him safe, which was priority number one.
“We’re having fun,” she said, sidestepping the question. “How about you? Are you here with someone?”
They spent the next few minutes exchanging desultory chit chat. Maya’s gaze wandered, noting the twinkling lights framing the balcony, the few occupied tables and the noted lack of excitement she was feeling.
She’d been doing this normal life thing for three years now. In part, to prove she could. But mostly because she’d never had normal growing up. Like some kids craved the exotic, she’d craved average.
But she’d come to realize that average, after a while, was pretty damned boring. Hence Dave. And he was a nice guy. She just didn’t feel any real excitement, any wildly hot energy between them.
Maybe it was time to move on?
She was still mulling that idea, and just what it would mean to her life, when Dave returned with the drinks. She listened to him and Carly chat and wondered what it was like to be that carefree. For a girl who’d been calculating the odds since her toddler years, the concept was totally foreign.
“Maya, you don’t mind if I borrow your friend for a dance or two?” Carly asked, slinking to her feet in a move worthy of the most sinuous snake in the jungle.
Maya smirked when she saw the slight bulge of Dave’s eyes as he got the full impact of Carly’s double Ds. She couldn’t blame him. The view was mesmerizing, in a train-wreck kind of way.
“Sure,” she said. Then she added, “But just a couple dances. I expect him back in the same shape you’re borrowing him.”
Dave laughed like a giddy schoolboy, but Carly caught the message. Her vamp smile dimmed a notch, then she nodded before leading Dave away. As they entered the room, though, Maya saw the other woman’s hand slip over Dave’s ass.
She should be jealous. Pissed, even. But she wasn’t. Why not? He was a nice guy. And he fit perfectly into her average life. Her nice, average boyfriend. Someone to ease her loneliness. Maya sighed, wishing the cool night air would clear her head of all the confusing thoughts.
She stood to walk toward the balcony wall and get a better view of the Golden Gate, but accidentally knocked her water bottle off the table as she rose.
It spun across the outdoor carpet toward the shadows. She hurried over to grab it just as it rolled to a stop at a pair of feet clad in high-end cowboy boots.
Maya sighed. A cowboy in California? Oh, please.
Keeping her eye roll to herself, she stopped a foot away and checked out the rest of the wild west show. Her mental sneer shifted as her gaze climbed up long, long jeans-clad legs, a leather belt around a narrow waist and a chest that begged to be nuzzled. The collar of a dark green shirt was opened, his jacket looked pricey and… she let her gaze finish the climb.
And felt the earth shift just a little.
Oh, baby, he was gorgeous.
A square jaw and slashing cheekbones were the perfect frame for a face that could sell magazines, cars and women’s souls. Long-lashed eyes echoed the green of his shirt, his lips were kissably full and the only thing keeping him from being a pretty boy was a scar, high on his cheekbone.
One side of his mouth quirked in amusement at her inspection as he bent down to grab the bottle.
“Yours?” he asked, his voice declaring his right to wear those thousand-dollar cowboy boots. Cultured, rich and definitely Southern.
“Thank you,” Maya murmured, taking the water. Her brow knit. “Have we met?”
Her face heated and wished she could take back the words. Oh, man, what a cliché. She’d have done just as well to offer to strip him naked and dance around his body like a stripper’s pole.
Since she couldn’t erase the words, instead she gave a short laugh and shook her head. “I know, it sounds like a cheesy pickup line. But I swear, I’ve seen you before.”
Gifted with a near-photographic memory, she never forgot numbers and she never forgot a face. The former made her a prized assistant among the investment bankers in her department. The latter kept her past from tripping her up.
The problem was, she couldn’t remember exactly who he was. She’d seen him a few times around Braverment events, so he must work for the company in some form or another. Probably one of their out-of-state branches.
“I’d remember if we had,” he returned with a smile that did wicked things to her libido.
“My mistake,” she excused, irritated to hear how breathless the words sounded. She cleared her throat and plastered on her brightest smile. “Are you with Braverment?”
“No. Old man Braverment is a friend of the family and he suggested I drop in. I’m actually here looking for capital. A few investors interested in a new app platform to integrate social media.” He flashed her a smile so wicked with charisma she figured he raked in investments like crazy.
Amazing. Even boring investment talk sounded sexy in that delicious accent. Pretending her knees weren’t wobbling, she asked, “Are you enjoying the party?”
“I appreciate the view,” he returned. His voice was as sexy as his face. Husky and low, making her think of magnolia blossoms and mint juleps, silk sheets and naked bodies. Maya wished it were a little cooler on the patio, since her body was feeling very, very hot.
He nodded toward the doors leading to the Christmas festivities, and asked, “How about you? Are you having a good time?”
The tiny hairs on the back of Maya’s neck stood up. She didn’t know why. Other than being way too sexy for his own good, he shouldn’t make her feel threatened. Should he? She’d seen him before so he was legit, and he was gorgeous.
It was probably the gorgeous part that was setting off her warning signals. To say nothing of making her body go into sexual hyperdrive.
Once or twice, she’d thought she could have her cake and eat it, too. That she could be average and still give in to the wild, passionate side of her nature. But she’d been burned, badly. So she avoided all
