JUNE
Chapter 17
Everett twisted the key in his hand, the tip just barely scraped his polished desk. He pulled the thing up to his face and examined it. He’d been planning to give it to Maya for a long time. But he hadn’t come up with a reason to. Not that he needed one. But she most certainly did.
Maya’s current work-in-progress was wrapped up and sitting on the dresser in his bedroom, waiting to be taken back to her apartment for the next few days. Seeing Maya prepare to essentially move her entire operation while he was across the country for a conference was what had prompted him to pull the key out of its hiding place.
Now he was less than two hours away from leaving. She hadn’t moved her stuff. They hadn’t talked about it. And all of it led to this moment.
Maya walked into his office like a cool breeze. “You summoned me.” She smiled. Her hair, pulled up in a bun, sat upon the top of her head in a chaotic tumble. The boxy work shirt she wore covered all her wonderful curves, and he wanted to rip it off her.
“Your painting is still on the dresser at my house.”
Maya closed the door and laughed. “I know. I didn’t want to leave it in the car all day while I was at work.” She walked over to the sofa that took up one corner of his office. “It’s okay. I have other stuff to work on while you’re gone.”
Everett moved quickly from his desk chair to the couch so he could sit beside her. “I have a better idea.”
Maya placed her hand on his thigh and leaned toward him. “What’s that?”
Everett opened his hand and held the key out in front of her. “I was thinking. You’re at my house all the time. Your work is there. Why don’t you just stay? There’s no reason for you to uproot your life just because I won’t be there for a few days.”
Maya took the key slowly. She held it up to her face for a second as if trying to figure out what it was. Then she lowered it to her lap. Her other hand drifted gently over his knee, back and forth.
Everett couldn’t stand the suspense. “What are you thinking about?”
Maya pressed a kiss to his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Thank you.”
“That’s it?”
She chuckled softly. “What else do you want?”
“I guess I expected you to argue with me.”
She lifted her head and stared at him. “Do you want me to?”
“No. Of course not. I’m…I’m happy.” Everett leaned down and kissed her. Now would be a good time to ask her to go public, to be together out in the open. To be official.
“Good.” She stood, slipped the key into her front pocket and stepped backward. “I should get back before someone figures out I’m completely smitten with the boss.”
And just like that, he chickened out.
After Maya left, Everett sat on his leather couch and tried to shift his brain to the next conversation he had to have. The scent of Maya’s perfume lingering in his office was distracting, so he grabbed his cell phone from its spot on the desk and wandered up to the roof.
He’d always loved it up here. The building wasn’t tall by any city standards, but the roof was wide and open and gave him a view of a slice of bay in the distance. It was a warm day, and he sat on the picnic table he and Elias had once wrestled up here with the help of a security guard and a really big dude named Hill who still worked on the factory floor.
Everett took a deep breath and sent a text to Carlos. He needed to talk to his friend, not about his own woman troubles, but what Carlos was getting himself into. At first he’d thought the new relationship with Amy was a good thing for his reserved CFO. But then Maya had let slip how important Amy’s career was to her and how uninterested in men she’d been right up until she’d started things up with Carlos.
Then he’d had a visit from Carlos’ ex-wife Kimberly the other day. Usually he took everything Kimberly had to say, especially if it involved Carlos, with a major bent toward skepticism. But Kimberly seemed sincere when she expressed her concern over Amy and Carlos. Amy had worked for Kimberly for two years and Kimberly claimed to know the younger woman well. She’d said that Amy was out for a promotion, not a boyfriend. That, combined with what he now knew about Amy’s greatest wish, made him worry for Carlos’ fragile heart.
As Carlos came up onto the roof he steeled himself for a heart-to-heart with one of his best friends. But a nagging voice in the back of his head said that he needed to have a similar conversation with himself.
****
It should have felt strange to be rattling around in Everett’s house by herself. But it didn’t. Maya was perfectly comfortable working on the porch, showering in the massive walk-in, and cooking in the well-stocked kitchen. She did miss having a sexy man to roll around with in the huge bed, however.
With only a few hours left before Everett returned, Maya decided to tidy up. Everett had a cleaning service that came on Wednesdays. But he was coming back on a Sunday night and she’d made a bit of mess around the place because she’d been so focused on painting all weekend.
In the living room, she cleared the mugs and bowls from the random breakfasts and snacks she’d taken while sitting on the couch and watching gardening shows. Then she wiped down the coffee table and both end tables on either side of the couch.
It was when she opened the small drawer to the side table that all hell broke loose. She’d done it because she’d spilled her coffee that morning and she wanted to be sure none had made its way through the crack into the drawer itself. But instead of finding a beverage mess, she found a disaster of another kind.
Right on top of a stack of business cards was one from Melissa Mancini. Maya picked it up. It matched the one she had in her purse, except this was older, its corners folded, its bright white paper faded and yellowing. A handwritten note in blue ink said, “It was good to see you again and reconnect.”
Maya slumped onto the couch and examined the card. She was certain it meant what she thought it did. And this information would force her hand. A tear slipped out of her eye and she wiped it away with her palm. She would not let this break her. She would handle it with strength and maturity.
Maya picked up the phone and made a call that twisted her stomach into knots and created a sharp ache in her temples.
****
Everett was frantic by the time he reached his place. Maya’s little beat-up car was still in the driveway. But that was only temporarily a good sign. He parked his car behind hers and jumped out. He circled it, but it did not appear to be packed with the voluminous amount of things he knew she had in his house.
The call he’d gotten from Melissa as he’d driven back from the airport had sent him into a panic. Still feeling like he was losing his mind, he burst through the front door. He dropped his travel bag in the foyer and scoured the first floor. Not finding Maya, he climbed the stairs two at a time and jogged to the bedroom.
Maya sat on the bed, tucked under the quilt his family’s housekeeper had made for him when he’d graduated high school, reading a book. She looked up at him and smiled. “Hi. How was your trip?”
Everett was flummoxed. He expected her to be standing there holding a suitcase and threatening to leave, or at the very least with a pissed off look on her face and arms folded across her chest.
He approached slowly, toed off his shoes and kicked them under the bed, then sat on the edge of the mattress beside her. “Aren’t you mad at me?”
“No. Not really.”
“What does that mean?”
She set her book aside and took his hand in hers, resting them both in his lap. “I guess you talked to Melissa.”
He nodded.
She sighed. “I know you and she are old friends. You’ve known each other since high school. Your families were friends. I know you called her to ask her to look at my work and consider giving me a show.”
He swallowed hard. “Yes. That’s all true. I just wanted to help.”
“I know. I get that.”
“You do?”
Maya laughed. “Jeez. Now I’m starting to wonder what you really think of me. God. You look terrified. Come here.” She pulled on his neck and gave him a sweet kiss. “I get it, Everett. You wanted to help me. And I think it’s sweet. I was a little ticked that you didn’t tell me. But I get that, too. You were afraid I’d pull out of the show, thinking I didn’t get it on my own merits.”
He nodded, finally daring to breathe because she was taking this so well.
“And you were right. I did pull out.”
Melissa had said as much. But somehow, for a split second, he thought maybe it was all a misunderstanding. “Why?”
She rubbed his thigh. “I just told you.”
“But you did get the show on your own merits. She might have taken the meeting as a favor to me, but she picked you because of your work.”
“That’s what she said, too.”
Everett’s knee bounced. “It’s true. I heard the panic in her voice.”
“She’s panicked because I’m pulling out on short notice. I’ll find someone else, though. Don’t worry. I won’t leave her hanging.”
“I don’t want you to find her someone else! I want you to take the show!” It had suddenly become essential to his existence that he get her to do the show.
Maya shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
Everett took a deep breath. “How can I change your mind?”
“Melissa asked me the same thing.”
“Well?”
Maya bit her lip. “I don’t think there’s a way. How would I know if she wanted me for me or because of you?”
“I’ll come up with something.”
She tugged at his neck again. “Okay. In the meantime, I really, really missed you. Can you get naked and come to bed?”
“I’m pretty freaked out.”
“I know, Baby. I’m sorry.” She ran a hand over his back. “I didn’t mean to get you so worked up.”
He leaned down so his mouth was close to hers. “It’s really, really important to me that you do this show.”
She placed a hand on his cheek. “Why?”
“Because I’m in love with you.” It wasn’t planned. It just came out. But it was also true.
Maya’s eyes grew wide for a moment. Then she pulled his face to hers and kissed him long and hard. She fumbled at his clothes and tugged at his hips until he was in bed with her, on top of her, inside her.
And he didn’t regret having told her. Even though she never said it back.
****
Maya took the last of her paintings into the framer, Everett just ahead of her with a larger piece. The works would be displayed in Melissa’s gallery in less than two months.
It had been Everett’s confession that had changed her mind about pulling out of the show. He’d tried to come up with some ways to prove to her that Melissa liked her work for what it was. But, in the end, all it took was those three little words from Everett. Her sense of indignation and her stubborn nature were no match for that.
Of course, she hadn’t said it back. At least not when he was awake. She had whispered the words when, jetlagged and sexually satisfied, he’d drifted into a deep sleep.
It didn’t count. She knew it didn’t count. And she’d find a way to tell him what he meant to her. But they had bigger fish to fry at the moment. Moving paintings around for the gallery show had freed up space in her studio. In addition, one of Everett’s spare rooms had even more space for her stuff. The end result was that she no longer needed her apartment. And keeping it and not staying in it was just plain wasteful.
Maya hated wasting money. But she also hated the idea of relying on Everett’s money to survive. And that’s what moving in with him would mean. It would also mean they’d have to go public. Plus, it was a huge step in their relationship.
So she was stuck in this weird position. What she needed to do was tell him she had to either live at her house or live at his. Which meant revealing her neurotic hang-up.
“All set?”
“Um. Yeah. Are you hungry?”
Everett put his hand on Maya’s lower back and led her to the door. “Sure. I have some stuff to make spaghetti at the house.”
“No. I mean, let’s go out.”
Everett paused, his hand on the metal handle that ran across the glass door. “Um. Sure. Where do you want to go?”
“How about that restaurant Carlos’ brother owns?”
He tipped his head, no doubt thinking that was a good place to get found out. But he didn’t say anything. Instead, he swung the door open and ushered her through it.
On the way to the restaurant Maya talked about the paintings. She explained why she chose the ones she did for the show and how she thought the framing would look when it was done.
When they were seated at a table, had chatted briefly with Carlos’ brother, and were waiting for their dinner, she broached the dreaded subject. “I’m not sure what to do about my living situation.”
“I figured we were coming to this.”
She let out a breath, relieved this wasn’t a surprise to him. “And?”
“I want you to live with me. But that’s obvious, isn’t it?” He grinned.
“I did get that impression, yeah?”
“If my house is too fancy for you, I will straight up sell the thing and buy a new one.”
“I believe you would.”
Everett reached over and took her hands in his. “Live with me, please. If you don’t want people to find out, we can figure that out. I don’t have people over anyway. Sometimes Carlos, but honestly, that ship is bound to sail eventually. He’s my best friend. There’s only so long—”
“That’s not the only issue.”
He nodded, his eyes bright with excitement and worry.
“I need to pay part of the mortgage. I get it won’t be half. I’m sure I can’t afford that. But I’d like to contribute.”
Everett’s forehead wrinkled up. “That might not be possible.”
“Why not?”
“The house is paid for.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.”
Maya pulled one hand away from Everett and put it on her cheek. She felt hot. He was wealthy. Whether it was because of his successful business or his large trust fund, she didn’t know. But he had more money than she and her family could imagine.
Only Roger might compare. She thought she might call Mica later and talk to him about this crazy feeling in her gut.
Everett squeezed her hand in both of his and leaned over the table. “What about the electricity bill?”
Maya had to pull herself from her thoughts. “What?”
“You could pay the electric bill.”
There was something about this that was incredibly important. Everett wasn’t blowing off her need to contribute or dismissing her by saying it wasn’t important. He was offering her a way to do that. And, yeah, the money in her bank account mostly came from him right now because she worked for him. But she earned that money. And soon, she’d be making more money from her painting.
Maya smiled at him. “Assuming your electric bill is not more than my current rent…”
“I do a good job of conserving, and so do you.”
“True. I think that’s a good idea.”
“Yeah?” His handsome face lit up.
And she almost told him right then and there how much he meant to her. Almost.