Chapter 14
14
I keep hoping Enzo will show up wearing something hideous, or say something ugly or off-putting, but all week he only gets finer and finer by the day. I find myself losing track of the trails I’m following, stealing glances at his chiseled profile or thinking about how gorgeous his lips are when he taps his pen on them while deep in concentration.
Thursday I had a break from being in heat while Enzo worked from the Silicon Valley office.
Come Friday, I realize the distance did nothing to cool me off. In fact, I only wonder if he’s going to come to tonight’s pool party Santi is throwing. Penelope offered to bring me a swimsuit since I don’t have one. I know from the night of my hazelnut fiasco that Enzo looks like a bronze God under those stiff shirts of his. His neck is thick and muscular. The skin over his abs is stretched thin over muscle…
“Did you find something?” His question pops me out of my daydream.
He probably thought I was staring to get his attention. “No. But I was thinking. I know that the last hack is from a location in Mexico, but what if the hacker was using a VPN? Maybe they’re from somewhere else? Even here? Maybe even an employee at GhostEye? Why would anyone hack your system and not try to get something from it?”
He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose like he thinks my idea isn’t plausible, even though I know goddamn well it is. “Yeah. Could be.”
“Do you have any disgruntled employees?”
“Rio would know better than I do. Nobody complains to me.”
“I wonder why,” I say, sarcastically.
Then again, after being in a room with Rio Mendez, I doubt very many people complain to him either. He seems like a my way or the highway type.
Closing my computer, I tuck it into the laptop backpack. Callum and Pen are picking me up here soon. I wonder how many people are coming down from the head offices for the barbecue and party? Santi mentioned at Julia’s dinner that he invited more than usual from the town, the stables, and the offices, given it’s the last he intends to throw. Maybe I can meet some of my colleagues at GhostEye and get a feel for whether there’s anyone there who might be disrespecting protocol.
That is besides Nolan who ended up getting fired because of my phishing attack. I’d feel bad but I’m a little ruthless like that. He should have known better. He should have taken his role more seriously at this company, and anybody who would put GhostEye at risk doesn’t belong here.
I stand and sling my new bag over my shoulder. “So…” I gaze down and marvel at the angles of Enzo’s features in the blue light. “Are you coming to the party?”
His serious brown eyes are trained on his screen but he offers a nod and a reluctant expression.
“Let me guess, you hate parties?”
He types, still not glancing up. “I’ll be there.”
Just then, there’s a knock at the door, and because it’s open, my new friends walk right in. I asked Penelope and Callum to come early to go to the stables with me before the party. I don’t want Bran to get the wrong idea, and if there’s one thing I learned from hours of TV it’s that men get the wrong idea very easily. I got the impression he was asking me there for more than a tour of the horses. For some reason, I want Enzo to know I’m not interested in Bran.
Penelope rushes over to me, her full and curvy petite frame in a bikini top, some jean shorts, a flowing kaftkan, and a straw tote slung over her shoulder, a picture-perfect beach girl.
She glances around the offices. “Wow, this is a great place to work.” Her gaze roams the room and lands on the floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the mountains. “Gosh, if I had that view, I’d get nothing done. I need a cave to get my word count. Like sensory deprivation.”
Enzo has now stood; his manners compel him in times like these. He slides his hands into his back pockets and nods to each of them. “Pen. Callum.”
Callum salutes Enzo. “You coming tonight?”
I answer for him. “Reluctantly, it seems. ”
Enzo sits, ignoring my jab.
I put my hands in prayer position. “Thanks so much for coming early.”
“Are you kidding?” Callum says, his bright-blue eyes blazing. “Everyone wants an insider look at what they do with the horses here. I heard they eat off fine china. My mare could use more manners, that’s for sure.”
Pen jokes, “As if you could teach Eden how to behave. That one has a mind of her own.”
Callum shrugs. “I like a challenge.”
Enzo darts his eyes up from his screen momentarily as if agreeing with Callum but still doesn’t say anything. He sure is a man of few words.
“Clearly you do like a challenge,” Pen adds. “All your horses have always been terrors.”
He wraps his arm around her shoulders, his baby blues twinkling and coy. “And my friends.”
She rolls her eyes, but her smirk is far too big to hide.
“Oh!” Pen exclaims, digging in her tote bag. “I brought you a couple bikinis since you don’t have a suit. Both of these should work, they’re kind of one size fits all because of the strings.” She dangles two tiny triangles of Lycra off her fingers, one in each hand. “You got tropical or green. Personally, I think this green one will be to die for against your freckles and red hair.”
I take the green one in my hand and let it hang. I’ve never worn something quite so revealing before. I’ve never owned a swimsuit in my life, and my bras and panties are all more robust than this thing. “Thanks. This is cute.”
She scans the space. “You could change now if there’s a bathroom. It’s hot out there so you need to shed the hoodie. I’ve never seen such a September heatwave.”
“Good idea. ”
When I come back from the bathroom all changed into my bikini top and loose shorts, I see Enzo’s face come alive. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to change before leaving.
It was a great idea.
I know I shouldn’t want it. I know it puts my whole life’s plot line at risk to want that man’s lust focused on me. But the hunger in his eye when I walk into the room wearing the emerald-green bikini top, my God, does it make me feel invincible.
After our tour of the stables and seeing horses that live in better quarters than most of the country, we head over the beautifully manicured lawns from the stables and to what I can only call the recreation area of the ranch. From there, I can faintly see the pastures beyond that set into and take up the hills feeding the romantic Diablo Range.
It’s late in the day but the sun isn’t ready to set, and I’m so hot I hope there are people actually in the pool at this party. Not that I know how to even doggie paddle but I’m sure there’s a shallow end. If I could just dip half my body in water it would thank me.
But of course, we get to said party, and the only people in the water are four guys playing chicken, and they were ones from the stables who eyed me up like a piece of meat, so there’s no way I’m going near them again in this bikini. It didn’t feel good when they scanned me from top to bottom. It didn’t make me feel commanding the way Enzo’s attention did. No, quite the opposite, I knew they were trouble.
There are at least fifty people in the vast entertaining space. The pool must be sixty, seventy feet long, and there’s a guest house and lounge chairs lining the two long sides. Framing the space is an outdoor kitchen with two giant gas grills, a sink, tables, and lots of lounge outdoor couches. It’s an epic space for a party, and something tells me it was Santi’s idea to have this on the ranch. He’s a real ball of energy.
From afar I spy my new bestie, Luis, cooking with his sons in the kitchen, which is also the only real shaded area available.
“I need to get out of this sun. I don’t even think that factor fifty works on me,” I tell Penelope and Callum.
“And I need to get where the food is,” Callum adds. “Smells incredible already, but then Santi knows how to do a mean steak and burger.”
As we get closer, Enzo and his impeccable body come into view. His round, strong shoulders lead into cut biceps. His chest is manly with pecs a woman could sink her claws into just before biting into his six-pack. I know he boxes for workouts, and it shows. He is a show. All he has on is a pair of green swim trunks that I think might have palm trees on them but if I stare any longer to find out it will be obvious I want to know what exactly there is underneath.
“Like something you see?” Pen whispers in my ear.
Guess it already was.
Thankfully, Callum didn’t notice me ogling Enzo since he’s already walking over to where Santi has a pair of tongs lifted in his direction in way of greeting. At that, Enzo glances up briefly from his task of setting out packages of buns on a table and catches my eye. My shorts are stuffed in Penelope’s tote bag, and I have a lot less on than the last time he saw me.
I offer a gentle wave, and his response is him rolling his lips, giving me something of a welcoming smile and going back to the task of setting the table out.
He and his brothers are a threesome of tanned skin, toned abs, and tattoos working in the kitchen. Just then, Luis turns from his station at one of the grills and opens his arms, flipper poking out to the side and nearly clipping a guest in the shoulder.
“Ava! You made it!”
Callum has gone over to Santi to give him a fist bump and likely talk about the horses we just saw. It’s crowded in the kitchen area where the snacks are. The party only started forty minutes ago, but it seems like people have been drinking here for hours.
Wow. Am I really here now? Just a few months ago, I never thought something like this would happen. I never thought I’d be at a party with raucous laughter and loud conversation and sunshine and pop songs playing in the background. I never thought I’d smell a grill filling the air with the scent of charcoal and sweet barbeque. It’s a teenage dream come true to be here— right from my new friend lending me a bathing suit to the splash of a young man’s cannonball wetting the sides of my calves.
I’d pinch myself but I don’t ever want to wake up.
Maybe if I did, I’d wake up back in Oregon.
The thought jolts me. I’ve been getting so comfortable here I keep believing I really am Ava Scott. I’m not yet. And I’d be good to remember that. Not that I haven’t been working hard to trace these hackers at GhostEye. I’ve been staying up most nights just to figure it out. I need to find them.
Then I can ask Enzo to help me.
Then I’ll actually be Scottie . Damn, I love it when he calls me that .
Pen and I have to negotiate through the throng of hungry stable hands, coming and going from the many coolers of beer and sodas, crowding the tables, vying for handfuls of salty snacks after a long day of working in the sun. I put my hands in the air to make myself thinner through a group lost in conversation, and just when I’m about to pass my boss, some guy accidentally backs into me while reaching out for some pretzels.
I stumble right into Enzo. He catches his arm around my back, but I fall into him anyway, and before I know it, our bare skin is pressed against each other. He’s hot and dewy, my boobs are crushed against his firm chest, and the skin-on-skin feeling of his stomach is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It sends my heart fluttering and my core heavy. I’m embarrassed and turned on at the same time. There’s nothing in between his palm and my heartbeat that pounds hard enough to be felt through my back. I’m sure he can feel how charged I am. My senses are heightened and buzzing, I feel it all as if we’re in slow motion. The way his stomach breathes against mine. The juicy, thick bulge pressing through what I now know are indeed palm trees, and right into the top of my thigh.
I should press myself off him, but as much as I want to, I’m afraid to put my hands on his naked skin. My response to this closeness is obvious. My nipples are rock-hard, and this thin, green fabric will do nothing to hide it.
Enzo slides his hands along my rib cage to my arms. It’s not meant to be sensual, I’m sure he would never do that, but his hands on my skin will be the first thing I think of later tonight when I slip my fingers under the covers. Fuck. I should not let myself be drawn in like this. I still need him to help me. I can’t get derailed because I’m sexually repressed .
Ugh. He’s so damn hot.
He helps me upright. “You okay?” He glares behind me at the guy who bumped me.
“Yeah, no biggie.” I tuck some hair behind my ear.
I’m so out of my comfort zone I change the subject but only make matters worse. “Hey. We match.” I flick my finger between our bathing suits and quickly regret drawing any attention to my nipples.
Enzo keeps his gaze almost forcefully above my shoulders. “It’s my favorite color.”
“Now I know two things about you.”
Just then, Luis taps my shoulder. “Our first party in Echo Valley!” He seems like he’s already had a beer or three. It’s wonderful to see him so relaxed.
“Penny!” Luis says louder than he needs to. “Would you like a beer? Ava? A soda?”
Enzo still lurks behind, aligning buns with military precision on a serving platter, but I notice him flick up his gaze for a moment when Luis asks what we’d like.
Luis is tipsy and doesn’t wait for our answer. “Also, Enzo brought a bunch of nut-free snacks. I think he got you some non-alcoholic beverages, too…” He turns to Enzo. “ Hijo , get these girls a drink and show Ava where her stuff is?” He turns back to us. “Gotta get back to the burgers.” He puts his hands in the air and dances his way back to the grill in perfect synchrony to the beat of the pop song playing in the background.
Enzo got me special food? And I didn’t even think he was paying attention that day before Town Hall when Luis mentioned I don’t drink.
My chest is pink with nerves. I don’t know what’s been going on since the infamous hives massage, but Enzo just keeps getting more and more attractive to me, inside and out. He’s attractive when he has on that powerful look of concentration in front of his laptop. He’s attractive when he stares out of the window trying to think up new ideas. He’s attractive when he’s eating soup. Tying his shoes. Making sure I’m not eating nuts… And seeing him half naked isn’t helping matters. He’s switched on something inside me that’s never turned on before.
But Penelope has no intention of letting me slip away from him. “So, Enzo, it seems like your pops is settling in all right?”
“Let’s hope so.”
“James is excited to have the new book club at the shop.”
Enzo lifts a disbelieving eyebrow.
“Seriously. He said it could even bring interest from out of town. There’s nothing like it in the area, and it could bring footfall. He even ordered more romance books, and we’re going to put a special table out on meeting nights. Who knows? Your dad might just have come up with a great marketing tactic for a tiny town’s only bookstore.”
I bump into Pen’s arm. “Hey, James should put your book out.”
Terror slides down her face. “No way. He already offered. I don’t want people I actually know reading my book.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know! It’s imposter syndrome or something. I haven’t even told Callum my pen name. No pun intended.” She points her finger into her cheek. “Wait. Is that even a pun? Anyway, I’m happy being who I am to all of you. Alien-tracking, bookshop-managing, adult-toy-peddling girl next door.”
That’s a new detail. “Where do you sell adult toys?”
She wiggles her eyebrows. “I didn’t have time to show you the back room at the bookstore…” Her next words have a sly edge. “Why do you think it’s called Pages and Perks ?”
“Wow.” I’m baffled. “James seemed so strait-laced.”
She shrugs. “It was my idea. He’ll do anything for a buck.”
I shouldn’t ask in front of my boss but I can’t help my curiosity. “What’s in the Perks section?”
At that, Enzo interrupts. “Drinks?”
“I’m fine.” Pen says. “Callum is over there mixing margaritas. I’ll get one of those in a minute.”
I’ve been thirsty since bumping into Enzo. “Do you have any Red Bull?”
“Some vodka with that?” Pen shimmies her shoulders.
“She doesn’t drink.”
“I don’t drink.”
Enzo and I answer at the same time.
My heart flutters. I’m sure he’s just the kind of man who’s so damn observant he might even remember the number of times a person blinks. But still. The drink. The nuts. The grocery store. He even offered to take my laptop bag back to his this afternoon so I didn’t have to carry it around the stables. He’s considerate for a grump.
Enzo heads off without another word to get me an energy drink. I need to stock up on caffeine before I get to work again later tonight.
Pen wobbles her head with sass. “Well, he likes you.”
My stomach flips at the thought. “No way. I don’t think Enzo likes anyone. His family maybe. Well, he seems to like you…”
“Trust me. He has his eye on you.”
“He’s my boss,” I say, as if I’d never return the sentiment. But then, I can’t help but want to hear it again. “Why would you even say that? ”
“I swear he just stopped short of sniffing your hair when he caught you in his arms.”
I smack her arm gently. “Stop. He would never. He’s just a gentleman. A really grumpy but well-mannered guy.”
I’m sure he just sees me as an employee and maybe even as a problem child.
“And the way his jaw hit the floor at that bikini when you came back from changing at the office. Oooweee. He was cooked. Trust me, I’ve been to these parties many times, and he’s never stared at anyone like that before. And look around. Some of these girls are hot as fuck.” Just then, she glances behind me toward Callum who finishes mixing a pitcher of what must be the margaritas Penelope was talking about.
“Well, you’d be a whole lot more likely to get with your crush than I would with mine,” I tease.
“Puh-lease. If you’re talking about Callum, we’d never cross the line.” She averts her gaze by staring out over the sea of heads bobbing and dancing near us in the sunshine. “It would ruin the most meaningful thing in the world to me.”
I’m in awe of her using such words about another human being. I know Penelope’s in love, even if she won’t admit it. She talks about Callum all the time. They share their schedules with each other. I rarely see them apart.
I’ve never felt that way before. And damn do I want to. I won’t be ready to die until I know what it’s like to be in love. Until I feel it. I’m determined to earn that right. To earn someone’s heart.
As if on cue to mess with my head even more, Enzo arrives back with my energy drink poured into a frosty glass with ice. He put a straw and a miniature umbrella in it. I wonder what it would take to earn his heart. He seems to be stealing mine with ease.