Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
M aya was sitting outside her house on the private dock, with her toes swishing around in the river when Noah called to ask her out to dinner. She’d been drawing Water Figwort with their tiny pink flowers and tall Willowherbs which she’d love to reach out and touch, but she was of cautious of tumbling into the rushes. Maya grinned into the phone and looked out at the view of the river, watching a few boats sail by. 'Okay. When?'
'Tonight?'
'I can't tonight. I've got a birthday meal with a girlfriend. Sorry,' she genuinely was. She hoped Noah could hear the regret in her voice, but it was Leah’s birthday and Matt had gotten them a table at Leah’s favourite restaurant in town. Maya had arranged an extravagant cake to be delivered to the table after the meal and Leah had been talking about nothing else all week. Noah had helped her out with Blake, but her family all wanted to meet him and she needed to let Matt and Leah know what was going on as well.
'It was a long shot that you might be free,’ she could hear the genuine sadness in his tone, too. ‘I enjoyed waking up with you in my arms last weekend,’ he said huskily, and it did something to her heart. What was it with this man and her hormones? The lines were definitely becoming blurred because they’d woken up in each other's arms in the guesthouse and spent ages kissing and running their hands over each other’s minimal clothes, which had almost blown her mind. Nothing else had happened, but she’d kind of wished it had. She’d had to drag herself out of there for her own sanity.
Later that evening, she sat at a table with Matt and tried to drop into the conversation that she’d been dating Noah. The restaurant was buzzing with conversation and the décor was so beautiful that Maya had to keep pausing because she’d noticed something new. They sat in a central curved table with plush white cushions, high-backed banquet seating and green scatter cushions made it even more comfortable. There was an actual tree in a huge urn next to their table that trailed branches above their heads that were hung with flickering lanterns. The backlit bar had soft orange bar stools lined up along the edge with more green plants in copper pots and low lighting gave the restaurant a sexy edge, which was excelled by all of the beautiful people milling around. The air was sizzling with excitement. It felt like they’d stepped into paradise and she could see why it was Leah’s favourite.
She knew Matt and Leah would both explode with questions and she’d never hear the end of it, but it was better than a million questions about why she hadn’t been able to produce the high-flying exec who always travelled. Leah had just excused herself to go to the ladies' room, so Maya tried to steady her nerves. She loved spending time with Leah and Matt, but she also needed to tell them about the garden party at Noah’s and bumping into Blake. It was something that she’d been putting off. Both of them would want to protect her and would go into bossy mode, which she could do without when her usual laser like focus on life and work were a bit wobbly because of the huge sexy, Noah shaped distraction, to her days now. She tried to enjoy the delicious meal in front of her, but her body was too tense to appreciate the spicy flavours of the jalapeno and pineapple salsa or her skillet enchiladas.
Matt frowned as she paused mid-bite. He looked around to see what she was looking at and they both watched Noah stroll through the restaurant towards the exit, with a group of very glamorous looking friends. He was wearing a smart blue shirt and dark grey trousers and looked every inch the movie star. His hair was swept back and his piercing blue eyes noted her, her companion and then widened in surprise. Matt was looking at her in confusion and Noah turned and quickly spoke to his friends before turning her way. She put her fork down and looked at Matt for help. ‘Why the hell is Noah Benedict looking at you like he wants to eat you alive and why is he headed our way?’
Maya felt her knees begin to shake and panicked, looking at the rest room and wondering where the hell Leah was. Why hadn’t they invited more people to her birthday dinner? She knew it was because they hadn’t seen each other in ages and Leah had a family party the following week for her birthday, but Noah might think she was on a date! She smoothed her hands along her sage green silk dress but then lifted them up because her palms began to sweat. This looked so bad! Where was the birthday cake when she needed one! ‘Umm… we’ve been dating…’ Matt’s mouth hung open for a second and his head flicked back and forth between them as Noah approached.
‘You’ve been dating Noah Benedict? Since when?’ he compelled her to answer. Then turned with a smile as Noah came and said hello to them both, kissing Maya on the cheek and shaking Matt’s hand.
Noah was looking into Maya’s eyes and his own had questions in them. Maya became flustered and didn’t know what to say, so Matt took charge. ‘I’m Matt. Maya has only just mentioned that you two are acquainted.’ Maya winced and could have kicked him. ‘Would you like to join us?’ Matt indicated a spare seat at their table. Noah seemed to register that there was a third place set and although he didn’t seem happy his featured softened.
‘Thanks for the offer. I’d love to, but I wouldn’t want to impose on a birthday surprise.’ That seemed more of a question than a statement and Matt grinned suddenly. Maya wanted to kick him again. Where the bloody hell was Leah? ‘I’m here with friends, so I’d better get back to them.’ With that he kissed Maya’s cheek again and bid them farewell, leaving her senses reeling and the scent of his spicy aftershave making her want to run after him.
‘Well,’ said Matt, sitting back in his chair and watching Noah go. ‘That was enlightening. He clearly isn’t sure if this is business or pleasure. Should I be flattered?’ Maya threw her napkin at his head, but he caught it and waited as Leah re-joined them.
‘Noah Benedict was just here,’ she hissed, fidgeting in her seat and straining to look over the other diners for her prey. ‘It’s all anyone is talking about. It took ages in the toilets because I had to wait to hear all the gossip. Apparently, he is dating someone new. Some unknown.’ Matt spluttered with laughter and Leah looked between them in confusion.
‘You literally just missed him,’ he laughed .
‘What, here? Do you want to tell me what's going on?’ she demanded, her prettily painted nails tapping the table in irritation and not even glancing up as her three-tiered birthday cake arrived. Maya used this moment to diffuse the situation and she told Leah to make a wish and she looked tenderly into Matt’s eyes as she did this, everything else forgotten and Maya’s heart squeezed with love for these people.
‘Noah Benedict is dating Maya,’ said Matt helpfully a few minutes later, bursting her equilibrium and she did wonder how he’d managed to stop himself from blurting it out for all of five minutes. ‘Although it seems she hasn’t told him about us because he just thought she was on a date with a well-known supermodel,’ his eyes were dancing with mischief as he pointed to himself in jest and Leah darted glances around as if Noah might still be there.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ asked Leah, indignation showing as her eyes flashed fire. ‘Of course Maya isn’t dating him. We’d know if she was.’ Maya flinched and Leah turned to face her, two bright spots of red on her cheeks.
‘I’m the unknown,’ said Maya, trying not to cringe and sink further in her seat to hide from Leah’s wrath. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but it’s not real.’ She just couldn’t keep up with this pretence to her two best friends. ‘He went for a stroll and got mobbed by some fans which sent him barrelling into me,’ she admitted. ‘I helped him get away. He knocked my coffee all over me and then brought me flowers after I saved Robbie and we’ve been talking ever since.’ She heard Leah gasp and felt awful. ‘I’m so sorry. It’s not real,’ she reiterated. ‘One of us joked we should pretend to date to appease our families and Noah persuaded me to try it. It seemed like a good idea at the time. '
‘Why fake dating though?’ asked Matt. ‘From the way he looked at both of us, his feelings are genuine. He was not happy to see you sitting in this gorgeous restaurant with me, that’s for sure.’
Maya wriggled uncomfortably in her seat and flushed. Oh, the embarrassment! ‘We have kissed…’ she watched Leah’s jaw drop open and smiled finally. ‘He asked me to dinner tonight and, and I was already busy. I guess he has loads of options,’ she thought about the group of friends who had accompanied him to dinner and how beautiful the women were in their designer clothes and perfectly coiffured hair and her stomach sunk to a new depth. She knew dating, fake or otherwise, a guy like Noah, could only bring fresh problems. She already hated the women in his group and they were probably perfectly nice!
‘You should have cancelled,’ said Leah, aghast. ‘What the hell were you thinking?’
‘I'm not changing my plans for my best friend’s birthday dinner for a man.’
'Not even for Noah Benedict? Are you crazy? You’ve been single for two years and you made up a boyfriend to shut us all up.’ Leah yelled in frustration and Maya looked around for a place to hide from her fiery friend. Her hair was standing up on end in places where she’d run her hands through it in exasperation and her face was showing how appalled she was at her friend’s decision, however well meant. Maya felt that she’d made a terrible mistake.
‘I wanted to see you both to tell you what’s been going on,’ she explained. ‘I’m sorry I lied. Everyone thinking my love life was such a dismal failure upset me, so I made a boyfriend up.' Maya hung her head in sorrow, and Leah tutted loudly, but gave her a conciliatory hug.
'You literally see us every day! You could have told us any time.' Maya furtively glanced around as if everyone would know of her stupidity and wondered why she hadn't been more flexible her plans. She could have easily invited Noah to dinner or seen him afterwards. Maybe she was afraid to be alone with Noah now because their friendship had shifted to something more... for her, anyway.
She knew he didn't want a long-term partner after the number Tabitha had done on him, but the pressure from his agent meant they had to work together as Tabitha had just managed to get signed there too, which had made Noah even more uncomfortable because she’d used his name and their ‘relationship’ as a referral. Finding out about it after it was a done deal hadn’t helped. It had pushed him to find a drastic solution to stop her messing up his career with her malicious stories and Maya wasn't about to open her heart to be hurt again. ‘You idiot,' sighed Leah, taking her hand and giving it a supportive squeeze. 'Not every relationship has to be the love of your life, Maya. You can just date a man for fun and have lots of fantastic sex!'
'I think she might already be past that point,' said Matt insightfully and Maya suddenly found her wine glass really interesting.
Leah quickly got up to pull Maya's chair out so she nearly fell on the floor and then grabbed Maya’s handbag and shoved it into her hands. ‘Why are you still here?’ she asked with a cheeky grin. ‘We promise to save you some cake.’ She pointed to the exit. ‘Go and get your man.'