Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
M aya and Noah slumped into the back seat of the limo a couple of hours later and sighed in bliss. ‘Well, that wasn’t how I thought that night would go,’ he said honestly, and she pulled a face.
‘Sorry!’ she said, wriggling her feet out of her shoes and looking out of the window for a moment, collecting her thoughts. ‘You told me how important tonight was for you, so I knew you couldn’t miss it. When I found out what and when my family party was, I didn’t know what to do,’ she sighed, her bones feeling heavy. ‘If I’d have told you beforehand, I was worried you’d run for the hills and get in trouble at work,’ she finally admitted. ‘My family are such a handful, as you found out by the way my siblings fired questions at you for an hour.’ When Noah didn’t disagree, she bit her lip, and he tilted his head and looked into her eyes.
‘They are a lot to take in, but they’re welcoming, friendly and loveable, after the first hour,’ he winked, and she finally laughed.
‘Were they too much? ’
‘No,’ he said truthfully. ‘They are amazing and they’re all just looking out for you.’
‘The same way your family and friends are for you…’ she added, and they both went silent for a moment.
‘I don’t need your family to further my career,’ he clarified and she nodded. ‘I didn’t even know about them!’ Then he frowned suddenly as a thought struck him. ‘Was that why you put off me meeting them? Did you think I’d use them for publicity?’
‘Of course not!’ she reassured, but he didn’t look convinced. ‘You don’t exactly need my contacts. You’re doing pretty well on your own.’ She nudged his hip, and he softened a little and put his arm around her.
‘Would you like to stay the night at mine?’ Maya asked as she snuggled into his arms as the car sped through the moonlit streets. Noah kissed her firmly on the lips and her world tilted sideways, as it always did when he was near and she didn’t hear his reply.
When they pulled up outside her place, he told the driver he could go home and they went inside, Maya sliding her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss as soon as the door closed behind them. Noah growled and swung her up into his arms, but she buried her head in his chest and put her hand on his arm to make him wait before he climbed the stairs to her bedroom.
‘There’s something I still haven’t told you’ she said, her heart racing. Noah frowned and her stomach somersaulted as he put her back on her feet. She moved closer to him and went up on her tip-toes to kiss his lips softly. She saw him hesitate and took his hand, leading him upstairs. When they got outside her bedroom, for the first time, she didn’t stop and led him towards the top floor.
‘What haven’t you told me?’ he asked, confusion filling his face.
‘I need to show you the real me.’ The colour drained from Noah’s face and she unlocked the door to her workroom and stepped inside, asking him to follow her.
‘What is this?’ he asked, looking around and then moving to peer out through the window to the balcony and river.
‘It’s my studio.’
‘Your art studio? I thought that was downstairs? It’s pretty neat for a studio,’ he said, noting her beautifully crafted work desk and sideboard with a coffee machine and neatly stacked glass coffee cups. On the walls were images of her No. 1 Etheral Lane models and jewellery in slim silver frames. The latest one with Gio had pride of place and Noah frowned at that because he’d only just seen a copy of that image at the charity ball. ‘I know you like things to be in order, but this is beautiful,’ Noah said in wonder, inspecting the posters. ‘Did Rosalie give you these?’
Maya went to the wall and opened the safe, removing her latest design, which was half finished. Noah stood rooted to the spot, and he noted the No.1 Ethereal Lane logo on the platinum tag. He turned to look at the work she’d just placed in the centre of one desk and then back at the advertising images and it seemed he was lost for words.
‘It’s you?’ he asked incredulously.
‘Yes.’
‘But… why? Why not tell everyone?’ Noah moved closer to the half finished ice cave necklace and bent to touch the crystals, then stopped to check if it was ok. She nodded, and he ran his fingers along a sculpted crystal and pursed his lips in wonder. ‘This is stunning. I don’t know what to say, Maya. ’
‘I’m trusting you with my life here, Noah. My whole marketing ethos revolves around the mystery of the designer. It started off as two fingers up to Blake, to prove I didn’t need to attend the right places or know the right people to become successful, but the mystery behind who makes the jewellery caught people’s imagination and now I can’t tell anyone who I am. I’ve boxed myself in,’ she admitted finally.
Noah rubbed his neck and then ran his hands through his hair, making it mussed up and sexy. His black tie was undone and so were the top buttons of his shirt now and he could easily have been one of her models. She recalled Tabitha mentioning that, but shook the thought away. He sat down on the couch at one end of the room by the windows and patted the couch next to him for her to join him. Maya opened the double windows to the balcony and let the evening breeze cool them and hopefully the conversation. She’d known he’d have lots of questions when she finally told him, so she sat next to him, their legs touching. ‘I was fed up with everyone knowing my business when I split up from Blake because it was all over the papers for a short while and the Portia debacle humiliated me. I felt like people were looking at me wherever I went, which they weren’t of course. He made me feel worthless and then he used my designs for the continuation of his own brand, which infuriated me, even though I’d signed my partnership away because I was stupid about that too and didn’t seek legal advice.’
‘Oh Maya,’ he sighed, taking her hand and warming it with his own.
‘I wanted to hit back and prove I could find success without him. I didn’t know the company would go viral and explode from a little idea to a worldwide brand within a couple of years.’
‘But what does it prove to him if he doesn’t know that it’s you?’ asked Noah, sitting up and cupping her face in his hand. She leaned into him and he pulled her onto his lap, his arms keeping her close.
‘That’s what my family says,’ she said as she snuggled into his chest, ‘but in the end the mystery made the brand what it is.’
‘Your designs make the brand what it is,’ soothed Noah.
‘But what if everyone’s disappointed that it’s me?’ she said, her voice quivering.
‘No one could ever be disappointed in you, Maya,’ Noah said, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips which lit a fire in her belly again.
‘I have a feeling that Blake knows it’s me, but he’s never revealed it. He knows my deigns better than anyone.’
Noah faced her, his demeanour tense suddenly. ‘But it’s all over the press that Blake is probably the No.1 Ethereal Lane designer. It’s giving him even more exposure and publicity.’
‘Noah, I have a healthy bank balance now. I don’t crave fame or attention, and my business is growing beyond my wildest dreams without any of that. My life is quiet… or it was before I met you and I liked it that way.’ Noah flinched and she saw her words stung, but there was truth in what she’d said that made her feel slightly uncomfortable. She had enjoyed sitting on the bow of Joe’s steamboat while the worries of the world floated by. She’d also been missing something though and Noah crashing into her life brought excitement, unpredictability and love.
‘I’m sorry I’m such an inconvenience. ’
‘You know, I didn’t mean it that way. I just don’t court the press.’
He raised an eyebrow in question, and his face was set rigid. ‘You think I do?’
‘It’s part of your job. You have to be in the public eye. I don’t.’ Noah’s shoulders slumped, and he pulled his tie off and shoved it in his suit jacket pocket.
‘Most of what you’ve told me has been a lie,’ he ground out through gritted teeth. ‘I can understand you needing some level of secrecy, but this has made my head spin. You could have trusted me earlier.’
Maya felt sick and put her hand out to a couch to steady herself. This wasn’t how she’d thought he’d react. She imagined him swinging her up into his arms and then making love to her on her workroom floor, but his eyes were flashing fire at her. Intimacy looked to be about the last thing on his mind. She wanted to reach out and soothe his worries away, but vulnerability had burnt her before. All she could feel was alarm that she’d revealed her deepest secrets and now the truth was about to ruin everything they’d built up together.
She took his hand in a panic and he didn’t shake her off. ‘Lets go back downstairs and talk about it over a glass of wine. I promise you that this isn’t about Blake or me wanting to hide things from you.’ Noah rubbed his jaw and let her lead him back downstairs, flinching as the locks slid into place as she put the necklace back and closed the safe.
‘I’ve told you everything there is to know about me,’ he said gravely ‘Is there anything else I should know?’
‘No. I promise you. This is it,’ she said as she grabbed the wine, but he shook his head and made them both a cup of coffee. So much for his earlier declarations of love at the charity ball. That felt like a lifetime ago instead of a couple of hours. Now it seemed like love couldn’t be further from his mind.
‘It wasn’t as easy as I’ve made out to have my parents living abroad,’ she admitted finally, weariness making her eyes sting, but she refused to cry.
‘That must have been tough.’
‘It was, but it wasn’t. Mum and dad worked long hours at the hospital and Gran and Granddad spent most of their time with us by then, anyway. The kids at school teased us about it mercilessly, and it made me become quite introverted,’ she wrapped her hands around her mug and sighed. ‘I guess I started keeping secrets then, but I didn’t realise. I told no one what I was going through because it was hard for Arthur and Romy too and I was the eldest.’ She hung her head, and he gently lifted her face and brushed the hair out of her eyes before letting her go. Her eyes misted over and his stance had softened now. He urged her to drink her coffee, and she sipped it and felt the warmth seep into her bones and give her a little extra energy.
‘I do sometimes worry that it curbed Grans career,’ she admitted. ‘She has told me often enough that’s nonsense. She was quite famous in her own right, but had been restless for a while with demanding clients. I wonder if she’d secretly quite like to work with Rosalie on something, though.’
‘That would be amazing,’ said Noah, warming his hands around his own coffee mug. ‘You could too, you know. We need a jewellery centrepiece for one scene that Rosalie is in. Your designs would work beautifully and it could open new windows of opportunity,’ he clearly saw her face become guarded and hastily added, ‘not that you need them.’
Maya bit her lip and watched him over the rim of her coffee mug. What he’d said resonated with something Tabitha had mentioned about Noah needing publicity for the film and him saying his producers had asked him to up his game and do more public appearances. She tried to shake the feeling off, but years of distrust were ingrained and she wasn’t about to be used by a man for his own gain… ever again. When he came round the island unit and pulled her into his arms, she wearily complied because that was one of her favourite places to be. The usual feelings of warmth and safety were missing and as she rested her head on his heart, she hoped with all her might that she hadn’t made the same mistake twice.