Chapter 9 #2
‘The Tabitha that’s outside?’
‘Yes.
Our producer has told us to “get along” hence I couldn’t ask her to leave once she’d shown up with a mutual friend.
Weirdly, Tabitha wants us to date again and feels the way to do that is to tarnish my reputation in the press, so no one else will want to date me.
I just can’t understand her logic.’
‘Wow!’ Maya’s eyes were out on stalks.
Noah slumped in his seat and rubbed his eyes, before propping himself on the bar.
Maya blinked as the scent of his spicy aftershave drove her senses wild and quickly drank the heavenly sweet tea he’d made for her.
She sighed and put her teacup down on the fancy saucer, eyeing up the biscuits, but deciding now was not the time to stuff her face, especially when Noah seemed to want to open up.
‘It’s put me off dating for life!’ Noah groaned and pushed the plate of sugary shortbread her way, as she was clearly hungry.
She grinned and nibbled the end of one piece before putting it on the edge of her saucer.
‘It gets worse,’ he joked.
‘my family hates the fact that I’m over 30 and not in a committed relationship, but Tabitha has made me wary of everyone’s motives.
You helping me on the bridge, even though I’d just thrown coffee over you, intrigued me though.’
Maya flushed and ignored the last comment, as what could she say to that? ‘It’s a genuine dilemma when you should be having the time of your life,’ Maya sympathised, patting his hand and then frowning and putting her hands primly in her lap.
A shiver went up Maya’s spine at how similar both their exes sounded.
‘I can relate to that.
I’m 29 and my family and friends are always trying to set me up.
It’s a nightmare!’ she sighed dejectedly.
‘Maybe you need a new relationship to let Tabitha know you aren’t available?’ she added thoughtfully.
Noah sat up straighter suddenly and looked directly at her, his features bright and alert.
‘You’re right! That’s it! We both need to be in a relationship by the sound of it.
Let’s have one and then they’ll all back off!’
‘What! Wow… that’s not what I meant…’
‘If we pretend to date, they’ll leave us alone.
It’s genius!’ Noah was looking at her with those piercing blue eyes that were even harder to dodge in person.
Maya wanted to lick her lips, but she sipped her cooling drink instead.
Noticing her clothes sitting on a nearby cabinet, she slid off of her seat, backing away.
Frowning at Noah’s daft idea, she remembered his guests outside.
She could sit with him and listen to his nutty plans all night, but Joe would be worried.
It felt like she’d been with Noah for hours, but it had probably been about half an hour, so Joe would have had time to drop off his customers by now.
‘I should get back to the boat,’ she said apologetically, as this evening of make-believe had almost been fun. ‘Turn your back so that I can slip my shorts and top back on.’ She raised an eyebrow at his amused glance and he looked away while she changed, quicker than she ever had in her life. She folded the dressing gown and t-shirt in a neat pile and turned back to him. ‘You can turn around now,’ she instructed, and he fixed those blue eyes on her, which made her heart beat faster and the hairs on the back of her arm stand up. He had a good sense of humour and she was sorry that he’d been so ill treated by his ex, just as she had. The fake date idea could be hilarious to shut everyone up, especially Matt and Leah who were relentless in their matchmaking, but dating a man as famous as him could only bring bigger problems for her with her business growing at such a pace. Thank goodness he was just joking!
‘I can take you home in my boat.
I remembered that you said you live by the river, or have a driver to take you back to your place?’ he offered, sad to see her go, which was weird when he had a house full of guests.
She didn’t know what to think of the fact he’d recalled where she lived .
‘It’s okay.
Joe will come back for me, but thanks.’
‘Joe?’ he asked, his eyes still on her.
‘Is that your actual boyfriend?’ Maya snorted and tried to hide it behind another sip of her drink.
‘Joe is 75 and his beautiful wife, Olive, has just had a hip replacement,’ she laughed.
‘Joe owns the boat I jumped off of.’
‘Is that the boat you were walking to when we first met? I’ve seen you drawing from the bow.’ Maya’s face went bright red.
He had seen her! She didn’t imagine their shared glances.
She frowned again.
What did that mean? Probably nothing more than that.
He was curious about the goings on, on the river, nothing more.
‘Um… I help Joe out from time to time.
I’m an artist.’
‘Amazing! Can I ask what you paint?’
‘River scenes mostly.
Like the ones that you have hanging in your bedroom,’ she grinned suddenly and couldn’t contain her laughter.
Noah turned to glance up to where Maya had opened the curtains again and looked at the artworks.
‘You painted that? I’ve been trying to get my hands on another one for the house, but they’re always sold the minute they hit the walls of the café that sells them, apparently.
I keep meaning to wander up there or take my boat to see if it’s busy.’
‘Umm.
After the coffee-bridge disaster? I think it might cause a bit of commotion if you did!’ said Maya.
‘Is that your shiny black boat by your dock?’
He grinned, seemingly in no rush to leave.
‘Yes.
It’s flashy, but it sang to me in the boatyard.’ Maya smiled because she’d felt the same way about the sleek, cream powerboat that came with her house.
She imagined gliding up and down the river in it as it was far less congested than the roads around town, but she was fearful of scratching it .
‘I can understand that because I’ve got a mooring underneath my house.
My landlords store their boat there.’
‘You enjoy living by the river?’
‘Yes.
My place is pretty much opposite Bertha’s dock.’
‘ Bertha ?’
‘Joe’s boat.’
‘The huge steamboat? I have seen nothing else like it on this stretch of water.
I didn’t get a moment to register anything when Robbie hit his head, other than Tabitha’s screaming that Rob had fallen into the river,’ he shook his head at the memory.
‘I’d love to see what it’s like inside, but as you mentioned earlier and we both recently experienced, it’s usually a bit of a furore if I don’t plan things ahead of time.’
‘That must be tough,’ she said and his head whipped up to see if she was mocking him.
Then his shoulders relaxed, and a glint of mischief came into his eyes that sent her pulse racing.
This man was lethal! She was so thankful right now that he wasn’t her type.
She let out a breath of relief.
He answered self-depreciatingly, ‘It can be, but I’m not complaining.
It certainly has more upsides than downs.’ Maya thought about that for a moment because for her it had only caused stress and pain to be even remotely in the public eye.
She was soon forgotten though, and the brand evolved around Blake, but there had been press interest in them both even then.
‘I have contacts,’ she smiled cheekily.
‘I can probably get you smuggled on board for an out of hours visit to tour Bertha , as long as you promise to sign the wall of fame by the bar.’ The corners of Noah’s eyes crinkled, and a smile tugged at his lips.
‘I’d love that.
It’s a date!’ Maya nearly had a heart attack! She hadn’t meant it like that.
He looked down, and they realised that he’d taken her hand.
‘Come on.
We should get you back to your friends if you won’t let me take you home.
Can I see where you paint?’ he asked suddenly, stepping away slightly.
Maya was already missing the contact from his warm hand.
She hadn’t expected him to actually want the tour of Bertha , or to see her again.
‘You want to see inside my house? That was my line last time and you couldn’t run away fast enough,’ she said incredulously, an eyebrow arching with humour.
Noah burst out laughing.
‘Sorry.
I assumed you had a studio.
I wasn’t inviting myself to your place, although I wouldn’t say no to that either.
I was in a bit of a hurry last time,’ he added cheekily with a grin, his eyes twinkling, his smile suddenly wolfish.
Her stomach filled with butterflies in flight and she almost looked around for somewhere to hide from his magnetism.
She was only human, after all.
‘Can I get your phone number… to keep you up to date on how Robbie is?’ he asked innocently, batting his eyelashes at her and making her laugh.
She wondered how many women’s numbers he already had stored in his phone and frowned, then shook off the sudden tension in her shoulders.
It might be fun to chat to him and it wasn’t as if he wanted to date her.
He just wanted to see her etchings - literally!
She took his phone as he held it out to her and tapped her number in, saving it under the name SwampGirl.
He took the phone with a smile and slipped it into his jeans pocket, then led her back outside where a cool breeze and music floated all around them, bursting their bubble of intimacy and making her shiver.
Just before they stepped away from the relative safety of the guesthouse door, he turned and faced her again .
‘Sorry that we ruined your evening and your boat ride.’
Maya looked into his beautiful blue eyes.
‘It’s kind of been fun… except for the your-best-friend-nearly-dying-part,’ she joked.
As they walked into the garden, all eyes were on them and she smiled shyly at a few people and tugged at the hem of her shorts.
‘You must get back to your guests, Tabitha included,’ she nudged hips with him playfully.
‘You can do this.
Try acting.
Pretend to be someone who doesn’t care if she’s here.’ she bit her lip and tried not to laugh.
He paused mid-stride and then grinned with mirth.
‘Good idea.
I’ll text you about Robbie and our plan,’ he said, putting a protective arm around her as everyone gazed their way but didn’t approach them.
‘Oh… okay,’ she faltered suddenly, her bravado slipping.
What plan? Surely that had all been a joke?
‘It’s an excuse to speak to you again and for us to organise that private tour of your floating piece of history,’ he whispered into her ear, making the hairs on her skin stand on end and a frisson of heat zip around her body.
Her eyes went wide with shock and she flushed and began fussing with the end of her ponytail.
She noticed Joe standing at the edge of the jetty in his Bertha -branded T-shirt and bright red shorts.
He stood out from the other guests.
But as far as she was concerned, it was for all the right reasons.
Noah shook Joe’s hand and thanked him for stopping for Robbie and they spent a few minutes chatting, before she urged Joe to take her home.
‘Thanks again for today, Maya,’ said Noah, a little dejectedly.
‘You too, Joe.’
Noah waved them off with a wistful look, as if he’d like to jump on board and sail away with them, then he turned and walked back towards his guests.