Thrill Me(4)

                He looked good, she thought, taking in what was new and what was exactly as it had been. His features were sharper, more honed. His body bigger. He’d filled out. Grown up. There was a confidence to his gaze. She’d fallen in love with a twenty-year-old, but before her was the adult male version.

                The puzzle pieces fell into place. Her meeting and discussion with the mayor. What was expected of her as far as promoting the town. The need for a well-known person to host the videos.

                Her lips formed the word No even as her brain held in the sound. She turned to Mayor Marsha.

                “You want us to work together?”

                The older woman smiled and took her seat at the conference table, then motioned for Del to sit, as well.

                “Yes. Del’s back in town for a couple of months.”

                “Just for the rest of the summer.” He settled in a chair that seemed too small for him. His grin was as easy as his posture. “You guilted me into helping.”

                Mayor Marsha’s blue eyes twinkled with amusement. “I might have done what needed doing to get you to agree,” she admitted. She turned to Maya. “Del has experience with filming. He’s made some videos himself.”

                He shrugged. “Nothing that special, but I do know my way around a camera.”

                “As does Maya. I would like the two of you to collaborate on the project.”

                Maya told herself to keep breathing. That later, when she was alone, she would scream or keen or throw something. Right now, she had to remain calm and act like a professional. She had a brand-new job she very much wanted to keep. She loved Fool’s Gold, and since moving back to town, she’d felt more content than she could remember ever feeling before. She didn’t want that to change.

                She could handle Del being back. Obviously he was 100 percent over her. Which was a good thing. She was over him, too. Way over. So over as to almost not remembering him. Del who?

                “Sounds like fun,” she said with a smile. “Let’s set up a meeting to brainstorm what has to be done.”

                * * *

                SHE WAS SMOOTH, Del thought, watching Maya from across the small conference table. Professional. She’d stayed friends with his mother, so he heard about her every now and then. How she’d been promoted to senior producer at the local news station in Los Angeles, and how she wanted to get to a network position. Showing up in Fool’s Gold was an unexpected left turn in her career path.

                Just as unanticipated had been the call from Mayor Marsha, inviting him to be a part of the town’s new publicity project. She’d phoned about fifteen minutes after he’d already decided he was coming home for the summer. The woman had mad skills.

                “How about tomorrow?” Maya asked. “Why don’t you call me in the morning and we’ll set up a day and time?”

                “Works for me.”

                She gave him her cell number.

                Mayor Marsha’s desk phone beeped.

                “Excuse me,” the mayor said. “I need to take this call. I’ll leave you two to work out the details.”

                They all rose. Del and Maya walked into the hallway. Once there, he half expected her to bolt, but she surprised him by pausing.