SIMON DIDN’T KNOW EXACTLY what Maya’s intentions were, but she was definitely a woman on a mission. From what he’d overheard at lunch the previous week, Tobias was up to something new. Something she wasn’t happy about.
He wondered if that had anything to do with the news he’d gotten two days ago. An ATF connection of his had let it slip that there were a slew of stolen guns spreading through Northern California. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had narrowed the epicenter of the leak to the Santa Cruz Mountains. Which just happened to be where Tobias Black was. Coincidence? No way in hell.
This was Simon’s shot. If he could bust Tobias Black, his career would skip the fast track and hit rocket speed. All he had to do was make a solid contact with the old guy’s daughter. She was his entrée. A couple more conversations with her and he’d be able to claim her a friend when he visited Black Oak.
As if proving she was ready to be his new best friend, Maya chose that moment to stroll in, her arm tucked into the elbow of her guy friend. Despite the party in progress, Simon could clearly see the tension in the set of her shoulders, and the way she kept her body from curving into pretty boy’s.
It shouldn’t be too hard for Simon to move himself in. A little charm, a little distraction and a little luck were all he needed to pull this off.
He timed it carefully, putting himself in Maya’s line of sight, careful to look like a guest by exchanging friendly chitchat with strangers. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her frown, satisfied when it turned to heated curiosity.
He had to wait about an hour before pretty boy left to head to the bar and refill their drinks.
Then Simon made his move. He strode over to where she stood silhouetted against the wide bank of windows.
“Hello,” he said. “We’ve met, haven’t we?”
It was a lame line, but he was interested in seeing what she’d do with it. Gold eyes considered him for a second, then she nodded. “You were at the Braverment party last week, weren’t you? I’m Maya.”
“Simon Harris,” he introduced himself, using one of his covers. Then to put her at ease, he spent the next five minutes making idle chitchat.
Mid talk about the party and the potential for investors, they heard a soft chime over the music.
“Excuse me,” she said with an apologetic smile. Pulling her phone from her tiny purse, she glanced at the screen. The blood drained from her face, making her look like a wax doll in a horror movie.
“Are you okay?” Simon asked, quickly moving to her side. He glanced at the screen and winced. Having seen plenty of pictures of Tobias Black, he easily recognized the man in the photo. The brunette plastered over his chest like a wet T-shirt was new to him, but Simon figured no daughter wanted to see her father being used as a stripper pole.
A text flashed across the screen next.
Aren’t we a cute couple?
Well, now, that was interesting. Simon watched as red heat washed over Maya’s previously ashy complexion. Fury? The pictured coupledom clearly didn’t sit well with her.
“Friend of yours?” he asked, knowing it was a risk to get so personal. But he figured she was pissed enough to ignore the impropriety in her need to vent.
Maya shifted her glare from the phone to his face. She shook her head like she was trying to toss off the anger. “An idiot determined to ruin his life, is more like it.”
Perfect opening.
“That is a shame,” he said, leaning in just a little more. Not for the job this time. But because he liked feeling the warmth of her, seeing her golden eyes dilate so they were almost all black, and hearing her breath catch in such a sexy little way. Nice to know he could pull her out of her anger.
Then, as if knowing Maya’s attention had shifted, her phone chimed again.
They both looked down.
Simon frowned. What the hell? It was a picture of a wedding dress.
“Oh, hell no,” she hissed. Muttering cursewords under her breath, her fingers flew over the tiny keyboard at the speed of light.
He watched the text fly into the ether, excitement stirring in his gut.
“So you’re going home this weekend?” he asked, his tone as innocent as he could make it. “Where’s home?”
Maya wasn’t paying him any attention, though. Her gaze flew over the crowd until she gave a little hum. Then she absently patted Simon’s arm and said, “Excuse me.”
Shit. Just like that, she was gone. She didn’t even bother with a backward glance. Simon’s ego screamed almost as loud a protest as his body at the loss of her floral-scented warmth.
Dammit. He wasn’t finished yet. He needed to make a stronger contact. To get some information that he could drop into casual conversation that’d lead her father to believe that the two of them were really friends. He watched her stride away, trying to decide if that had been a good contact or a wasted one. Your daughter hated the girly accessory you were wearing in that photo wasn’t much of a topic starter.
DESPERATE FURY PROPELLED Maya across the dance floor and through the throngs of people surrounding the bar. Anger and worry duked it out in her belly as she thought of that picture. Tobias was a brilliant man, except when it came to women.
She couldn’t stand it. No way she could let her father suffer a lifetime, or even another month, with the likes of Lilah Gomez.
“Dave?” She offered her date a bright smile that was only a little shaky with nerves, and tilted her head toward the patio. “Do you have a second?”
Frowning at either the nerves in her tone or the fact that she’d interrupted his golf story, he gave his work buddies a be-right-back gesture. Taking her hand, he led her into the relative quiet of the atrium. “What’s up? You look a little tense.”
Maya almost winced. Oops. Tense wasn’t the kind of thing that made a guy want to run off for a wild weekend of family stress. She forced herself to smile, bright and cheery like she wasn’t ready to scream. Or cry.
Remembering her father’s basic rule of the con, distraction, she ran her hand up and down Dave’s arm in a gentle caress. He leaned into her body as if ready to let her take those strokes in any number of other directions.
“I just found out I have to take a trip,” she told him.
“Now?”
“No, for New Year’s,” she explained. Sliding her fingers down his arm, she trailed them over the back of his hand to play with his fingers. His eyes blurred satisfyingly. “I was hoping you’d want to go with me. You were saying you wanted to spend more time together. I thought this might be a fun way.”
“The two of us? Go away together?” His grin was huge as he pulled her into his arms and gazed down at her face like he’d just snagged a fab Christmas present. “I’m in. Just say when and where.”
“I’d planned to leave the day after Christmas,” she explained. She let herself relax into his body as if confirming his assumptions of just what kind of entertainment that trip would include. But fairness demanded she share, “I’m going back to my hometown. My brother just got engaged and is having a big party for New Year’s. I haven’t been back in years, and everyone is going to be really excited to meet my boyfriend.”
She lost him a little more with each word she spoke. His arms stiffened and he slowly leaned away from her body. Clearly that translated to horror and damnation in guy-talk. It was like watching the fog roll over the Golden Gate.
This, she realized, was yet more proof as to why she’d sucked as a con artist. She could have just led him on. Let him think they were off for some kinky sex fun and then used that lure to keep him at arms’