Mayne Attraction: In The Spotlight (30 page)

Every word was true.

“Why did you say yes?”

She was smiling but serious.

I couldn’t explain my primary reason:
getting to the bottom of her association with me and the presence
of a secret service unit in my life. I had no proof that Gray had
anything to do with it. All I knew was that it had to be expensive,
and the Gregorys were the wealthiest people I’d ever heard of. I
never felt certain about anything these days, but if they were
behind this high-end babysitting contract, I could be certain it
wasn’t because of my money—they had more than plenty of their
own.

I decided to expound on the other side of my
reason for going.

“I guess I just didn’t want to close my
connection with the Gregorys. It reminds me of my time with
Grandpa, and I want to be a geologist, like him, I think. So this
is a valuable experience. Plus, geology aside, I’ve always wanted
to see the Canadian Rockies; and that’s never going to happen with
Mom and Hoyt. Dan and Gray will make it really fun, I’m sure. I’ve
been shut up for so long,” I sighed and used the moment to choose
my words.

“It’s just that I think Gray might want more
from me, and I’m not sure if I can handle it. You know?”

She put her hand over mine and squeezed it
reassuringly.

“You can handle anything. You just need to
be sure about what you want, and really think it through. He
probably does want more. I think any man would, especially because
it’s you, bambina bellina (Italian for pretty girl). But that
doesn’t obligate you. If you were offered an internship, then make
it clear from the beginning that is what you’re there for. If he’s
advancing on you in a way that you’re not comfortable with, you
should say so. Don’t you dare feel guilty. Understand?”

It was exactly what I needed to hear. I
nodded gravely.

“He doesn’t happen to be extremely rich and
handsome, does he?” she asked with a grin.

“Of course. And charming too. I was too
flattered to say no. I just hope it’s not a mistake. I mean, he
never called me or wrote me or anything. I don’t know what to
think.”

“Do you still like him?” she asked.

It occurred to me that she may actually be
rooting for us, having no knowledge of my romantic ties to Ash, and
might do so all the more, if she did possess such knowledge.

“A little. I just don’t want to be left high
and dry. I got over him once, but I don’t think I could pull it off
twice.”

I laughed at myself.

“I can’t imagine you having to ‘get over’
anyone. Maybe it was more about timing than that he wasn’t
interested in you. Do you think that’s possible?”

I arched my eyebrows but didn’t answer. I
had never considered that. It was possible. Why would he waste time
with a high school girl? But now that I was older…

I would need to file that away for further
consideration.

I continued with the details that she
already knew. We’d be flying into Calgary, then we would head west
to Banff where we would do some site-seeing and then take a few
back country back-packing trips to do a geological survey in an
area determined by satellite photos.

“But there’s something I’m concerned about
with the back-packing. I’ve camped before when I was a lot younger
and I was with my dad or grandpa so I didn’t put tents up, or build
campfires or cook. I would really like to be self sufficient around
camp while we’re out there, pulling my own weight…” I trailed off,
wistfully.

“So you’d like some survival training? Is
that it?”

She seemed to be enjoying an inside
joke—without realizing that I was secretly in on the punch
line!

“Didn’t you say that Ray was in the
military? Do you think he would mind showing me a few things?”

That wasn’t what I really wanted, but I was
curious to hear her response.

“Oh, I think you can do better than that,
Ellery.”

There was a devious look in her eyes
now.

“I can?”

I was all wide-eyed curiosity.

“Did you ever watch the Eco Challenge races
on cable?” she asked, looking somewhat smug.

Yes, in fact I had. It was one of the first
shared activities I enjoyed with Hoyt when he and Mom had started
dating. I rummaged through my memories of the different races we
had watched together. I was always particularly interested because
the races featured teams with both male and female contestants,
which fed my love of heroines. The teams would race through the
jungle and climb mountains, kayak rivers, swim the in the ocean,
repel into canyons, and of course, run.

Then it clicked. I laughed at the absurdity.
But it explained a lot.

“You’re Lidia Ferrari?” I asked with excited
incredulity.

From Team Ferrari Italia on the Eco
Challenge Fiji Adventure Race. I remembered that team because they
were famous, sort of—all from the Ferrari sports car family.
Though, I had been zoned in to the program because the actor Hayden
Christensen (Anakin Skywalker from the newer movies of the older
Star Wars stories) was on a team with his brother and sister,
representing Canada.

“So you did watch it. I wasn’t sure if you
were old enough to remember.”

She was pleased.

“I remember that your team actually finished
the race.”

Some fifty or so of the eighty plus teams
competing had to drop out due to injury or disease. The ‘Force’ had
not been with Hayden’s team.

“And now I understand your car sense a
little better.”

I couldn’t hold back the smile wondering how
in the world she could have ended up here with me now. It was
crazy, but in a good way.

“So, did you meet Hayden Christensen?” I
couldn’t resist asking.

“Yeah, we dated for a little while. But he
was more interested in my cars than he was in me.”

Her tone was disinterested.

“That’s too bad,” I lamented, feeling a
vicarious sort of disappointment.

“No, it was okay. I was more interested in
my cars than I was in him.”

She smirked and rolled her eyes. Then she
got back on topic.

“Any way, I think I’ll be able to show you a
thing or two about camping.”

The smug look was taking up residence
again.

“So when you’re finished with me, I’ll be
the best campfire builder I know?” I grinned as I asked this.

“Besides me, of course.”

And she smiled at me.

Chapter 26
–
Even

It used to be my fortress of solitude. Now
we met nearly every night in my silly little tree house,
constructed for the small kids of the property’s previous owners,
with a Fire Marshall’s maximum capacity rating of three children.
It had become my favorite place in the world because it was where I
got to visit face to face and hand in hand with my favorite person
on Earth. Tonight would be the last time, for a while, since we
would be traveling out of the country the next day—but not
together, exactly.

Ash was very strict about every aspect of
these encounters. We could only visit for a half hour. It was
obvious why a late night visit was more convenient, but he was
concerned that I needed my rest, especially in the beginning, when
we had met on school nights, thus the abbreviated time frame. After
school was out and we were secretly spending his days on duty
together, we would meet here in the tree house at night, sometimes
for longer periods now on the evenings of days we couldn’t be
together, sort of like dating on third shift.

One of his unbendable rules (shameless,
relentless testing on my part certified the ‘unbendable’
descriptor) was that we could hold hands but nothing beyond that.
When I experimented with caressing and kissing his hands, he took
those away from me too.

He had made it clear from the beginning (and
was occasionally forced by me to reiterate) that his intentions
toward me were nothing but honorable, and that moving beyond
handholding would only escalate into dishonorable behavior on his
part.

He had explained it this way, “Though going
beyond is what I want with all my soul, I’m willing to be patient
for it, for you, for when we’re married, if you were to eventually
accept me, that is.”

Like my presence in the tree house night
after night didn’t constitute acceptance! But his words were so
incredibly romantic to me that I nearly attacked him on the spot.
Maybe that was the intended effect. No. As I thought it through, I
was sure it was not. I believed him. There was no way to doubt his
perfect sincerity. Anyway, though it was disappointing at times, it
was also a relief. My better judgment screamed at me about the
acrasia (lack of self-control) of being in a private dark place
with this man, who although angelically beautiful and impeccably
polite, was, never-the-less, a stranger to me—initially. His rules
soothed my conscience and my insecurities, and kept me honorable
too, despite myself.

Thirty minutes felt like thirty seconds—it
flew by so quickly every night. We used the time to piece our
various puzzles about each other together, though obviously, he had
far more to reveal about himself that I did. Still, he managed to
control the conversation most nights, digging into topics about me:
my daily happenings, my history, and my hopes. I let it slide
because I could see how happy it made him, and I wasn’t very good
at controlling conversations in any case.

One evening, after several nights in a row
of being manipulated into doing all the talking, I proposed a new
arrangement.

“Ash, you’re not being fair to me,” I
began.

My mood was mischievous, not indignant. But
in the dark he misread me. And apparently I’d inadvertently touched
a nerve.

Before I could explain myself he responded
back with, “You’re right. I’m so sorry. I should leave you alone. I
should never have entangled you this way. I’m trying to snap you
up, like a rose before it’s bloomed. It’s wrong and very unfair to
you,” he said, releasing my hand.

It felt exactly like I had shot myself in
the foot, or the heart. I scrambled to undo the damage.

“Oh no Ash! That’s not what I meant at
all!”

My tone was pitifully desperate. I grabbed
his hand back, like something that had been unjustly snatched
away.

“I’m glad you picked me. There’s no point in
blooming if it’s not for you. You’re the sun that makes me grow. If
you unwrapped your love from around me now I would wilt, or
worse.”

Uncertain if I was healing the breach with
my metaphoric assurances, I added heavy incentive.

“You’ve seen me like that…you…you wouldn’t
let that happen to me…again.”

The fear and pain in my plea were more real
than I had intended.

He inhaled sharply and broke his own rule,
gathering me into his arms, tucking his chin over my head, and
rocked me slowly. It silently communicated what I needed to hear.
No. He would not let that happen again.

I rested my face against his chest,
listening to his heart, one of my favorite sounds, second only to
the sound of his voice, soaking in the pleasure of unruly behavior.
Eventually he pushed me away, but very gently.

“What did you mean?” he asked timidly.

“Just that it would be fairer if we took
turns asking and answering questions. I want to hear more about
you. I’d like to know more about the past of the person with whom I
hope to spend my future,” I said with a smile.

I was going to have to replace complete
sincerity for my usual flippant banter until after he was
accustomed to my sense of humor. Otherwise, I might accidentally
scare him off, and get exactly what I deserved.

I had learned my lesson on that occasion,
and this night I was determined to be extra careful and unplugged
from my perversity. He’d been gone for most of the week on his
survival training exercises with Ray, and given the emotional
climate in which he would be immersed over the next several weeks
he deserved a break from anything but calm adoration coming from me
this evening.

I didn’t want to miss a single sensation
this time, so I had loaded new batteries in my little flashlight
lantern.

When I had settled in the tiny space across
from him, I clicked it on and soaked in his beautiful face, my
first real breath of air for the day, as he had been off duty and
completely out of my sight. He took my hands and smiled, as pleased
as I was at the extra view we’d be sharing tonight.

“I’m curious about something. If you’re not
comfortable answering, I’ll understand,” he assured me.

I did not feel assured. I was bracing for
something uncomfortable, but I nodded, letting him know it was all
right to proceed.

“When did you get a cell phone?”

He was gravely serious.

I laughed out loud in relief. I thought he
was going to ask me to detail my ‘romantic history’ with Gray,
something I’d lived in fear of since that fateful evening when my
summer had been rearranged. This I could handle.

“It was for when I was away from my grandpa
during the day when we were in Iceland. So, roughly two summers
ago.”

That was easy…and true.

Please let that be the end of the
matter.

“It’s a strange area code. I was just
wondering about that…” he trailed off.

He was trying to lead me around to a
conversation about Gray, and I wasn’t about to be led down that
path.

“Is it? I never called it.”

Could I get out of this topic without lying
to him? If he stopped asking questions it might be possible. I
didn’t want to discuss Gray. The only thing to discuss would be my
feelings and how I thought they had been unreturned, and then
having to admit that maybe now they were...in a belated, totally
irrelevant way.

“Oh. Well, here’s your instruction card. I
have your number now. You might need this back,” he said as he
presented me with the card I had once given him.