Thrill Me
Page 56
“I know. I sounded so smart.” Shelby grinned. “Felicia comes into the bakery and we talk. She’s always interesting. We talked about Jonny Blaze a couple of weeks ago. She finds celebrity fascinating. Not because she cares about them but because of how other people react to them. So she told me about tribes.”
“Gotta love Felicia,” Jo said as their server came up and took their drink orders.
Except for Destiny, they all ordered the special. A martini made with ginger, coconut and a hint of lemon. Maya had a feeling it would go down very easily, which made her glad she was walking home.
After they’d placed their orders, conversation shifted to things happening around town. No one could believe how fast summer had flown by.
“Have you seen the changing leaves up in the mountains?” Destiny asked. “The year is going to be over before we know it.” She turned to Maya. “You and Del would look adorable kissing against a background of red-and-orange leaves,” she joked. “Any more kissing videos planned?”
Maya laughed. “No. We’re holding out for the movie release.”
Everyone chuckled. Jo mentioned the upcoming Fall Festival, and Shelby talked about orders at the bakery for Thanksgiving. Maya listened, but in the back of her mind she kept seeing herself kissing Del. They’d looked good together. Right. Funny how she’d never realized her feelings for him before. Maybe the love had become such a part of her, she’d been unable to see it for what it was.
She glanced around at the bar. It was crowded, but in a friendly way. Conversation was pleasant. No one was too drunk or too loud. Jonny Blaze sat at a table with a group of guys, acting like everyone else.
It was the town, she thought. Fool’s Gold had a way of sucking people in and changing them for the better. Making them who they were meant to be. Maya was grateful she’d come back.
Back, she thought as their drinks arrived. Back, not home. Because the restlessness she’d been feeling hadn’t gone away. If anything, it was growing inside of her.
She was going to have to figure out the cause, she told herself. And then an antidote. Or at the very least a way to mitigate the need. Because wandering the world wasn’t in her future. She was going to settle down here. She could only hope settling down wasn’t the same as settling.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAYA MOVED THE cursor quickly across the screen, clicked the left button on the mouse and watched the footage merge seamlessly together. She hit Play, and together she and Del watched the eight seconds become seventeen.
“Add that shot with Priscilla against the sun,” Del suggested. “You know the one?”
“Where she fills the screen.” Maya was already clicking through what they had. She found the clip and added it to the segment, then hit Play again.
“Nice.” He leaned back in his chair. “These are getting better and better.”
As he spoke, he put his arm around her. She was pretty sure the gesture was meant to be friendly. Team-like, even. But just sitting close to him was enough to make her aware of his body right next to hers. She liked being around him, even though he was a big distraction.
“We’re getting into our work rhythm,” she said, looking for another clip and adding it. When she hit Play, the camera moved from the elephant to pan across the ranch where Annabelle, a local librarian, stood by her husband. They were only talking, and standing far enough away to practically be background. But there was something about their differences in height, the way he stood protectively close to her, not to mention the sexy angle of his cowboy hat, that added a spark to the otherwise-traditional landscape shot.
“Damn, we’re good,” he breathed, then laughed. “Mostly you.”
“I disagree. Without you dazzling the camera, we couldn’t connect the shots. Okay, we need twenty-seven more seconds. It’s going to be hard to pick what we want to use. Everything is really good.”
The door to the office opened and two men in suits walked in. They were both in their late forties or early fifties. One was short and balding, the other a little taller. Maya knew she’d never seen either of them before.
“Maya Farlow?” the shorter of the two men asked.
Maya nodded slowly, half expecting him to pull out a law enforcement badge and utter the spine-chilling phrase, “I’m going to have to ask you to come with me, ma’am.”
The two men looked at each other, then back at her. The taller one smiled broadly. “I’m Ernesto. This is my business partner, Robert. We’re in big trouble and we need some help. Can we bother you for a minute?”
“Of course,” she said, not sure what they could want with her.
Del rose and got two chairs. The men sat by the table.
“We own the Lucky Lady Casino,” Ernesto said. “We’ve planned an advertising campaign. We’re about to film a series of national commercials. Robert and I wrote the commercials with an ad agency and we’re shooting this week.”
His partner nodded. “We have the equipment rented, the actors, hair and makeup people, the costumes and perfect weather. The team hired to do the actual filming just told us they weren’t going to show up. We’re stuck. Can you help?”
Maya processed the information. “You want me to produce your commercials?”
Ernesto nodded. “Direct, create, produce. Whatever you want to call it. We have storyboards and a script. Everything you need.”
It was both intriguing and crazy, she thought. “How did you know to come to me?”
“Gotta love Felicia,” Jo said as their server came up and took their drink orders.
Except for Destiny, they all ordered the special. A martini made with ginger, coconut and a hint of lemon. Maya had a feeling it would go down very easily, which made her glad she was walking home.
After they’d placed their orders, conversation shifted to things happening around town. No one could believe how fast summer had flown by.
“Have you seen the changing leaves up in the mountains?” Destiny asked. “The year is going to be over before we know it.” She turned to Maya. “You and Del would look adorable kissing against a background of red-and-orange leaves,” she joked. “Any more kissing videos planned?”
Maya laughed. “No. We’re holding out for the movie release.”
Everyone chuckled. Jo mentioned the upcoming Fall Festival, and Shelby talked about orders at the bakery for Thanksgiving. Maya listened, but in the back of her mind she kept seeing herself kissing Del. They’d looked good together. Right. Funny how she’d never realized her feelings for him before. Maybe the love had become such a part of her, she’d been unable to see it for what it was.
She glanced around at the bar. It was crowded, but in a friendly way. Conversation was pleasant. No one was too drunk or too loud. Jonny Blaze sat at a table with a group of guys, acting like everyone else.
It was the town, she thought. Fool’s Gold had a way of sucking people in and changing them for the better. Making them who they were meant to be. Maya was grateful she’d come back.
Back, she thought as their drinks arrived. Back, not home. Because the restlessness she’d been feeling hadn’t gone away. If anything, it was growing inside of her.
She was going to have to figure out the cause, she told herself. And then an antidote. Or at the very least a way to mitigate the need. Because wandering the world wasn’t in her future. She was going to settle down here. She could only hope settling down wasn’t the same as settling.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAYA MOVED THE cursor quickly across the screen, clicked the left button on the mouse and watched the footage merge seamlessly together. She hit Play, and together she and Del watched the eight seconds become seventeen.
“Add that shot with Priscilla against the sun,” Del suggested. “You know the one?”
“Where she fills the screen.” Maya was already clicking through what they had. She found the clip and added it to the segment, then hit Play again.
“Nice.” He leaned back in his chair. “These are getting better and better.”
As he spoke, he put his arm around her. She was pretty sure the gesture was meant to be friendly. Team-like, even. But just sitting close to him was enough to make her aware of his body right next to hers. She liked being around him, even though he was a big distraction.
“We’re getting into our work rhythm,” she said, looking for another clip and adding it. When she hit Play, the camera moved from the elephant to pan across the ranch where Annabelle, a local librarian, stood by her husband. They were only talking, and standing far enough away to practically be background. But there was something about their differences in height, the way he stood protectively close to her, not to mention the sexy angle of his cowboy hat, that added a spark to the otherwise-traditional landscape shot.
“Damn, we’re good,” he breathed, then laughed. “Mostly you.”
“I disagree. Without you dazzling the camera, we couldn’t connect the shots. Okay, we need twenty-seven more seconds. It’s going to be hard to pick what we want to use. Everything is really good.”
The door to the office opened and two men in suits walked in. They were both in their late forties or early fifties. One was short and balding, the other a little taller. Maya knew she’d never seen either of them before.
“Maya Farlow?” the shorter of the two men asked.
Maya nodded slowly, half expecting him to pull out a law enforcement badge and utter the spine-chilling phrase, “I’m going to have to ask you to come with me, ma’am.”
The two men looked at each other, then back at her. The taller one smiled broadly. “I’m Ernesto. This is my business partner, Robert. We’re in big trouble and we need some help. Can we bother you for a minute?”
“Of course,” she said, not sure what they could want with her.
Del rose and got two chairs. The men sat by the table.
“We own the Lucky Lady Casino,” Ernesto said. “We’ve planned an advertising campaign. We’re about to film a series of national commercials. Robert and I wrote the commercials with an ad agency and we’re shooting this week.”
His partner nodded. “We have the equipment rented, the actors, hair and makeup people, the costumes and perfect weather. The team hired to do the actual filming just told us they weren’t going to show up. We’re stuck. Can you help?”
Maya processed the information. “You want me to produce your commercials?”
Ernesto nodded. “Direct, create, produce. Whatever you want to call it. We have storyboards and a script. Everything you need.”
It was both intriguing and crazy, she thought. “How did you know to come to me?”
