“Perfect sand.” Eva followed him into the elegantly furnished room, done mostly in earth shades—olive couch, brown-and-ocher chairs, dark brick around the fireplace. It looked like a showroom, as though no one really lived here. Kind of like NYEspresso. Beautiful but cold.
“I have another idea.” Ames grabbed a remote and logged in to the internet to display on his flat-panel TV. “I bet we can find videos of beach waves on YouTube.”
While he searched, Eva looked around the room, imagining plants and posters, colorful rugs, art books... “Ames, I’ve decided your place needs something.”
He shot her a glance. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“No, no, nothing weird.” She pointed to a corner. “Right there. A gorilla statue and a hole of mini golf.”
“Um, yeah, I’ll get right on that.” He backed away from the set, watching expectantly. A video started, waves crashing onto a glorious sand beach, palm fronds fluttering in the wind.
“Oh, Ames.” She came up next to him and hung on to his shoulder, watching. “How sweet of you to bring me all the way to Maui when you barely know me!”
“I’m that kind of guy.” He puffed himself up, looking magnificent instead of comical as he intended, chest sexily sprinkled with hair, legs solid, and one hot pair of royal-blue boxer briefs generously outlining his very nice package.
“You know—” Eva helped him push the couch back so they’d have plenty of “sand” for their beach picnic, and spread out a bedspread he retrieved from a closet for the food and plates “—I’ve been thinking about NYEspresso. It needs something, too.”
“Gorilla mini golf?”
“Not necessarily. Though that’s always a good look.” She knelt beside him and helped herself to a plate of fragrant food and a good mound of rice. “I spent yesterday touring other indie coffee shops in about a five-block radius. There are so many like NYEspresso, you know? Chic, elegant. I feel like it needs a little...loosening. A shot of California, maybe. I’d like to see what would happen if I added some fun, gave people a break from the New Yorkness of New York.”
Ames shook his head pityingly. “Only people from California think New Yorkers need a break from New York.”
“I’m betting they do.” She shook her fork threateningly at him, wanting to put down her plate and straddle his fabulous muscular thighs, but the food was too good to put off any longer.
“So what are you thinking of doing?”
“Not sure yet.” She traded her plate for a sip of beer. “Obviously nothing that would be a permanent change and nothing Chris would hate. But I thought a little experiment wouldn’t be terrible.”
“Like...”
She waved her beer through the air. “More color. Plants, even fake ones. Something to soften the sharp edges, make people feel like they’re walking into a different world, if not a tropical zone then at least a temperate one. Especially now, when fall is reminding everyone that winter’s coming.”
“Hey, I know! How about one of those thunderstorm soundtracks? Every thirty seconds it can sprinkle rain on everyone!”
“So, I’m curious.” Eva gazed at him, thoughtfully deadpan. “How did you ever get to be respected in the business community?”
He cracked up. “Because I’m so damn charming.”
“You are.” She let her face relax into a smile. “At least I think so.”
“Yeah?” He put down his plate, set his beer on the coffee table behind him. “So...what are we doing here, Eva?”
“We’re eat—”
“Don’t say we’re eating Chinese food.”
“Ugh. I’m predictable already.” Eva set down her plate, too, still clutching her beer so it wouldn’t tip, though it also felt comforting to have something in her hands. “I think the question is not what are we doing, but what do we want to be doing?”
“Fair enough.” He grinned, lacing his fingers behind his head. “You first.”
“Oh, thanks.” She rolled her eyes, stalling her answer with a swig of beer. Nothing too emotional, nothing involving the word relationship unless it was clear she was kidding. “Okay. What I want to be doing is...you.”