Chapter Thirty-Two

John was going to have to add roses for Maile to his list of floral gifts. The woman may not have been on his side, but her timing just know was fantastic.

“Mr. Smythe.” He needed to move quickly. “As you most likely know, I am here on vacation.”

Smythe nodded.

“Surely you will understand that visiting with my family allows me the ability to leave the responsibilities of running a major corporation behind, at least for a time.”

Smythe’s head bobbed, but John could tell by the fogged glaze in his eyes the guy was still several steps behind.

“In Kona, I’m simply Forrest Maplewood. None of our friends here know me as John Maplewood, CEO, and I would like to keep it that way.”

The light of understanding finally shone in Smythe’s eyes.

“I would appreciate it if we could keep this little secret between us.”

“My pleasure.” Smythe extended his hand and winked. “Forrest.”

“Thank you.” John forced a pleasant smile, but, as soon as he got back to the bathroom, he was washing this guy’s stink from his hands.

* * *

“Can’t this wait?” Ava looked over her shoulder toward her office and back. “I’m almost finished.”

“No.” Annette threw a sheepish glance at Maile and then, straightening her shoulders, faced her again. “It’s about Forrest. We’ve all heard Maggie mention at one time or another that her brother is a workaholic.”

Ava nodded, resisting the urge to tap her foot and speed Annette along.

“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him a time or two. Usually for only a fleeting moment, as he was always on the way to a meeting or engagement of one kind or other.”

“That would explain workaholic,” Maile added.

“But what you don’t know is why he was so busy.”

At this point Ava wasn’t sure she cared. All she needed was five more minutes to dispatch Smythe, and she could hear all the gossip Annette wanted to share.

“He is the CEO of FJM Global.”

“I knew he was the wrong person for you.” Maile bobbed her head. “Sara likes fancy things. She’d be much better suited.”

“Got it.” Ava ignored her mother’s comment, turned and took half a step. CEO? Her foot fell slowly to the ground. FJM Global? Twisting in place, her gaze landed on Annette.

Hands folded in front of her, Annette reminded Ava of a wayward child called before the high school principal.

Frozen in place, the full impact of Annette’s words sank in. Holy shit. He’d lied. In construction? The man ran one of the largest development and international construction companies in the world. And not just a world-renowned company but the one running the two biggest projects of her career. Oh, my God. Shooting out her hand, she steadied herself on the back of the nearest chair. Her career. Everyone would think she’d slept her way up the corporate ladder. Damn him.

Annette lifted her chin. “I didn’t want you to say something in there that would…complicate things.”

“Complicate things?” She was sleeping with the boss of the biggest projects she’d ever had, and Annette thought having her ex and current bosses in the same office was complicated… Shit—her ex and her current. “I’ll be right back.”

Smythe and Forrest were shaking hands, as she stuttered to a halt in the doorway.

“There you are.” Smythe circled the chair. “Since the important part of our business is done, I’ll be on my way. You’ll have the agreements from legal in your inbox by tonight, along with the change requests for the original Sacramento designs.”

Ava nodded, smiled and followed Smythe to the front door. Neither man said anything further, and she figured this was another instance, like the earlier negotiations, when keeping her mouth shut worked in her favor.

Forrest remained in the office doorway, while her mother and Annette followed her into the main hall. The minute she closed the door behind Smythe, she spun around and zeroed in on Forrest. “How could you?”

“Now, dear.” Maile hurried to her daughter’s side. “Annette stopped you from saying anything foolish. The important thing is, what did the man want?”

Breathe. In. Out. If she killed Forrest now, she’d have witnesses.

“Your mother’s right, Ava.” Annette inched forward. “Did that stupid man come groveling?”

“He offered me a contract.” Ava pushed past her mother to her office and glared at Forrest. “We need to talk.”

He spun on his heel and crossed over to her desk.

Ava shut the door behind her. “Annette says you’re in charge at FJM Global?”

“I am.”

“And you didn’t see fit to tell me?”

The man stood still, calm, expressionless. “I actually tried. A few times.”

“Not hard enough!” Anger pulsed so fast and furious through her veins that it wouldn’t have surprised her if she exploded like Kilauea. Forcing herself to take a deep calming breath, she crossed the short distance to her desk, a list of painful variables accumulating in her mind. “You know what kills me?”

He shook his head.

“More than having to refuse the best damn jobs I ever had?”

His eyes widened. “Don’t say that.”

“What hurts more than being made a fool of in front of my former boss?”

“No one made a fool out of anyone.” He took a step forward, stopping when she inched back.

“I thought you were special. Very special.”

His rigid stance eased. “Ava.” Extending his arm to reach for her, she jumped back, away from him. A pained look skittered across his face.

“No. I can’t do this. Not now.” She didn’t care if it was her house; she needed to get the hell away from him. Without a word, hands shaking from both fury and sadness, she left her office, headed for the kitchen, grabbed her keys from the counter, turned the knob and walked out the back door.

“Ava, honey. Where are you going?” her mother called.

Forrest raced past the two women blocking the exit, calling to Ava, “Please let me explain.”

Ava’s car beeped with a click of the fob. “Go to hell.”

“You son of a bitch,” Kenny yelled.

She hadn’t had enough time to climb into the car when a white flash with dark hair crossed the lawn. Before her mind could fully decipher the scene before her, Kenny’s fist flew into Forrest’s face, snapping him on his ass.

“Oh, my God.”

“I’ll get some ice.” Annette ran back into the house.

“We warned you.” Kenny stood, shaking out his hand.

Maile caught Kenny’s hand in hers and, turning it forward and backward, shook her head. “I’ll get some ice for you too.”

Pulling into the driveway and parking, Billy climbed from the car. “What the hell is going on out here?” His gaze followed his mother rushing into the house, passing Annette as she hurried off the back porch with a bag of ice. When he spotted Forrest on the ground and Kenny rubbing his knuckles, Billy’s eyes rounded like a cartoon owl. “Holy crap. Did you coldcock him?”

Kenny nodded. “He deserved it.”

Stretching his jaw left then right, Forrest sat up. “I did not.”

“Shh.” Ava took the ice cubes in a plastic bag from Annette. “Here. Put this on your chin. It’s already turning colors.”

“I leave you alone for a few hours and look what happens.” Billy moved forward until he stood over Forrest. “How bad is it?”

“I’m fine.”

“And you?” Billy turned to Kenny.

“He’ll be fine too.” Maile rushed up to Kenny, holding another plastic bag of ice.

“Honestly.” Billy shook his head. “This is worse than a bunch of children.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner. But I really did try.” Forrest stared at Ava, and she almost caved at the fear she saw reflected back.

“You should have told me.” Closing her eyes, she schooled herself for what had to be said. “I can’t do the aquarium.”

The hand holding the bag of ice fell away from Forrest’s face. “Of course you can. You had the best designs.”

Shaking her head, she took the bag from him and placed it to his jaw. “You told them to hire me.”

“I did not. I told them to look at your work. You got the job on your own. I have some clout with the committee, but I don’t…” He winced and, covering her hand in his, lowered the ice bag a little. “…own the damn aquarium.”

“He’s telling you the truth,” Annette said softly, then shrugged at all the questioning eyes staring at her. “I talk a lot with Evelyn.”

“You do?” both Ava and Forrest echoed.

Annette nodded.

“Still—” Ava shifted, her hand on the bag of ice—”no one will know that. I can’t possibly be taken seriously now.”

“You really don’t know how good you are, do you?” Forrest tossed aside the ice bag and pulled Ava onto his lap. “Why the hell do you think Smythe came here with his tail between his legs?”

“That’s different.” Ava knew she should pull away, stand up, step back.

“No, it’s not. Long before I ever laid eyes on you, that moron Smythe was losing ground fast. And why? Because you were the one behind the Sacramento designs. Not me. Not my connections. Your talent.” Running the back of his finger up her jaw, Forrest tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “And the whole damn world is going to see that, even if I never step foot in L.A. again. Which I may not.”

“What?” several voices chorused, including hers.

“I can run a company from anywhere.”

“Oh, my.” Maile gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

Had Ava not lost all ability to breathe, she might have managed a gasp herself.

“You and I both know this business requires a lot of travel,” he continued. “Lots of job sites. Plenty of around-the-world meetings.”

All she could do was nod.

“But I can bark orders from an office here as easily as I can from L.A.”

“Here?” she mumbled.

“Yeah. There’s a nice building down the street. Not big. Only two floors. Just the right size for a satellite office.”

Something was off. Maybe she had been the one to get hit in the head and knocked on her ass. She was furious with him. Livid. So why did she feel like throwing her arms around his neck and squealing with delight?

“Told you he loved you.” Kenny said, handing Maile the other bag of ice and shaking out his hand.

Dear God, was Kenny right?

His attention back on Ava, Kenny flashed a cocky grin. “Oh, stop looking at me like that. Kiss the man, tell him that you forgive him for being an idiot and let’s get back to painting the house.”

“You’re not really mad?” she asked Kenny.

A rough chuckle sounded, as he shrugged. “Sorry, man,” he said to Forrest. “It was the only idea I had to stop her from driving off and building up a serious head of steam over this.”

“You know who I am too?” Forrest asked.

Kenny nodded.

“Damn.” Forrest stretched his jaw again. “Did you have to hit so hard?”

“Sorry. I might have also been a little mad at you. Hurt her again and I won’t hold back.”

Forrest circled his arms around her. “Forgive me? Give me another chance to get this right?”

She was pretty sure, if she thought about it long and hard enough, she’d come up with something to be mad about, but that would have to wait until later. Much later. “Absolutely.”

Her lips barely touched his, when her mother clapped her hands and squealed, “Good. Uh… I mean…”

“Oh, give it up, Mom.” Billy pulled his mother into a bear hug. “We all know what you were doing.”

“We do?” Ava muttered first, followed by Forrest and Kenny.

“Reverse psychology.”

Maile lifted her chin to meet her son’s gaze. “How did you know?”

“Angela rented The Fantasticks. It took me a while, since you didn’t build a wall and had no one to feud with, but, at the end of the show, it finally hit me. What I can’t figure out is, what made you think of it in the first place?”

“Uh…” Annette cleared her throat and, raising her hand, wiggled two fingers. “That would be me.”

“What?” Several voices chorused Surprise etched on their faces.

Annette shrugged. “Between the few times I’d met Forrest and all of Maggie’s stories, I knew what a great guy he was and how hard he works and about the last bimbo he dated, who might as well have had the words gold digger stamped on her forehead.”

“Gee, thanks.” Forrest helped Ava to her feet, then pushed himself upright.

“Maile and I were chatting one day, talking about what to do for Maggie’s birthday, and we circled around to how good Ava and Forrest would be for each other. We agreed an all-out birthday bash might be the only way to get him to visit. What we had to do next was get the two of you together. But I know how you guys resist your mother’s matchmaking tendencies, so we thought, maybe if she tried something a little different…”

“We didn’t need reverse psychology.” Forrest looped an arm around Ava’s waist. “She had me at hello.”