Venture Forward (7 page)

The board sailed toward the swirling curl. She tried to ignore Paul’s muscular frame crouched on his own board, but it was damn-near impossible.
Focus, focus, focus!

The wave lifted her board, and she popped up into a squat. Her thigh muscles burned as she rode into the face of the rising wave. Here we go. She closed her eyes, clenching her core as the board sailed into the tube. Rising slightly, she let it all go – the stress, the remorse, the feelings of inadequacy. Everything dissipated into the salty sea air. It was so liberating. In that single moment, she didn’t have a care in the world. Nothing mattered except rising into that perfect barrel. “Yeaaaaahhh!” Her skin tingled from the sting of the sea spray as the board landed on the water.

Her eyes opened just in time to see Paul land a perfect 360 about fifty yards away.
Holy crap. What a show-off.

Avery sank down on the board as he paddled over. Her heart was still racing from the ride. Or maybe it was from his nearness. Either way, it was an incredible high. She was on top of the world, except the thought of being on top of something else was much more enticing at that moment.

Paul flashed a lopsided grin and pushed back his hair. He was so close… only a few inches separated them. Her breath escaped in sharp gasps as he inched closer. His ripped torso beckoned. Her fingers twitched, longing to trace the outline of those muscles, all the way down his smooth, tanned abdomen and then slipping into his—

“Not bad, rookie.”

“Ex
cuse
me?”

“You heard me.”

“Why? Because I don’t do aerials?”

“No.” He pointed to her ankle strap. “Because you need a leash.”

She sputtered a response, but he was already paddling back to shore.

“Don’t worry. I won’t out you to
Disruption
.”

“
HERE, TASTE THIS.” TINA
thrust the wineglass at Avery.

She swirled around the deep, ruby-red liquid. “What are we drinking tonight?”

“A 2002 Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow, with a compelling scent of anise and red cherries.”

Avery giggled and took a long sip. “God, that’s so amazing. I love your job. You always keep us nice and hydrated.”

“I’ve actually got to head back in a couple of weeks for a restaurant opening. Oh, and I’m scheduled to review Baume, that new French place on California. Want to come with?”

“Absolutely. I love being your date for restaurant reviews, although my clothes always suffer the aftereffects of the ten-course-slash-calorie meals. I don’t know how you do it and manage to squeeze your ass into those size fours.”

“I exercise like crazy, lady. Every minute not spent eating or drinking is on the treadmill.”

Avery rubbed the back of her neck. Unfortunately, the self-administered massage did little to relieve the pain. “Mmm… ouch, I think I’ve got a crick.”

“Maybe it’s from the weight of those earrings.”

“Smart ass. It’s not the earrings, thank you. I think I pulled something while I was surfing this morning. I also, ah, ran into Emerson
again
.”

“Get outta here! Third time’s the charm, huh? I want all the juicy details. Did you wind up bottomless this time?”

A throw pillow flew at Tina’s head as she topped off the glasses. “Jeez! You don’t have to attack me for asking.”

“Bitch.” Avery snickered and recounted the events of their early-morning tryst.

“Wow, so he didn’t make a move on you at all?”

“Nope. We just sat there, shivering in silence. It was oddly comforting. Then we surfed.” So what if she’d wanted to do more on her board than just catch a good wave?

“No touching, no smooching,
nothing
?”

Ahh, regrettably no
.
The tension between them had been palpable, but once they’d returned to shore, reality swooped in, and they’d parted ways. “Strictly G-rated stuff.” Well, almost, anyway. Maybe more like PG-13.

“Crazy. Doesn’t sound like the womanizing asshole you doctored up in your book. I guess he’s not such a monster after all.”

“It’s just a story. But he’s still an arrogant jerk.” One she was having a very difficult time forgetting. That sexy smirk.
Holy hell.
Could she really be charmed that easily, to forget everything she detested about him? Um, yeah, all evidence certainly pointed to the affirmative, right down to the quivering in her belly at the mere thought of his god-like physique.

“Ave, I love you to death, but you’re not the most forgiving. He might not be the jerkoff you’ve built up in your twisted little mind. Ever consider that?”

“No.”
Liar!

“Maybe you judged too quickly.”

“Next you’re going to tell me I have unreasonably high expectations of people.”

“You have unreasonably high expectations of people. You’d be much happier if you let everyone continually disappoint you.”

“I think I’ve had more than my fill of that.”

“Speaking of filling, have some more of this scrumptious cab. It’ll make you feel so much better. Now, if you’re finished dishing the very boring details of your little run-in, let’s talk about something fun, like when I get to meet Ally Maxwell. I’d better be your plus one for that red carpet indie music event.” Tina flashed a toothy grin. “
Please?
”

“How could I possibly leave you behind?”

“Woo-hoo! When do we get fitted for our gowns? Which designers can we wear? Do we get shoes and jewelry too? Oh my God, I can’t
wait
!”

“I’ll have my stylist contact you with the details.” Avery winked and took a long gulp of wine. “By the way, don’t schedule any reviews for two weeks before the event. Otherwise, we’ll be wearing burlap sacks instead of Valentino.”

“
HOW’S MCMILLEN TREATING YOU
these days?” Paul swung his arms back.
Crack!
The ball exploded down the lush, manicured fairway at the exclusive Stanford Golf Course.

Chris grabbed his ball. “We have a huge budget for staff, marketing, and technology. McMillen’s got pretty deep pockets, and they love what we’ve done with their digital footprint. You were smart to keep a stake, Paul. LazerShark is going to have a very profitable IPO in the near future. And Jay and I have the best of both worlds, fully funded autonomy.”

James sent his ball torpedoing toward the green and winked at Paul. “I’m not choking today.”

“I should hope not, Callahan. It’s about time you took some lessons to perfect that swing.” Paul picked up his bag and nodded at A.J. Morgan, his lawyer and trusted business partner. “Maybe you should sign up for some.”

A.J. stepped into a sand trap to free his ball. “Fuck off. Let’s take this little rivalry onto the tennis court, and we’ll see who needs a few lessons.”

“Okay, guys, you’ve got my attention. What’s your big idea?” Paul tapped the ball with his putter, sending it meandering toward the cup. It skirted around the lip and rolled backward. “Dammit!” He pointed the club at Chris. “Don’t mess up my shot, Camden.”

“Jay and I want to expand out of LazerShark, especially since we don’t own controlling interest anymore. We’re heavy into the gaming market, but we’ve uncovered another opportunity.” Chris chipped his ball onto the green so it landed directly in front of Paul’s.

A.J. snickered. “Who needs the help now?”

Paul carefully sidestepped Chris’s ball and sank his putt. “The dream team is finally back in action. Let’s hear it.”

James grabbed a putter from his bag. “There’s a huge market for tracking athlete performance. Biometric sensors are embedded in equipment and clothing, and coaches use the data to help them attack the competition. But there’s a gap nobody’s addressed yet. Taking the sensors a step further to measure external conditions like weather data, ground condition, altitude, air pressure. If we can combine that with player-performance measurements, it would position us to market it to a huge subscriber audience. What do you think?”

“Interesting.”

Chris grinned. “If we can pull together the data and make it available in a user-friendly format, we’ll make a fortune. We could leverage our LazerShark relationships and partner with athletic leagues, arenas, and stadiums. It’s a brand-new, untapped market with huge profit potential.”

“Who builds the sensors?”

“We’d have to find the right engineers to design them according to our specs.”

Paul raised an eyebrow at Chris. “What does your fiancée think?”

“She thinks it has promise. Come on, we want you guys onboard. You always said we needed to focus on the next big thing. Well, here it is. SportSensor.”

A.J. tapped his ball into the cup. “Lots of possibilities. Sounds like a winner, guys.”

“See if you can pull some numbers together, and we’ll regroup. I’ll have Alison schedule a meeting.”

“Great.” Chris pointed to Coupa Café. “Drink time. We’ve done enough work today. Hurry up and sink your putts.”

James rolled his eyes. “Dude, you’re crushing my momentum.”

Paul clapped James on the back. “Trust me, you want to end on a high note. You had one good day. Stick with basketball.”

“Christ, no caddies, no carts.” Chris grumbled as he hoisted the clubs onto his shoulder. “What the hell is up with that?”

“You opposed to a little exercise?”

“No, I’m opposed to getting a hernia before my wedding.”

“Yeah, there’s a condition that doesn’t exactly scream romance.” Paul set his bag down at an empty table on the patio. “What are you guys having?”

“Corona,” Chris grunted. “
Two
for me.”

He approached the bar and winked at the pretty, young bartender. “Five Coronas, please.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Emerson.” She flashed a winning smile before sauntering away with a swing of her slim hips.

Two missed calls and a text from Mia. What was so urgent? There were no critical meetings on the calendar. A.J. was with him so nothing should be up on the legal front.

There was another person whose calls he’d been avoiding. Evan had left no less than ten messages since that night at Wellington’s. Jesus, would he ever be able to face the past? How the hell was he supposed to help kids in the program deal with their issues if he couldn’t figure out how to resolve his own? But admitting he needed help? Fuck, no. He’d never let himself be that vulnerable. Ever again.

He was not okay, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise. The nightmares were a very clear indication of his fractured mental and emotional state. It was said that one’s mind could never recreate the exact feeling of pain, but the vividness of those memories, of being burned and beaten… He remembered it all too well. He didn’t need to resurrect any of that shit. Not acknowledging the past made it less real. It was his best shot at an escape.

The bartender placed five ice-cold bottles on the bar. Paul nodded at Chris. “Think you can handle a short walk to the bar?”

“I think I’ve recovered.” Chris took four of the Coronas with a flourish. “Much appreciated, Emerson.”

“Guys, I’ll be back in a second. I have to make a call. Mia’s been trying to get in touch, and I want to make sure everything’s okay at the office.” He dialed her number as he walked toward the back of the café.

“What took you so long to call me back?”

“Your fiancé needed to be carried off the course, so I couldn’t get to the phone.”

“Oh my God, don’t tell me—”

“Relax, I’m kidding. He’s fine, just a little winded from the walking.” Paul took a quick swig from the bottle. “What the hell is so urgent?”

“Alison said someone named Rochelle Harrison called three times this afternoon. Wouldn’t say what she wanted. Tried to find out where you were, but the third time, Alison transferred her to me. It was really weird. She said something about a monster, and how she needed to find you before
it
did. Who the hell is she, and what does she want with you?”

“We did some work together a while back.” That was the understatement of the century. Fucking sociopath. Why wasn’t she in London?

“That’s all?
Work?
”

“What do you want me to say? Yeah, there was more to it than that, but I haven’t seen or heard from her in a long time. Last I heard, she moved out of the country.”

“Something’s up. Why would she be so desperate to get in touch with you?”

Because she was a fucking lunatic who couldn’t be trusted under any circumstances. “I have no idea.”

“Fine, be evasive. Just be aware she’s back and on a quest to find you.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep an eye out.”

“You’d better. It sounds like
Fatal Attraction
.”

“You’re too young to know that reference.”

“I have an older brother, and
all
guys know about that movie. You’d better watch your back.”