Meredith shouldn’t have been smiling so big, but anticipation for tonight rushed through her. Private party. Would she get time alone with Cruz? She shouldn’t be so gone over him when she knew they had almost no chance of ending up together. Too bad she had no clue how to tell her heart to shut off feelings for him that had started many years ago and only grown since then.
Chapter Two
Cruz sauntered around the yard, saying hello to old friends. Grams stood up next to one of the picnic tables and hollered, “Get on over here and hug your favorite woman.”
Laughing, he hurried across the grass and enfolded his small grandmother in his arms. His mom had never had a kind word for him but his grams had tried to make up the difference. She stared up at him. “If you aren’t the most handsome and perfect man on the planet I don’t know who is.”
He bent low and kissed her soft cheek. “Only to you, Grams, only to you.”
“Well, just shows I’m smarter than everybody else.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She released him from the hug, winked, and gave him a look that was almost unnerving. She had insight other people didn’t. “I’ve got some things to discuss with you, my boy.”
“Right now?” His eyebrows arched up. He loved to talk to Grams anytime but he needed to try to give each person here a minute of his time.
She waved a hand. “No, I won’t interrupt the star of the party with an old woman’s musings. But you’ll come for a chat before you ditch town again?”
“For sure.”
“Go on with you then.” She waved a hand an sank into the chair, turning to none other than Meredith’s Granny.
Cruz took the hand Granny Francis offered. “Nice to see you.”
“You too,” she said. Her dark skin weathered and still beautiful. Her dark eyes had him thinking of Meredith. “Your grams is so proud. All of us are.”
“Thank you.”
She released him and he waved his goodbyes. He kept making the rounds and walked past the barbecue grill, stopping to inhale the rich scent of steak cooking and clap his dad on the back. “Smells good, Pops, but where’s the fish?” His dad fished almost every day, mostly catch and release, but they ate a lot of trout, bass, and sometimes bluegill.
“Cat chose steak for her famous brother tonight. Apparently, you’ve gotten hoity-toity on us.”
Cruz laughed. His dad looked good, happier than Cruz had seen him in years. Cruz’s harpy of a mother had shown up back in the valley last week after cheating on and deserting their dad six years ago. She’d pulled a gun on Cat to try to steal money and was now in the hospital recovering from a rib puncturing her lung. Luckily, Cat’s new boyfriend, Stetson, had taken her down, and she’d go to prison soon. Good riddance in Cruz’s mind. His mom had been meaner to him than to anyone else. She was a snarky, selfish brat, and he had little respect for her. Some therapist would say he had mommy issues, and that’s why he never settled down with one woman. It was probably true. He worked every day to keep his mom’s voice out of his head, but he thought his issues were more about pining for Meredith.
Think of the angel, and she walks into the backyard. Meredith was as unpresumptuous as any woman he’d ever met, despite her superior beauty, brains, and talent. She met his gaze, and he could swear her large, dark eyes sparkled as her mouth softened in a smile. Could she truly be interested in him? He’d never felt worthy of her before, but he was a renowned success now, practically his own brand name. Maybe at thirty he’d get brave enough to make his move. Would she finally see him as something other than the class clown or a lame high school show-off who wasn’t going to amount to anything? Dang, there went his mom’s voice ringing throughout his brain again.
As she took a step toward him, he murmured, “Excuse me, Dad,” intent on spending as much time as possible with Meredith tonight. He was only here for a couple of weeks, and then it was on to Flathead Lake Wakeboard Academy for a couple of weeks to teach tricks and do some videos in that beautiful spot. He wanted to enjoy every moment with Meredith he could. The chances of anything happening between them might be low, but he took risky chances every day.
One of his cameramen, Josh, stepped in front of Meredith. Cruz halted in surprise halfway across the yard to her. What did Josh think he was doing? Meredith was his girl. He rolled his eyes at himself. Meredith wasn’t his anything, and she never had been. However, he was hoping to finally get a shot at his dream woman. He’d always assumed she’d leave the valley, and after law school at Harvard, she’d go run for office, be CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or take Hollywood by storm. Instead, she’d stayed right here, almost as if she were waiting for him. He felt like it was their time. As her throaty laughter carried across the yard to him—laughter at something Josh said, not him—he doubted he would ever get a time with Meredith.
He couldn’t stop himself from acting like an enraged peacock and strutting over to the two of them. Josh kept on talking, not seeing him approach, but Meredith’s eyes widened as if she could sense he was not happy with her flirting with his cameraman. Josh was a player to the tenth degree, and Cruz wanted the man far away from Meredith. She looked incredible in a beige summery dress that revealed her smooth, brown shoulders and arms and a decent glimpse of those incredible legs of hers. He wanted to throw a blanket over her as he caught the leer in Josh’s eyes.
Clapping a hand on the guy’s shoulder, he said, “Thanks for keeping my girl company.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they were far too possessive, and Meredith wasn’t as receptive to them as he’d hoped. Dang it.
“Your girl?” Josh’s eyebrows raised. “I didn’t see it tattooed on her forehead.”
Cruz’s own eyebrows shot up. Josh was his most recent employee, and they weren’t close like the rest of the crew, but he’d never had any problems with him before. Josh had asked a few times to work with him on different tricks. He thought Cruz could supplement his videos with both of them flipping tricks at the same time behind the boat, only asking he tag Josh’s social media accounts. They’d tried many times, but the problem was that Josh could execute only simpler flips with no flair and no style, and quite often he crashed. That was a pain for the film crew and disappointing for the fans who always showed up. Finally, a few weeks ago, Cruz had explained that his sponsors expected him to do his tricks alone, but he encouraged him to keep working. He wanted to explain to the guy that he’d worked for fourteen years to be at the level he was at. Maybe he hadn’t been diplomatic enough.
“Cruz and I are only friends,” Meredith asserted before he could say anything. There was a challenge in her eyes. He wasn’t certain how she wanted him to rise to it, but he was more than ready for his time and opportunity with Meredith. He wasn’t going to back down to Josh.
“Best friends,” Cruz said, folding his arms across his chest and squaring off with the two of them.
Meredith’s gaze traveled over his chest and bulging biceps. Cruz was certain she was at least attracted to him. She’d definitely done her share of staring at his chest this afternoon. Maybe she was ready to take their friendship to the next level.