Thrill Me (Fool's Gold #18)(54)

She waved off the comment. “No way. I’m happy to help. I’ll need to go through what you have. It’s going to take a while, but I’d love to do whatever I can to make the material how you want it to be.”

He was still touching the DVDs. “No one’s seen these,” he told her. “No one. I wanted you to know that.”

Maya appreciated the information, even though she wasn’t sure what to do with it. Del was trusting her with something important to him. That made her feel all quivery inside. Of course, it didn’t take much to get herself worked up when it came to him.

For a second she wished things had been different. Back when they’d both been younger. But she’d been too scared, and there was no way he could have understood what was in her head. Wrong place, wrong time, she thought. But right guy. Funny how it had taken her ten years to figure out he was the one. Funny and maybe a little sad. Because he was leaving and she was staying. Even more significant, he hadn’t hinted he had any strong feelings for her beyond friendship and sexual attraction.

“I will take good care of your footage,” she promised. “Let me copy it onto my computer so I can work on it.” She wrinkled her nose. “And I won’t keep a copy of it lying around. Eddie or Gladys will find it for sure, and God knows what they’ll do with it.”

“You’re still pissed about the kiss?”

“Not pissed, exactly.”

“Then what?”

“It went viral. That’s strange.”

He dropped his arms to his side and winked at her. “I’m a good kisser.”

“Oh, please. You think you’re the reason the video went viral? What about me?”

“Riding my coattails.”

She put her hands on her hips. “In your dreams, mister. You’re lucky I kissed you at all.”

“Am I?”

“You are.”

She waited for the humorous comeback. Instead, Del circled the desk, put his hands on her waist and drew her against him.

“Maybe we should just see about that,” he murmured right before his mouth claimed hers.

On a purely intellectual basis, she didn’t think it was a good idea to kiss in the office. People could walk in, it was disrespectful to the workplace. There were other reasons, Maya was sure, but wow, was it hard to think of them. Or be the least bit indignant. Not when his skin was so warm and his lips were so tempting.

She parted her lips without even thinking about it. He swept his tongue inside. They tangled and teased. She thought about shifting closer, about pressing her body against his. She thought about the desk and how the height seemed just so perfect for what would naturally happen next.

She put her hands on his shoulders, then slid her palms up and down his arms. More warmth, she thought dreamily. Muscles and man all for the taking.

Desire burned hot and bright deep inside of her. It radiated out, spiraling through her with every stroke of his tongue. When he moved his hands from her waist to her rear, she knew she was lost. Totally and completely lost. On the heels of that admission came the thought that she had no idea where they might find a condom.

He squeezed the curves of her butt. She arched against him and her belly pressed against his erection. The proof of his arousal made her shudder. Del had always been her greatest weakness, she thought. The man thrilled her.

He moved his hands up her sides, toward her breasts. Anticipation hummed through her. Somewhere in the distance her phone chirped insistently.

She ignored the noise, only to realize that it wasn’t any of her normal ringtones. Nor was it her text notification sound. A second chirping joined the first. She drew back.

“What is that?” Del asked.

Without him kissing her, she could think. “The emergency notification system,” she said as she lunged for her cell. “We have a message.”

“The what?”

Maya ignored the question and grabbed her phone. The message flashed.

Missing child. Report to the HERO offices asap.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she headed for her office to grab her bag. “Mayor Marsha made us both sign up for emergency notifications, remember? We’re volunteer searchers.”

Del looked at his phone. “A kid? Where do we go?”

“It’s not far.”

* * *

THE HELP EMERGENCY Response Operations or HERO offices were as close as Maya promised. Del and Maya arrived along with several other people. They parked at the far end of the lot, then hurried toward the main building.

Inside they found what could have passed for a war room. There were large computer screens showing different parts of the area surrounding the town along with huge maps on the wall. Kipling Gilmore, a tall, blond-haired man, stood in the center of the activity. He was calm and obviously in charge.

“We have a missing girl,” he was saying. “Shep?”

A muscled man with dark red hair and piercing green eyes stood next to Kipling. Jesse Shepard, Del thought, remembering meeting him at The Man Cave a week or so ago. He had joined the search-and-rescue program less than a month ago.

Shep read from a tablet. “Alyssa Paige, age eleven.” He gave them her height and weight. “She and her family were out for a picnic, so she’s not dressed to be out for the night, people. She also doesn’t have food or water with her and she has limited wilderness experience.”