Thrill Me (Fool's Gold #18)(61)

“We could ask you the same question,” Eddie said. “You’re young. You should be home having wild sex with Del.”

Gladys sighed. “I’ll bet he’s hung like a—”

Maya instinctively covered her ears. “Stop,” she pleaded. “I’ve been working around the clock for a week. I’m in a weakened condition. I plead for mercy.”

Eddie and Gladys looked at each other, then back at her.

“Just this once,” Eddie said. “But we want something in return.”

Oh, no. Were they going to ask for a picture of Del’s butt? Because she wasn’t sure she could get them that. And even if she could, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. While she was a big believer in freedom of speech, she didn’t think the founding fathers had the naked butt of the man she loved in mind when they’d penned that amendment.

“We want to talk to you about our show,” Gladys told her.

Eddie nodded. “It’s not what we want it to be. Not the content. That’s perfect. It’s the production value. We’d like it to be higher.”

Maya’s sleep-deprived brain scrambled to keep up. “Did you search online to find that phrase?” she asked.

The two old ladies nodded. “We did and we think people would enjoy our show more if it looked better. We want help.”

“Now?” she asked weakly, pretty sure she was beyond rallying.

“No. We want you at your best.” Eddie smiled. “We want you to hold a class. Like Sam Ridge did to help small businesses with their finances. It wasn’t that interesting a topic, but the man does know how to fill out a suit.” She sighed, then looked at Maya. “We want a class about how to film our show. You can teach us about lights and camera positions and how to pan.”

“Like in the movies,” Gladys added.

Maya wasn’t sure if she meant she wanted the show to look as if it were shot like a movie or that she wanted to make the movements they do in movies when they’re pretending to film a show. Then she decided it didn’t matter.

“You’re on,” she told them. “Although one of you will have to remind me of this conversation. I’m pretty sure it’s all going to be a blur.”

“We will,” Gladys promised, then winked at her friend. “This means Del is also in a weakened condition. Think we could sneak into his place and have our way with him?”

Maya gave a strangled laugh and decided at that moment, her emails could wait. Anything she sent out tonight—or this morning, seeing as it was well after midnight—wouldn’t make sense, anyway.

“I love you both,” she told them with a yawn. “If you can catch him, go for it. He’s totally hot.” She hugged the old women. “The class will be fun. I promise.”

“We’ll hold you to that,” Eddie told her, then touched her cheek. “All right, young lady. You go get some sleep.”

“I will. Thanks.” She started for the door, then turned back. “About Del...”

Gladys waved her hand. “Not to worry. We’re only teasing about him. He’s like a son to us. Which is very sad, but there we are.”

Eddie nodded. “Don’t tell anyone, but we’re a lot more talk than action.”

A relief, Maya thought. She waved. “Your secret is safe with me.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TWO DAYS AFTER the commercial shoot wrapped, Del and Maya were ready to get back to their town project. He watched her add segments together, then compare the finished product to a previous version.

“It works better the other way,” he told her. “With Priscilla and Reno in the middle. Ending with an elephant and a pony is fun, but the tone is off. To quote you, you’re not asking for the sale.”

“The call to action,” she said, her attention on the screen.

“Yeah. That. It’s missing.”

She wrinkled her nose. “It’s annoying when you’re right.”

He leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know. I kind of like it.”

“You would.” She sighed, then glanced to the screen in front of him. “Can you play them for me, back to back?”

He used the mouse to start the first video, then followed it with the second. Partway through, Maya stood and leaned over him. To get a better look, he told himself. Not to be closer to him, although that was a happy by-product.

She was still tired. He could tell by the way she carried herself. But she was getting caught up on rest. Her feistiness had returned. Their week of work had been as long and hard as she had promised, but still interesting as hell. He’d learned a ton, most of which he could apply to his new project. He would do a better job this time around. Not as good as Maya, but better than he’d been doing.

“Priscilla in the middle,” Maya said. “You’re right.” She returned to her seat and made a few notes. “I should have seen that.”

“You can’t be right about everything.”

“Why not?”

He chuckled. “Because I said so.”

“Well, then. It must be true.” She smiled at him. “That was a good time.”

He knew she was referring to the commercial shoot. “Yeah. Imagine what it must be like to have a crew like that all the time.”