“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” he asked out of concern.
“Just a little,” she told him although it wasn’t true. What was she supposed to say? No, you’re not hurting me. I only moaned because having your hands touch my thighs feels good. Heck no, she couldn’t say that!
“I guess I can be heavy-handed sometimes.”
“Nope, your hands are perfect,” she said breathlessly. Wait. No. What did she just say? She hoped it hadn’t sounded as seductive out loud as it had in her mind, but a quick glance at Malik proved that it had.
He studied her face for a moment, the only sound between them being the pounding of the rain that was beginning to fall heavier than before.
“You can’t say things like that,” Malik said as he got back on the road.
“Like what?” Mya asked, pretending not to know what he was referring to.
“You know what,” he said, keeping his eyes focused ahead.
“If I knew then I wouldn’t be asking,” she said, shrugging. Malik shook his head.
“I’ll let you get away with playing this game for now, but in the future, I’m making you own up.”
She hid another smile. We’ll see about that. “Own up to what?” she asked innocently. Malik slightly turned his head in her direction when something on the road caught his attention.
“Oh crap,” he said as he swerved the SUV around a deer that had dashed across the highway. Mya braced her hands on the dashboard as Malik struggled to regain control of the car.
“Watch out for that other one,” Mya yelled when she noticed a smaller deer. The wet roads had her feeling as if they were a puck gliding across an ice rink rather than a car on the highway.
“Brace yourself,” Malik said when the car began sliding down a grassy hill. One of Malik’s hands was on the wheel while the other was secured across her midsection making sure she didn’t get too close to the front window.
Sliding down the hill in the dark seeing nothing but tall grass in the headlights was enough to make her vomit if she hadn’t been too busy screaming.
She once heard someone say that their life really had flashed before their eyes when they were in an unfortunate situation. Well, it wasn’t exactly her life that was flashing before her, but rather everything she still wanted to accomplish in life before her time came. And out of all the things floating through her mind, the thought of dying before having another chance to kiss Malik by far had to be the craziest thing ever.
Once they cleared the tall grass, the car came to a complete stop, jerking both of their bodies forward when it did.
“Are you okay?” Malik asked as he quickly unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over to her.
“I think so. Do the car lights work?” she asked. She was relieved to find them working when he turned on the interior light but less than thrilled to touch her knee and see blood.
“You’re not fine,” Malik said as he went in the glove compartment for an alcohol pack and bandage before he reached down to the floor of the backseat and grabbed a water bottle and paper towel. He poured some water on the paper towel and opened the alcohol pack.
“This is going to sting a little,” he said softly. Mya was too busy being impressed by the way he was taking immediate care of her to even care that the cut would sting.
“Hssst,” she hissed when he touched the cut with the packet. He cleaned up her scratch and then replaced the packet with the refreshing paper towel.
“That should ease the sting.”
“It does.”
When he moved the paper towel away, he bent over and blew on her cut and placed the bandage on carefully.
“You’re really careful with your hands,” she said. “You’ve done this before.”
“Once or twice,” he said cleaning up the area around her cut. “I worked in the FBI for over eight years before I decided to go into business for myself. Scratches and bruises were a thing of the norm on duty.”
“Do you ever miss it?” she asked.
“Sometimes I do,” Malik said with a lopsided grin. “But the FBI is nothing like what you see on TV or read in books. Like any job, there are company politics involved and I realized that I’d be more useful if I went into business for myself and used my profiling and investigation skills to help others.”
She gave him a soft smile. Another check mark in Malik’s favor, she thought. The list of cons to dating Malik were becoming slimmer by the second.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked as he began observing her body.
“No, I’m fine, what about you?”
“I may have a couple bruises, but doesn’t feel like anything serious.” He pressed the buttons on his GPS. “Looks like the GPS on the car doesn’t work so I’ll have to check my phone to see if we’re near anything.”
Mya nodded her head as she picked up her phone and began scrolling through her apps.
“I’m not getting a signal,” Malik said.
“Neither am I.” Mya was trying not to panic, but under the current circumstances, she felt like she was allowed to be a little unnerved.
“So, what do we do now?”
“I think I have a map in here,” Malik said as he opened the glove compartment. “Here it is.”
He began scanning the map. “Here is the last marker I remember seeing,” he said as he pointed to a place on the map.
“Um, looks like you’re pointing to nothing.”
Malik gave her a sideways glance. “When was the last time you looked at a map?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Why do I need a map when almost every phone and new car has a navigational system installed.”
Malik shook his head and laughed. “Maybe so in situations like this, you’ll always know where you are.”
“I do know where we are,” Mya responded. “We’re somewhere on the outskirts of Illinois or Wisconsin.”
“That’s sad,” Malik said as he continued to scan the map. “If I weren’t here, you wouldn’t know which direction to go.”
“No, if you weren’t here I wouldn’t have been out this late in the first place.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t have fun today.”
“Well, don’t act like I drove the car down a hill because that was definitely you.”
Malik looked up from the map. “Did you miss those two deer who went on the road and the heavy rain that’s still falling now?”
Mya was about to say something else when Malik interrupted her. “Check this out,” he said as he pointed to a place on the map. “Looks like we’re right near the grounds of Riviera Ranch Resort and Conference Center.”
“I heard that place is gorgeous, but I’ve never checked it out.”
“No time like the present,” Malik said as he unlocked his door.
“Ahh, what are you doing?” Mya asked when he touched the door handle.
Malik pointed towards the direction of the field they’d just driven through against their will. “According to this map, if we go up the hill slightly and make a left, there should be a path that will take us directly to the main Riviera Ranch Resort building.”
Mya glanced around into the darkness. “I’m not going out into a field at night because of that little spot on the map.”
Malik lifted an eyebrow at her. “Unless you want to stay in this car overnight, we have to go somewhere to at least get phone service. No one knows we’re out here.”
“That’s not true,” Mya replied. “Lex and Micah know we had to go to the bakery today.”
“Did they know you and I were going together?” Malik asked.
“I told Lex you were coming with me.”
“And I told Micah the same thing, so what makes you think they wouldn’t just assume we decided not to come back to Chicago until tomo
rrow.”
“Come on,” Mya said. “They wouldn’t assume...” Her words trailed off as she thought about her friends who were probably all cozied up with their significant others.
“You’re right, we’re screwed if we stay here.”
Malik laughed. “That’s the most agreeable you’ve been with me since we met.”
“Not true.”
“Yes it is.”
“No it’s not.”
“Mya,” Malik said as he reached for the door handle again.
“Sorry,” she replied as she slipped her sandals back on. “I think the accident has me a little jumpy.”
“I know,” Malik said with a warm smile. “I’ll get the large umbrella out of the trunk and we’ll begin making our way in the direction of the ranch.”
As Malik got out of the car to retrieve the umbrella, Mya took a moment to lean her head against the headrest. It was hard enough to spend the entire day with Malik and keep her hormones in check, let alone spend the entire night with him as well. They needed to find shelter and fast because there was no way she was spending the night cooped up in the fields with a man who was testing her ability to keep her hands to herself.
* * *
Just focus on walking straight ahead, Malik thought as they followed a path that he hoped would take them to Riviera Ranch and Resort.
He tried to concentrate on protecting Mya. But when she jumped closer to him with every sound she heard, it became more difficult to keep his hands on the stem of the umbrella rather than pull her to him.
“What’s that?” she asked as she clutched his arm tighter.
“It’s probably just a farm animal of some sort. I think we’re close to the main resort building.”
It was hard to see past all the tall grass, but Malik knew that a path this well kept meant they were close to some type of civilization. He still couldn’t believe that he’d lost control of the car, but the most important thing was that they were both okay and he’d managed to avoid hitting the deer. No doubt the accident could have been worse had that happened.
“What are you going to do about your car?” Mya asked.
“Once we get someplace safe, I’ll call my insurance company and let them know what happened. But the damage wasn’t too bad, so a tow truck should be able to pull it up the hill and back onto the road. ”
“Sounds good,” she said through chattered teeth.
“Are you cold?”
“Only because of the rain. This sweater I brought is a little thin for this weather.”
“Here you go,” Malik said taking off his jacket. “This should help and it’s water resistant.”
“Thank you,” Mya said uncurling her arm from his to put on the jacket.
“Man,” Malik said when she zipped it closed. “It swallows you.” His jacket fell at her knees and was actually a little longer than her dress.
“I love that it swallows me,” she said with a smile. “Less places for water to touch me, especially since we don’t know how much further we have to walk.”
“Not that much further,” Malik said as a large well-lit building came into view. “Check that out over there.” He pointed in the direction of the building.
“Thank goodness,” Mya said linking her arm back in his. “Good decision, Malik. You were right.”
Malik stopped walking forcing Mya to stop as well. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
She turned an eyebrow up at him. “I’m not repeating it, so you might as well just soak in that moment.”
“You don’t have to say it again,” he said as they continued walking. “You said I was right. Did you hear that, people?” he shouted. “Mya Winters admitted that I, Malik Madden, was right.”
“Oh my God did you really have to scream that out loud. We don’t know what’s out here.”
“Rare moments cause for rare behavior,” he said just as they were approaching the building.
“Whatever,” she said with a laugh. “I never thought I’d be so excited to see a building in my entire life. I thought we were going to have to sleep in the car.”
“Me too,” Malik said as he opened the door to the Riviera Ranch Resort and Conference Center. “I had already planned a pep talk to make you feel as if we were just camping in a car rather than stuck out in a field.”
“That would have been sweet of you.” Mya grinned up at him as she went through the door. “But I still would have been scared.”
He returned her grin before soaking in the lodge like atmosphere of the lobby. “This place is nice,” he said as he glanced around for an attendant since no one was at the front desk.
“This ranch has been in the Riviera family for years and now, it’s owned by Alvero Riviera II. Although it’s also a convention center, it has a really intimate feel...nothing like it in the area. This place is known for it’s rustic elegance and decor with Cuban flare. Hundreds of events take place here year-round no matter what the season and any time we try to plan events here, we know we have to book at least six months to a year or more in advance. Imani and Cyd have been here quite a few times, but every time we have an event here, I’m too busy planning another event the same day.”
“I can see why people love this place,” Malik said as he observed the craftsmanship of the furniture. “I wonder if these are all customized furniture pieces or if they are store-bought. Something tells me this is the type of place that gets customized pieces.”
“You’re right about that,” said a gentleman who Malik and Mya hadn’t heard approach them from behind. “Every piece of furniture in our main lobby is customized.”
Malik and Mya turned to greet the man that appeared. “I’m Alvero Riviera III, but everyone calls me Vero. Welcome to our family ranch resort and convention center.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Vero,” Malik said, accepting his handshake. “I’m Malik Madden and this is my friend Mya Winters. Our car went off the road about a mile away and we were hoping you still had rooms available.”
“You’re in luck,” Vero said as he walked over to the front desk. “There are a few guests on the grounds tonight who came early for a conference, and tomorrow other guests will start to arrive midmorning or early afternoon. An hour before our desk clerk left, I believe she said we had at least three rooms still available. Let me see what I can do for you.”
“Thanks, Vero,” Mya said. “I’m one of the cofounders of Elite Events and I’ve heard great things about your ranch resort.”
“Oh, yes,” he said with excitement. “I’ve worked with Imani and Cydney before. So nice to meet another member of Elite Events.”
“Likewise,” Mya said with a smile as she shook his hand.
“Okay,” Vero said as he entered a few more keys into the keyboard. “Your room will be located on the third floor in the east wing.”
Malik glanced over at Mya before turning back to Vero. “Are both rooms on the third floor in the east wing?”
“Nope, just the one,” Vero said, punching in a few more keys. “Our desk clerk must have reserved the other two for guests before she went home for the night. There’s only one room, so you’ll have to share.”
Chapter 9
Share a room? Mya shook her head assuming she’d heard him incorrectly. “Did you just say we have to share a room?” she asked Vero.
“Yes, ma’am. We only have one room available tonight.”
Mya looked up at the ceiling and sighed. She wasn’t the type to put much faith into zodiac signs, but when she’d been standing in line at a café yesterday scrolling through her Facebook newsfeed, she had come across an article on horoscopes. The article had told her that this week she should expect the unexpected. Glancing over at Malik, she realized that ever since they had begun spending time together, expecting the
unexpected had seemed to be their norm.
“Oh, wait,” Vero said. “I read that wrong. We do have two rooms available, but they are connected. Would you like to reserve those two rooms instead?”
“Yes,” Mya answered almost immediately, which gained a laugh from Malik. “We’ll take those.”
“Excellent. The location is still on the third floor in the east wing.” They placed their credit cards on file and received their room keys from Vero.
“Here’s a map as well,” Vero said as he handed them each a packet. “Tomorrow morning, our complimentary hot breakfast is from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in the back of the lobby. My father and other family members greet the guests and answer any questions you may have about the history of the Riviera Ranch Resort and Conference Center during that time. We also have a few activities listed in the packet.”
“Thank you,” Malik said as he accepted the booklet. “Will there be someone in the lobby for me to talk to about my car? I’m calling my insurance company as well.”
“Yes, someone will definitely be able to help you. If no one can, they will call me and I can help.”
“I appreciate it,” Malik said before turning to Mya. “Ready to head to our rooms?” he asked.
“Sure am,” she responded as they bid Vero good-night. Even though she wasn’t sharing a room with Malik, she couldn’t help but think about what would have happened if they had been forced to share a room together. Neither one of them had an extra change of clothes, so she would have had to either sleep in her wet dress or sleep in her bra and panties. When they arrived to their rooms, she was glad she didn’t have to make that decision.
“Hope you sleep well,” Malik said standing in the hallway as he opened the door to his room.
“You too,” Mya said as she entered her room and shut the door. “Man, this was a long day,” she said to herself as she briefly admired the room on her way to the bathroom. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she cringed at the image staring back at her.
Beautiful Surrender Page 8
