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When we arrived at the house the sky was uncharacteristically dark, but the place looked just as warm and inviting as yesterday. I noticed it incorporated seamless indoor and outdoor spaces, including atriums and open-air walkways complete with interior cacti and rock gardens. Flagstone paths connected different parts of the house, whose wood surfaces were warm and polished.
Greeting us at the door was Gage, the spiky blond eye-candy I’d devoured yesterday, and another equally good-looking man I didn’t recognize. He had short, dark hair and a strong, masculine jaw covered in light brown stubble. But his smile…
It was his smile that made my stomach do a sexy somersault.
“This is Maverick,” Devyn nodded in the direction of his friend. “He might just be the brains of our operation.”
At that, Gage laughed merrily. “Him?”
“Well it sure isn’t you,” Devyn shot back.
“Hell no,” Gage agreed, “butthisguy can’t be the brains.”
Looking his friend up and down, Gage ran one hand through his ocean of spiked hair, which didn’t move an inch.
“Maverick it’s not your flying, it’s your attitude,” he spat, poking his friend in the chest. “The enemy’s dangerous, but right now you’re worse. Dangerousandfoolish.”
Devyn and Gage spun inside, leaving me alone with the newcomer. He finished greeting me with a handshake, while rolling his eyes at his friends.
“What’s that all about?” I chuckled.
“It’s a quote from the movie Top Gun,” he sighed. “I’m Maverick. Get it?”
“Yeah, I get it,” I smiled back. “And hey, with all that spiked blond hair Gagedoeslook like Iceman.”
“It’s annoying,” Maverick apologized. “All these years and they still never let up.”
I looked him up and down, from his well-sculpted chest to his gorgeous hazel eyes. Eventually I flicked the pair of mirrored sunglasses that hung from his neck.
“Well these aviators probably don’t help,” I smiled.
Maverick shrugged. “I’m an aviator.”
“Yeah,” I laughed, “that’s probably not helping either.”
I followed him inside, past the kitchen I already knew and through an archway into the back part of the house. The hallway opened into a sprawling living area, complete with state-of-the-art entertainment system, sleek flat-panel televisions, and a breathtaking, fully-stocked bar. Somehow it all blended into the same desert architecture, despite all the bells and whistles.
“You shoot pool?” Gage asked, handing me a cue stick.
“8-ball maybe.”
“Good,” he nodded approvingly. “You’re on my team, then.”
He guided me through another arch, where a red felt pool table dominated another giant space. There were arcade games here too; everything from foosball to pinball machines, and a few upright consoles that lined the walls. Most of them I didn’t recognize, but I eventually picked out a Ms. Pac-Man cabinet similar to the one I’d dominated for a few years, back in high school.
“Whoareyou guys?” I laughed, as the others chalked up. “I mean, this place is like Neverland for twenty-something alpha males. All it needs is a basketball court, and maybe a hot tub.”
“The hot tub’s out back,” Maverick smiled. “And the basketball court goes in next week.”
I couldn’t tell if he was kidding about one or the other. Maybe both.
“It had to be expensive as hell,” I noted, “dragging all this stuff out into the middle of the Arizona desert.”
Devyn racked the balls, using his fingertips to make them tight before lifting the triangle away. He didn’t answer one way or the other.
“So what do you guysdo,anyway?”
I watched silently as Gage leaned out over the pool table, his thick, corded arms stretching the limits of his plain white T-shirt. There was a definite swagger in the way he held himself. A confident, borderline cockiness that stayed just on the right side of charming.
