C
HAPTER
T
WELVE
“Can you believe Lucia got sent home today?” Alice set a plate in front of Shannon. Since they came home exhausted most nights, one of them prepared a simple dinner, and the other two took care of the dishes. But today, they’d lost the third member of their team. “I thought I’d go before Lucia, for sure.”
Me too, Shannon thought.
“Both of us really.”
“Thanks.”
“No offense.”
“Sure.” Shannon took a bite of grilled chicken with mango salsa. Then, to change the subject, she said, “This is amazing. The salsa tastes so fresh.”
“Cilantro and lime juice, right before it’s served.”
“Yeah. I can taste it.”
“I just can’t believe it.”
And we’re back on Lucia.
Shannon kept chewing, knowing that if she stayed silent Alice would carry her share of the conversation as well.
“It just goes to show, this game is unpredictable. Anyone can have an off day, and that can cost you your whole future.”
“You sound like one of those television promos for the show.”
“Seriously. Here I am, in the top five now, and after that first day, I didn’t even know if I’d make it through the first couple of eliminations. And Lucia—I mean, she was the strongest of the three of us—the woman has ice in her veins. She just doesn’t get rattled. Like ever.”
“I get it.” Shannon stood, unable to stand the chatter any longer. She stacked her plate in the sink. “But she’s not here. And we are.” She headed for her bedroom. Without turning back, she said, “Just leave the dishes. I’ll do them later.”
She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it. She sighed and crossed to flop onto her bed, then rolled over and stared at the ceiling. She’d been short with Alice, but actually Alice wasn’t the source of her irritation. She’d apologize later. For now she turned her frustration inward. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and groaned. They’d left the set only two hours ago, and already Maya dominated her thoughts. Maya had been critical, distant, and downright grouchy all day. Still, Shannon wanted to see her, to find out what was bothering her, to offer her a shoulder. She wondered if she was in the gym yet. Knowing where to find her only made it harder to stay away.
Going downstairs tonight would be just another thing she shouldn’t have done today. She shouldn’t have followed Maya into the hallway on their break or asked about her well-being as if they were anything more than acquaintances. And she definitely shouldn’t have responded to Maya’s flirting—she hadn’t been overt, but she hadn’t shut her down when she should have either. Truthfully, a little part of her liked the attention, even though she knew how complicated and messy getting involved with Maya would be.
She picked up her book from the bedside table. After she’d read the same page three times, she flipped it shut in frustration.
She stood and paced the room, looking again at the clock. Barely ten minutes had passed since she last checked. She was in for a long night. Though her alarm would buzz very early, she had no hope of going to sleep this soon. Maybe if she went downstairs and fatigued herself with a good workout, she could get a little shut-eye later. Chuckling to herself, she stood and paced the room. She’d just talked herself into a good excuse to see Maya.
But it wasn’t a ploy if she actually did work out, was it? Grabbing hold of the weak logic, she stripped off her T-shirt and swapped her bra for a sports bra, then pulled her T-shirt back on. She tugged on a pair of yoga pants and laced up her cross-trainers.
By the time she’d finished dressing and returned to the living room, Alice had already cleaned the kitchen and was putting away the final plates.
“I told you to leave that.”
“It’s no problem.” She turned and looked Shannon up and down. “Where are you going?”
“Um, down to the gym.”
“I can’t believe you have the energy to work out.”
“It helps with the stress.”
“Really? Maybe I should try it. Hold on, I’ll join you.”
“Ah—I don’t think—”
“Wait right there. I’ll go change.”
Alice disappeared into the bedroom that she now had to herself. Shannon sighed and sank onto the edge of the sofa to wait. She owed Alice for being short with her earlier. And maybe if Alice was breathless on a treadmill or something, she wouldn’t be able to talk about how broken up she was over Lucia’s departure. Besides, now Shannon would have a chaperone with Maya and wouldn’t have to worry about giving in to any inappropriate urges.
*
Maya pulled her arm across her chest and grasped her forearm with her other hand, stretching through her arm and back. After working slowly through a series of stretches, she moved on to warm-up exercises. She rolled her shoulders, then did a few big arm circles, trying to get the tightness out of her neck and shoulders. She’d been tense since the elimination two hours ago.
She hadn’t completely known what she was going to do until the moment Lucia’s name came from her mouth. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Hugh spring up from his chair and pace toward her, but he stayed out of camera range. She remained focused on the chefs in front of her, waiting for someone to stop filming and call her aside. But the cameras kept rolling and Lucia left the room looking dejected. Alice and Shannon stood there with shocked expressions until Jacques cued them to leave and return to the hotel as well.
Shannon had locked eyes with her, her expression full of questions. But Maya kept her face as neutral as she could. After what she’d just done, she couldn’t afford to give anyone a reason to doubt her objectivity. She didn’t question her motives for sending Lucia home, but she didn’t want anyone else to either.
After the show broke for the day, Maya went directly to her dressing room and waited for Hugh to find her there. He didn’t disappoint. When he arrived, she settled on the sofa, tucked her hands under her thighs, and listened to his tirade. As much as she wanted to, she hadn’t argued, mostly because she’d quickly gathered that her decision to send Lucia home wouldn’t be reversed.
When he’d finished shouting at her, she couldn’t resist one dig. “You said you wanted the old Maya back.” She gave an indolent shrug for effect. He clenched his fists and strode out of the room. Time would tell how her relationship with the show fared, but for now she wasn’t being fired immediately. By the time she left the set, she was tense and ready for the release of a workout.
She bent and touched her toes, enjoying the pull through her hamstrings and calves. She lowered her shoulders, getting just a little deeper into the stretch, then shifted to hover near one foot and then the other.
As the door clicked open behind her, she straightened slowly, drawing the stretch out just a bit more. She turned and caught Shannon jerking her eyes away from her ass.
“Hey, you came.” She smiled and winked as a blush spread up Shannon’s neck. An answering flush of pleasure washed over Maya. When Shannon stepped aside and Alice followed her inside, Maya shifted her expression into polite acceptance. “And you brought a friend.”
“The gym is open to all hotel guests, right?” Shannon didn’t quite meet her eyes.
“Right.”
“Well, we’re here to take advantage of the amenities.”
“Great. Hello, Alice.”
“Hi.” Alice’s pointed glances toward Shannon indicated that she hadn’t known Maya would be here. Alice put in a set of earbuds and waved the hand holding her iPod toward the machines along the far wall. “I’m going to hit the elliptical.”
“I think I’ll do the treadmill,” Shannon said. She braced her hand against the wall, bent one leg behind her, and grabbed her heel, stretching her quad. As she arched her back and her lower body angled forward, Maya took a step closer, fighting the urge to grasp her waist and pull her in.
Maya glanced at Alice, who bobbed her head along with the music as she took big awkward strides on the elliptical. Then she spoke quietly to Shannon. “So you’re really down here to work out.”
“Yep.” She climbed onto the treadmill and punched the button to start the belt, beginning with a moderate walking speed.
Maya got on the treadmill next to hers and matched her pace. Recalling the heat in Shannon’s eyes when she’d walked in on her stretching, she said, “And you needed a chaperone.”
“No.” Shannon raised a finger in protest.
“Oh, that wasn’t a question.” Maya grinned.
“No. Alice saw me leaving and offered to come down with me. I thought it might be nice to have a workout buddy.”
Maya laughed. “A buddy? I told you I was going to be here. I would have been your buddy.” She purposely made the last word sound more suggestive than it should have.
Shannon cut her eyes at her, then back to the treadmill display. She sped up her pace to a light jog.
“You know you can’t actually run away from me on that thing, right?” Maya enjoyed the deepening flush of Shannon’s cheeks, certain she would attribute it to the physical exertion.
She kicked the speed on her own treadmill up a bit and settled into a comfortable rhythm. Her headache had abated, but her lingering congestion had her taking things at a slower pace than usual.
“I—I’m not trying to run away from you. I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Sure, but you want me to believe it’s a coincidence that you are. With Alice. After I told you this afternoon that I’d be here.”
“Okay. I wanted to see you,” Shannon hissed. Alice jerked her head toward them, and Shannon smiled tightly until she turned back to her workout. Lowering her voice even further, she ground out, “Is that what you want to hear?”
“Actually, yes.” Maya kept her eyes on Alice, but since Maya could hear the pop music bouncing through her iPod from across the room, she was certain she couldn’t make out their conversation. She leaned a little closer, without looking at Shannon. “I want to hear that you’ve been thinking about me just as much as I have you.”
Shannon’s slightly labored breathing hitched even more, but she didn’t respond. Maya shook her head, wishing she hadn’t let that last sentence slip out. Maybe Shannon would just chalk it up to harmless flirting instead of the desperate insecurity Maya feared it really was.
They jogged next to each other in silence, the steady cadence of their feet on the belts nearly in sync. Despite Maya’s effort to keep her eyes on the treadmill display in front of her, she kept stealing glances at Shannon in the mirror on the opposite wall. She watched her ponytail swing back and forth with each step, because it kept her from staring at the way her breasts moved inside the sports bra that wasn’t quite restrictive enough.
Shannon’s face shone with perspiration under the fluorescent lights, and her features were a study in concentration. Obviously not as accustomed to cardio as Maya, she struggled a little to keep up the pace as they passed the first mile. When she began to pant, Maya started imagining ways she could make her out of breath that didn’t involve a treadmill. Or maybe a more creative use of one at the very least. Her foot skidded against the belt as she lost her stride. She pulled the emergency stop cord on her machine and jumped off.
Startled, Shannon turned to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She paced to the other end of the room and back, pretending she wanted to stretch her legs. Actually, she needed a bit of distance from Shannon, who seemed completely unaffected by the stifling air in the suddenly too-small room. She’d invited Shannon here because she wanted to flirt with her—wanted to do more than that really. Until recently, she rarely fought those types of impulses and thought it ironically cruel that she desired Shannon more than she had anyone before yet couldn’t act on it. And she apparently liked the punishment, because all of that only made her want to tease Shannon—and herself—even more.
Alice huffed as she pulled out her earbuds and climbed off the machine. “I don’t think this is helping my stress at all.”
“Me either,” Maya mumbled, earning her a quick look from Shannon.
“A hot bath and a glass of wine would have done better. I’m going back to the room.”
Shannon shrugged and kept running. “I’ll see you up there.”
Alice glanced at Maya, then back at Shannon as if she didn’t want to leave them alone. But Maya suspected her hesitance had more to do with fear that Shannon might find a way to get an edge in the game rather than genuine concern for Shannon’s well-being.
“See you tomorrow, Chef Vaughn,” Alice said stiffly as she opened the door to the hallway.
Maya nodded and waved. “Actually a hot bath and a glass of wine would be nice,” she said after Alice had gone.
Shannon remained silent.
“Don’t you think? Sinking into some steaming water beats cardio any day. Especially with the right company.” When Shannon still didn’t respond, Maya stood in front of her treadmill so she had no choice but to look at her. “Not speaking to me? Or are you just that intent on your workout?”
Shannon met her eyes and flicked her brows upward. “I’m not responding to your flirty little comments.”
“Well, that’s no fun. Why not?”
“Because I’m sure everyone else does and I want to be different.”
“Not everyone.” Maya shrugged, then grabbed a balance ball from the corner of the room and brought it out to the center. If she couldn’t get a verbal response from Shannon, maybe she’d go for a physical one. The hours she spent in the gym staying in shape for the camera should be put to good use somehow.
She set the ball where she knew it would be in Shannon’s line of sight, then tugged her T-shirt over her head, leaving her in just a sports bra and running shorts. She sat on the ball and leaned back, then up, performing crunches that she knew accentuated her abs and thighs. She watched Shannon in her peripheral vision and smothered a self-satisfied laugh when Shannon nearly fell off the treadmill. But she bit her lip and quietly continued her reps, making sure to tighten her stomach muscles even more than usual.
Shannon slammed her hand against the treadmill display, stopping it. She strode across the room, saying over her shoulder, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”