“That’s one way to look at it,” Selena said. “I’m hoping that my job will let me see the world. It’s already a good start. I’ve never left the mainland before. I went into Canada once, but I’ve never even been to Mexico. I don’t think anyone would consider that well-traveled. What about you? I imagine your job takes you all over.”
“You’re right. I’ve traveled all over, and it does come with the job.” Max lost his easy smile from before, a subtle tension lining his face. “But that also means I don’t always get to appreciate the places I’m visiting. When you’re worried about getting shot, it doesn’t leave much time for appreciating the sights.”
“What about Maui?” Selena smiled over her cup. “It doesn’t look like you’re chasing bullets here. And I don’t think there are a lot of polar bears wandering around here.”
“While I’m not at liberty to discuss all the details, this is more about just exploring some things for a client back on the mainland.” Max rolled his shoulders, his smile returning, but obviously forced.
“So you do have a boss after all.” Selena set her cup down. “It’s just a temporary one. Lots of temporary ones.”
“If you want to think of it that way, then yes.” Max looked off in the distance with a thoughtful expression before returning his attention to her. “What’s your next move?”
“Huh? I don’t know. I’m supposed to be doing several projects with this director. If I kick him in the balls, that might cause some problems.”
Max chuckled. “I’m not talking about your career. I mean about the commercial and the permits. From what you’ve told me, Bill isn’t going to take no for an answer and the permit office is bound and determined to make sure you fail.”
Selena looked back and forth, unsure why she was so paranoid. It wasn’t like Bill was following her around. There was no way he would have been able to keep quiet if he was. She represented a significant chunk of the crew staff effort involved in doing the boring, on-the-ground administrative prep work, which is why she was in this predicament to begin with. Permit details weren’t some deep, NDA-covered territory.
She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I’m thinking about going out to the location to check it out. It’s a good first step.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
Selena nodded. “The location was picked based on satellite and local photos. While it’s not a casual stroll to get there, it’s also not super-deep in the forest.” She frowned. “Something doesn’t smell right. I think this might just be them jerking me around, but if I can prove it, I might be able to move things along.”
“You think they’re lying to you?” Max’s face didn’t hold a trace of doubt. Either he believed her, or he was a great actor.
“Or they’re at least exaggerating. It’s not like I’m terrible at my job. I checked out the history of the site, the permit requirements, and all that sort of thing. No one’s filmed any commercials there, but it’s been in TV shows before.” Selena’s gaze slid toward the window, cloaked in suspicion. “And suddenly they care about some old Army storage site that’s nowhere near the actual shooting site? This smells, and not of Spam.”
“That does sound suspicious,” Max said. “What are you thinking is happening?”
“It’s not that I think there’s some secret mob deal going down or anything.” Selena sighed. “I think that they’ve decided to screw with us by using pointless bureaucracy. I don’t know why. Maybe they don’t like the look of my face or something, but I figure if I head out there and take some pictures, I can confirm there’s nothing remotely dangerous, and I can force the issue. They might be annoying people trying to mess with me, but they probably don’t want a scandal over something pointless and petty, either.”
Max chuckled. “I’m not so sure, but at least it might help you with your boss if you proved you put in the effort.”
Selena was about to say something more when she stopped herself. Max had been at the office and left before she was done with her business. The permit denial might not be a simple question of overeager benefits. She didn’t doubt she could turn some heads, but the likelihood of a hot mountain of muscle like that suddenly taking interest in her was low, especially in her more casual outfit.
He claimed to be private security, and while he had the size for it, she had no proof of anything Max said. She didn’t even know if his name was actually Max, and then there was his eyes seeming wrong. For all she knew, he was wearing a disguise, including contacts, and his eyes were a different color. That would explain what she was feeling.
Max wasn’t busy. He’d had time to wait outside for her and invite her to coffee. That meant he had time to wait in the office, and despite his denials, she couldn’t see him not waiting a couple of minutes to talk to the permit office.
All of this pointed to one conclusion. He waited specifically for her outside.
Selena wanted to be flattered. Wanted to believe that the unbelievably attractive specimen of man sitting at her table was interested in her, but she’d never been that lucky with men, and she doubted her fortunes suddenly changed because she was in Hawaii. None of her other luck had changed.
He might be private security, or he might be something else entirely, like a mob enforcer. She wasn’t sure Hawaii even had something like the Mafia, but where there were people, there were crime groups, and those groups needed large, dangerous men to take out
