Page 32 of A Way Out
“It’s okay,” she said, her voice breathy. “You can look out the window. I don’t mind.”
He didn’t take her up on her offer.
He also didn’t release her hand, not until they were in the air and the seat belt light went off and Riley asked if she could watch a movie.
“What’s your real name, Oz?” Maria asked out of the blue.
“Huh?”
She flapped her hand, clumsily bumping his chest. “Your real name. Oz is a nickname, right?”
It wasn’t really a big deal. He didn’t deliberately hide his given name from anyone. But he hadn’t told many people, either. Not since he graduated from high school and no longer had classes where, on the first day, the teacher called out, “Enzo Garcia?” and he would respond, “It’s Oz.”
“Is it something really terrible? Like some horrible family name you were saddled with because you’re the third or fourth generation namesake?” She watched him with earnest eyes.
He cracked a smile. “It’s not nearly so dramatic as that.”
“Then why haven’t you told me yet?”
He chuckled. “Because now it’s become a game.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You mean like I have to tickle the answer out of you? Because I will.”
Okay, he hadn’t meant for it to escalate to tickle warnings, mostly because he didn’t hate the idea of having a tickle war with Maria. But not here, on a plane, with all these people—including her daughter—around. No, wait, a private tickle war was a terrible idea too.
“It’s Enzo,” he finally admitted.
“Enzo. Enzo Garcia.” She said it like she was tasting the words. And liked what she was sampling. Christ, he’d never thought of his given name as sexy before.
“There’s nothing wrong with your name,” she said.
“No, I suppose not. Other than it’s also my father’s name and he ditched us when I was five.” Even at that young age, he had been angry with the man for shirking his responsibilities. Oz had long ago moved on and honestly didn’t hate the name anymore, but nicknames had a way of sticking.
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
“I know, but it still sucks.”
“It did at the time, but I’ve moved on. Don’t even think about him anymore, except when someone asks about my given name.” His tone was light, teasing.
She smiled softly.
“Oz is a better rock star name anyway,” she said, giving him a wide, doe-eyed look. If only they weren’t from such different worlds and she wasn’t his boss and he didn’t have so damn many complications in his life.
Luckily, that third mimosa made Maria tired, and she rested her head against his shoulder and slept for the rest of the flight. Riley stayed engrossed in her movie. Luckily, he’d pulled out his notebook before Maria fell asleep, so he was able to pass the time coming up with new music.
The lyrics were taking a decidedly erotic slant.
Chapter Twelve
It was after eight o’clock in the evening by the time they were driving through the Ozarks, heading toward the lodge Holly and Sam had rented for their wedding guests. Maria was exhausted from traveling all day, but not so much so that she could not enjoy the southern Missouri scenery as it flew past her window.
“It’s so different,” she said, her gaze glued to the mountains and the glimpses of the lake she caught in between ridges.
“Sam says that all the time,” Oz said. “Even though they’re both mountains, the ones in LA are very different from the ones here.”
“Add to that the mountains I see every day in Washington. Those are green, practically all the time. And it’s overcast so often. In LA, they’re brown. Plus, the sun shines constantly. And then this…I can’t even describe it. Other to say it’s gorgeous.”
