Maryn noticed the familiarity. These two were playing a part, she was sure of it.
“Sir.” Mr. Braxton quickly left the room.
Tucker sipped from the can, set it on a side table, then spread his hands wide. “So, Maryn, interview away.”
Maryn couldn’t remember a single question she had. All she could think about was the size of those hands and secretly wish they were holding hers still. She pulled out her phone, grateful for notes and opened the app. Sadly, before she could ask any of the reasonable, well-thought out questions she’d agonized over, it popped out, “Why are you such a recluse?”
Tucker pumped his eyebrows and grinned at her. “If you had a place like this, would you want to go deal with society?”
She recognized deflection when she heard it. No matter. She’d get to the grit before the sun set and she needed to go check into The Angler’s Lodge. Tomorrow she’d have to wake up early to drive the two hours to Idaho Falls and make her return flight, but she was going to enjoy today. “This is a fabulous house. Can you give me a tour?”
“Sure.” Tucker stood.
Maryn rose next to him. Even with two inches on her boots, she only came to his chin. Curse being short. Tucker probably liked tall models to compliment his large stature. Not that it mattered—she was here for an exclusive interview, nothing more. She’d better remind herself of that every few minutes.
As they walked, she thought to ask one of her questions and found that she really wanted to know the answer, “What do you do to keep busy? Give me a typical day in the life of Tucker Shaffer.”
“Everyone probably assumes I sit around doing nothing all day.”
“If they assume that they obviously haven’t seen how built you are.”
He chuckled and directed her into the great room. Maryn got distracted for a minute gushing over the view and then all the different wood work. From the fireplace mantle to the wood encasing the windows to the gorgeous cabinetry, she was smitten by this house. “Let me just stand here by this beautiful fireplace for a minute and thaw out,” she said. “Why’s it so cold up here? It’s October third for heaven’s sake.”
Tucker glanced down at her with a smirk. “It’s snowed in September before.”
Maryn shivered and moved closer to the fire and to him. “Okay, answer my question then we’ll finish the tour.”
Tucker rubbed his large palms together and studied the flames in the gas fireplace. “I try to balance my days—exercise, work around the house and yard, business, and programming.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I’ve heard some tales about all the time you spend doing volunteer work. You like to fix things and teach people how to work, in addition to donating large sums of money.”
“You really do your research, don’t you?”
Maryn looked up and down his large frame. “You have no idea.”
He blushed and she absolutely loved it. He had no clue how good-looking and powerful he was. He was so different from the wealthy men she’d met who thought they owned the world, the powerful men who thought they owned everyone in the world, and the good-looking men who thought they should own her and every other woman.
“So, for exercise, you like to…”
“Run, lift weights, box, and I get a lot of movement working outside, driving my gardeners crazy.”
“Nice. I loved the gardener at the estate my mother worked on. He was so patient with me and always let me pick the flowers…” She trailed off as he listened to her like it was the most important thing he had to do today. “The programming?”
He swallowed and gave her a kind smile, not commenting on her revelation that she’d been the hired help. She was so beneath him socially it wasn’t even funny. If you cared about social ladders, which she didn’t.
“Everyone assumes after I designed Friend Zone I was done, but I’ve created a lot of other games and apps. I just market them under different names.”
“Why?”
He spread his hands and smirked at her. “Avoid taxes, why else?”
She laughed. “Okay, I’ll buy that. Whose names?”
“Whoever I want to share the money with—usually Mama Porter, Johnson, and Brax.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.
Maryn’s eyes widened. “That’s pretty impressive, Tucker Shaffer. Hey. Are you just trying to impress me?”
He smiled at her. “I don’t know, is it working?”