“So far it is.” The warmth of the fire and the warmth of his gaze both made her a bit flushed. “Okay. I’m ready to finish the tour, then I want to sit by this fireplace and grill you some more.”
Tucker blew out a long breath. “Don’t you have enough information already?”
Maryn laughed. “Yeah, I’m going to print a premier article and all I’ve got is how you spend your days and how good-looking you are.”
Tucker grinned at that and the scar in the corner of his lips was tempting her. She wanted to know how he got it, after she kissed it, that is. Whoa, she needed to focus. “Sorry,” she explained. “My mouth tends to run too much.”
“No, you’re great. I feel very… comfortable with you.”
Maryn grinned.
“But I don’t like my life being on display. I’m not sure why I let them talk me into this.”
“Come on, big guy, has it been that hard on you?”
He chuckled at that. “Not so far, but you know what they say about beautiful reporters?”
Maryn bit at her lip to hide a smile. “No, what’s that?”
“They could talk a saint into hell.”
“Oh, that’s awful. I have no desire to talk anyone into that place. I’m going to heaven to be with my Granny Ellie, thank you very much.” Maryn pressed her lips together. She had to stop revealing too much. Be professional, she reminded herself.
Tucker placed a hand on her back and directed her toward the front staircase again. She loved the warmth of his large palm on her back. “I’m sorry about your Granny Ellie.”
“She’s actually not mine, but my best friend’s. Granny Ellie just adopted me and I miss her. She was the one person who always appreciated my snide comments.”
Tucker looked sharply at her. “You don’t have family of your own?”
“No one to brag about. I have my mom. She tried. Worked her butt off in more ways than one so I could have some sort of life.”Family of her own?In her childish dreams.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No, no, no, we aren’t here to talk about me.” Maryn mentally shook herself. Why was she opening up to this guy? She needed her head examined. Yes, she tended to talk too much and use funny expressions, but she usually employed those techniques to put people at ease, not tell her life story. It had taken James two years to know as much about her as she’d revealed to Tucker in twenty minutes. Cripes! “Tell me more about your volunteer work. Is it always local?”
Tucker gave her an appraising look, but told her a little about his latest humanitarian trip to Ethiopia where they’d been able to dig safer wells and help some villages plant community gardens. Maryn was more and more impressed with this man. Today was looking to be one of the most interesting and productive of her career and the man at her side was looking to be a dream come true, for a reporter with good interview skills that is. Not for a woman who already had a sort of boyfriend.
* * *
Tuck had to resist touching the beautiful Maryn as they sauntered through his house. She oohed and aahed over the woodwork, the huge windows showcasing the forest and the river beyond, and the decorations that were rustic and comfortable. He’d never been around such a small person with so much energy. He liked her bold manner of speaking and he loved the way her face lit up as she talked. When he met her gaze and those blue eyes sparkled, he talked himself into believing the sparkle was just for him.
They’d finished the tour and were lounging in the enclosed, heated patio off the back of his great room. Mama Porter bustled out of the kitchen with a tray of steaming food. Tuck stood quickly and took the tray from her. “You don’t need to serve us,” he said.
“Of course I do. We’ve got a guest.” She beamed at Maryn. “And she’s such a beauty. Hello, love, I’m Mama Porter. It’s wonderful to have you here.”
Maryn stood and held out her hand. Mama Porter placed it between her plump fingers.
“Thank you. This smells exquisite. I’m Maryn.”
“Oh, I know who you are. Have you got all the information you need for your article, my dear?” Mama Porter released Maryn’s hand, gestured for her to sit, and started uncovering platters of orange chicken, ham-fried rice, and chow mein.
“No, actually.” Maryn cocked her head to the side and pinned him with a stare. “Tucker is very skilled at evading some of the questions I need answered and getting information out of me that I don’t usually share.”
Tucker rubbed at his suddenly warm neck. Maryn was a professional and she’d come to get an exclusive interview. Of course she wouldn’t be happy to have pictures of his house and a little bit of inside information about the different products he’d created and his latest humanitarian trip.
He’d tried all afternoon to get to know her better, but all he really obtained was she was born and raised in southern California, with her mother, but her best friend, Alyssa, and adopted Granny were her real family. She didn’t surf because her best friend had a deformed foot so they’d never tried surfing, but she loved to swim in the ocean.
Mama Porter darted a gaze at him. She knew how much he appreciated his privacy, but she’d been with him for five years now and treated him like one of the sons she’d lost. “I wish I could reveal all his secrets dear, but that’s not my place.”