74 Help Me Remove It

While Maya and Tiffany were gone, Ryan sat down beside Lucas and smirked.

"Tracy called me earlier," he said casually as he waved his hand at a waiter and ordered a drink.

Lucas raised an eyebrow; Tracy only called when she discovered something important. "What did she say?"

Amusement appeared in Ryan's eyes as he thought about the conversation from earlier. "Apparently, the person that reported you for trespassing on New Year's Eve was Noah Thompson..."

Lucas nodded. He wasn't completely surprised. Considering what he knew about Noah now, it made sense that the man would do something to ruin his date with Maya.

But...Ryan was not finished talking. "She also found out that the person that bailed Maya out of the police station was actually Noah and not her 'best friends'..."

Lucas paused and listened intently.

"Delilah did travel with her two best friends, but Maya traveled alone. In fact, she appears to be a hardworking recluse, just like you..." the man teased.

"Hardworking?" Lucas questioned. If she was hardworking, how could she take 3 weeks off work just to come to Vegas to act as her sister?

Ryan nodded his head as though he knew what Lucas was thinking. "She hasn't taken a single day off work for the last 4 years! The only reason why she's away from work now...is because she quit her job before she came here..." he explained.

"Apparently, she's in advertising and she refused to work with an immoral client, so she just got up and left..."

When Ryan first heard this, his impression of Maya definitely changed. For one, she was smart and highly skilled. But more importantly, she had good moral values and strong integrity. She was totally opposite from Delilah.

At first, his impression changed, but he was still against the idea of his best friend being attracted to the woman. After all, she was a liar.

But when he heard what else Tracy discovered, he found himself actually understanding why she lied...

"Tracy did a bit more digging into the relationship between Maya and Noah. She confirmed that they had never met in LA, and only became acquainted because of Delilah's accident..."

Lucas raised an eyebrow with interest before Ryan continued, "Noah was the one that saved Delilah from her accident..."

"Oh?" Lucas furrowed his brows.

"And it seems...he somehow convinced Maya that you were the one that tried to run her sister over..." Ryan couldn't hold back a laugh when he said this.

Lucas thought about the helicopter ride and the way that the woman questioned him about his past. At that time, he thought she was genuinely interested in him. But now that he thought about it, she seemed to be interrogating him. For some reason, he felt slightly disappointed.

On the other hand, Ryan was slightly impressed. "I have a sister, so I can understand how she felt. If someone tried to run my sister over, I would do whatever I could to hunt them down too. I assume that's why she didn't reveal her identity to you yet. I even saw her luggage earlier. Her suitcase was a complete contrast to Delilah's; she didn't even have a bathing suit. Plus, I spotted your favorite novel wedged in between her clothes. You know, the one that you made me read? I hate to admit this...but she seems like quite a decent girl."

Lucas listened quietly to everything that Ryan had to say. Coupled with the conversation he overheard last night, he finally had a clear picture of the woman. Although he wasn't sure if Maya was genuinely interested in him, his interest in her definitely increased.

At that moment, they heard some chatter behind them as the two women returned. Tiffany had bought herself a bathing suit too, and she was flaunting it like she was walking down the runway of a fashion show, but next to her, Maya was wrapped tightly in a towel as she looked shyly at Lucas and blushed. This expression could not be faked and it made Lucas' heart flutter.

"Come on, Dels, you're normally not this shy!" Tiffany said between gritted teeth, reminding Maya who she was supposed to be.

Maya gripped onto the towel and laughed awkwardly. "I'm...just cold...

"It's the middle of winter..."

Tiffany rolled her eyes, "No pain, no gain."

She then grabbed Maya's towel and tried to yank it off.

Maya had a good body and she was quite confident with it, but it didn't mean she was the type to walk around in revealing clothes and show it off. So, she began to panic as she felt the towel slip out of her fingers and off her body.

The other guests around the pool naturally glanced over in curiosity, especially the men. What did this beautiful Asian woman have hiding underneath that towel? If she had walked out confidently like Tiffany, she may have actually drawn less attention.

As the towel disappeared, the woman's curvaceous body came into view. Her abs were toned, her legs were long and slender, and her chest was full; these features were perfectly highlighted by the light blue floss bikini that crisscrossed sexily across her body.

Lucas looked at the woman in awe, but he quickly furrowed his brows when he realized everyone in the restaurant and around the pool were also looking her way. 

Without a second thought, he suddenly stood up, pulled the woman towards him, lifted her horizontally in his arms, and carried her into the pool. 

Maya looked at the man in surprise as her body submerged in the warm water of the heated pool.

"It's warm in here," he simply said as he stood in front of her. "You said you were cold..."

Maya looked at Lucas then glanced behind him.

Underneath the water, her body was now a blur and the man was standing right in front of her, blocking her from view. With nothing to see, everyone slowly returned to what they were doing.

Maya's lips curved upwards slightly. She understood why the man did this. Even though he didn't admit it, he was protecting her.

But when she looked at him again, she noticed something and couldn't help but laugh. 

"You still have your shirt on," she chuckled.

Lucas lowered his head and looked at the woman's smiling face. She was beautiful when she smiled.

Slowly leaning forward, he grabbed her hands and placed them on the hem of his shirt. In a seductive voice, he whispered beside her ear, "Do you want to help me remove it?"