Home.
Home and apparently single for a very long time. Single and currently starving and stranded outside of a sports bar.
A knock at passenger’s side window startled me, making me jump before I saw who stood there.
Why me?
“What?” I shouted, not daring to open the window or door. The overgrown, sinfully delicious man pointed to the door, and with a shake to my head, I unlocked it.
He slid in easily, and I couldn’t help but watch and wonder how a guy his size could ever be considered graceful. My stomach growled quietly, a reminder of what a mess my first night home had been.
“What do you want?” I asked sternly. His eyes went dark, practically burning me with lust, immediately making me regret my poor choice of words.
“What are you doing?” he asked, and at that moment, after my day, I didn’t know if I wanted to slap him or kiss him.
“What?”
“Why are you sitting with your head on the wheel?” he asked again as if asking the score of a game, and my eyes narrowed.
“Why do you care?”
“Look, Gabe’s my best friend.”
“You don’t say?” I mocked, the sarcasm plain as day in my voice.
“And your mom is a nice lady.” God! Did he have to bring my mom into it? “A really nice lady.”
“She is.” My tone softened because it was my mom. My mom was the best.
“The Blancos took me in so to speak when I moved here.”
“Have they?” I asked needlessly. Sitting in my Jeep with him, looking at him, I could picture how easily he would have fit with the two most important people in my life. A lot easier than I did, that was for sure.
“Yeah. So, I can’t leave the youngest one abandoned in a non-operational vehicle.”
“Non-operational? Formal much?” I sighed. I looked out to the darkened parking lot wondering how the hell I had gotten myself into this situation. Or I tried to, at least. In reality, I was trying to ignore how good Maverick smelled.
“So, then?” he asked, ignoring my attitude.
I frowned. Lack of sleep and food, not to mention the fact that I was obviously not getting laid tonight, all combined, making me sound catty. But I couldn’t drum up the energy to care.
“Then what?” I asked, trying not to breathe the sexy smelling air of my enclosed car.
“What’s up with the car?”
“It won’t start,” I answered, slightly annoyed with him.
Then he did something that made my heart stammer. His face transformed in front of me as he gave me the biggest smile I had ever seen. White, straight teeth almost sparkled back in the darkness. My body reawakened at the sight and sound of the deep timbre of his laughter, causing my previous frustration to simply fade away.
“I got that much. Try to start it,” he ordered. Still in a daze over his smile and no longer in the mood to argue, plus I didn’t trust my voice if I spoke, I turned the key without a word. My poor Jeep still sounded like a drowning cat.
“Okay. Come on, get your stuff and lock it up,” he ordered with a shrug.
“Wait, what?” I questioned.
“Come on.”
“Come on where?” I asked, my voice rising.
“I’ll take you home and come back for it in the morning with your brother,” he explained, but I shook my head, hating the idea.
“No.”
“What?” His manly brows scrunched together.
“I said no,” I repeated. There was no way in hell that would work.
“Come on, kid.” He sighed, and I snapped.
“Okay. Let’s get a couple of things straight here. First off, I’m not a kid,” I pointed out, sounding bratty, but with the way something flashed in his eyes, I figured I got my message across.
“Sure, you’re not.” He rolled his eyes at me, and my eye twitched when he added, “Kid.”
Taking a deep, somewhat unsteady breath in order to not slap him, I ignored him and kept going. “Second, I don’t need Gabe to take care of my stuff. I can just call Triple A and—”
“Okay, hold on there. First off, he would be fucking pissed if he found out you called Triple A when he could have helped.” He is probably right, I thought to myself as I looked at my lap. It sounded like Gabe. Though knowing my brother, he would complain the entire time.
“You don’t get it.” I sighed into the darkness of my vehicle.
“Then explain it to me.” I stopped looking at my lap and looked at him.
In the darkness and under the moonlight and the dim streetlight, he looked even better than he had in the bar.
“I’m the youngest,” I shared with him, but by the way he was looking at me, he didn’t understand. “Gabe acts like I’m younger than when I left.” I explained.
“What?” He obviously didn’t get it, and I hated that I needed to explain, but something about the way he was behaving and how I felt, I needed him to understand.
“I left Beech Grove at seventeen. I’ve been back twice since, and every time I’ve been home, he’s acted like I’m twelve.”
“He just…” Maverick started to defend Gabe. Of course, he would.
“And you know what? I don’t get it. I’m twenty-five now. I’ve been gone for almost a decade.”
“Kid—”
“But this morning, I called to let him know I caught an earlier flight. I did it so he wouldn’t have to worry about picking me up. I planned on taking a shuttle or cab. My mom mentioned he had an errand he had to take care of and how he was going to be cutting it close. I thought I was helping—”
“Umm Sof—“
“But do you know what he did?”
“Sofi—”
“He bitched and moaned and said I was irresponsible. How was that irresponsible? I have taken care of myself in a foreign country, traveled and backpacked through different countries, but my brother still acts like I’m a crazy preteen trying to go on a public bus for the first time. Let me tell you, it’s been a long time since I hitched a ride on the bus to go to the mall two towns over.”
“I’ve heard that story.” Maverick’s bright smile faltered the second he caught my frown. I kept hoping, somehow, someway, Mav would understand, despite having been an asshole in the bar, why I didn’t want to rely on Gabe to fix this for me.
“I need to get this taken care of on my own. It’s my first night back. If he takes this on, fixes this for me, I‘m not proving anything to him. I need to prove to him that I’m an adult now. A self-sufficient adult who has taken care of herself for a long time.” Maverick’s expression grew serious as he looked back at me and blinked.
“I don’t think he would make that big of a—“
“He would, and because of that, I need to take care of this. Look, go back in there. Do your thing. I got this,” I told him, feeling every second of my jetlag kicking in and exhausting me.
“Do my thing?” he asked gently, his curiosity clear, and I shrugged.
“Come on.” I smiled at him. “You know me through my brother and my mom, but the kicker is, I know you, too.”
“You do, huh?”
“Yeah.” Did I ever. My mom loved him. But she was also very aware of all the notches on his bedpost. “Your whole doing me in different positions thing is pretty much your thing.”
“My thing?”
“Yeah.” I smirked. “It’s cool. I get it. Now that you know I’m ‘Little Sofia Blanco,’ you don’t want to touch me with a ten-foot pole—“
“I don’t.” He grimaced, not letting me finish my thought, and as much as it stung that he was that quick to agree, it was better to know where I stood.
I knew moving back here that it was going to be difficult for me to find someone to date after they found out who my older brother was. There was no reason to make it worse by hooking up with his best friend. Or even daydreaming about it.
No matter how hot he was.
Or how good he smelled.
Or how surpr
isingly easy he was to talk to.
“Okay, then. Go do your thing. I will figure out my car situation, and I’ll probably see you in the morning or whatever.” Hopefully, he was one of those guys who was hardly ever home. If not, I was doomed.
He clenched his sexy, bearded jaw before breaking our stare, his hand going to the door. “If that’s what you want to do.” His tone sounded like he couldn’t care less, and yet his body language confused me.
“I do.” I don’t. But I had to. I was a grownup. This was what a grown woman had to do for herself.
The door opened, and I exhaled a lungful of air I didn’t know I was holding.
Opening my own door, I stepped out of my car and pulled my hair up into a messy bun at the top of my head. It was time to get dirty.
“Pop the hood,” his voice rumbled, making me jump.
“What?” I looked over at him at the end of the car.
“Pop the hood,” he ordered again.
“Mav—”
“Don’t start with me,” he bit back. “You don’t wanna call your brother, fine. I get it. You know what?” He frowned as he walked toward me almost predatory. “I even respect that.”
“Oh.” I blinked looking at him, feeling kind of happy by his sentiment.
“I don’t want to respect that,” he muttered to himself, and I felt my face squish together, the happiness fleeting away as quickly as it had arrived.
“Why?” I blurted, wondering what the hell his problem was.
“Because. You being a spoiled little princess would make life easier,” he grumbled.
“Say what?” Who did he think he was? “I’m not a spoiled princess!”
“Never mind. Just pop the hood,” he barked. Something in his tone made me uneasy, so I obeyed without argument. The hood clicked open. Still frustrated, I couldn’t help myself. I marched my ass over to him, hands on my hips, letting my annoyance show.
“How would me being a spoiled princess be easier for you?” I asked, pressing my body closer to his so that I could look at the engine. Sure, that’s why I’m pressing closer. I rolled my eyes at myself and looked up at Maverick.
His hands locked together at the base of his neck, slightly tangled in his longish hair, and I had the biggest urge to skim my nose in that spot. Before I did something crazy, I took a step back. He glanced at me, making me wish I could make out what he was thinking. “So?”
Shaking his head, he bent his body toward the engine. He started monkeying around with the engine and the cables for the battery, even the hoses. What he didn’t do was answer my question.
“Try now,” he muttered deeply, and I frowned.
“You really think that helped?” I asked with too much attitude, but I couldn’t help it.
“Can you try and start the damn car?” he huffed, his yes still on the engine, and I stubbornly walked back to the driver’s side and turned the key. To my delight, it roared to life.
“Oh, my God!” I yelled. Shrill excitement dripped from my voice as I slipped out and walked toward him. “You fixed it!”
“What can I say, I’ve been told I have magic hands.” He grinned, meeting me at the fender of my car.
My eyes dropped to his hands. I couldn’t help myself. A boatload of images flashed through my head. His hand moving over my body, tangling in my hair as he pulled my mouth to him. My imagination ran wild with X-rated visions of how magical his hands could be.
Stop it, Sofia! I scolded myself, feeling my body heat up. Somehow, Maverick Bridges brought out the woman inside of me I’d been neglecting for way too long. And sadly will have to neglect for a while longer.
“You’re good to go,” he informed, and I realized a little too late that we were standing really close. His scent overwhelmed my senses.
“Yeah. Thanks,” I nervously murmured, biting the inside of my lip. A soft gasp escaped from me the moment he raised his hand and with the pad of his thumb pulled on my lower lip. His dark eyes were fixed on my mouth so intensely, I felt my blood heat another ten degrees in a split second. My body was alive and awake with desire.
“You shouldn’t look at me like this, Princess,” he warned. I licked my lips.
“Like what?” I asked, almost enjoying the way he called me princess. I wasn’t a girly girl. I never had been. But his voice calling me that made me feel supremely feminine. Sexy and powerful.
“You know like what,” he whispered. I watched his lips move, hypnotizing me as his voice washed over me, the tone vibrating deep into my core.
“What way am I looking at you?” I pushed, though I could imagine what he was talking about. I was looking at him like he was an ice cream cone in a hundred-degree weather. Tempting me. Teasing me. Demanding I lick every drop....
“You’re off limits,” he reminded me, or from the look in his eyes, both of us. I knew he was right, so I didn’t move closer. I simply waited him out. Waited for him to walk away, because there was no way I could.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he pulled me closer. My toes curled in my shoes, but I was determined not to shy away. Right then and there, standing in Maverick’s arms didn’t feel wrong. It felt unbelievably right. Then his warning repeated in my head.
“Are you saying that because of Gabe?”
“You know it’s because of Gabe.” His voice was lower, deeper, and I just wanted him to keep talking, anything to keep hearing the deep rumble so close to my skin. “What else could it be?”
I shrugged, trying not to look away, especially down to his hands that were brushing against mine. I wanted to reach for him. Touch him. Make him deliver on the promise in his eyes, on what would have happened if we weren’t who we were. I wanted to make him burn for me like I was burning for him.
“I don’t know,” I said, moving my hands across his chest. “Maybe I’m too old for you?”
“What?”
“You were flirting with the barely legal crowd.” I acted like I didn’t care and as if every single nerve in my body wasn’t trembling with need.
“Jealous?” He smirked.
“Not one bit,” I lied through my teeth.
How could he irritate and turn me on all at the same time? One of his hands came up, wrapping around the curve of my hip, making me achingly aware of my body. I swallowed hard, and my eyes fluttered at the feel of his thick fingertips on my lower back, their heat penetrating the thin material of my dress.
“Not at all?” he asked roughly.
“I don’t know you,” I pointed out, my voice unusually low, wondering if his body was filled with lust the way mine seemed to be.
His lips tilted north. “Just a couple of minutes ago, you all but called me a man whore.”
“And you called me a spoiled princess,” I replied.
“Hmm…” His fingers skimmed deliciously back and forth, and I whimpered. “Do you know what I would do if you were my little spoiled princess?” he asked, and I shivered. Heat pooled in my belly and slightly below. My eyes found his despite the darkness that enveloped us. His heated gaze seared me to the point my knees actually weakened.
God, he hasn’t even kissed me, yet I feel like I’m on the verge of an orgasm.
“What would you do?”
“I’d spank that delicious little ass of yours until you remembered how to behave.” My cheeks heated. “You like that, don’t you?” he prodded.
I do.
I’d never been spanked, never wanted it. But damn. He made it sound better than an all-expenses-paid vacation at Disneyland. The sensations, the mental images unlike anything I’ve experienced before.
“You’re crude.” I tried to sound offended, but I knew he wouldn’t believe it.
“You like it,” he whispered thickly, his lips mere centimeters from mine. “You would be bad just to get punished, and I would happily deliver it, Princess.”
“You’re insane,” I murmured, but I was the crazy one. Because what he was offering sounded good. Better than good. Delicious. So damn goo
d, I’d be willing to exchange eating carbs the rest of the year for what he was offering.
“Hmmm…” he hummed. The air sparked with sexual tension.
I’d had sex. I was far from a blushing virgin. But there was something about the image of his big, rough hand smacking my ass that turned me into a squirming mess, leaving me a little breathless. “I’d smack your perfect ass a bright red, and then I’d make you forget your name.”
“Such a guy thing to say,” I replied, still fighting to dig my way out of the deep, dark lust that was swirling around us.
“I’m a grown-ass man, Princess.” His nose skimmed mine. “Trust me, I’d know exactly how to do it. You would get lost in the sensations I’d make you feel,” he warned or promised, and damn, he left me breathless.
“Sure,” I whispered, failing at sounding unamused by his dirty talk.
Maverick’s lips were so close to mine, I could feel his smile. I wanted to trace his lips with my fingers, while the other part of me, a part I was afraid would win, wanted to move toward them. “Make you scream my name so loud and for so long, your voice would be hoarse the next morning.”
“Mav,” I nearly moaned. I was there. My control was shot. I just wanted, no, I needed Maverick Bridges.
“Would you have gone through with it?” he asked, throwing me off.
“With what?”
“No names. No numbers. One night?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered honestly, the word slipping from my lips like a purr.
Who am I?
What am I doing?
I needed to step away. I needed to break the moment. But I couldn’t. I didn’t have the strength to do it. I was weak under his warm touch and beautiful stare.
“Me too,” he shared a mere second before his lips covered mine, both of us getting lost in a kiss it seemed like I’d waited a lifetime for. He gently coaxed my mouth with his, and I parted my lips, eager for him. His tongue glided against mine, and my hands dug into his hair. I wasn’t gentle. I couldn’t be. He had already built a roaring fire in me, one that was burning higher and hotter than anything I’d felt before.
Burn Me Anthology Page 67