by Marie Harte
The mother lode.
She couldn’t speak. Good Lord, those Cavas made fine-looking people. Mike had muscles all over the place. His abs rippled as he chuckled, but seeing that bare skin made his laughter easy enough to bear.
As she waited for him to undo his pants, she mentally chanted, I told you so to Olivia and continued to tread water. Oh God, this was going to be magical. She knew it.
Unfortunately, Mike didn’t unsnap his jeans. He tossed his shirt at her. “Put it on, and I’ll help you out.”
“What?”
“Come on, Maria.” He sounded a bit rushed. “I have a date in half an hour. Let’s get a move on.”
A date. With someone else.
Sighing, she put his shirt on then took the hand he reached out to help her from the water. Instead of letting him help her out, she tugged him in.
He swore and landed with a loud splash.
She climbed onto the deck, dripping wet. A glance over her shoulder showed he looked even better drenched, his dark brown eyes almost black in the moonlight, his amazing shoulders and chest more like the body of a sea god than a mere human.
“What the hell?” he growled. “Maria—”
“And…back to the drawing board.” She wrung water from his shirt and swore as she walked back to the house, entering in the side so the colonel and Olivia’s mom wouldn’t see her.
“How did it go?” her BFF asked when Maria entered her bedroom.
“Not good.”
Olivia shrugged. “Told you so. Now can we please get back to our Chem final? If we don’t study, there’s no way I’ll be getting an A in the class.”
“My love life is doomed.” Maria dried off and put on clean clothes, moping. “He’s going on a date.”
“With a woman his age, I’ll bet. Maria, he’s twenty-four, a lieutenant, has his own car, and doesn’t have to study for finals. Of course he’s got a date.”
“While we have to serve out our junior year,” Maria muttered.
“I like school.”
“You would.” It still surprised her that she and Olivia could be so different yet be best friends. “So about Mike… Guys like younger women, don’t they?”
“There’s younger, and there’s statutory rape younger.”
“I’m almost seventeen,” she snapped.
“Next year maybe.”
“Hey. I’d never tell.”
“You’re jail bait, plain and simple.”
“I fit all the qualifications. I’m blonde. I’m young.” She squeezed her boobs. “I’m perky.”
Olivia cringed. “Okay, first, ew. Second, you’re his little sister’s best friend—invisible.”
“Nooo.” Maria wanted to cry.
“How many times do we have to have this discussion? He’s out of your league for now. Wait until you’re twenty then try again. Now come on over and study.”
Maria sighed. “Fine. But I’m not giving up. He’s mine.”
“Whatever. Now what’s the definition for entropy?”
Down but not out, Maria planned to bide her time. Mike Cava was hers, damn it. And no matter how long it took, she’d keep after him until she nabbed the sly Marine. Age was nothing but a number. She just had to make him see that.
Present Day, June, Eight Years Later
“I’m so excited he’s back. Gosh, Mike’s been gone forever.” Olivia chattered happily while Maria helped another customer in her mother’s craft shop.
“What’s that?” She’d decided to be low-key. The years of pursuing Olivia’s slick brother hadn’t proved successful yet. She’d pretended to be demure, sexy, aggressive, shy, but none of her personas ever made her less invisible. Mike had gone so far as to rub her on the head two years ago at Christmas, like she was a stray dog he’d decided to kill with kindness.
Bah. She wondered if she’d been fighting a losing battle for too long. Sometimes her tenacity could be a drawback.
“Mike. My brother, the one you’ve had your heart set on forever? That Mike? He’s back and won’t be leaving again for the next three years at least.”
“That’s nice.” Bobby Thorn had asked her out last week. Since he’d mostly wanted a booty call and she hadn’t been in the mood, she’d waffled. But after nearly six months with no sex and no Mike on the horizon to even fantasize about, perhaps she’d do best to take Bobby up on his offer. Like Mike, he was a Marine, had a nice build, and had his own place on the beach. Unlike Mike, Bobby actually saw her as a desirable woman. According to Olivia, he would have made a major play for her if she hadn’t given him—and every other guy she dated—the “we’re just casual friends and lovers” speech, her heart already belonging to someone else.
“Hello? Earth to Maria. Mike’s back.”
“Good for him. For all of you. I know you missed him.” Maria shrugged. “But I think I might be over him.”
Olivia blinked. “Are you serious? You told me you wanted to marry him in second grade. You have your dress picked out. I’m a bridesmaid. We already have the church planned.”
“But not reserved. I can change my mind.”
“Um, okay.” Olivia stared at her with those big brown Cava eyes. Her dark hair and olive complexion, so like the rest of her family, made her stand out as a true beauty. Next to her, Maria always felt pale and tiny and—let’s face it—flat as an ironing board. Her chest had not grown as she’d thought it might. A B-cup was totally pushing it.
She glanced subtly from her chest to her friend’s, buoyed by the thought Bobby had asked her and not Olivia. “So after work today, want to hit a movie?” she asked, consigning Mike to the back of her thoughts, pleased when he stayed there. Maybe she really was over him.
“I can’t.” Olivia shook her head. “We’re having a welcome home dinner for Mike. Why don’t you come over?”
“I know about the dinner, moron. I practically live at your parents’.” When she wasn’t at the apartment she shared with Olivia or visiting her own mother in Swansboro, a hop, skip, and a jump from the beach.
“Then when are you coming?”
“I don’t think I should. This is a family thing.”
Olivia frowned. “Since when are you not family?”
“You go. I think I’ll call Bobby.”
“Bobby Thorn? Really? I thought you guys were done.”
“We’re on again, off again. It works for us. I thought you’d be happy I’m done mooning over your brother. Haven’t you always told me to let it go and move on? Well, I’m moving on. You’re right. He’s too old.”
“Seven years older than you isn’t too old.”
“And he’s never here.”
“He just got orders for Camp Lejeune. Which is here.”
“Duh. I passed geography years ago.”
“Yeah, but barely. He’ll be here for at least the next three years. That’s time to work your wiles on him.”
“I’ve come to the conclusion I don’t have any wiles. I mean, what’s the point? I’ll always be his little sister’s best friend. It’s demoralizing.” Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She blinked to hold them back, embarrassed at feeling so unattractive and stupid whenever Mike’s name came into play. “Bobby likes me.”
“Bobby wants to do you.” Olivia, blunt as always.
“So maybe I want to do him back.”
“You can do whatever—and whomever—you want.”
“Only you use ‘whom’ in regular talk. Seriously, Olivia. I know I’m lame, but you’re worse. When’s the last time you got laid?”
Olivia blushed and looked around.
“Easy. No one’s here but you and me.”
“My point was that you can have sex with anyone you want. Just do it because you want to, not to somehow be getting back at Mike. And before you say that’s stupid, I know you.”
Crap, she did. “It’s like you’re the left side of my brain. But I’m in your head too. So answer the quest
ion—when’s the last time you got laid?”
“I’m too busy to date. You know I have my five-year plan.”
“For Cava’s Java, I know. I’m there with you, girlfriend.” As a means of emotional support and manual labor when her friend opened her dream of a coffee shop in town. “I wish I had your drive. Is it bad I just want to find someone to love and settle down with? I want a family.” She was twenty-four, old enough to know what she didn’t want. No professional career to take up her free time. No backbreaking job that would force her to miss the sunset over the ocean, keep her from sharing high tea with her mom, or stop her from daily runs on the beach.
“No, it’s not bad. It’s good to know what you want. I’m so close, Maria. Just two more grand and I’m ready to hit the bank for a loan. Cava’s Java. I can almost see the sign out front.”
“I’m with you.” And planning to invest, though Olivia didn’t know that yet. The woman worked her tail off with two jobs and overtime to achieve her goals. Maria envied her that passion. Unfortunately, Maria had never had that kind of fervent desire for anything but Michael Cava. And now even that seemed to be waning.
“Come on. It’s just dinner. My mom and dad miss you.”
“Really? Because I had breakfast with them last weekend.”
“Yeah, but that was four days ago.” Olivia grinned. “Look, come to dinner. You’re over Mike, right? Dinner should be a no-brainer. We’ll have great food we don’t have to cook, a good time, and you can still go out with Bobby afterward.” Olivia’s sly smile gave Maria goose bumps. “Wouldn’t it be satisfying to let everyone know you have a date and you can’t stay? No waiting around for Mike or slobbering over his every move—”
“Hey.”
“—while you’re out with sexy Sergeant Bobby Thorn.”
She thought about it. “Hmm. You have a point.”
Olivia continued, “Besides, Brad will be at dinner, and he could use some friendly faces. He’s still getting over his bitchy ex-girlfriend.”
Maria had always had a soft spot for Olivia’s other older brother. “Well, for Brad, I guess. But I’m going out with Bobby after.” And if Bobby couldn’t make it, she’d call someone else. “Fine. What time?”
After a long run after work, followed by a well-deserved shower, Maria knocked once before walking into a house that might as well have been her own, for all the time she had spent in it growing up. Thick as thieves, she and Olivia did everything together. Everything except college. While Olivia finished attending classes to learn the world of finance, Maria worked longer hours at her mother’s store. She liked interacting with people. Most of the customers interested in crafting and quilting were women, many of them older ladies who loved nothing more than smiling and talking about quilting fabrics, yarn, and patterns.
For all that she enjoyed her work, though, it didn’t make meeting men any easier. In a Marine Corps town, she ran into them by the droves. Most were fun and nice enough, and she could tell the types just wanting a piece of ass from the nice boys wanting more. Fortunately, she’d met enough decent guys to have a thorough sex education under her belt. At the time, she’d thought she’d been developing skills to someday impress Mike. Now? Bah. Mike Schmike.
“Hello?” She followed the noise into the dining room and spotted Brad first. Like all the Cavas, the guy had looks. Tall, muscular, and wearing a grin that always had her smiling back. He had military-cropped black hair and whiskey-brown eyes that gleamed with amusement. So much for Olivia’s description of the man in mourning about his ex.
“Hey there. My favorite girl. Maria.” Brad opened his arms, and she flew into them. He swung her around with ease. “Do you even weigh a hundred pounds? It’s like holding a feather.”
“Bradley. You know better than to ask a girl her weight.” Elizabeth Cava chided her son as he set Maria down. “Hey, sweetie. Grab a pitcher of tea for me, would you?”
Always glad to help, Maria accepted the kiss on the cheek Elizabeth gave her and moved into the kitchen to fetch the tea. The heavenly scents of good old Southern home cooking filled the room. Fried chicken, corn on the cob, a nice salad, and there, her favorite. Elizabeth’s homemade slaw. She moved to grab the pitcher of tea and was nearly run over by a Mac truck.
“Whoa, sorry, honey.” Large, rough hands steadied her. “And who are—Maria Thompson?” Mike Cava—her crush/true love/adversary all balled up into one huge hunk of amazing.
Maria steadied her breath and pasted on a bland smile, giving lie to the racing of her pulse. “Oh, hey, Mike. Welcome back.” She grabbed the tea, winked, and left the kitchen.
Her heart refused to stop hammering. Well, shit. I’m not over him yet. Time to see Bobby, stat.
Find out more in A Major Seduction
http://fateddesires.com/
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From USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan’s Montgomery Ink Series
Ink Inspired
Shepard Montgomery loves the feel of a needle in his hands, the ink that he lays on another, and the thrill he gets when his art is finished, appreciated, and loved. At least that’s the way it used to be. Now he’s struggling to figure out why he’s a tattoo artist at all as he wades through the college frat boys and tourists who just want a thrill, not a permanent reminder of their trip. Once he sees the Ice Princess walk through Midnight Ink’s doors though, he knows he might just have found the inspiration he needs.
Shea Little has spent her life listening to her family’s desires. She went to the best schools, participated in the most proper of social events, and almost married the man her family wanted for her. When she ran from that and found a job she actually likes, she thought she’d rebelled enough. Now though, she wants one more thing—only Shepard stands in the way. She’ll not only have to let him learn more about her in order to get inked, but find out what it means to be truly free.
http://fateddesires.com/
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From Heather Long’s Martini Sisterhood series
Shaken
The Martini Sisterhood—five women bonded by the ties of friendship, supporting each other through challenges of surviving love, and loss. For these women, life can change on a whimsical dare and a magic eight ball…
She’s good at sorting out professional messes…
Accountant Zip Collins spends so much time on spreadsheets that’s she’s forgotten what it’s like to be between the sheets. During her weekly cocktail hour with the girls, they consult a Magic Eight Ball about her crush on bartender Tony. When the toy advises her to go for it, Zip dares to color outside the lines and go after the man who heats her dreams…
He’s in the middle of a personal trial…
Tony Giordano enjoys Friday nights above all others, because it’s the one night a week he’s sure to see the sexy accountant and her friends. Having long since resigned Zip to the look, but don’t touch category, he’s blown away by her invitation. Tony’s always been a planner but with his custody battle looming, he’s not prepared for the effect she has on him…
One night leaves them both shaken…
What began as a whimsical dare quickly turns passionate, but is an unquenchable desire—and a Magic Eight Ball’s advice—enough for these two planners to risk happily ever after on?
http://fateddesires.com/