Maya And The Tough Guy (Big Girl Panties #2)

by Carter Ashby

  After several minutes, Maya’s sobs finally settled. Jayce reached over to his end table and grabbed a box of tissues. Maya sat back and dabbed at her eyes and nose. Then she stared down at her hands. “I know it was never my fault,” she said softly. “But is this what we all feel like? Are my kids doomed to feel this kind of guilt and fear?”

  Jayce pushed her hair back over her shoulder. “I think you should ask Addy that question. I asked her once, back in high school. What I asked her was, ‘Do you ever feel like you don’t deserve to be loved?’”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said no. She said she never felt that way. I mean, her parents are some cold hearted bastards, but they did something right because she’s the most emotionally stable person I’ve ever met.”

  “What about Kellen?”

  “Kellen is, too, but he’s been off at times. A lot of his ‘nice guy’ image has just been him separating himself from people. Damon did that to him. Kellen learned early on that people might look nice on the outside but be a monster on the inside. And for a while, Kellen believed himself responsible. But he figured out, just like I did, and just like you have, that the behavior of others is not his fault and that he does deserve love. Just like you do.”

  She dried her eyes again and sat up a little straighter. She nodded. “Thanks.”

  Jayce kissed her forehead.

  “You should be a psychiatrist,” Maya said.

  “I’m a bartender. It’s the same thing except my medicine tastes better and my advice is free.”

  She grinned brightly at him. “You’re a good bartender.”

  He nodded, accepting the compliment. “So, your kid called me ‘Uncle Jayce’ today. What do you think about that?”

  “I think I should have taken the time to make friends with you a long time ago.”

  With that, she kissed him on the cheek and stood to leave. Jayce leapt up and caught her arm. “Hey, wait.”

  She turned and raised her eyebrows.

  “I just wanted to thank you for coming here. For talking to me.”

  She smiled and flippantly said, “No one else was available.”

  As she headed for the door, he crashed from his brief high back into the reality of Maya’s indifference toward him. But at the door, she stopped and turned, a small frown creasing her forehead. “Jayce, I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean that. I came to you because I knew you cared and I knew you’d want to know. I came because you’re a good listener, you don’t judge, and—and I’m coming to trust you. So, that’s why I really came.”

  “Oh, Maya,” he breathed, and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her hard and deep. When the kiss started to drive him too far into the insanity of lust, he broke away and buried his face in her neck, hiding for a moment to regain his composure.

  “You wanna spend the night again, Friday?” she asked.

  He stood back and grinned at her. “Yeah, absolutely.”

  Her smile was kind of sad. “It can’t be an every Friday thing, you know? Because I already don’t get a lot of time with the kids and I like to wake up on Saturday morning with them climbing into bed with me and snuggling. They’re so sweet that way.”

  He was nodding. “Okay. Not every Friday. But this Friday for sure?”

  “Yeah. Kellen and Zoey can babysit for us.”

  “Great.” He kissed her again, lightly this time.

  She backed away. “See you this evening.” The door clicked shut and Jayce stared at it for way too long after.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Kellen brought Mattie to the gym again the next morning. Their workout ran a little more smoothly this time. On Friday, Kellen texted to say he was too tired and could Jayce come get Mattie. Jayce wasn’t sure Maya would want her boy going to the gym alone with him, but he figured he’d give it a try.

  He drove to Zoey’s house. When Kellen answered the door, Jayce just laughed. The guy was blood-shot, his hair a mess, and still in his underwear. “Bad night?” Jayce asked, sliding past him into the house. He glanced around, hoping Mattie was still planning on coming.

  “We were up all night,” Kellen said. “Fighting.” He glared at Zoey who was in her business suit, running around filling her thermos with coffee and searching for her purse.

  “You were up all night being stubborn,” she growled.

  Kellen moved into the living room, sat on the couch, and dug his palms into his eyes.

  Zoey looked good. Jayce went in the kitchen for a cup of coffee and then sat in an armchair. “So what are we fighting about today, kids?”

  Kellen gave him a disgusted look.

  Zoey said. “Same thing we’ve been fighting about. He wants me to move out into the middle of nowhere with him when I own a perfectly good house right here in town.”

  “That cabin is at most a ten minute commute—shit, why am I even bothering.” Kellen fell back on the couch.

  “The man renovated it with his own two hands,” Jayce said to Zoey, who flipped him off. “He’s got a hot-tub for fuck’s sake.”

  “Shh. Language.” Maya walked in, wearing nothing but a tank top and girl boxers. Her hair was piled on top of her head with a giant clip of some sort. Jayce stood and followed her into the kitchen, a dog after his master. He wanted to smell her, right in her neck just beneath her ear, if she would just be still for one minute.

  She was trying to pour coffee and laughing at the way he was insistently getting into her space. At last she gave up, turned into him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Jayce felt instantly at peace. He buried his nose in her neck and inhaled. “Tonight, right?”

  “Yes, Jayce.” She sounded like a mother losing her patience. He was doing his best not to seem insecure, but the plain and simple fact was, he was insecure. Maya could decide at any moment to end what they’d started and it would barely affect her. Meanwhile, he’d be devastated. Maybe after tonight, he’d have her convinced that they were right together.

  He kissed her neck and jaw and sucked her earlobe between his teeth so that she squealed and writhed against him.

  Then, because he heard a bedroom door open, he slowed down and backed away, his hands resting on her waist.

  “I’m ready to go, Uncle Jayce.”

  Jayce grinned at Maya. “Hear that?” he asked.

  She patted his cheek and he turned toward the living room. “You coming, Kellen?”

  Kellen glared up at him with pure despair in his eyes.

  Jayce was okay with it. Some time alone with Mattie might be good. The kid didn’t say much as they climbed in the truck and drove across town to the gym. Jayce parked and then reached behind the seat. “Here, I got these training gloves over at the Tae Kwon Do studio. They should fit.”

  Matthew took them and Jayce got out of the truck. Matthew was shoving his hands into them as they walked into the gym. They tossed their coats on a chair next to the door. Matthew was wearing a sleeveless tee with a picture of The Hulk on it, and black shorts. His hair was kind of shaggy and he kept having to toss it out of his face. For a moment, Jayce thought he looked pretty cute.

  But then he thought about how much the boy probably didn’t want to be cute. They did their warm-up now that Mattie had figured out how to jump rope—he’d apparently spent all day Wednesday practicing. After that, Jayce showed him a couple of weight lifting exercises, and then let him practice in the ring with Ace, who’d really taken a liking to the kid.

  Jayce smiled as Ace gave the boy a lesson, showing him stances and how to punch. He listened with warmth in his heart as Mattie talked and laughed.

  “Whose kid?”

  Jayce didn’t turn. Norris was right behind him. He wanted to say, “Mine.” But Matthew wasn’t his. “Maya’s.”

  “Smart move. You wanna get into a woman’s pants, you gotta act like you like her kids.”

  Jayce turned around, shoved the old man, and immediately regretted it. He hated showing any kind of weakness to Norris. He didn�
��t want the old man knowing he still had the power to anger him. “Don’t talk to me about Maya. Or her kids. Ever.”

  Norris grinned maliciously. But then Jayce closed the distance and stared him down. The grin faded and Norris looked smaller. “Yeah, whatever. You don’t have to be so pissy about it.” He turned and went to the weight area to spot for a guy.

  Jayce turned back to Matthew who was having a blast with Ace. He just stood there, arms folded over his chest, and watched.

  When they finished, Jayce held the punching bag while Matthew went at it. Then Matthew tried to hold the bag for Jayce, but ended up getting lifted off the ground a time or two. Which made them both laugh.

  After an hour, Jayce noticed Matthew finally flagging. They were both drenched in sweat, but Jayce thought it would be best to take him home rather than using the showers in the gym. They drove home in companionable silence, none of the tension that used to exist between them.

  When they walked into the house, Kellen was asleep on the couch and Maya was making breakfast.

  “How come Uncle Kellen never has to go to work?” Matthew asked.

  “Because he doesn’t have a real job,” Jayce replied. And Kellen, the freelance photojournalist, must have really been asleep because he didn’t respond.

  “Did you have fun, Mattie?” Maya called from the kitchen.

  Matthew hurried to her side. “It wasn’t fun, Mom. I’m gonna train to be a boxer. This guy named Ace says he’ll show me how and if I work hard every day, then when I’m eighteen I can box professionally.”

  “Oh, great,” Maya said, with no enthusiasm whatsoever. She slid Jayce a look that suggested if her son became a professional boxer, Jayce would be paying for it some day.

  “And Ace says Uncle Jayce could be a boxer if he wanted. Have you seen his muscles? Show her your muscles, Uncle Jayce.”

  “I’ve seen his muscles, honey. He’s very strong, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah. But look at mine.” Matthew flexed his arm to show off his bicep.

  Maya gave his skinny arm a pinch. “Wow. You are super strong. And sweaty. Better go get yourself a shower, okay?”

  “Okay, Mom. Can we have bacon with breakfast? Fighters need lots of protein.” He left without waiting for an answer.

  She turned to Jayce and arched a brow.

  “He’s eight,” Jayce said. “Next week he’ll want to be an astronaut.”

  She grinned. “Well, Uncle Jayce isn’t an astronaut. And right now, you’re the hero. So I’m guessing the boxing dream will stay alive for a while.”

  She’d put on jeans, but she was still wearing the tank top from earlier, no bra underneath. His hands itched to touch her, to caress her, to feel her nipples harden.

  “You want something to eat?” she asked.

  He’d actually assumed that this breakfast was partially for him. But he didn’t want to intrude. “Uh, I should probably get home and shower.”

  She nodded like she’d expected him to say that. She didn’t ask him to stay, either.

  “Okay, well, I’ll see you at work,” he said.

  “Thanks, Jayce. I haven’t seen Mattie this happy in a while.”

  “My pleasure.” He thought he might lean in for a kiss, but she turned back to the stove.

  He frowned and backed away. “See ya.”

  “Yep. Five o’clock.”

  He swallowed down a lump of unwanted emotion, turned, and left.

  #

  Kellen offered to tend bar for the last couple of hours that night. So at eleven, Jayce turned it over to him. He’d filled in before. Having such a flexible career made Kellen a good substitute bartender.

  So shortly after Maya clocked out, Jayce drove to her house. She opened the door and looked…disappointed? Maybe he was pushing too hard. Maybe he needed to give her some space. Not tonight, though. Please, God, not tonight.

  “Hey,” she said. “I haven’t even showered yet.”

  “Fun. Let’s do it together.” He hooked an arm around her waist, kissed her, and nudged his way into the house, kicking the door closed behind him. She was still in her uniform. He squeezed her hard against him and kissed her until at last she melted in his arms. When he pulled back, she was smiling blissfully and not looking at all disappointed.

  She took his hand and led him back to the shower. He had her against the wall. And then again in the bed. And at last on the sofa where they snuggled, drank wine, and watched a movie.

  Before they went to bed, she slipped into the prettiest, pink nightgown. Jayce felt like a lovestruck kid again as he watched her look at herself in the mirror and touch the lace edges at the bottom.

  “Do you like this?” Maya asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” he replied.

  She turned and smiled brightly. “I’ve had this for years. I originally bought it for a Valentine’s night surprise for Damon. But he came home drunk and I couldn’t bear to soil this pretty nightie with bad memories. I thought I’d wait, but there wasn’t ever a time when I felt like I wanted to give this to him. And finally I gave up and kept it hidden. This is the first time I’ve worn it except when I tried it on the day I bought it.”

  She turned back to the mirror and touched the place where the neckline dipped. “I’m glad you like it,” she said.

  “You look like an angel.”

  Maya sighed. “I think you put me on a pedestal.”

  “You put yourself on a pedestal. What else can I do but worship you, Maya?”

  She turned to him, all humor vanished, her eyes hot with lust. She crawled up the bed, onto his lap, and straddled him. They kissed and touched. He nipped at her breast with his teeth through the satin of the gown. She gasped and arched and dug her fingers into his hair, which drove him crazy.

  “We’ll keep this on, huh?” he asked, giving the nightgown a tug.

  Her answer was another gasp, but that was likely because of where he’d slipped his fingers just then. He massaged her and then encouraged her to lower herself onto him. When she did, Jayce wrapped Maya’s legs around him and hugged her close. The slow grinding was different from the hot, hard thrusting of earlier, but it was somehow more intimate. It also gave her more control of her orgasm, which he liked. He enjoyed feeling her take her own pleasure from him.

  They both came in a flood of warmth, holding each other and moaning softly into each other’s necks. He fell asleep with her in her bed and this time, when they woke up in the morning, they were alone. She surprised him again, as she had last week, with some spontaneous morning sex, and then they woke up slowly in each other’s arms. Jayce couldn’t stop smiling as he stroked her hair. He felt her tense in preparation to get up and leave him, so he held on tighter.

  She giggled. “Let go, I have to get up.”

  “Stay. I’ll get up and do whatever it is you have to get up and do.”

  “Well I have to pee, so I don’t think you can do that for me.”

  He sighed, rolled to his back, and let her go. She laughed and threw her pillow at him. He watched her slip out of the room and down the hall, the nightgown fluttering around the tops of her thighs. He thought he might have to marry that nightgown if he couldn’t marry her.

  He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, he was smelling…something. Cookies?

  He got up and pulled on his boxers. She was in the kitchen taking blueberry muffins out of the oven. She was also scrambling eggs and frying sausage. In her nightgown, which clung to her curves. Jayce licked his lips.

  “You okay?”

  He snapped his eyes up and smiled. “More than okay.”

  She laughed and went back to cooking. “There’s coffee.”

  “All I really want at the moment is to bury my face between your legs and listen to you scream my name.”

  She caught herself on the counter, turned her red face to him, and grinned. “Jesus, Jayce.”

  He leaned against the fridge and folded his arms over his chest. She went back to cooking and he went back to f
antasizing. “Hope you like muffins,” she said absently.

  He grinned. “Love them.”

  “I’m almost done here. Hopefully they’ll stay warm long enough for the butter to melt.”

  He went up behind her and rested his hands on her hips. “You want me to butter your muffin, Maya?”

  She finally caught on. He felt her stiffen. “Oh, my God, Jayce,” she laughed. She turned and pushed him away. “Get out of my kitchen. You’re disgusting.”

  “You’re the one making muffins and sausages.” He backed away to the bar where the coffee pot was and poured himself a cup. “I’m immature and I have a one track mind. You should have seen this coming.”

  “Coming?” she asked.

  He laughed.

  “Great, now you’ve got my mind in the gutter, too.” She dished out two plates and shoved one at him. “Here, eat your buttered muffin and let’s stop turning our breakfast into foreplay.”

  “I like breakfast foreplay.” He moved to the table with his food and coffee. “What time are the kids coming back home?”

  “Tomorrow.” She slid into the chair across from him.

  He grinned hopefully.

  But she shook her head. “You can’t come back over tonight.”

  He slumped. “Wore you out, did I? You need time to recover? I understand.”

  She blushed and ducked to hide her smile.

  “Well we’ve got today, then, yeah? You don’t even have to work until five.”

  She gave him the mom look, half amusement, half quit-while-you’re-ahead. “Actually, I was hoping we could talk.”

  His heart stopped for an incredibly long pause. Nothing good could come from talking. “Why?”

  She blinked. “Um, because I had an idea.”

  He relaxed. “Oh, good. I like ideas. What’s your idea?”

  Her breasts moved faintly beneath the pink satin, the outline of her nipples rising and falling with her breath.

  “So what do you think?” she asked. She’d been talking and he hadn’t been listening.