Maggie shot him a quick glance and he forced a smile and said, “It’s okay, Maggie.”
Before his father could say anything else, he did what he had planned to do for the many months he’d been laid up in the hospital, alone except for his military buddies.
“I was hoping we could talk, Father. Spend some time together. It’s almost lunch hour.”
“I have a prior engagement that I can’t cancel,” he quickly replied. Too quickly.
Peeking at Maggie from the corner of his eye, he noted the way she looked down and away, clearly aware that his dad was lying.
“Then how about dinner at my apartment? I’m flexible. I’ll even cook,” he offered and looked toward Maggie. “I’m sure you can free up his schedule for tonight.”
“Actually, he has an important engagement tonight, but he’s totally free for tomorrow,” she said brightly, earning a glare from his father.
He met Maggie’s gaze and grinned, thankful for her intervention. “Wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow night at six,” he said to his father and with a precise military pivot, he turned and left the office.
But as he walked out, he sort of regretted that he hadn’t had more time to spend with Maggie. In the very short time they’d just spent together, he realized she had spunk.
He liked that in a woman. Especially one as sexy and beautiful as Maggie.
Chapter 2
Trevor dashed to the kitchen with his groceries as the familiar tones announcing a video call blared from the laptop sitting on the kitchen table.
Rafe Castillo’s avatar identified the caller. He tapped the screen to accept the call and plopped down onto a kitchen chair.
“Mason, mi amigo! How’s it hanging in the Big Apple?” Rafe said. Behind him, the barracks were mostly dark and only lumps on cots were visible, although here and there dim light said other soldiers were also reaching out on their phones and computers.
“I’m surviving, dude. You’re up late. How’s it going?” he asked, grateful for the call from his Navy Seal friend. Rafe and he were both stationed at the same location, but Rafe and his team had been out on a mission when they’d been attacked. Luckily they’d arrived in time to help drive away the last of the Taliban fighters.
“Everything here is frosty. Heard they gave you a Silver Star. Jase and Doc as well,” Rafe said and leaned in closer to the screen as if to get a better read on him.
Trevor peered in the direction of the hallway where his uniform jacket hung from a door knob. The blue, white, and red of the Silver Star ribbon nestled next to the white and purple of the Purple Heart on the left side of his jacket. He hadn’t really expected the honor. He’d just been protecting his friends and the wounded men at the medical station.
The medals almost made him feel uneasy. He didn’t like the attention of feeling like a hero and Rafe was a good enough friend to understand that.
“You okay, Trev?” Rafe asked at his prolonged silence.
“Yeah, man. Just thinking about things,” he said and returned his attention to his friend.
“Hope they’re good things, mi amigo. How are Doc and Jase by the way? Are they headed back tomorrow as well?” Rafe said and turned away for a moment to shout out to someone in the barracks. “Fuck off, Williams. Can’t you see I’m busy?” he said, which earned him a volley of curses and complaints from the other man.
Trevor smiled at the antics, missing the easy camaraderie he had found in the military. During the first two months in the hospital he’d appreciated it as he’d healed, but once they’d been shipped back to the States for their month of convalescent leave, he hadn’t seen his buddies as often and he missed them.
“Everyone is doing fine. Jase got hitched and is just back from his honeymoon. Doc’s on shore duty. She’s not coming back with us, Rafe.”
Regret flared across his friend’s handsome features. “That sucks about Doc. We’ll miss her. What about you? Ready to head back?”
“Totally ready, man,” he said. After all, it wasn’t like he had anything he’d want to stay at home for.
“How about you? You’re due for leave soon, right? Going home to Elena?” he asked and immediately regretted it as his friend’s features darkened. A muscle ticked along the sharp line of Rafe’s jaw and his full lips tightened. The earlier humor present in his brown-eyed gaze disappeared.
“I’ll be heading out next week. Not sure where I’m going.” The dead tone of his voice was impossible to miss.
“I know the feeling, dude, but . . . It’s time you and Elena talked it out. Made peace.”
Rafe barked out a laugh. “Seriously, Trev? Did you and your old man make peace?” his friend shot back.
With a shrug, he said, “Actually, I went to see him today. We’re having dinner tomorrow night.”
Taken aback, his friend sat there silently for a long moment. “I hope it works out for you, mi amigo. I really do.”
He hoped so, too. His dad was the only immediate family he had left and he didn’t like the distance that had sprung up between them in recent years. He knew that Rafe was in a similar position with his wife. They’d grown apart in the time spent away from each other, but he got the sense that his friend still loved her.
“Go see Elena. Work it out with her and if you can’t, you’ll know to move on,” he urged.
Rafe laughed again, smiled ruefully, and shook his head. “So when did you become a fuckin’ therapist?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t charge you for my time. Watch your six. I’ll see you in a few days,” he said, thinking about the long trip necessary to head back to where they were stationed.
“See you, Trev. Watch your six,” Rafe repeated and a second later, the video call snapped off.
He leaned back in his chair and the tension rolled off his body. He hadn’t even realized just how uptight he’d gotten during the call.
Part of it was the discussion about his father and Rafe’s wife. Sore spots with both of them. But beneath that had been the realization that his time to heal was over, not that he was totally recovered. His body might be in one piece again, but you didn’t get shot up as bad as he had and not worry about it happening once more.
That niggling thought lingered as he put away the groceries he’d bought to make tomorrow night’s dinner. Especially since he knew a big part of the distance between him and his dad was due to his decision to join the military and continue a long-standing family tradition that had begun when the first Mason ancestor had served during the Revolutionary War.
Only his father had bucked that tradition, choosing to grow the family business instead of going into the military. It had paid off well for them and he knew that his father had hoped that Trevor would choose to join him in running the company, but Trevor had wanted to first do his duty to his family’s tradition and to his country. Then he could think about honoring his father’s wishes.
Maybe he could convince his father of that during tomorrow’s dinner. A dinner facilitated by Maggie. His father would have likely found some kind of excuse to avoid him, but Maggie had made it impossible for him to do so.
He was grateful for that and grinned as he remembered that last, almost conspiratorial look they’d shared. And her smile, kind of subdued, but with a hint of mischief beneath.
Closing his eyes, he pictured how she’d looked earlier that day. Older for sure, but that was to be expected since by his guess, she had to be at least twenty-one to his twenty-three. You changed a lot in five years.
She was more sedate now in her off-the-rack business clothes, dark auburn hair gathered up into some fancy twist at the back of her head. He kind of remembered her with more hair, wild and curling all around that very cute face and expressive emerald eyes.
And definitely not to be forgotten, that sweet ass and breasts that made him itch to touch and taste while he kissed her full and just too tempting lips.
Fuck, he thought as his body hardened with those imaginings. It was useless to think about thing
s that could never be because (a) he was leaving in two days and (b) Maggie was off limits.
Way off limits, the little voice inside his head reminded.
Somehow that thought didn’t communicate itself to the rest of him as he leaned forward and typed Maggie’s name into the search engine although he should have known better. It was too common a name.
Heading to one of the social networking sites, he popped over to the page for the public high school she had attended. Scrolling through their list of followers, he smiled as he found her.
Her profile picture was a selfie of some kind, with only half her face in a full, open-mouthed smile that just screamed “Happy!” The remainder of the shot was of her upper body clad in a loose white tank top that showed off her summer tan, lots of freckles, and for fuck’s sake, those amazing tits.
His cock jerked in his jeans at the sight of them and he sucked in a rough breath, feeling like a total perv.
It was just her profile pic, damn it.
But the perviness factor didn’t keep him from clicking on the tab for photos and checking out the public pictures in her albums. Casual shots of her and her friends on the Jersey Shore. Other photos of them a little more dressed up on some adventure in the city.
What struck him the most, other than that she was just downright gorgeous in every one, was that happy glimmer in her eyes and on her lips that said she was content with who she was. It made him wonder if she was as accepting of those around her.
If she could be as accepting of him, as fucked up as he was in so many ways.
A crazy thought and yet it didn’t keep him from clicking on the little button to request her friendship or writing a short message that she might or might not read.
Thanks for what you did today. I hope my father doesn’t take it out on you.
He hesitated, not really sure how to end it or if he wanted to say more. He sat there, staring at the screen until he finally dashed off the last few words.
I wish we could have gotten to know each other better.
He pushed the send button before he had a chance to reconsider.
* * *
After work, Maggie slogged back to the downtown apartment she shared with three other college students.
It was nearly nine o’clock and she was dog tired. She’d been at work at seven in the morning to assist Samuel Mason during a video conference with some overseas clients, and she’d barely had time to grab a quick lunch. Forget about having dinner.
Mr. Mason had clearly been pissed off at her for boxing him into a corner. He’d exacted his revenge in the form of non-stop work until she’d finally completed the last little nitpicky assignment he’d given her.
Not that I regret what I did, she thought as she slid onto one of the kitchen chairs, laid down the paper bag with the slices of pizza she’d bought on the way home, and poured herself a glass of wine from the communal bottle of white zinfandel. She was able to pour one last glass from it which under apartment rules meant it was her turn to purchase a new bottle.
Grabbing the bag with the pizza and the glass of wine, she headed to her bedroom, feeling decidedly anti-social which was totally unusual for her. She rarely let things upset her to that point, but she was alternately pissed off, upset, and intrigued, although not necessarily in that order.
“You okay?” her roommate Becky asked when she trudged through the shared living room where Becky was watching television.
“Just tired,” she said and forced a smile to her face.
“Rough day at the office?”
“You could say that,” she said and Becky seemed to understand that she wasn’t in one of her normally talkative moods.
“’Night, Maggie,” Becky said and turned her attention back to her show.
In her room, Maggie put her wine and pizza on the nightstand, stripped down, and slipped into an oversized t-shirt. Plopping onto her bed, she snared the remote and flipped through too many channels before she finally found something to watch.
Dirty Dancing was on and who couldn’t feel good after watching that movie?
She tore open the bag with the pizza, using it as a plate on her lap. The aromatic and earthy smells of the yeasty bread and rich sauce filled her senses. She ate her first slice quickly she was so hungry and took a little more time with the second, grateful that she wasn’t one of those girls who had to watch every mouthful.
But then again, she had no desire to be a size zero. She loved her nicely rounded size eight and as far as she could tell, so did others.
Like Trevor Mason, she thought, recalling the once over he had given her earlier that day and the smile as he walked out of his father’s office.
Damn but that smile, that full of sunshine and warmth smile, had been worth every nasty ass bit of piece work his father had tossed at her as punishment.
Even now just thinking about it created that little skitter deep inside and she got a little wet imagining how that smile might feel against her lips. How that amazing big body might feel next to her. On top as he made love to her.
With one hunger satisfied, another took over.
She grabbed her glass of wine and took a healthy swig. Popping out of bed, she walked over to the door and locked it, not wanting any interruption or surprises.
Especially since the movie was just getting to one of those good parts where there were a lot of bare-chested Swayze shots.
She imagined Trevor might look just like that with all those beautiful muscles and a body that moved effortlessly. She’d noticed that today. For a big man he was fluid as he walked with not a wasted or awkward movement.
Her clit tightened just a little more with the thought as she imagined just how amazing he would be in bed.
She yanked off her t-shirt and in the nightstand, reached for her B.O.B., her little battery operated boyfriend, and a small tube of gel.
Her nipples hardened and in between her legs, she grew wet in anticipation of her fantasy date with Trevor. Too bad there would be no possibilities for the real thing.
It just wasn’t the timing of it with Trevor set to leave in a couple of days.
Mason Industries was providing her the scholarship and job she needed to be able to stay in school. With only one year left to graduate, she could not fuck it up by even something as simple as a date with Trevor.
His father would go shit ballistic considering how angry he’d been today.
That dimmed her desire a little, but she pushed aside those thoughts because she needed that something, that bit of fantasy, to make her day a little better.
Lying against her pillows, she spread her legs, squeezed out a tiny bit of the gel and found the magic spot with it. Warmth and a pleasant tingle started immediately on her clit.
She turned up the volume on the television to drown out the slight buzz of B.O.B. and well, anything else. She wasn’t a screamer thankfully, but a little satisfied sound might just happen.
Maybe more than might, she thought as she closed her eyes and pictured Trevor in his uniform again, looking beautiful even in all that khaki. Immense shoulders filling out the jacket. Thick-muscled legs powerful as he moved.
She reached up and tweaked the hard nub of her nipple with her hand while she powered up B.O.B. and his steady little vibration filled her hand. Spreading her legs wide, she brought him down to her nub, slick from the gel and her own moistness.
She jumped at the first sensation of the vibrations hitting that spot, then settled in to find the right rhythm, tugging and playing with her nipples while she searched for that one special place . . .
Ah, and there it was, she thought and moved her hips a bit, shifting against the vibrator as she reached for a release. Pulling back to prolong the satisfaction as those sure vibrations sent little pulses of pleasure throughout her body.
Little being the operative word.
Trevor wouldn’t be little. He’d be big and thick. So hot and smooth, she thought and dipped the vibrator down to just tease the entrance
to her vagina before returning to her clit.
Those smiling lips would be just as hot and wet as he brought them to her nipples and sucked and bit and . . .
Fuck, but she was already close to coming only it was too soon. She didn’t want it to end so soon.
She pulled back, shifting her hand away from her breasts and B.O.B. away from that spot that was still throbbing and sending shot after shot of pleasure throughout her body. But as she opened her eyes and caught the love scene on the television, it was impossible to hold back.
She brought the vibrator back to her clit and slipped one finger and then a second into her vagina. Stroking hard, she rocked her hips against her hand and the vibrator, imagining that it was Trevor deep inside her and against her clit. Moving faster and harder as with each shift of her hips, passion spiked until with one last stroke of her fingers and buzz against her nub, she came.
Her body jerked and trembled as sensations pummeled her body, but like microwaved food, the heat just didn’t last for very long.
Relaxing back against her pillows, she tried to hold onto the lingering sensations coursing through her, but it was hard to fight the reality that as good as this felt, being with Trevor would have felt a hell of a lot better.
She pushed off the bed to take care of things and after, tucked B.O.B. back into the nightstand and grabbed her laptop because she was just too wired to sleep.
She thought about reaching out to one of her siblings to chat, but figured it was probably too late. Just a quick look through her e-mails until the one forwarded from the social media site snared her attention.
She had a friend request and a message from Trevor.
Trevor! She wanted to squeal like a fourteen year old girl at a boy band concert.
Containing the first sizzle of excitement, she accepted the friend request and then read his short message. Fixated on the last line, repeating it over and over again in her head.
I wish we could have gotten to know each other better.
Yeah, she wished that as well, only it was impossible for way too many reasons.
She started to write back a reply, but then stopped cold.
Take a Chance Erotic Romance Box Set Page 15