He stopped in front of the photos she had loosely grouped on the wall. “Military police.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “The picture’s starting to come together. No soldiers, no cops.”
His intuition and the fact that he was absolutely correct in one guess was irritating.
Grumbling every curse word she’d picked up on military bases and in the halls of Lincoln High, Sue marched right back to her ladder. “As you can see, I’m busy. And you’re still a cop.”
She had one foot on the bottom rung and was preparing herself mentally to climb up as if she had zero fear of cracking her brain on the hardwood floors when Max caught her hand. “I have doughnuts.”
There were very few sentences guaranteed to smooth over a rocky morning and open her heart to unexpected visitors who made her want things she shouldn’t, but he’d hit on the most powerful of all.
“I’ll make coffee.” Sue pointed her finger and had to school her features to sternness when he held up both hands and backed away.
“I’ll behave. I’ll remember that poke for a long time.” He tilted his head to the side. “But I woke up thinking about you.”
Meeting his stare was dangerous, but she couldn’t back down. Unless she was crazy from the crusty old wallpaper glue, he meant it. Amusement showed in the crinkles around his eyes and the twitch of his lips. He didn’t flinch from her examination, either.
“You’re in for a world of hurt when you go back to Dallas, then.” Sue inched closer to him, completely confused by his nearness and the pinwheeling emotions turning her stomach into a hard knot.
“I’m starting to worry you’re right.” Max sighed.
“I usually am,” Sue said as she led him into her kitchen, self-conscious about her hair, her clothes, the state of the house that she loved so much, and the way he’d made her irritation float away with exactly the right words.
A man who made it hard to stay mad? That guy would be dangerous.
One carrying warm doughnuts? She was serious trouble.
She didn’t say anything as she stared hard at the coffee pot and wondered what the hell they were going to talk about and how she’d make it out of there without breaking every rule she had.
When the coffee stopped dripping, she poured two cups. “I’m sure you take it black.” She waited for him to nod before she dumped a teaspoon of sugar in hers and watched him grimace.
Then he took a doughnut out of the bag and handed it to her.
“You have nothing better to do than woo a woman who’s pretty set on not being wooed this morning?” Sue took a bite and watched him put half a doughnut in his mouth. She’d lecture him about calories and weight gain, but whatever he was doing worked.
“Nope. What put you in such a great mood this morning? Fireman call to discuss the history of voting or something?” Max devoured the other half of his doughnut and took another out of the bag.
“Nope. My mother. And it was more about the history of me not coming ‘home’ often enough.” Sue licked the glaze off her thumb and nearly choked on her coffee at the way Max studied her mouth.
Then he cleared his throat. “Where is home?”
Sue shrugged. “No idea, but my parents live in Killeen.”
Max nodded. “Fort Hood. Makes sense. But the military brat picks…small-town Texas to settle down?” He sipped his coffee. “Must be boring sometimes.”
“You say boring, but I prefer comfortable. Settled.” She ran a hand over the counter that would someday be granite. “Home. This is going to be home.”
He surveyed the room. “I see potential.”
“Buried under layers of wallpaper.” Sue motioned down her overalls. “Thus, my morning. And afternoon. And possibly my old age. After nine different schools in twelve years, I dreamed of a house with history. So, now, I’m never moving again.”
“Never’s a long time.” Max ate another doughnut. Whatever he wasn’t saying, it had something to do with what he thought of her plan. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t change her mind.
“I could help. I rewired most of my older brother’s house.” He shook his head. “Not that it was a good idea. Family can talk you into doing some crazy stuff.”
Instead of ranting about her parents again, Sue motioned for him to follow her. “How many brothers do you have?”
When the made it into the bedroom she’d been laboring over, Sue was pretty proud of herself.
Then Max shot up the ladder as if he were born to hover in the air. He picked up the scraper and a long roll of wallpaper fell to the floor. “Two older brothers. Both cops. One’s a detective, other’s SWAT.”
Sue whistled out loud. “Okay, so…I get it. Going back to Dallas, it’s about pride.”
He paused. “Well, yeah, but it’s mostly about doing what I’m meant to do. Some people rule offices with an iron fist.” He raised his eyebrow at her. “Others put bad guys away.”
Deciphering what he meant wasn’t too difficult. “And one of those jobs is way more important than the other?”
He didn’t sigh. Nothing twitched. His face was hard to read. “Nope. Just different. And I know which one I was meant to do.”
“Even if it gets you killed?” Sue crammed old wallpaper in the trash bag. “What if you aren’t so lucky next time? This time it was your leg. Do you think about how the people who love you will mourn if you’re killed doing what you’re ‘meant to do’?”
“It wasn’t luck, Sue. It was skill.” The tick of the muscle in his jaw proved he wasn’t completely unaffected.
“Can’t they both run out?” Sue wasn’t sure why she was pushing this. Maybe it was the conversation with her mother, a woman who’d waited with distressing anxiety more than once for word on her husband’s safety. Or it could be the idea that this good man, one who tempted her so, could be safe and happy and here if he made different choices.
He put the scraper down and climbed down the ladder. “I should go. This wasn’t supposed to be about my life choices.”
“What was it supposed to be about?” Sue stepped in the doorway and braced her hands.
“Flirting with a pretty girl. That’s who we are, no long-term relationship material, but fun.” He motioned between them. “This is not fun.”
Sue studied his serious face. “You tough guys are all so ‘my way or the highway.’ This is why I avoid your type.”
“Get out of the door and I’ll go.” Max shook his head. “What the hell is with you? You didn’t want me but you won’t let me go. You chase me until you can catch me and then you turn tail and run. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He motioned at the ladder. “Get back up on your ladder.”
His solution was the best. She’d come awfully close to breaking all of her rules for him.
She desperately wanted to forget the rules.
“But you offered to help.” Sue yanked off the bandanna she’d wrapped over her hair. “Your gentlemanly manners are usually impressive.”
“Are you using gentlemanly as a code for sexist?” Max picked up the scraper and twirled it in one hand.
“Not this time.” Sue winked at him.
“No soldiers. No cops. No coworkers.” Max crossed his arms over his chest.
“Not for forever, anyway. Every deployment, my mother would lose years off her life.” Sue shrugged. “And when my father was home, he was either worn out from everything he’d seen or distant. And my mother did everything she could to make sure his time at home was stress-free, mess-free.”
“That’s got to be hard on a kid.” Max bent to snag more paper off the floor and shove it into the bag she was holding.
“Yeah, mine will have a different life.” Sue cleared her throat. “Since they were the only people I knew most of the places we lived, it was hard. New schools. New friends. Never fitting in. I’m named after my father’s mother. She was from Mexico. Every single new friend I made got the lecture on who to say it properly. Susana. ‘A soft S, not a Z, and listen to how the A’s fall.’�
�� She could perfectly replicate her father’s tone and cadence because it was the same every time she brought someone home. “Here, I’m Sue. I make my decisions. I fit. That’s why this town, that school, my job, and this house matter so much.” And why the rules are the way they are.
Max nodded. “Your parents are one woman and one man. He made his choices and she let him. Nothing about you says you’d ever be content with the same setup. Your marriage would be different. So would your kids.” He twirled the scraper again.
Max Holt, surrounded by the destruction of her DIY efforts, wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, was temptation on a stick. The fact that he’d get all deep and inspirational at this point was unfair.
“We had breakfast. We talked, flirted some. Is that all you came for?” Sue asked.
“Nope. One more thing and I’ll go.” Max studied the floor and then nodded to himself.
She had enough time to retreat. Max closed the distance between them slowly, slid a hand around her waist, and pulled her close. Then he waited, his eyes on hers.
If she was going to stop this kiss, she had time. But she wanted it.
Max traced a finger across her jaw to her chin. “A girl like you, I never would have guessed you’d be such a big rule follower.” He studied her lips, his hands hard on her hips. “I hope you get everything you want, Susana.”
He nailed the pronunciation and in flash, she could imagine introducing him to her father and her father’s approving nod.
“It’s a beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” he whispered.
When he finally slid his lips across hers, Sue responded with a teasing tongue. The need to get closer went from daily simmer to a boil in an instant. Something about his understanding, his steady advance on her protective walls, made it impossible to back down from the desire that made the day brighter, the light sharper, and the heat more intense. The brush of his tongue, the strength-stealing power of the hands sliding from her hips to her thighs, made it impossible to think.
She didn’t want to let him go. When the kiss ended, he would leave.
Max had to end the kiss, but he held her tightly against his chest while they caught their breath. While she was pressed against his hard chest with those arms wrapped around her, Max seemed too strong to ever be hurt.
But he was only human. The dangers in Dallas would keep her tangled up every single day.
He wasn’t in Dallas yet. And they weren’t anywhere near the school today. He wasn’t a cop. They weren’t co-workers.
At that moment, they were just people who were amazing kissers.
“I should go.” Max straightened his shoulders. “Stay off the ladder until you have some help.”
He lurched a bit as he turned to leave, possibly because of his injury.
But more likely because she hadn’t let go of his hand.
“If you stay, I’ll give you the tour.” Sue planted her feet on the scratched hardwood and did her best to stop him. “Paint is next.”
His expressionless blank face was back. Sue understood that that was his own protective barrier, his way of controlling the emotion.
“The tour starts in the acting master bedroom. Eventually this will be my love nest, but for now, my nest is a mess of stacked boxes and —”
“No more teasing. You chased. I stopped. I chased. You ran.” Max propped his hands on his hips. “Tell me what you want.”
Sue pressed both hands to her cheeks. “Sheesh. I want to…know what you look like naked, not imagine it. I want to experience every single bit of what that body can do. And when you go, I want to be a miserable sad sack because of missing you, not regret.”
Max closed his eyes. “You have a real flair for words, Susana, a sharp mind.”
“I know.” She raised a hand to unbuckle her overalls. “And you should see what I can do with the rest of me.”
Chapter 6
Before the denim flap fell, Max had her hand in his. “Show me a bed. Now.”
When the mental picture of the state of said bed flashed across her mind, Sue cringed, but there was no way she was backing out.
“Just remember, I’m working—”
Max shoved the stack of clothes she had draped across the bed to be hung in the first closet to become available right into the floor. “I’ll pick them up later,” he muttered as he took her phone out of the bib pocket and set it on the stack of boxes where her nightstand would be.
His intense focus as he unhooked the other side of her overalls convinced Sue that worrying about the state of the yellow wallpaper, piles of books waiting for a bookcase to be moved, and jumble of shoes in the corner would be a tragic waste of effort.
“I’ll get this. Take off your shirt.” Sue nearly dislocated her elbow squirming to push the overalls down. What idiot invented full-body denim anyway?
Max grumbled as he stood, reached behind him, and yanked the T-shirt over his head. “I wanted to do that.”
Sue waved a hand. “Plenty of work to be done, mister.” The hard knot of denim at her knees wouldn’t budge, but Max slipped his warm hands down the skin of her thighs and under the overalls to toss the ball on the floor. Panting, wearing her paint-splattered T-shirt and everyday underwear, Sue wished again for half a second this was the end of a long, romantic date, the kind that required the matching bra and panties.
Then Max toed off his shoes, unbuttoned his jeans, and shoved them and his cotton boxers down into the floor.
“Whoa.” Sue slowly sat up, her eyes locked on the hard planes of his stomach. “No wonder I nearly broke my finger with a poorly aimed poke.”
Max’s garbled laugh caught her attention.
“Sorry. I should have stopped at ‘whoa.’” Instead of agreeing, he braced both arms on the mattress and crawled over her, each inch of his advance rolling over her and stealing her ability to brain. No braining, at all.
Then she remembered his injury. The element of surprise made it possible to shove Max over on his back. Sue seized her chance and moved to straddle him, her skin teased by the fine hair of his thighs. She traced the lines radiating from the circular scar. So much trauma, never mind the danger he must have been in. Seeing the evidence made her nose sting.
She would not cry.
Max wrapped his hand around her nape, rubbing the tense muscles.
“Good thing I’m not going to fall in love with you.” Sue sniffed. “That would be a good reminder of what kind of work you do every day.”
“The leg’s fine. It’s also a reminder that life goes on, every day, and it’s too short to waste.” Max ran warm hands over her shoulders, chasing away the cold doubts and replacing them with care. “Another part of me is aching, though.”
Sue rolled her eyes and snorted. “A sense of humor, Max?”
He pulled her forward to press a kiss against her lips. “I’ll stop if you will.”
Sue rested her forehead against his, her doubts fading farther away with each brush of hands over her shoulders. He was right. Life was short, even for mere mortals like Sue. And the two of them had no time to waste.
Make this count.
Sue ran a finger down the center of his chest to hover provocatively over his abdomen. “No stopping. I’m just getting started.”
~*~
Sue Walker, half naked and sprawled across him, was as much fun as he imagined. The tears that had welled up were gone, and it was a good thing. There was no way to brush off her worries without lying or being a complete jerk. But they could laugh together.
“Do your worst. I can take it.” When she immediately stretched up to pull the shirt over her head, Max wrapped both hands around her thighs. “I’m tough. Keep going.”
Her sexy striptease faltered when he inched both thumbs under the edge of her underwear. Then she shifted restlessly and stripped her bra off like he was timing her.
“Hot damn.” Max ignored the pop of elastic as he pressed both hands to the curve of her waist and memorized soft, cool skin, gentle curves,
and the weight of perfect breasts. “I mean, whoa.”
Sue smiled as she covered his hands with hers, moving and squeezing to show him exactly what she liked. This was the Sue of his dreams. She wasn’t afraid of what might happen. She confidently took control.
Until he turned the tables.
“Come here.” Max hugged her close, hissing at the full-body glide of her silky skin over his as he rolled them both over. He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her neck and enjoyed the scrape of her nails over his shoulders. Teasing her nipples with his fingers and mouth made her curse next to his ear.
“Of course you’re good at this.”
“Did you doubt me?” Max concentrated on her breasts while he inched her underwear down and off.
“Never,” she sighed in his ear when he ran his hand back up her thigh to brush a thumb over her curls.
“Show me,” he whispered and nipped the sensitive crook of her neck.
Sue covered his hand with hers again and each shift of their hands turned up the heat, the need. His concentration faltered when her other hand slipped over the curve of his thigh to grip his hip.
In a gravelly voice, she said, “Condom. We’re going to need it. And I haven’t unpacked that box yet so…”
Now. They needed a condom now. Max clenched his jaw and yanked up his jeans to grab his wallet.
Please be there. Please be there.
When he felt the crinkle of the condom wrapper, the thrill and all-out arrogance of a man about to enjoy the best sex of his life made him clumsy. “Here. You put it on.”
Sue licked her lips. “Gladly.”
With his fingers working between her legs, her hands weren’t much more coordinated, but each brush of her fingers against him sent hard jolts of pleasure right down to his toes.
“Finally,” she growled and then pulled him over her.
His satisfied groan was cut short as he pushed inside. Every circuit fizzled with wet heat and the tight bands of her arms and legs wrapped around him.
“Oh, Max,” Sue moaned, a little laugh at the end. “Why haven’t we been doing this for months?”
Book Boyfriends Cafe Summer Lovin' Anthology 2015 Page 195