Book Boyfriends Cafe Summer Lovin' Anthology 2015

by Melinda Curtis

  He had an answer. It had to do with rules or something, but the words wouldn’t fall in line so he kissed her instead. When she met his thrust, breathing became impossible. Each time she panted, the need tightened. His hips moved. She urged him on. Intent on making sure her brains were as scrambled as his, Max moved his fingers back between her thighs.

  Her instant moan flipped the switch and then it was all about the end. “Sue…” He didn’t know what was supposed to follow, but she nodded quickly. Then her muscles clenched around him, and she panted in his ear.

  With one last push, he groaned and collapsed against her. Max pressed his sweaty forehead against her shoulder and tried to drag air into his lungs.

  After a long minute, her eyelids fluttered open. She ran a hand through the bangs plastered to her forehead. “I should turn up the air conditioning. An hour ago.”

  Max pressed a kiss to her shoulder and eased up. “Can’t go back in time.” He slid out of bed, the regret at slipping out of her arms concerning. A quick tour turned up the bathroom, the thermostat, and netted two glasses of water. When he made it back to her bedroom, he noticed the mess.

  But not for long. The naked woman sprawled out across the bed was a big distraction. He handed her the glass and then watched closely every shift of her body while she scooted up to rest against the headboard.

  “So.” Sue yanked the sheet up and anchored it tightly across her chest.

  Max stepped into his boxers and jeans. Whatever was about to happen, it was a pants-on conversation.

  “This doesn’t change anything, does it?” she asked while staring at truly hideous wallpaper.

  “Doesn’t have to.” But it could. Why couldn’t it?

  Max eased down beside her and took her hand in his. “I’d like to take you to dinner. For a small window, I won’t be a coworker and I won’t be a cop. The rare and helpful loophole.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “Why do you have to be a policeman? Why? There are so many other jobs in the world.”

  Max rubbed a thumb across the back of her hand while he tried to figure out if he was selfish enough to ask her to put aside her rules. Just for a little bit. “Put your hair up. We’ll go out. Forget the consequences.”

  “I could say yes to school security Max.” She closed her eyes. “But not to ‘determined to go out in a blaze of glory’ Max. I’m thinking about the future. In Dallas, you were some Rambo figure with a machine gun in one hand and a machete in the other, no doubt. What woman in her right mind would plan a future with that guy?”

  “One who wasn’t scared to death of things that might never happen?” he snapped as he yanked his shirt on. “One who could understand that sex like this, the way that we feel, it’s worth risk. One who’d want the man she was with to be happy, satisfied, doing important work instead of dying a little each day while he limped up and down the hallways of a high school or monitored school bus pick-ups and drop-offs. I’m a cop, Sue, not a babysitter.”

  “So, the hotshot’s not happy protecting innocent children.” Sue’s drawl had not a single ounce of pity in it. “Ask any one of their mothers and she’d tell you keeping her baby safe was the most important job a man could have. And some of us, even those of us who draw desk duty every single day take a lot of satisfaction in contributing to keeping those children safe.”

  “It’s not about that.” But it was, a little. Going from kicking in doors to hassling kids over their cell phones was such a drastic change, anyone would struggle. “It’s about doing what I was meant to do.”

  “And also about being a stud, impressing your brothers, and what do you call them…badge bunnies?” Sue shifted closer to the edge of the bed.

  Before he could figure out a return volley, her cell phone rang. She made no move to reach for it, but he handed it to her. He needed a minute to figure out what to say anyway.

  “It’s Lindy.” Sue tried to shove the phone back in his hand. “I can’t talk to her now.”

  “She said she was coming over, bringing Ryan.” Max rubbed his forehead. “Remember?”

  “Worst timing in the world.” she muttered before accepting the call.

  Max agreed, but he was pretty sure making love to a woman it would be impossible to forget when it was too late to follow where it might go was the real tragedy.

  Chapter 7

  The urge to cry was nearly too strong to conquer, but Sue was pretty sure her voice sounded almost normal when she said, “Hi, Lindy.”

  “We’re outside. With the grill.” Lindy cleared her throat. “Is this a bad time? You have company.”

  “Who is it?” dangled in the air, red-hot and pulsing, but she didn’t say it aloud.

  She might as well have. There was no way out at this point. “Max is here. He can help Ryan set it up. He likes to play with fire. Meet you in five.”

  Before Lindy could answer, Sue ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed between them.

  Impatient with herself for mourning when they’d never had a relationship to start with, Sue smiled brightly at Max. He didn’t return it.

  “Why are we fighting? It doesn’t have to be this way.”

  He shook his head. “We’re fighting because it’s easier than figuring out where we go next.” He braced one knee on the bed. “Easier for you, anyway. Safer, too.”

  Max pressed a sweet kiss against her lips. “When you can’t forget me, give me a call.”

  While she was formulating her response, he picked up his shoes and left.

  Arrogant. Cocky.

  Probably one million percent right, too.

  Sue flopped back on the bed and stared up the most atrocious wallpaper she’d ever seen, lemon yellow with purple paisleys that resembled eggplants. “Who would do that? Put up eggplant wallpaper?” Or let a totally hot guy walk away because of his job? It wasn’t like he was a criminal. And he was good at it. She had no doubt that Max Holt would be a master at whatever he tried.

  Then she realized that if she didn’t move, her boss could walk into the ugliest bedroom in Lincoln, Texas, while she was sprawled naked across the bed.

  Sue had never gotten dressed so fast in her life, and her head was spinning when she trotted into the living room to meet Lindy at the door. “Hi. Nothing. I wasn’t doing much.”

  Lindy narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t ask. Should I?”

  No, she should not. Then they would both be embarrassed.

  Lindy held up bags of groceries. “Where should I put these?”

  Snap out of it. There was no reason to discuss what had happened with Max. She and Lindy weren’t that kind of friends.

  On the way to the kitchen, Lindy paused in the short hallway. “Whoa. You have parents.”

  “Yep.” Sue took one of the bags of groceries, hoping to spur Lindy along.

  “Your dad.” Lindy tapped the frame. “He’s so…”

  Uptight. Stiff. Formal. Proud of his daughter who’d worn flip-flops to her high school graduation in spite of him. Sue loved this picture of the two of them, snapped by her mother.

  “Hot. I was going to say that your dad’s handsome.” Lindy wrinkled her nose. “Weird, huh?”

  “Highly inappropriate,” Sue said, some of the anxiety tangling her emotions in knots easing. Lindy was her boss, but she was a friend, too, and a pretty cool person.

  “Where was that picture taken?” Lindy took a few steps. “England?” She wandered down the set of framed shots. “I didn’t know you were into travel.”

  “No. I’m not into travel.” Sue waved a hand. “That picture was in Japan. The others are places we were stationed. Fourteen addresses. That’s how many I had before this one, which will definitely be my last.”

  “You graduated from high school in Japan?” Lindy set her bag on the counter. “How do I not know this?”

  “Your predecessor hired me. I’m an exemplary employee, so there’s no need to pull my file.” Sue stacked the plastic utensils beside the tower of red cups.

 
“Sure, but…we’re friends, too.” Lindy pushed a hank of long brown hair behind one ear. “Me, born in Lincoln, live in Lincoln, will probably die in Lincoln unless Maddie becomes a famous artist and we have to go and visit her in Paris. When she has the first grandkid, we’ll need a fourth-floor walk-up because there’s no way little Jean Luc will grow up without his Mimi.” Lindy blinked. “Apparently I’m going to skip mothering and go straight for choosing my grandma name.”

  She shook her head. “Sorry. I wandered away. It’s weird to date a guy with a daughter who drives, you know? The thought of grandkids is exciting even though having your own babies still seems like a great idea. It warps your brain.” Lindy shook her finger. “And do not tell Ryan about this conversation. The suggestion that Maddie will have s-e-x and kids someday will put him on the floor.”

  Sue frowned as she tried to figure out where to go from there. “And the concept of doing it all again with another baby?” Lindy was outstanding with teenage angst. She’d make an awesome mother.

  Whether Ryan would want to start from the beginning, especially after he’d raised Maddie on his own for so long, that might be a harder question.

  “We were talking about how you don’t share anything about your past, not my ticking biological clock. What clock? You were saying? Tell me about Japan.” Lindy patted her shoulder helpfully.

  The stupid envy monster rolled around in her head again. Lindy and Ryan were meant for each other. The question of kids or no kids wouldn’t change that, and she wanted to find a love like that, one that was more important that even the things she’d always considered critical to her happiness.

  “Japan was my favorite place. We spent almost three full years there.” Sue shrugged. “That was a luxury. I actually had best friends, got invited to parties, landed my first superhot artist boyfriend, and later broke his heart. It’s not easy to move as often as we did and be offbeat at the same time.”

  Lindy pursed her lips. “Sure. I can see that.” She motioned up and down at Sue’s overalls and messy braids that had been her answer to bedhead. “You’ve certainly gone native at this point. No one could pick you out of a lineup of pure Texans.”

  “Good. Lincoln’s home.” Sue added the plates to the stack. “I’ll wait until the day of the barbecue to move the table out. Can you come early to help?”

  When Lindy didn’t answer, Sue realized she’d lost her audience. Lindy was leaning over the sink, watching Ryan and Max move the grill into place under the shade tree.

  “What are you looking at?” Sue braced one hip against the counter, amused at how, even after months together, Ryan Myers could rattle cool, calm Lindy Mason. A high school principal should be made of tougher stuff.

  “Handsomest man I know.” She raised an eyebrow at Sue. “Max is out there, too.”

  Since getting into a spirited argument about which guy was the most attractive was a waste of time, mainly because Max would totally win any competition, Sue said, “Can you come early to help setup for the party?”

  “Sure.” Lindy stretched and craned her neck. “Darn. They moved.”

  “Don’t you get enough of staring at him? You guys are together every day.”

  “He picks up his daughter every day.” Lindy held up one finger. “And I will most likely never get enough.”

  Then she mirrored Sue’s casual pose. “Are you going to tell me why Max is here or is this another thing like graduating from high school in Japan that I’ll stumble my way into someday?”

  Tempted to go for the second option, Sue ran her finger down the countertop.

  “Because it’s safe to say that you can count on me to be at work with you tomorrow. And the day after. We’ll party next weekend, and this summer, we’ll have lunch. And even if something happened and one of us moved to the end of the earth, we would still talk, still be friends, and I would still be dying to know what’s going on with Max.”

  Sue squeaked her sneaker across the linoleum that would eventually be gleaming hardwood.

  “Don’t tell me the infamous rules have been broken.”

  Lindy’s eyes were gleaming with entirely too much pleasure.

  “He’s not right for me.” Sue huffed out a huge sigh. “But he feels so right against me. You know?”

  Lindy’s cackles were impossible to withstand. Sue laughed, too, and then covered her face with both hands. “Instead of worrying when he’s deployed, I’d have to make myself crazy every single day he goes off to do his job. It makes no sense.”

  Lindy draped an arm across Sue’s shoulder. “I’m the woman who took a chance on the high school bully.” Sue studied her in shock, and Lindy nodded solemnly. “Yep. Ryan was a total monster in high school, but I gotta tell you…” She shivered. “He grew up real nice.”

  Since Ryan had always struck Sue as more of a lover than a fighter, Lindy had to be right.

  “It’s not the same. Max is great. There’s no question about how nice he is in all of his glory.” Sue shivered. Everything was so fresh in her memory. “It’s the job. And the fact that he has no ties to this place and I… All I want are ties. Why is this so hard? Why couldn’t he be an insurance salesman with a mother around the corner?”

  Lindy pursed her lips. “Then he would definitely not have those muscles.”

  Sue frowned and Lindy held up both hands. “Hey, in his arms. They’re all…hanging out there for everyone to see.”

  Sue rolled her eyes. “You think I’m being stupid.”

  “No, you’re being cautious. And that’s probably the most surprising thing of all, you, being timid.” Lindy shook her head. “We sure don’t see much of this side of you.”

  Sue laughed. “Thanks for bringing the grill. I needed the…space.”

  “Here’s what I know. There are no guarantees. You aren’t going to be coworkers, but he’s got to have a job and he deserves to love his as much as you love yours. He was a cop. If I had to guess, he will be again. Soon.” Lindy put a hand over Sue’s mouth to stop the flow of argument. It was clear she spent most days maneuvering around teenagers. “And yes, even though no one shoots at you on a daily basis, he has as much right to do what he’s meant to do. You, you’re the benevolent despot of Lincoln High School’s administrative office. He’s a badass with a badge or will be. You’re a power couple, see?”

  Sue’s noncommittal grunt didn’t stop Lindy.

  “And the distance? Are we talking Dallas, sweetie? You don’t even need a plane ticket.” Lindy raised her eyebrows.

  “Now, it’s Dallas. Who knows where he might go next? A badass with a badge is surely headed for bigger bad guys.” And she’d never sleep at night. Sue had seen what that looked like on her mother’s face, dark shadows and pinched lips.

  “Possibly. All I know for sure is that you can’t live your life today based on something that might never happen. If he makes you happy,” Lindy said as she squeezed Sue’s shoulder, “you go after him. Plant both feet in Lincoln and decide to make yourself happy right where you are. Leave the heartbreaking and the self-denial for the day when you’re faced with the decision. For now, he’s a security guard with a short-term assignment, you’re building the life you want, and together, you bring the hotness.” She shrugged. “It’s simple if you look at it that way.”

  Lindy had never seen her mother haggard and worn with worry over a husband thousands of miles away who’d missed his daily call.

  But it was impossible to ignore her logic.

  Before she could shout “Enough,” Lindy sniffed and added, “Also, you aren’t a little girl anymore. You don’t have to move if you don’t want to. Any decision you make is yours today, but it will be yours tomorrow or next year or…whenever.”

  The clatter of the door caught their attention. Ryan stepped through and flexed his biceps. “We have achieved grill.” He propped both hands on his hips. “Should I start scraping wallpaper?”

  When Lindy didn’t answer, Sue glanced up to see that whatever wisdom tidbits Lindy ha
d been dropping half a second before, they were all gone. Lovesick. That was the perfect description.

  Sue had never witnessed lovesickness in real life, but like art, she knew it when she saw it.

  Taking pity on her boss and trying to keep the train from completely derailing if Ryan caught the bug, Sue said, “Actually, let’s do something easier. Let’s paint.”

  Lindy leaned into Ryan when he wrapped his arm around her. “What happened to Max?”

  “Got the feeling he had somewhere else to be.” Ryan glanced at her and then away. “He mentioned studying for the police exam.”

  So she had until Max made his rounds Monday morning to figure out how to handle him.

  That was not going to be enough time.

  Chapter 8

  Some days were right for beehives and pedal pushers. The last Monday of the school year definitely counted.

  Since she had no idea how to handle Max, Sue had decided to concentrate on her favorite activity: collating. The satisfying slam of the stapler with each finished stack soothed her nerves and the second-to-last-week-of-school smile was forming.

  “You aren’t singing, are you? We talked about that.” Lindy stood in front of Sue’s desk, the file of attendance reports forgotten as she stared.

  Since she was tone deaf, Sue had decided to accept Lindy’s rule about no singing in the office. Sometimes she could be kind that way.

  “Nope. No singing.” Sue held her hand out. “Need me to run those over to the post office?”

  “Nah, it can go out tomorrow.” Lindy frowned. “You’re making me nervous. When we left yesterday, you were beat and…pensive, maybe.”

  “Can’t I just be happy about summer vacation?” Sue said as she stacked copies. “And you know paperwork makes me happy.”

  The probability of running into Max, flirting with Max, dinner with Max had given her case of the Mondays and the worries over what would happen next a solid trouncing. And the buzz of anticipation felt so good.

  “Lindy, have you got a minute?” Max stood in the doorway, an envelope clutched in one hand.