by Mandy Harbin
“Get your sister to agree to that, and we’ll make the calls,” Bear said before he walked off.
Get his sister to agree? Right. Like that’d ever happen.
And Bear freakin’ knew that, too.
Hunter was well and truly screwed. He didn’t have any other choice but to go along with this plan. All of it. His sister would be shipped back to school at the earliest possible time, and he’d be stuck with a roommate for the foreseeable future. He looked across the garage and watched as Maya nervously chewed her thumbnail…and as his sister laughed carelessly at something Roc said. Roc.
Maybe the plan would be easier if he knew his sister could take something seriously for longer than a day.
And if that friend of hers wasn’t so damn beautiful.
With one look at her, he knew she was going to be trouble.
Fuck, she already was.
Chapter Five
“You can’t leave me here alone with him,” Maya said to Heather. She knew she sounded desperate, but this wasn’t the time for humility. She didn’t know this man. At freaking all. She’d never met him before in her life, and now her friend happily went along with leaving her here alone with him.
“It’ll be fine. Besides, did you see the guy he’s sending me back with?” Heather said. “He’s like a buff Spike from Buffy. A Buff Buffy’s Spike.” Heather giggled then.
“Is that all you care about?” Maya said heatedly as she grabbed the shirt that Heather was folding, repacking for her return trip. She’d unpacked after her brother left this afternoon, but Maya hadn’t been ready to take that step, fruitlessly clinging onto a tiny shred of hope they wouldn’t have to stay.
She should’ve been more specific with her wishes.
Their plans had quickly changed once they’d taken Heather’s car to the shop, but not anything like she’d imagined.
If Friday night taught her anything, it should’ve been how much things could change in a matter of hours. Maya wasn’t sure how it happened so fast, but apparently, Hunter had called in some favors to look into the incident. For some reason, his people decided Heather could return to school, but Maya had to stay here.
At Hunter’s house.
They hadn’t been at the shop thirty minutes before being informed of this change of events. Hunter had borrowed one of the other guys’ trucks to bring them back to the house—his house—with orders for Heather to be ready to leave this evening, and for Maya to make herself at home.
Yeah, right.
Why they were doing this, she had no idea. It made no sense to her. Of course, Heather didn’t have anything to do with Jake. The two of them rarely saw each other; they hardly acknowledged the other when in the same room. She’d be surprised if Jake could even pick Heather out of a group of people. Maybe that was why Hunter agreed to his sister returning to campus.
“It’s not all I care about,” Heather finally said. “Besides, he’s old.”
“He’s older than your brother.”
“You think?” she asked, her head tilting to the side. Then she said, “Eww, on my brother, though.”
“Really?”
Heather sighed, yanked her shirt back from Maya, and shoved it in her bag. “Chill out. I’m not really interested in Blade. Cool name, though,” she added. “He’s easy on the eyes,. So what if I’m making the best of a bad situation?”
“A totally messed up situation.”
“Right. You should work on your adapting skills.”
“My adapting skills are perfect.”
Heather gave her a get-real look. “Fine, we need help, but can you blame me? We left Texas to get away from danger and not only are you going back into it, but you’re leaving me in an unfamiliar place.”
Heather tugged on Maya’s arm, and they sat on the edge of the bed. “You’re scared. I get that. But my brother can help if you let him.”
Maya looked up at the ceiling as she muttered, “What choice do I have?”
“Plenty, but they’re all shittier than this one.”
Pounding on the bedroom door made them both jump.
“Anna Sue is here. Shake a leg,” Hunter said from the other side.
“Shake a leg?” Maya repeated, frowning at Heather.
“Welcome to Arkansas.” She smiled. “You’ve already gotten the dime tour.”
“I want my money back,” Maya said, deadpan.
Bang. Bang. Bang. “Now, girls. I said, shake a leg!”
Heather jumped up, but Maya couldn’t help but sneer at the door and the bossy man behind it.
“Let’s go,” Heather whispered as she slung her bag over her shoulder.
Maya stood up and followed her friend out of the room and down the hall. In the living room standing beside Hunter was Blade and what had to be lady who’d be impersonating her.
“This will never work,” Maya said, her heart suddenly racing with the doom of impossibility. “She looks nothing like me.”
“No offense, sweetie, but it’s nothing a wig and some fake nails won’t fix.” She stepped up to her and stuck her hand out. “Anna Sue Fisher.”
Maya shook the other woman’s hand, and said, almost panicked, “There’s no telling what he’ll do if he figures this out.”
Anna Sue leaned closer and said just low enough for Maya to hear, “He’ll beg for mercy.” Then she straightened up and added, “I guess he can never know then.” Anna Sue winked at her and stepped away.
Hunter had Heather to the side, whispering something to her. He looked very serious, and she looked like she was blowing off whatever he was telling her. Maya could feel the frustration pouring off him. After several minutes, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.
“Be careful. And please listen to them.”
“I will, Bubba.”
Blade clapped his hands. “Let’s hit the road.”
Maya started to follow them out, but Hunter lifted a hand to stop her. “You, stay here.”
She gaped at him, wanting to smart off about telling her what to do, but the look of pure determination told her he’d physically make sure she did what he wanted.
She couldn’t think about what exactly that meant because if she dwelled on it, she’d hate the idea even more.
“Fine, I’m going to bed.”
He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but the man had another thing coming if he thought she’d blindly fallow any order given.
Maya walked down the hall and to the guest room where they’d put her things before heading to the garage. She wasn’t sleepy. She was too keyed up for that, but she wasn’t hanging around here and be forced to talk to Hunter just yet. She needed time to process. Everything.
She had so much stuff to wade through, she didn’t even know where to start.
She shut the door and walked to the window just in time to watch as the SUV carrying Heather drive away, kicking up dirt and gravel behind it.
As she turned to walk away, she caught a glimpse of Hunter standing on the porch, facing the retreating car, but it almost looked as if his gaze was cut in Maya’s direction, watching her instead.
It was dark, though. Surely she was seeing things.
Chapter Six
Two. Two nights now Maya hadn’t gotten any sleep. Friday night she’d been in too much shock about what Jake had done to get any rest. Last night, she’d not only been too overwhelmed with everything, but the strange bed didn’t help matters. God, she was so tired.
After she’d thought about it some more in the wee hours of the morning, she’d been appreciative Hunter had agreed to help, though she wasn’t sure what had made him change his mind. He’d been ready to kick her out of the house as soon as the girls had gotten there. The biggest reason she told herself not to complain about his one-eighty had nothing to do with him specifically and everything to do with her parents. With his help, she wouldn’t have to tell them what had happened.
At least not yet.
She knew she couldn’t keep it fr
om them forever. Last night, she’d slowly realized that keeping them in the dark completely wouldn’t work—because no way did she have the money to fix her car. Plus, since there was a police report, they’d probably contact her dad. His name was on the title, after all.
And his insurance company would probably get wind of it too.
Thinking she could work this out all on her own had been a crazy idea. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Another example of how naive she really was. That or how horribly she handled stressful situations.
But she wasn’t completely nuts. No way could she tell her parents the truth. At least this bought her some time to come up with a plausible reason for what had happened, stopping her parents from pulling her out of school, and locking her in their basement for the next ten years like she thought they secretly wanted. Really. They had a basement, and it was finished. She’s been told on several occasions she could live quite comfortably in it.
No thanks. She’d rather stay out from her under her parents’ thumbs. If that meant she had to seek Hunter’s help, she’d do it. Grudgingly.
After she stopped fretting about her parents, her busy brain jumped to another topic–wondering what the heck happened to make Jake snap. She had zero answers there, which ended up being all too much to ponder. Her parents. Jake. Jake. Her parents. Who could sleep with that many questions running around?
Granted, it’d been dark when Heather left, so it wasn’t as if she’d had much time to unwind. After fleeing to her temporary bedroom, Maya had decided to take a quick shower to help her unwind before going to bed.
In Hunter’s house.
Where she’d be staying for the foreseeable future.
She’d still been awake when he finally came back inside well after midnight. If she hadn’t been, she would’ve woken up when the door to her room squeaked several minutes later. She’d lie there, frozen, wondering what he was doing as he’d obviously stood in the doorway, looking at her, but he hadn’t stayed long enough for her to actually form a question. Not that she would’ve asked.
She’d been pretending to sleep, after all, hoping the real thing would happen any second.
She’d been wrong.
A sound coming from down the hall startled her and she jolted up.
He was up.
Hunter.
The only other person around for, probably miles.
She didn’t know what to make of him. Oh, he was hot, but he was everything she’d ever envisioned a bad boy being, and not one like Jake. Hunter was genuine. Tall, built, attitude, and military.
Special ops. He was probably a member of a SEALs team or something. She knew those guys were bad to the bone. There were all kinds of books written about them. His name fit him. He probably hunted and took out enemy targets without breaking a sweat. Gun in one hand, sandwich in the other. Just another day for the sexy killer.
“You up?” he asked as he knocked on her door. She gasped. How the heck did he get down the hall without her hearing his approach? He was huge, for crying out loud. The old floor should’ve squeaked like the door had last night.
They probably taught that stealthy stuff in SEALs school.
“I’m awake. Not up,” she called, figuring if she didn’t answer, he’d come in.
“Shake a leg. Biscuits’re in the oven.”
“O-kay,” she said slowly, not knowing how else to respond.
A thud sounded on the other side, so she tossed the warm blanket off in case it was a sign he was about to come in to make sure she was complying. No way did she want to give the big baddy a reason to be irritated with her.
When the door didn’t creak, she figured he wasn’t going to barge in. Hopefully, he silently went back the way he’d come.
Jeez, I’m not ready to deal with him just yet, she thought as her legs dangled over the side. How could she be? So much had happened in such a short amount of time. She looked around the sparsely decorated room and decided she’d take her time getting ready. Biscuits could wait.
So could Hunter, the hunting SEAL.
She slid off the bed and rummaged in her suitcase. Everything seemed too revealing. Jeans were meant to be tight. Shirts were low cut. She never felt as if she’d dressed provocatively before, but now everything screamed “Slutty McSlutster.” She almost squealed when she saw her sweats underneath another set of PJs. Those would work. In fact, she should start wearing stuff like that all the time. No need to draw the attention of more jerks. When it was time for her to move on, she’d find her a nice, unassuming hipster who’d appreciate a more homely wardrobe.
Feeling better about her future plans, she took her time changing. Once she was covered, she dug in the side pocket for her toothbrush. Her hand brushed against something, making her frown, and she pulled it out.
The note left in her car.
Her damaged car.
On Friday night.
She began to shake as she stared at the crumpled paper. She hadn’t forgotten about it, but the physical reminder was too much, too soon.
Not only a painful reminder of the other night, but of all the crap Jake had put her through.
How had she ever thought him decent? Even in the beginning, she should have seen the signs. Should’ve known better than to trust a man like him.
Walking toward the bed, she began to stretch the note out. She spread it across her pillow to smooth it some more. When she’d gotten it as even as she could, she read the note again. Why? Because maybe the harsh proof would keep her from doing anything stupid—like falling for a jerk—again.
The message was clear. Very clear, and Maya couldn’t help the tear that formed in her eye.
She swiped it away, muttering, “It doesn’t matter.”
What mattered was making sure she never fell victim to a man like that again. Period.
She folded the note, put it back in her suitcase—saving it in case she ever needed another reminder—and took a deep, cleansing breath before grabbing her toothbrush to finish getting ready. She might even take an extra step to make sure the man down the hall wouldn’t try anything with her, ensuring she’d succeed with keeping all bad boys out of her personal life. Maybe.
She’d have to hurry, though.
Biscuits awaited.
Hunter reached into the hot oven and grabbed the biscuits, leaving the iron skillet in there until it cooled.
Why was he even cooking breakfast? There was a diner a few miles down the road.
Because Maya can’t be seen around town, and you don’t have any cereal. It was the same thing he’d repeated to himself until he grabbed the frozen biscuits and turned on the oven.
This was a babysitting job. And by baby, he didn’t mean the hot, oh-baby-baby, as Blade had joked. Though Maya’s body was killer and her timid demeanor only added to her sexiness. Still, the assignment amounted to nothing more than watching her as if she were a toddler. Or worse, a prisoner. He knew it. He fucking knew it, but he couldn’t do anything about it. If she wasn’t here, he’d be tempted to catch the next flight to Dallas and keep an eye on his sister. Bear probably knew that, which was why he’d given him the crap excuse about Maya knowing him best, effectively ending any chance Hunter had at refusing this job.
Though his sister had sure-as-shit laid it on thick after she’d been brought up to speed on the plan, saying he had to protect her friend, for her. For her. Didn’t matter in what kind of hard place it put Hunter.
And that hadn’t been the only thing hard. Fuck. His libido acted as if he had never been inside a woman when he was around Maya. Even last night, as she pretended to sleep, just the scent of her thickened the air and had him sporting wood. He’d have called her out on her little possum routine if he hadn’t feared what she had on underneath that blanket. He hadn’t been sure if he could control himself had she been wearing anything skimpy. Or worse…nothing at all.
Which was insane. He was a professional.
Maya was his sister’s friend.
His ward for God kne
w how long.
And she was way too young for him. He wasn’t into younger women. If anything, he preferred the older, more experienced females. The ones who knew how to please a man without any guidance. They saw a hard cock and got busy. Yeah, he loved that.
Young and innocent? That wasn’t his style. Not that he knew if she was truly innocent in the sexual department. And didn’t that just pique his interest a little too much? He acted like a horny teenager, getting hard just being around a woman. He’d grown out of that phase fifteen years ago.
It had to stop. This wasn’t like him. He was always easygoing, even around the ladies, but since yesterday, he’d felt an edge creep in, one he knew if he didn’t control would make it harder to hide the hardness in him he’d always kept under wraps. He wouldn’t let one little chick get under his skin. He’d make sure of it.
The sooner he could get the goods on Jake Oberman, the sooner he could send Maya back to school.
And he could forget about her.
Not to mention, his sister would be out of this mess. Christ, he would’ve thought Heather would be the one to commandeer his thoughts, not the girl down the hall.
The only saving grace right now was knowing his sister was in capable hands. Anna Sue had proven herself when shit hit the fan before, and he’d trusted Blade with his own back more times than he could count. Yeah, he knew Heather would be okay. It wouldn’t stop him from worrying, though. After their dad died in the motorcycle accident, Hunter had taken on the role of father in addition to brother. He’d been young, but he’d still felt the need to watch over the females and provide for them. That desire had been the driving force for him when he’d dabbled in a life of crime—the fastest way to make big bucks. He was just glad he’d turned his life around before his mother had died too. Now both of their parents were gone. Heather was all he had left.
And Maya was her friend. A friend he’d sworn to protect. Damn Heather and her big, brown eyes. Like a lost puppy, she was, when she worked that stare. He’d practically jumped at the chance to play warden. Okay, not really, but it sure as hell felt like he’d been all too agreeable. His sister would drive him mad one day, he was sure of it.