He doesn’t even look surprised. He smiles at me, but this time it’s different, calculated. It’s a half smile, one side pulling up more than the other. One dimple. He nods his head a couple times and I swear between those two things alone, I am actually wet right now. I’m also blushing and totally embarrassed.
“Someone spilled a drink on my shoe…remember? Literally, I was wet,” I say. His lips press into a firm line, but his eyes are still amused. Thankfully, I remember that part of the night to fall back on. “I want to know about you. You’ve already accrued enough information to stalk me for the rest of my life.” His gaze darts behind my shoulder again, but this time I turn around to see what has his attention. A massive guy, who could only be one ofThe Guys, is wobbling, very confidently, from the bar to our table.
“Wining, dining, and then sixty-nining? That’s not your style, buddy. Introduce me to your friend,” the guy says, as he eye fucks every corner of my face and body in the most uncomfortable way possible. He’s good looking, but not nearly appealing as the guy sitting next to me.
“Get the fuck out, Steve,” Maverick says. “Go back to the bar.” He doesn’t tell the guy my name. Shit. This is the guy Morganna is trying to set me up with. I’m uncomfortable in the worst kind of way.
“Hey darlin’, you’re hot with a rockin’ body. Come find me when you want a real man,” Steve says. Maverick makes some inarticulate noise from behind me. Morganna is going to hear a rash of shit from me the next time we speak. This guy is totally skeevy. Worse yet, he thinks I’m a freakingfrog hog. “See ya buddy,” Steve says as he ambles back to the bar.
I am absolutely mortified when I see a bleached blonde girl grab his crotch and smile. She. Touched. His. Dick. In. Public. When I finally turn back to Maverick, I’m not sure if I’m mad, sad, or thankful he didn’t mention my name. He has his head in his hands.
“Jesus Christ, Maverick. Who the fuck are you? I know what you do, but honestly if that,” I wave my hand over to Steve and his public mauling, and then gesture to myself, “is what you want or expect from me, then you have the wrong girl.” I shut my mouth and refuse to say anything further. This is his life, he can do whatever he wants. I am the variable for tonight. “Just one date,” I remind myself out loud.
He takes my hand, swallows hard and sighs. “Please, forgive me for that. He’s a real jackass. I’m sure he didn’t realize I was on a real date,” he says, defending the caveman.
“What the freak is a real date?” Now, I’m mad. I’ve settled for mad. I want to say anything to make him angry, too. “I have that guy’s phone number. Morganna has been trying to set me up with him!” I point at Steve without looking back, because the sight nauseates me. Maverick’s eyes widen a little. I swallow the rest of my wine in a large gulp and stand. He just looks at me from his seat, his gorgeous eyes lingering on my body for a touch longer than I’m comfortable with.
He doesn’t stand. He takes another bite off his plate. “You can’t go out with him. You know that, right?”
“Excuse me? I can go out with anyone I please. Maybe a public show of sex is exactly what I need to get my head straight,” I say, pushing in my chair, making it obvious I’m ready to leave. He sips his water and looks at me over the rim of his glass. When he doesn’t say anything I tell him, “At least I know what he wants from me. That’s more than I can say about you, Mr. T. H.”
For the very first time, his tough guy front fades. He actually looks a little hurt. It disappears a second later as he brings the cloth napkin across his mouth, wiping away any trace of emotion. He stands up, places some cash on the table, and tucks his chair in. The quickest dinner on planet earth just took place.
“Thank you for dinner, Maverick,” I nearly spit, a fake smile plastered on my face. If my venom affects him, he doesn’t let me know. He does grab my hand unexpectedly and leads me from the restaurant. The valet boy scurries when he sees us exit the building.
“I’m sorry again. I never should have brought you here,” he says, confusing the hell out of me. I’m offended, my blood boils. I feel hot, and not in the fun kind of way that he had me feeling on the way here.
“I’m sorry you brought me out, too. I’m obviously more of an idiot than I previously thought. I deserve this.”
He just shakes his head, not even attempting to correct what I’m inferring. So, he’s sorry he took me out. Everything that means crushes me at once. When he opens the door for me, I honestly consider asking the valet boy for a ride home. Surely, he wouldn’t turn me down. Maverick’s eyes look sad, and it’s the solitary reason I get in. Like maybe he’s just as dejected as I feel, though I don’t see how that’s possible.
The silent drive to my condo is awkward. I watch his phone pop up with a zillion text messages in the cup holder between us. Again, he doesn’t even glance at it. I wonder how many messages he got while we were at dinner. The thought sickens me. I never should have assumed this would be arealdate. I never should have told him anything about myself. But, what the hell, he doesn’t give a shit about me. When he makes a move to get out of the car when we arrive at my condo, I hold my hand out to stop him.
“I’m perfectly capable of walking myself to the door. I wouldn’t want you to regret that, too. I’m sure you have a lot of texting and calling to catch up on anyway,” I tell him, motioning to the glowing iPhone in between us. I chance a stealthy look at his face. He is pissed off. Angry doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’m glad.
He picks up the phone and shakes it side to side. “This? This is what you’re worried about? The fucking electronic device full of random women and faces that mean nothing to me?” Rolling down the manual car window, he throws the phone across the parking lot. It hits a telephone pole and pieces scatter everywhere. “I don’t give a shit about those texts or the phone calls.” He runs a hand through his hair and pulls on the tips before releasing them. Throwing his big hand out, he motions to me. “You are the one sitting in my car, Windsor. Women don’t sit in my car. You are the one I wanted to take out to dinner. Even as fucking disastrous as it was…I don’t see anyone else sitting here, but you. Do you?”
I stare at him wide-eyed in disbelief. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared down to my bones. Maverick flying off the handle is terrifying.
When he realizes I’m not going to speak, he continues. “I don’t regret taking you out. I regret that Steve made you upset. I regret that I took you somewhere where my friends might be. In all honesty, I regret the moment I ever laid eyes on you.” The gasp that fills the car is my own. The nice things he says are buried deep in the ground after utters his last sentence.
“In all honesty,” I use his words, “I regret the fucking moment you took your first breath.” I exit the car and don’t look back. The meanest thing I’ve ever said was directed at a person I barely know. It feels good. It feels bad. It feels like I wasted my whole night on a crapshoot. At least maybe I’ll be able to forget about him and his body. I’ll even tell Morganna she was right. I’mthatrelieved it’s over.
I hear his car door slam and then muttered profanities under his breath. He catches up to me fast. Too fast. He grabs my arm to spin me around.
“You didn’t let me finish,” he breathes.
“No, I finished for you.”
“I regret the moment I laid eyes on you because you ruined everything, Windsor.” His grip lightens on my arm.
“That’s so much better, Maverick. Really,” I say, my anger wearing off and pure annoyance blistering to the surface. I’m annoyed that his touch is warm, and his words are confusing. I’m annoyed with myself that I can’t just walk away.
“I want you,” he says. “You said you didn’t know what I wanted from you. I’m telling you. I want you. I want you to be mine. That’s all I know for sure.”
I bite my lip and shake my head. “Unbelievable. I need a night to sleep on this epiphany of yours. The hot and colds are almost too much for me to keep up with,” I admit, still shaking my head. Denial. He’s said the words. Some part of me wants to believe them, but the skeptical part of my brain whispers other things.
He brushes a strand of hair away from my face and cups my bare shoulder with his other hand. The magic shivers start again. He leans down and I have to work at controlling my shaking body.He’s going to kiss me. He’s going to kiss me.He swallows and the tattoo on his neck dances. I want to lick it. The desire is back in spades. I tilt my chin up, waiting.
