There are about a thousand boxes stacked in my apartment. I should be unpacking, but I’m sitting on my couch, staring at my phone, and wondering when it won’t be too soon to call.
My head is swimming with visions of redheads and toffee apples, and I don’t know if I can hold out until the prerequisite twenty-four hours are up.Who comes up with these rules, anyway?
“Fuck it,” I say, jabbing my thumb against the screen and dialing. If I come across as too eager, then so be it. I fucking am.
“Hello?” A cautious voice picks up after the third ring, but it’s her. Even though we only spoke briefly, I’d recognize her voice anywhere. It’s the voice of my dreams.
“My Maya,” I say, a grin curving my lips as I drop my head back and close my eyes, letting the sound of her voice, her life, be the only thing my senses focus on.
“Brody.” There’s a smile in her voice accompanied by a sigh and the sound of movement. “You called.”
“You doubted me?”
“Well, I can’t say I get a lot of guys asking for my number.”
“That’s something I’m very grateful for. I’m not a man who’s capable of sharing.”
“I suppose as long as I don’t have to share either, I can agree to that.”
“I’m a one-woman man, Maya. I promise you that.”
“OK,” she says quietly, and I get the feeling she doesn’t quite believe me. But I let it go because I know I’m coming on really strong, and she probably needs a moment to wrap her head around my immediate obsession.
“I need to see you again. Tonight. Right now.” I’m smiling, opening my eyes as I sit forward and rest my elbows on my knees. “Say yes. Tell me I can see my Maya.”
She giggles, and it’s such a sweet sound. “OK.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Dinner?”
She giggles again. “Uh, maybe dessert?”
“I like the sound of that. Where can I take you for dessert?”
“How about I come to you? I can pick something up along the way?”
“You want to come here?” I look around at all the boxes and drag a hand across my jaw.
“I’m not big on going out. But if you prefer, I can meet you somewhere.”
“No,” I say quickly. “Here is fine. Perfect, actually. And you let me take care of the dessert. You just get your pretty ass over here by nine or I’m calling a search party.”
“OK.” She laughs, and I love that it’s genuine now. She’s relaxing around me. “Text me your address?”
“On second thoughts, text me yours. Let me pick you up.”
“We just met, Brody. I’m strangely comfortable with you, but still, I’d like to have my car with me.”
My neck heats.Who the fuck hurt her and broke her trust?She wouldn’t have these walls up without some knob-jockey treating her badly. “I’ll text you the address,” I say, forcing myself not to press the issue.I’m going to show her how a woman should be treated.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “See you tonight.”
“Tonight,” I repeat as we disconnect and I drop my cell on the couch next to me with a sigh. It angers me that anyone could do anything to make a woman as precious as Maya feel the need to second guess her instincts. If she’s feeling even half of what I am right now, she’d know that we’re made for each other. Letting me pick her up and escort her anywhere she wants to go should be a no-brainer. But someone has planted discomfort in her, and if I ever find out who, we’re going to have a conversation between my fist and his face. No one messes with my girl.
But first, I need to do something with these boxes. The last thing I want is Maya walking in and thinking the boxes mean I’m temporary. As far as I’m concerned, she and I are forever.
