IDIDN’T ANSWER HISquestion the second time he asked it right away. I was too mortified over my outburst over Lola, who turned out to be his sexy car and not a woman. I blamed my temporary loss of sanity on his kiss for short circuiting my brain. Holy hell, that first kiss in the kitchen was an earth scorcher. The second kiss was so sweet it made me melt. It was a wonder I even knew my name.
The phone call from Justin saved me from making a complete fool of myself, because I was seconds away from begging him to take me right there on the kitchen table, on top of the chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and biscuits. That’s how affected I was by his kiss.
I spent less than two minutes telling Justin that I was in the middle of something and would need to call him back in the morning. I didn’t care what conclusions Justin had drawn, because I was too busy mentally kicking myself in the ass. Even though I had heard about his relationship with Lola, I had kissed him anyway and that made me feel horrible about myself. I wasn’tthatguy. Guilt and self-loathing was tearing me up when I returned to the kitchen. So, you can imagine my surprise when Maverick - sounding like a jealous lover - demanded to know who Justin was.
I defensively fired back with a question of my own, which led to a humiliating moment. I might’ve misunderstood who Lola was, but there was no mistaking the implication that Maverick had just been to Charlotte and had spent that time doing the bedsheet rhumba. Well, maybe a bed wasn’t involved. I refused to let myself envision all of the positions and places Maverick chose to please his lovers. Was there one special lover in Charlotte or were there just random hookups?
“Noah, quit stalling,” Maverick said, breaking into my thoughts.
“Feed me and then I’ll tell you.”
I dished heaping portions on my plate, big enough for two, but had no intention of sharing. My first bite into the fried chicken gave me the biggest food orgasm I’d had in many years. It was crispy on the outside, but tender and juicy on the inside. I moaned around each and every bite, not giving thought to how I might sound to the guy sitting across the table from me.
“So good,” I said in between bites. “Best I’ve ever had.” I chanced a glance at Maverick and noticed that he wasn’t eating. He just sat there staring at me, his face flushed and lips parted. I smiled sheepishly at him and moved onto the potatoes and gravy. I might’ve let out a teeny tiny whimper that caused him to bang his fist on the table.
“Stop it!” His voice was a frustrated snarl that brought a smile to my lips. I couldn’t help myself. Maverick Rodriguez still wanted me.
“I’m just showing my appreciation for this dinner you brought me,” I said innocently. I refrained from batting my eyelashes like Scarlet O’Hara, but only just. Maverick pinned me with a fierce scowl before he dug into his own food.
“I have something you can appreciate,” he mumbled.
“It sounds to me that it’s already been appreciated plenty.”Uh oh.That little green monster reared his ugly head again.
“Just what the hell does that mean? Where are you getting your information?” He set his fork down and leveled his intense gaze on me. “Don’t get me wrong, Noah, I’m thrilled you’re so curious about my sex life, but I think I have a right to know who’s been filling your head with stories.”
“No one has told me anything.”Fuck!I didn’t want to get his employees in trouble. They shouldn’t have been talking so openly about their boss’s personal life, but neither should I have repeated what I overheard.
“You’re psychic then? There’s no way you guessed about Lola and my trip to Charlotte, so you were either asking questions about me or you overheard a conversation that shouldn’t have occurred at all, least of all in front of you – a client.”
A client. Is that all I was to him?“Do you kiss all of yourclients, Mav?” I was the king of deflecting questions with questions. If my tone of voice held a little bite to it, then so be it. I was angry that he could make me feel so much, while he could reduce me to such insignificance.
“You’re much more than just a client to me, but my employees don’t know that. It’s not their business to know that and I don’t like my personal life being discussed in the home of my clients. I don’t know what you do for a living, but surely you understand how I feel.”
I did understand how he felt, but I wasn’t willing to throw his employees under the bus. “I spent the afternoon with Aunt Minnie,” I replied, letting him draw his own conclusions.
“Your aunt knows the name of my car and about my trips to Charlotte?” He didn’t believe a word I said, but I only shrugged in response. Besides, I couldn’t get my mind off his trips to Charlotte and what they entailed. “Well, it’s obvious you’re not going to tell me the truth and I’m willing to let it go for now, because I’m more curious about who Justin is and why you keep dodging my question.”
“It’s complicated.”
“That’s a Facebook status, not an answer.” Maverick was getting fired up, and angry looked so very sexy on him. “If you ever want to taste these lips again,” he pointed to his lush mouth, “then you better tell me who he is, because I’m not taking the chance that I’m kissing a guy who belongs to someone else.”
He fought dirty, but it worked. “The short of it is that he works for me in my practice in Washington D.C.”
“What kind of practice?”
I usually got one of two reactions when I told people what I did for a living – interest or abject horror that I might start analyzing them right there on the spot. “I’m a psychiatrist.” Maverick gave no outward reaction so I continued. “I specialize in treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in veterans.” Still nothing, so I told him about my dad’s life as inspiration for my career to fill the awkward silence.
“And, the long of it?”
“Huh?” I didn’t immediately follow his question.
“You said the short of it with Justin is that he works for you, so what’s the long of it.”
“Oh, um…”
“You’re fucking him.” Maverick’s voice was flat with displeasure
“Not anymore.” I cringed at my vague response. I figured I might as well come clean, because I could tell by his expression that Maverick wasn’t going to let this go. “Justin and I were in a relationship that ended two years ago. It ended badly, we went our separate ways, and didn’t speak for two years. A few months ago, he called me up out of the blue and asked to have lunch with me. I met him out of curiosity more than anything and he proposed…”
