Page 4

But no, no, no! Standing before me, his devil horns hidden by his Stetson is Maverick.

Trying to cover the embarrassment of wiggling my ass in front of him, I hold up a hand. “Stop right there. I know you love seeing me, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

He sweeps his hat off and gives me a what the fuck look. “Aww…you break my heart darlin’. Here I was planning to ask you for your hand in marriage.”

I squeal in fake delight and fan my face. “Ohmygod! Yes!! Lemme see the ring!”

He looks horrified. “I was joking.”

“Like I wasn’t? Why are you here other than to torment me?” I put my hands on my hips.

His jaw clenches. “Before she left, your aunt Kyra called and asked me to fix some of the damage here.” He frowns after looking up at a large water stain on the ceiling.

“Thanks, but it’s under control, so feel free to exit.”

He looks back at me. Maverick has “such beautiful amber brown eyes” I heard someone say a few years ago. And I can begrudgingly admit that he does.

“Kyra paid me to do a job.”

“She never mentioned it to me,” I say, wishing I could call her but she’s on vacation in the mountains where cell phone signals are almost non-existent. Every summer for a few weeks, she heads to the cabin her late husband built.

My mother says it’s to relax but I think she goes there to be alone with the memories.

Maverick lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “Well, regardless of whether she did or didn’t tell you, I’m here.”

“Then I’ll head back to her house. I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap.” I’m not tired and don’t plan to nap, but I want to be wherever he isn’t. I thrust the microphone mop at him, then put the key to the front door on the hook in the tiny office. “Lock up when you leave.”

“Sweet dreams,” he says, almost cooing.

I look over my shoulder.

He’s smiling angelically. “Sweet dreams,” he repeats, then adds. “Of me.”

I spin fully around. “You want to be in my dreams? How?”

“Huh?” His expression turns wary as I advance.

“You want to be in my dreams with us doing dirty things? Is that it?”

His Adam’s apple bobs. “What?”

I bite my lip. “I mean we don’t even have to like each other to get naked and nasty, right?”

Maverick holds the mop like a sword he’ll use to protect his virtue.

I’m standing in front of him, looking up, thinking how much taller he seems, how much broader his shoulders are when I get a zap of heat right between my legs. God, he’s so unfairly good looking.

The intensity of the heat makes me dizzy and I put a hand on his chest to steady myself. It’s like touching a brick wall.

And those “such beautiful amber brown eyes” darken and linger on my lips.

“You’re right,” he says in a deep tone I’ve never heard before. “We don’t have to like each other to get naked and nasty.”

Chapter 2

Maverick

“But the problem is, once you’ve had me, you won’t be able to stay away.” I add a smile, deliberately trying to irritate her while desperately trying to scrub the thought of what she’d look like naked from my brain.