“DROP ME OFF first,” Rosalee said, and I sat up straighter. The drive had been long.
Bumper to bumper, our little last-minute impromptu road trip had sucked. Not really. I had found ways to keep myself occupied. Gazing in Max’s direction when he was focused on the road ahead of him, I’d realized quickly he was completely out of my league. He wasn’t like the college guys, boys, I was used to. Max was a man. One hundred percent man. I pretended to pop in my ear buds and sleep while they talked softly in the front. He was a mechanic. He owned his own shop and, surprise to me, it was in the same desert town I lived in.
“Why?” I perked up and asked, and he shrugged.
“Whatever you want, Lee,” he all too easily agreed in his deep voice.
“She lives closer to you,” Rosalee explained, and I frowned. That didn’t help my argument. It wasn’t that I felt uncomfortable around him. It was the opposite. I felt too comfortable with Max.
“Cool,” he muttered, and I felt like a fish out of water.
What the hell was Rosalee up to?
I looked in the rearview mirror and stared at her silently asking what her deal was. And do you know what she had the gall to do? Smirk. The wench! Her eyes left mine, and they kept on talking about their family and their other brother, the one I had met.
“Home sweet home,” she sang as Max pulled up to her off-campus apartment building. Rosalee and I both went to the University of the Desert. But where Rosalee lived towards the newer apartments on the south side of campus, I lived on the north end. Older and slightly dated, rent was cheaper. Cheap enough for me to swing living there with only a part time gig at the local coffee shop Daily Grind.
“Thank you again, big brother!” She smiled, and Max lovingly rolled his eyes. “I’ll call you tonight?” she said, looking back at me in the backseat.
“Sounds good,” I agreed, resigned. She slipped out and he followed. I heard the trunk open and close. His deep voice murmured his own goodbye just as I stepped out of the back and stretched.
“Let me get the door for you,” he rumbled. Heat from his hand hit my lower back, and I looked at him over my shoulder.
Max felt good. Really good. He was also close enough for me to breathe in his scent. Familiar but new, and not for the first time since I got in his car, I wished I could remember everything clearly from last night.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and I could have sworn his eyes heated up.
“Have dinner with me,” he said in a low tone, so close to my ear it made me a little weak at the knees. Get it together, Leti! I scolded myself.
“Dinner?” I repeated before pressing my lips together.
“Late lunch, whatever,” he clarified.
“Why?” I asked, proud of myself for not letting myself get lost in his smoky stare.
“You know why,” he challenged, and I licked my top lip. It was weird being around him. There was a quiet strength that called to me like a lighthouse near a shore.
“I…”
“Don’t lie. Not to me,” he urged, stopping me from saying anything, and I frowned. “This started hazy enough,” he added, and I swallowed hard.
“Hazy?”
“Both of us a little more than buzzed. Then there’s the fact you obviously don’t remember every moment.”
“I never said I didn’t—”
“Don’t do that,” he said steadily, and there was something soothing yet unnerving about his tone and sweet touch. Like he knew me.
Knew me, knew me.
For some crazy-ass reason, he still wanted to be around me. The guys I had dated weren’t like that. Not even close, and I understood it. I was a lot to handle with the slightly wacky shenanigans I found myself in.
“What do you say?”
“How do you feel about dessert?” I asked, and even though I wanted to sound steady, I knew I didn’t have a chance. And judging by the gleam in his eye, he knew it too.
“I love sweet things,” he answered, and I felt my cheeks warm up at the tone of his voice and under his scrutinizing stare.
“Okay,” I sighed, not able to find the strength to fight off the attraction that was clearly mutual.
“Good answer, Spark Plug.” He winked and opened the door further. “Get in, baby.” He winked again and dropped a soft kiss on my temple. It wasn’t anything huge, just soft and quick, but I felt it in the center of my being. I slipped in and once again, he took me off balance. Instead of shutting the door, his strong body leaned in, so close I could smell his skin.
“What are you—” The words died on my tongue as he pulled the seat belt and clicked it in place, his eyes never moving from mine. Something about it made me feel all gooey and warm inside and I wanted to ask what he was doing. As if reading my mind, he said, “Precious cargo,” in the most tender voice.
Precious cargo.
My heart? My heart was no longer beating because it wasn’t even in my body. It leaped out to the floor to swoon.
Max
I rounded my car, my hands flexing into a fist and out flat.
I needed to rein in everything she was bringing out of me. My reflection caught before I opened the driver’s door, and I couldn’t recognize myself. Like an animal was waking within me. I didn’t know the man Leti brought to life, but holy shit, I felt fucking invincible.
She turned and her eyes caught mine, and I grinned. They were the eyes of my forever, and I was going to hold on to every last minute possible. She’d agreed to go out with me, and I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. I was going to soak in every damn moment I could get; I just had to play it smart. I couldn’t fuck it up. Settling into the car, I sighed and looked at her.
“Ready?”
“For?”
“For the rest of our lives.” It was fucking cheesy but a hundred percent honest. Just laying it out for my Spark Plug.
“You’re crazy.”
“I’m just being honest.”
“Whatever.” She shook her head, her laughter tinkering around me. “How about we start with dinner.”
“Whatever you want, Spark Plug.”
“What’s with the nickname?” she asked, breaking the silence that had fallen between us.
“Spark Plug?” I asked even though I knew that’s what she meant.
“Yes.” I glanced her way and saw the way her pretty lips were twitching, fighting a smile.
“You’re sassy.” I shrugged, keeping the bigger reason to myself. I didn’t think she was ready to hear the real reason yet.
“That’s it?”
“Why do you think there is more to it?”
“Maybe because I pay attention,” she explained and intrigued me further.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’ve been friends with your sister for a minute, and one of her favorite subjects to talk about is her brothers.”
“She’s told you about us?” I asked, my attention on the road. “Ron and me?”
“Of course, she has! She loves you guys.” She smiled easily, and I liked that. I liked how easy and comfortable she seemed to be around me now that she knew we hadn’t fucked like rabbits while we’d both been drunk.
“What did she say about us?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.
“Oh, see, I can’t do that.” The little minx denied me and licked the bottom of her sexy little lip.
“Why not?” my voice rasped, and I shifted in my seat trying to subtly adjust the hard reaction my body had around her.
“Because.”
“Because isn’t an answer,” I challenged and felt the soft sound of her laughter in my damn balls. My tiny spark plug was dangerous to my libido. She’d woken it up, and I felt like a damn madman.
“It was told during girl talk. Girl talk is confidential, Max,” she flirted. A mischievous twinkle shined in her eye. Fuck, she was tempting.
“Nothing? Not even a hint?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Why won’t you tell me?” I countered with a chuckle.
“What do you think she says about you guys?”
“Let’s see… “ I turned on my turn signal to go right, where I was going to pick us up food. “Knowing Lee, she told you Ron and I are complete opposites.” I glanced over at her, and by the smile on her face, I knew I was right. “Have you met him?”
“Ronnie? Yeah, I have.” Ronnie. She called him Ronnie? What the ever-loving fuck?
“Hmm,” I grunted, and I didn’t know why I was suddenly weirdly jealous of my brother. We’d always been close but as different as night and day. I wasn’t stupid. I knew how they saw me. A hard-ass. Grumpy. While Ron was the easy one of the both of us.
“I don’t think you two are as different as you guys say though,” she observed, and I scoffed.
“Right,” I muttered under my breath.
“No, really. The way they made you out to seem… I would have never guessed the guy I met last night was the same guy they described,” she said, and my jaw clenched.
“You mean the guy you remember?” I pushed, and she shook her head.
“I might not remember every moment in your room, but I remember you.”
“Do you?”
“You’re not as grumpy as you like to have them believe,” she observed, and I laughed. “I’m serious. You’re a lot funnier than they could possibly know.”
“Don’t go telling on me, Spark Plug.” I winked at her, and she blushed.
“Your secret is safe with me.” Her tone was soft and sweet, like honey, and I liked that. I liked having secrets with her. I wanted a lifetime of secrets, moments that were only about the two of us. “Plus, I don’t think they would believe me.”
“What part?”
“Oh, I don’t know? You going up to that drunk guy and threatening to shove his hands down his mouth and out his ass if he got any closer to me.”
“That they would believe. I can be a little bit of a hothead.”
“A little?” She grinned, her eyes sparkling as I parked. I took my seat belt off and turned my body to look at her, my attention completely on her. “I’m pretty sure that guy peed his pants.”
“What else?” She probably thought I was fishing for compliments, but I wanted to make sure she remembered our time together.
“What a huge lucky charm you are.” She beamed, and I couldn’t help myself.
“Huge, huh?” It was my turn to tease, and I didn’t miss the way her eyes scanned my body, making their way down towards my lap and back up.
“Very huge,” she whispered, and I couldn’t keep my hands to myself. I cupped her face, my thumb grazing the apples of her delicate cheekbones. Before I could say anything, she smiled shyly and said, “They sure wouldn’t believe we skipped together to cash out our winnings through a casino.”
“We skipped, didn’t we?” I laughed, the depth of my tone new to my ears.
“Yeah.” Her eyes warmed, and I knew she was remembering our night. “You’re funny too. Sweet. Kind.”
“You make it sound like they think I’m a dick,” I mumbled, and her eyes sparkled.
“More like a hard-ass, but I don’t think you’re surprised by that.”
“I’m not,” I admitted, “How would your sister describe you?”
“I told you about her, didn’t I?”
“You told me all about your family,” I shared, and she laughed softly.
“My sister would tell you I’m a little… aloof.”
“I don’t see that.”
“I’m not as put together as she is.”
“You’re young.” I shrugged. “You have time to figure shit out.”
“About that…” She let the words linger and bounce between us.
“Hmm?”
“We didn’t talk about that.”
“About our age difference?” I asked, and she blushed. “Are you calling me old?”
“No. Not at all. I just…” She sighed. “Do you usually date younger women?”
“I don’t usually date at all.”
“Oh.”
“And in fairness, we kinda ran out of time, and then you ran out on me.”
“Sorry.” She scrunched her face, and I leaned in and stole a small kiss.
“I don’t have a problem with it. Do you?”
“Not really.”
“What does that mean?” My hand dropped from her face and took hold of hers. I felt this dire need to touch her in some way.
“I don’t care that you’re older. I just worry…” She licked her lip, and I pushed, needing to know what was bothering her sweet mind.
“What?”
“That I’m too much of a mess for you,” she blurted out. I had to clench my hands together to stop myself from pulling her soft, sweet body into mine.
“I like messy,” I said, and one of her pretty little brows rose up.
“Liar,” she whispered. “Ronnie and Rosalee both said you were a huge neat freak.” They hadn’t lied. I was a huge fan of order in my shop and my home.
But when it came Leti? Neat and tidy didn’t seem anywhere as interesting.
“Maybe I like your kind of messy?” I said, and she opened then closed her mouth and shrugged.
“Where are we?” she asked, and I stared at her for a beat. She was playing for an out of the heaviness of the conversation, and I was okay giving that to her.
For now.
“We are at the best Mediterranean food you can get in the desert.” I winked. It was also one of my closest buddy’s family joint. “You hungry?” I asked, and both our stomachs rumbled right at that moment.
“Starving!” She laughed.
“Good.” I chuckled. “Me too. Let me get the door for you.”
“I can open my own—“ I turned, and the look I gave her shut her up immediately.
“I know you can, but you don’t have to.” I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it. “Not when I find it my privilege to do it. Deal?” I watched as she swallowed hard and nodded. I hurried and got out of my car.
Every step I took towards her I knew was towards my future.
I just had to figure out how to convince her of it.
