Chapter Eleven

Maverick

I’m beginning to think that my 95 percent success rate is turning into 95 percent of the time I have no idea what I am doing. Like right now, waiting outside the bar to meet Beth and, of course, all her friends. We work together, she gave me a lap dance, and we’ve had sex, as I keep reminding myself, yet Beth and I haven’t exactly hung out. We’re doing things completely out of order, but on the plus side, at least she’s still willing to spend the day with me doing something that isn’t work-related.

“So, your family owns the company where you and Beth are working?” Conner asks. Luke introduced me to him last night before I left the bar. It’s his boat we are taking out today.

He’s inside the boat, which is still hooked to his truck as Luke and another guy I haven’t met yet hand him coolers to put inside.

“Yeah, my father is the president and oversees the Colorado branch,” I answer. “Thanks for inviting me. It’s a great day to be on the water.” Work is the last thing I want to think about today. I spot Sky pulling bags from her car and rush to grab them from her before someone can ask me another question.

“Thanks,” she says. “You just earned that sandwich I made for you.”

I laugh. I hadn’t even thought about packing food. I was so focused on the fact I am hanging out with Beth that I barely managed to grab the one bottle of water I brought.

“Thanks for that.”

I follow behind her to the boat and hand Conner the bags. Another couple shows up; they hug each other in greeting and talk about how excited they are for a kid-free day. Everyone is paired off as a couple. Is Beth the only single woman in their group? I know Tyler told me last night she isn’t a relationship type of person, but people change, right?

“Oh, there they are!” One of the girls points across the street where Beth and Abby are walking toward us. Beth is carrying a cooler and looks uncomfortable while Abby is on her phone, arms flailing in the air and brows together. I’d hate to be on the other end of that line.

I jog across the street. Beth’s hair is down today, shining in the already seventy-degree weather. She’s wearing a plain white t-shirt, a navy-blue swimsuit noticeable underneath, and a pair of torn jeans shorts cut so high a guy doesn’t need sun on his face to start sweating. A cool breeze would be really nice right about now. Her legs are long and slender down to her flip-flops. Judging by the way she’s grinning at me, we could skip the lake and I’d be just as happy, as long as I could be tangled up in bed with her and those legs.

Without a word, I lift the cooler out of her arms.

“Thanks,” she says. “For a moment there I thought you were going to just stare at me.”

“I can do both.”

She bumps my shoulder as we cross the road.

“I’m glad you came today,” she says.

“Are you?” I ask and laugh at the same time. Last night at the bar, the idea looked like it freaked her out.

“Yes, I really am.”

She’s looking down, but I still see the side of her lips pull into smile as I watch her.

“So, where’s Tyler? I thought he was coming with you.” I ask. Beth slaps her hand over my mouth so quickly I almost drop the cooler from surprise.

“Shhh, if Abby—”

“I already heard him. Tyler isn’t coming,” she says loudly into her phone and then taps the screen, dropping it into the bag hanging off her arm. “Don’t act so surprised,” she says to me. “This is Tyler we’re talking about.”

Beth’s hand is still on my mouth. She’s got a tight-lipped smile going as she shakes her head. Is she going to laugh?

“I take it he bailed?” I ask in a mumble behind her hand.

“Ugh, Maverick, really? My hand was there for a reason.” Beth rolls her eyes at me and walks off. I can’t help but smile. She’s damn cute when she’s irritated with me.

“Tyler doesn’t bail. He gets uninvited. By me,” Abby answers.

I nod, not sure if I should pursue it or make this moment even more awkward by changing the subject to sports or something.

“Maverick,” Beth calls my name. I glance to her direction and she waves for me to join her in front of the truck. And I do, without another word to Abby.

“All right,” Beth starts, “I’m going to do a quick rundown of everyone here.”

“Sorry, man, I thought you’d already met everyone,” Luke says before Beth can go on.

“Not a problem,” I say.

“Okay, you’re going to get lost and probably forget someone’s name, but here it is. You know Sky and Luke.” She points to them, then she points down the line of people, “Conner; his girl, Alexis; Logan, who is Alexis’s brother; Sara, who owns the BA and is married to Logan; Kelsey, who is Conner’s sister; and Ethan, who is married to Kelsey but is also Sara’s cousin. Oh, and of course you know Abby.”

She wasn’t kidding. I got lost in there on the relationship part, but I think I’ll be good to remember all the names. How are we going to fit eleven people on this boat?

“Who is riding with who and who is going to swing by the marina to grab the jet skis?” Conner asks. Twenty minutes later, Beth and I are in the back of Conner’s truck and headed to the lake.

* * *

“How often do you guys come out here?” I ask. I’m sitting in the back of the boat with Luke and Conner while the girls are at the front. Logan and Ethan are off somewhere on the jet skis.

“Not as often as we would like, that’s for sure,” Conner says. He and Luke then go into a discussion about a bookstore and something about fire damage. I listen for a bit, but my attention immediately shifts when I catch Beth watching me. She smiles, not even trying to hide the fact that I caught her staring. The same way she did when I first saw her back in the bar in Colorado. If I had known then that this woman was going to make me do things I had no control over, would I have followed her outside that night?

One of the girls must have said something funny because Beth’s head falls back and her mouth opens with a big laugh. The sound pierces my heart, and I know right then that I would have done anything to be in this woman’s line of sight.

“Who’s up for tubing?” Conner asks the ladies.

“No, no, I don’t want to get my hair wet today,” Sky says, the other girls nodding in agreement.

“I’ll go,” I say.

“We have wakeboards if you would rather do that.” Conner points down to the nook in the hull of the boat.

But the tube is already aired up and ready.

“This will be fine.”

“It’s big enough for two people, if ah … if you want someone to go with you.” Luke’s eyes dart to Beth. He leans back in his spot and smiles.

“Funny thing is, about this time last year, this guy would have been telling you to run.” Conner laughs and smacks Luke’s back.

“Oh, I would not have,” Luke argues, popping the top to a soda and handing it to Sky.

“True, you wouldn’t have even come today.”

Luke’s head tilts as he shrugs and then nods. “So, alone or doubles?” he asks me.

“Beth.” She looks up at me. “Want to join me?”

“No thanks,” she says simply.

“Scared?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“I just don’t want to get in the water.”

“I can bribe you.” I grin and wink at her.

She copies my grin, crosses her legs, and leans back against the cushion of her seat. “You don’t know me well enough to know what I could want that badly.”

“You can take the lead in the radio presentation,” I offer. I’m aware at this point that everyone is watching. After my last comment, even the boat slows to a stop.

Beth just stares at me, her lips puckering and her eyes narrowing. I’m as shocked as she is that I said that. Taking the lead is a sign of where you stand against your peers, so letting her do that will give her the upper hand. I’m no idiot; I know she would be thrilled to have the spot.

“I get the left side,” she says, standing. The girls do the same so I can lift the seat and hand out our life jackets.

“I have to get a picture of this.” Sky digs around in her bag until she had her phone in her hand. Everyone is busting around now to get the tube ready and in the water as we strap on our jackets and decide who gets to hold the flag and who keeps an eye on the rope. “Beth, where’s your phone?”

“I left it at the apartment,” she says. In the same way everyone went silent a minute ago, they do it again.

I’m still looking at everyone, confused as shit to what’s going on, when the jet skis pull up.

“What’s everyone—why do you all look like that? What happened?” Logan asks.

“Beth didn’t bring her phone,” Sara says.

Logan’s brow peaks and that’s when I finally ask, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s just, I could show you pictures and pictures of group gatherings and every single one would show Beth on her phone. So, the fact she forgot it …”

Now everyone is looking at me. I’m about to turn to Beth for clarification when her red hair flashes out of the corner of my eye and the next thing I know, she’s shoving me over the side of the boat.

The water is chilly when it hits my body, and as I swim up to the surface to catch my breath, I hear the tail end of a very firm “got it” from Beth. Then she jumps in right next to me.

Beth

For fuck’s sake, friends. Can’t any of you just act normal around Maverick? I swear, each time I do something out of the ordinary, they must point it out. I know I’m not being normal. Maverick makes me not normal. There is absolutely no need for anyone to bring this to his attention. Ever. At least until I figure out what to do about him and work. I really, really don’t want to do anything that would cost me my job, and the last thing I want is for people to think I got this job because I was sleeping with the boss’s nephew.

I climb on to the tube as Maverick holds it for me with one firm grip, his muscles wet and flexing.

A quick dip in the water wouldn’t be the worst idea right now.

“Have I told you yet how glad I am to have you do this with me?” he asks. He’s staring at my ass right now. I just know it.

“Well, you did give me an offer I couldn’t resist.” I adjust my swimsuit top as I settle onto the lime green and white tube.

The tube jerks to the right and my grip tightens as Maverick pulls himself up.

“This thing is going to flip to your side on the first wake. Your weight compared to mine means we are doomed,” I say.

“We’ll see about that.”

I roll my eyes. “Are you ready?”

“More than you know,” he says, looking me in the eyes. His gaze flashes to my lips right as I put my thumb in the air. My stomach twists into a knot. I don’t think Maverick is talking solely about this water ride.

The boat starts slow.

“Hold tight,” I tell him.

“What’s the signal to go faster?” he asks.

“Just give them a thumbs up and then a thumbs down to go slower.”

“Oh, we’re definitely not going slower.” His thumb flashes up and he just keeps pumping it in the air.

“Put your hand down!” I try to swat him but have to get my hand back on the grip.

“I will when we get to a good speed.”

“Maverick, we aren’t going to last long if you keep your hand up.”

“Trust me, okay?” His hand goes down and his eyes beg me to comply.

I don’t trust anyone easily except the group we came with. I’ve known them all so long it’s hard not to trust them. I’m still getting to know Maverick, but like an idiot, I nod.

The boat takes off and the tube jerks behind it. Conner whips the boat back and forth, creating waves. We get good air with almost each one, water spraying the two of us, and neither of us can stop laughing. I’m bouncing off the tube like a rag doll while Maverick seems to hold his position well.

I open my mouth to ask if he needs the boat to go faster when we hit a good wave. This time, Maverick’s body comes off the tube, but he’s still holding on. I know this because that’s immediately where my eyes go when my hands begin to slip. Then Maverick’s hand disappears from one of the grips. My hand follows right after. I brace myself for the crash when an arm locks behind my back and pulls me back against the tube. I open my eyes to see that Maverick has now latched onto one of my handles as his body holds mine between him and the tube—a grin on his lips the entire time.

“Want me to tell him to slow down?” he shouts.

I just shake my head.

“All right, well—”

Water silences everything around me, and my lungs inflate as I swirl under the surface. I’m not under for very long before I’m able to swim to the top. I gasp for a breath, franticly searching to find Maverick. His head bobs up to the left.

“Beth,” he shouts, looking the opposite way.

“I’m right here,” I say, swimming up behind him.

He splashes in a turn and pulls me to him.

There’s no time for me to react before his lips crash against mine. His hands hold tight to my sides and it’s as though the small current of water forces my legs around his core. I lock my arms around his neck and slide my tongue through his lips. His growls, kissing me harder as his fingers sneak their way under my vest.

“I hate to break this up,” Luke says, the boat drifting up next to us. “But those clouds are about to cut our day short.”

We look in the direction he points and dark skies are heading our way. We swim to the back of the boat to use the ladder. I go first but pause to look back.

“Do you want to come to my place when we get back?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says and then nudges my butt for me to move.

Once we’re back in the boat, my eyes never stray from Maverick. Running a towel over his hair or across his body to dry off is such a natural thing to do, but right now it makes my insides scream to take over and tear his clothes off. I almost tell him not to bother pulling his t-shirt over his head, but I don’t. He’ll figure it out soon enough.

* * *

So it’s safe to say that whatever is going on between Maverick and myself, I can’t quit now no matter what I think or tell myself. He doesn’t show any signs of stopping either.

“I had fun today,” he says, leaning against the counter in my kitchen. “I can’t remember the last time I just took a day to not focus on work.”

“Don’t you have a hobby or something you do when you aren’t working?” I ask.

“I’ve been so wrapped up in work for the last two years that I sort of put everything I enjoyed doing to the side.”

“Where did you work the last two years?”

When he doesn’t answer right away, I gaze up from making tea. Why is he looking at me like I just kicked his puppy?

“I’ve been working at my father’s branch.”

What?

“You already work at MM?” I ask.

He nods slowly, once, and looks away.

“That doesn’t make sense. Why would they put you in this program then?” I ask. Before I was competing against a family member shoe-in—now I’m competing against someone who already works there? I should just give up now.

“Let’s not talk about work anymore today, okay?”

The pure worry in his eyes confuses me. What doesn’t he want to tell me?

“Well, that’s going to be a little hard now.”

“Try to forget it.”

“Yes, because that will be so easy to do.”

“Why do you have to argue with everything? Why can’t you just say okay and be done with it?” he snaps.

“Because when someone wants to avoid a subject, nine out of ten times it’s because there is more to the story and they don’t want to share that information.”

He doesn’t say anything.

“Exactly,” I slam the box of tea bags on the counter. Hopefully, the fact that I’m not facing him anymore will get my next point across. “Maybe you should go.”

The room falls silent as he debates whether or not he’s going to do as I suggested. He takes a step and I think it’s for the door, but it’s not. Maverick silences my thoughts with a hug. A simple hug.

“Our lives make no sense right now, but Beth, whatever we have going on together, I can’t let it go.” His places a gentle kiss on my shoulder and then my neck.

Now. Now would be a really good time to take his no argument and just say, “Okay” advice.

His hand slides through my hair, gripping what it can as he spins me around. I don’t give either of us the chance to continue this conversation. We kiss like it’s our last and strip out of every piece of clothing by the time we’ve made it to my room.

Maverick breaks the kiss and steps back.

“Turn around,” he says.

The command in his voice makes the spot between my legs cheer with desire. I comply and bend over the bed before he can give me his next order.

“Look back at me,” he says, his voice deep with want.

With a glance over my shoulder I catch his heated gaze as he smooths both hands over my cheeks. He palms them and grips them with a groan.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of you bent over my desk like this,” he says.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve imagined it,” I say.

I see the tick in his jaw as he leans over me, his straining erection pressed against me. He’s pushing inside me, slowly. Sex with Maverick feels so good. I don’t know why I ever fought something so great. He folds his body over mine, thrusting hard as one squeezes my breast and the other sneaking its way between my legs and rubbing against me. It doesn’t take long before I’m crying his name and he’s following right behind me.

Later, when we’re lying in bed, I can’t help but think that working with him and not touching him will be impossible. But somehow, it has to be. No matter how much I crave him, I can’t continue to give in. My life depends on it, and whenever I’m around Maverick or even think of him, my focus is distracted. I can’t afford to be disconnected from my work at all. My entire life is in Wind Valley. Maverick’s been here for part of a summer. One man can’t be worth giving up my apartment, losing my job, or missing my friends.

Can he?