Chapter 6

Max

“Are you really that much of an idiot?”

Those weren’t the words I’d expected to hear after defending a woman’s honor. There again, Lia was on a whole other level when it came to women.

She slammed the storage room door shut behind me, flicked on an overhead light, and set down the fire extinguisher. Dust filled the air, and I coughed and swatted it away. The side of my head hurt like a bitch from the one shot the guy got off on me, so I used my other hand to curb the pressure with my palm.

“You’re welcome,” I said.

She pushed me back against a ceiling-high set of shelves, then settled her hands on either side of my shoulders. A few empty boxes rattled and fell to the floor, but even that didn’t distract me when Lia’s body went flush with mine. “Don’t,” she warned.

“Don’t what?” I grinned, studying her face, the piercing above her lip specifically. The stud was silver, small, shiny, and sexy as fuck. I’d always wondered what it’d be like to run my tongue around it.

Down, boy.

Her bare stomach rubbed against my jeans, and the scent of her skin filled my nose when I inhaled. Always fresh flowers. Always so fucking perfect. My hands clenched against my sides as I fought the urge to bury my face against her neck to get a bigger whiff.

“Don’t play the coy card with me. And don’t ever come into my place of employment and play superhero again.” She took a step back and folded her arms, chin high and mighty.

“Why? You start fights at your place of employment.” I lifted an eyebrow.

Her right eye twitched. “That was different.”

“How so?”

“It was…outside and on my break.”

“He was saying shit about you.” My smile fell at the memory. “I didn’t like it.”

She sighed and took an even bigger step back, her anger fading. “You really think I care? I deal with assholes like him all the time. It’s part of the job.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” I stepped toward her. Her breath caught as I touched her hip, but the scowl on her face was back. Needing her to get what I was trying to say, I grabbed her hands and pressed her palms flat against my chest. Then I wrapped my hands around her waist and whispered in her ear, “You’re better than this place.”

Fire burned in her eyes when I leaned back to look at her. She lifted her chin even higher in that don’t fuck with me way I loved. “You don’t know what’s good for me. Nobody does.”

“Then tell me something,” I said, pulling her even closer, my hand splaying against her back. Beneath my palm, her skin was slick with sweat, and because I couldn’t help myself, I slid my thumb up and down her spine, a calming gesture that did nothing but make my cock go hard. “If I’m satisfied with the answer you give, I’ll let you go and leave.”

“What do you want to know?” she mumbled, folding her arms between us, clearly uncomfortable with our close proximity. I knew I should have let her go, but the selfish part inside of me needed this.

“Do you feel safe here?”

She hesitated, and I could tell she was lying when she said, “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I feel safe?”

“I’m calling your bullshit.”

Eyes narrowed, she shook her head. “I want you to go now, like you promised.”

“That’s not a good enough answer to make me leave.” My stomach knotted even tighter, this time because I was pissed. I hated when she lied to me. Hated it when I couldn’t do anything to get her to trust me.

“I’m a big girl, Maxwell. I don’t need you and Gavin coming in here and fighting my battles for me. I’m not some idiotic college girl anymore.”

I flinched and softened my tone. “I never said you were, Lee-Lee. Never once gave you that idea.”

“No, but you came here and picked a fight when I already had it handled.”

“I saw that asshole put his hands on you at the bar. I was going to let it lie, but…” I ran my hand through my hair and took a step back, pulling at the ends to keep myself in check. Only Lia could push my buttons like this. Only Lia made me want to explode with every emotion known to man.

“But what?” she asked, her voice going hard.

My thoughts took me back, reminding me what she hadn’t heard from that idiot punk kid. I closed my eyes, willing the rage away, fighting with what I wanted to say versus what I needed to say instead.

I didn’t want to tell her what that guy said, but because I kept nothing from this girl—because she needed this knowledge to prepare herself in case something happened when I wasn’t around—I told her anyway. “Those guys, Lee-Lee… They said shit, planned on coming after you after work. I heard them talking about it.”

She froze. “Oh.”

“That’s what you say when I tell you some guys were planning on doing God only knows what to you?”

I pulled her closer by the shoulders this time, slowly lowering my hands to her upper arms. Goose bumps pebbled her pretty skin as I slid my palms down to her elbows, proof that what I said affected her, regardless of her don’t-give-a-shit attitude.

“Just stop, okay?” She lifted her finger and pressed it to my lips, those eyes I dreamed of night after night locked with mine. “Guess it’s high time I start paying you back for some of what I owe you. First bail, now…this?”

“What?” I jerked my head back, confused. “What you owe me? You don’t owe me sh—”

And that’s when she kissed me.

Fingers in my hair, lips parting, tongue dancing…

Holy. Hell.

Lia fucked with her mouth, and it was the hottest thing I’d ever done in my life.

She moaned. I might’ve too. Wet, sweet, hot…everything I’d ever imagined our kisses could be. I bit down on her lip, her fingers grazing my neck, digging into my skin, then my hair. I lowered my hands to her ass and squeezed, jerking her close, grinding my cock against her stomach.

More, more, more. I need more.

Fingers aching, I tucked my hands into the back of her shorts, finding the string of her thong. I tugged it aside, damn near ripping it with my fingers. Our teeth rammed together, my body wound up, hers pliant.

This was it. Our moment. The one I’d been dying for. The one that showed me she wanted me too—that I wasn’t losing my mind after all. This was the moment when everything changed.

That is, until she stopped. Froze was more like it.

Then her hands were on my chest, shoving me back. Not hard, but just enough to break our connection.

I panted like a dog, reaching for her, growling at her. Needing her.

But then she winked. Fucking winked at me. “That work for you, Soldier Boy?”

“Uh…” I blinked, confused and in a hell of a lot of pain from my dick pressing hard against my zipper. Unconsciously, I adjusted my cock, forgetting she could see, that she was waiting and watching for my reaction. Maybe even waiting for me to say something charming. Which I couldn’t, because Lia had mouth-fucked the words right outta me.

An adorable smirk grew on her face, stealing what little brainpower I had left. Instead of talking though, trying to figure out why she’d done that, I leaned forward, needing more—a spoiled, greedy man with a one-track mind. That’s all I’d ever be when it came to her.

Before I could get another good taste, she turned her back to me, reached for the door handle, and said, “Now that’s one less favor I owe you.” Then she unlocked the door and left me behind like a dumb-ass.