The next night, Jessa sanitized the stainless steel countertops as she wiggled her butt to the tune of a song she was singing. It wasn’t like she could sing well, but it sure beat listening to the sound of crickets outside that had started their nightly chorus since it was almost dark.
“Ahem.”
She spun toward the sound to find Max standing in the doorway. “Oh, hey.”
“What are you doing?”
Crap. “Um, singing. Got any requests?”
“Yeah,” he said, grinning in amusement. “That you turn on a radio.”
She laughed. “I would, but my radio isn’t working.” She bumped his hip with hers. “Besides, you love my horrible singing.”
“I can fix it,” he said.
“My singing?”
He grinned. “No, sorry. Some things can never be fixed. But I can take care of the radio.”
“Jerk,” she said playfully. “Knock yourself out with the radio.” She nodded to it sitting on a shelf directly over the refrigerator. “There’s a screwdriver over there already from earlier where I was trying to get it to work. As you can plainly see, that didn’t happen.”
He headed straight for the small silver radio, rolled up his sleeves, and started tinkering with it. “Busy day?” he asked, not bothering to look up from the task at hand.
She went back to wiping the counters. “Yeah. I’m thinking I’m going to start having to prep and load more product before heading out in the mornings. Thank goodness it didn’t happen until later in the day, but we ran out of almost everything on the truck.”
“That’s good,” he said absently, still checking over the radio.
“Do you know what you’re doing over there?”
He shrugged. “Well, I once burned myself on a plug that threw sparks and left blisters on my hands for almost a week. But I mostly know what I’m doing.”
“Eh, maybe we should leave the radio to a professional? Or I could actually just buy a new one. They’re cheap enough. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
He laughed. “I’m not going to hurt myself, I promise. I will need to run out to my truck though. I think I figured out your problem. There’s a loose wire in the back, and I have something in my toolbox that should fix it. Be right back.”
“Okay,” she said, noticing that he was taking the electronic device with him. “Just don’t steal my broken radio. Because, believe it or not, I will call the cops on you.” She grinned wide to show him she was teasing.
He chuckled as he stepped out the door. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Jessa continued to work on cleaning up the truck while Max went out to his. By the time he returned, she was just finishing up. “I’m almost done. Just need to throw the cleaning supplies inside the kitchen and lock up the truck for the night.”
“Good. I’m done here too.” He plugged the radio in and turned it on. Rock music blasted from it briefly before he shut it off again. “I was right. It was just a loose wire.”
“I can’t believe you repaired that so easily. You’re really good with electronics.”
“Uh, yeah. I get by.” He didn’t look like he took that as a compliment. “By the way, is that a new screen door on the truck? I never noticed it before.”
Jessa glanced to the doorway. “Yep. The weather has been nice and cool with all of these fall breezes so I’m hoping to take advantage. With the metal door completely shut, we have to run the air conditioner in here, but it’s an older one. It doesn’t always keep up with the heat coming off the grill.”
“Who put on the screen door?”
“Oh, Valerie gave me the number to a contractor she trusted, and he came over and put it on the same day. Really nice guy.”
“Was his name Sam?”
She blinked at him. “How did you know that?”
“Sam is my best friend. I’m pretty sure I mentioned him before to you. I’ve been buddies with that guy for a few years now. Ever since we started working together.”
Huh? “Working together? You’re in two completely different job fields. Why would the two of you work together?”
Max paused. “Oh, um…well, Sam had a job to do working in a restaurant and I had to inspect the place once he was done.”
“Ah, gotcha. That makes sense.” She smiled. “For a second there, I thought I had misunderstood what you were talking about.”
He nodded. “I just meant that Sam and I have history, that’s all.”
“Well, he seems like a good friend to have. He did a great job on the screen door. Makes it a lot cooler in here now.”
“You know, I could’ve done it for you if you would’ve asked. I’m pretty good with my hands.” He waggled his eyebrows.
She smiled. “Mmm. I agree. I definitely wouldn’t report you to the Better Business Bureau.”
Max let loose a boisterous chuckle. “You better not or your backside is going to meet my hand.”
“Promises, promises.”
He stalked toward her with a sexy smirk on his face, and the urge to back away took over her feet. The truck’s kitchen was small though, so only a few steps backward had her butt coming into contact with the counter behind her. He placed his hands on either side of her, flat on the counter, and his arms automatically caged her in. “You know, you weren’t nearly this feisty when I first met you.”
She smirked. “Oh, I was. You just didn’t know it because I was being extra nice.”
Max leaned into her with his warm body, the heavy weight of him pressing against her in the most delicious way. His firm lips found her neck, nibbling and sucking, and she cocked her head to the side to give him better access. He moved upward until his lips were at her ear, and then he whispered, “Would you like that, Jess?”
Maybe it was the way he was making her brain fuzzy, but she didn’t have a clue what he was referring to any longer. She liked everything he was doing to her though, so she was pretty sure her answer would be the same no matter what. “Yes.”
He groaned. “Baby, you giving me permission to spank your sweet little ass is making me hard as a rock.”
Oh, that. Shit.
Whatever. She was down for anything when it came to Max. He had always been gentle with her, except for when he wasn’t. And those times were usually because she was screaming incoherent things, loud enough for her neighbors to hear. And she had loved every minute of it. “You might want to hold that thought until we get back to my place. Logan and Valerie are working in the bar tonight, and sometimes they come over to say hi and check on me.”
“Damn. That’s too bad.” He tilted his hips toward her, and she felt the stiffness in his jeans.
Her breath hitched, and her heart pounded in her chest. “No kidding. But let’s save that for later, shall we? I still have to stop by the grocery store on the way home or I’m not going to have anything to eat all weekend. Also, I really could use a shower. I probably smell like I’ve been battered and fried.”
He sniffed her hair. “Actually, you smell more like grilled steak. It smells good…even if I don’t eat it.”
“That’s not comforting in the least. I’ve had you between my legs. The last thing I want to do is smell like something you won’t eat.” She waggled her brows back at him.
Max chuckled. “I don’t think that you have to worry about that. Anytime you open those gorgeous legs of yours, I’m going to be begging to get my tongue in between them.”
Holy hell. The man knew just what to say to make her throb with desire and clench with need. “If you keep talking like that, we’ll be going straight back to my place and I’ll have to live off of cheese and crackers the entire weekend.”
He grinned. “Okay, fine. I’ll just wait until I get you naked and then talk dirty to you.”
“Deal.” She leaned up and kissed him quick, trying to keep it from becoming a full-blown make-out session. Because once it got started, she doubted either of them would want to put a stop to it. “Let’s get ready to go then.”
Jessa put away the cleaning supplies and locked up the kitchen and the truck while Max loaded her bicycle into the back of his truck. She hadn’t known he was going to stop by, but she was glad he did. It beat trying to carry all of the groceries home on her bike any day.
He held her hand in the truck as they drove to the grocery store, which only made her wonder if that meant they were an item. Like an actual couple. She felt like they were, but it wasn’t like he’d referred to her as being his girlfriend. Yesterday, he’d told her that he knew her—like really knew her—which was nice but not exactly the same thing as being a couple.
When they arrived at the grocery store, she thought he would just wait in the truck for her. But instead, he followed her in and walked slightly behind her as she pushed the shopping cart down the aisles.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Max, you really didn’t have to come in with me,” she told him. “I’m just grabbing a few things. I won’t be long.”
He shrugged. “It’s okay. I don’t mind staring at your fantastic rear while you shop. Besides, I’ll be here in case you need any heavy lifting done.”
Laughing, Jessa said, “You’re such a gentleman.”
“Not even close. I’m just trying to hurry you along so that I can get you home and into a bed and stripped down to nothing.” He grinned. “I’m sure you already knew that though.”
“I figured as much. But you better behave yourself in here or you’re going to have to bend me over one of the nearest sale displays.”
She lifted onto her tiptoes and stretched out her arm to grab a jar of olives from a high shelf, but it was still just out of reach. Before she could ask Max to get it for her, he was practically on top of her, one hand at her waist, towering over her from behind. His warm body enfolded hers as the rock-hard bulge in his jeans pressed errantly against the small of her back. She sucked in a sharp breath.
Max grasped the jar easily and handed it to her, but she almost dropped it when his tongue traced the shell of her ear. “You really need to hurry or you’re going to get your wish,” he whispered, his breath tickling her neck.
She shivered and breathed out, “I’ll make it quick.”
“Good.” He backed away from her slowly. “By the way, you’ll never hear me say those words to you.”
Her pulse quickened. No, Max wasn’t the type to rush sex. When he made love to her, it was gloriously slow. He took his time and made sure to find all of those secret places he’d mentioned yesterday. Then he spent a great deal of time touching them. To her delight, of course.
Lord, she wanted to fan herself. If she thought he wouldn’t laugh at her reaction, she might’ve actually done so. How was it possible for one man to have so much testosterone…and stamina?
Not that she was complaining. If anything, she was a damn fool for not jumping on his offer sooner. “Maybe we should just go. I can always come back to the store another night.”
* * *
Max grinned as he took the jar of olives from her, setting it down in the metal shopping cart. “You can’t live off of olives over the weekend. It’s okay. Grab what you need. A few more minutes won’t kill us. It’ll…build the anticipation.”
Ha! Anticipation, his ass. His dick was already standing straight up, hard as steel, and longing to drive hard and fast into her. Not that he would allow that to happen. Max had always been a patient lover who liked to take his sweet time in pleasuring a woman’s body. Especially this woman’s glorious body.
It was an exquisite kind of torture listening to her release sharp gasps as he filled her, her slow sighs as he played with her sinfully delicious curves, her breathy moans as he extended their lovemaking, and finally her desperate cries as she reached ultimate satisfaction.
But God. He was just a man, one with strong needs. If she didn’t hurry and get him back into her bed, he probably wasn’t going to make it out of the parking lot before he reached for her and started peeling off her clothes. “Let’s talk about something else while you’re shopping.”
“Okay.” She paused for a moment as they started down the aisle. “Where were you today?”
Huh. Weird question, but all right. “At work. Why?”
“Because I went by the city hall today to see you.”
Panic surged through him, dropping like a lead weight in his stomach. “You did what?”
“Uh, went to city hall.”
“Why in the hell would you do that?” Damn it. He hadn’t meant to sound like such a jerk.
Her eyes widened slightly. “Well, I had to go there anyway to drop off some paperwork, so I was going to stop by your office to say hi.”
Max’s body stiffened. He didn’t have an office at city hall. Hell, he didn’t even have an office. Period. He had a workshop at his house with tons of electrical supplies in it, which was why he always spent the night with her rather than the other way around. Fuck. “You went by…my office?”
“No, I was going to. But on my way inside, I ran into Logan. He said you’d already left for the day. That’s why I asked where you were. I thought maybe you stopped by the Gypsy Cantina and we missed each other.”
Thank God for Logan. Max never thought he’d be thinking that in a million years. At least the tension ebbed, and his body relaxed a little. “Oh, um, no. I had a…doctor’s appointment scheduled for this afternoon. That’s why I left work early.”
“Are you getting sick?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “No, nothing like that. It was just an annual physical.”
“Ah, I see. Well, maybe I’ll catch you the next time I’m there.”
Shit. He frowned at her. “Jess, you really shouldn’t stop by my office unannounced like that. It’s hard to…catch me there during the day anyway. Even if you did, my working hours right now are chaotic and busy as hell. I wouldn’t have much time to talk.”
Her face paled a little at his tone. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t planning on taking up much of your time. It was just going to be a quickie.”
Christ. She wanted to have sex with him at city hall? Normally, his response to something like that would be, “Hell yeah, sign me up.” But since he was lying about having an office at city hall, he couldn’t very well allow her to show up there looking for him. “My…uh, secretary is there all the time, and we wouldn’t have any privacy for that.”
She blinked. “I didn’t mean an actual quickie. I wasn’t stopping by to have sex with you, Max. I just meant I was going to poke my head in and say hello to you.”
“Well, I’d really rather you didn’t. The last thing I need is for everyone at city hall to start gossiping about me because they find out that we’re sleeping together. I could get fired, ya know?”
“Jesus, Max. I wasn’t planning on announcing that. It was just going to be a simple hello before I left to go back to work. But, trust me, it won’t ever happen again.” She shoved her basket forward and stormed into the next aisle.
Damn it. That was just great. Now he’d made her mad.
Max scrubbed a hand through his hair and then went after her. He caught up with her halfway down the next aisle and grasped her arm gently, halting her forward motion. “I’m sorry, Jess. What I was trying to say didn’t come out right. I was out of line.”
She huffed out a breath. “You’re damn straight you were. I wouldn’t do anything to cause you to lose your job. If anything, you should already know that about me since you know me so well.” She made air quotes with her fingers.
He nodded. “You’re right, and I do know that. I was just being paranoid, and it was a poor reaction on my part. I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
She didn’t respond.
“Jess.”
She hesitated but then finally sighed. “All right, but you’re carrying my groceries inside for me when we get to my house.” Then she smiled to show him all was forgiven.
Man, this woman was unbelievably amazing. Her ability to forgive him so easily for being such a jerk astounded him. It also filled him with optimism. Because if she could forgive him for something like this so easily, maybe there was a chance for them after all once he finally told her the truth. One could hope.
He drew her to him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Thank you. By the way, you’re letting me off too easy. I was planning on doing that for you anyway.”
“Hmm, then maybe I’ll come up with a different punishment for you,” Jessa said with a grin. “Maybe it won’t be me who gets the spanking, after all.”
“Oh no, babe. That’s definitely going to be you.”