by Laura Kaye
She opened the front door and stepped inside, Maverick right behind her. She held out a hand to him and moved to the living room doorway. “I have a surprise for you,” she said to her mother. “Someone came to say hello.”
“Who?” Her mom ran her hands over her hair. “I look a mess, Alexa.”
“It’s just me, Mrs. H,” Maverick said.
“Oh!” Alexa hadn’t seen her mother’s face light up like that in a long time. “Oh, Maverick Rylan, you come in here and see me right now.”
Grinning, Maverick slid past where Alexa stood in the doorway. Though it was soft and quick, the slight brush of his body against hers flashed heat through Alexa’s body. Just that little touch. Just that promise of something more. And that knot in her belly got a lot bigger and a lot more uncomfortable. Because barely touching Maverick made her hot with want, but just last night she’d had to pep talk herself into keeping her promise to make her rushed morning up to Grant.
“Hi, Mrs. H,” Maverick said, crossing the room to her.
“Oh, Maverick. What a sight for sore eyes you are,” she said, standing up. She held her arms out to him, and Maverick didn’t hesitate for a second. He not only hugged her, but he lifted her off her feet, making her mother laugh like a girl. “Put me down before you break me,” she said, not meaning a word of it.
“It’s good to see you.” Maverick carefully put her back down. “How have you been?”
“Same old. You know.” Mom sat again. “You here to help Alexa straighten me out, then?” she asked with a sniff.
Maverick laughed. “I’m here to help Alexa with whatever she needs help with,” he said, looking over his shoulder at her. His expression revealed that he meant that in all kinds of ways Alexa didn’t want to think about. Shouldn’t think about. Since she was engaged to another man and all. And had given Maverick up long ago.
Regret crept across her skin in a shiver, but Alexa refused to give it a second thought. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind helping me in the kitchen, then?”
“You’re the boss,” he said.
“Ha. Says the man who doesn’t listen to me.” Alexa threaded her way through the room, glad that needing to be careful of her steps meant that she had a good reason not to make eye contact with Maverick.
“You be nice to him, Alexa,” her mother said.
“Yeah, be nice to me,” Mav whispered. The sexy bastard.
In the kitchen, Alexa pointed her finger at him and raised an eyebrow. A silent command to be good.
“What?” he asked, his mouth sliding into a cocky half grin. She wanted to kiss it off of him.
“What are you going to do in the kitchen?” her mother asked from the other room.
Alexa shook away the troubling impulse. What was wrong with her? “Just dealing with the trash and recycling, Mom. Don’t worry,” Alexa called. Even though Maverick had been in their trailer many times and knew just how bad their mother’s hoarding could be, Alexa found herself really glad that she’d taken care of the dishes earlier. The room didn’t smell nearly as offensive now. And luckily she hadn’t found any buried critters—so far, at least. She looked at Maverick and spoke in a near whisper, “Sure you don’t mind doing this?”
“I never have,” he said.
She knew that was true, and it poked at something deep inside her. Alexa nodded. “Then we gotta work as fast as we can in here. She was getting pretty anxious earlier.”
“I hear you,” he said. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”
CHAPTER 8
Maverick had never been happier to do grunt work in his whole damn life. But he was doing it with Alexa, and that made a fucking difference. Not just because he was with her. But because she’d invited him in and welcomed his company. More than that, she seemed to be enjoying it.
It felt damn close to old times. The good old times.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye as they worked together. The happiness flowing through him made him feel damn pathetic, truth be told. But he ignored it in favor of letting himself enjoy what might be one of the last days he’d be spending with her. Ever.
He followed Alexa out to the curb with what was going to be their last bags of trash. Mrs. H had blown up at them moments before and made them promise to stop, so she was clearly at her limit. Not that it was any skin off Maverick’s nose. He’d seen it all before going years back. And, anyway, being a hoarder was a lot better than being an abuser like his father, so it wasn’t like he had any room to criticize anyone else’s parent.
Alexa dropped her bag into the big pile at the curb with a groan. She planted her hands on her hips, emphasizing her mouthwatering curves there. “I’m really sorry Mom yelled at you.” She wiped at her brow on a long sigh. Even with little makeup, her hair thrown up in a messy bun, and being dressed down in a pair of jean shorts and a form-fitting black tank top, she was still the most beautiful woman Maverick had ever known. Damn it all to hell.
“You don’t owe me any apologies, Al. I know how it is.” He dropped his bags at the curb.
“I know you do,” she said quietly. Her expression was thoughtful. Maybe even a little wistful. And it made him want to argue, convince, hell, even plead if it had a chance of making things different between them—all shit he should’ve done more of five years before.
“Can you?” she’d asked that day at Tyler’s grave. He’d heard everything she’d asked without her needing to say the words. Can you be there for me? Can you give me what I need? Can you commit? Can you do forever? And he’d frozen. Like the damn fool, like the damn immature kid, he’d been. It was a moment he’d replayed so many times, wishing he could do it over each and every time.
Alexa pulled her cell from her back pocket. “Maybe I can get one of Grant’s guys to come haul these bags away. If I leave them here ’til Monday morning, Mom will end up going through them and taking stuff back inside.”
The mention of Slater’s name was like nails against a chalkboard and hauled Maverick right back to the present. He grasped her hand. “I’ll take care of it,” he said a little more harshly than he intended.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that Maverick had lost Alexa to the wealthy asshole, Grant Slater was one of the few businessmen in Frederick who thought that the Ravens’ racing activities at Green Valley weren’t good for the town. The Ravens had allies among the restaurant, hotel, and retail store owners who benefited from the out-of-town visitors who came to see the races, and lots of locals supported the Ravens because of how many people they employed during racing season. But Slater argued that the races were detrimental to luring yuppies looking for an escape from city life into one of his developments of Mc-Mansions. So of course he’d jumped on last week’s crisis at Green Valley to get face time with the local news that he used to criticize the club. Worse than that, his wealth gave him influence, including with the mayor, who was so far into Slater’s pocket it wasn’t funny.
So Maverick had all kinds of reasons to want Alexa away from him. Not that it was his choice, was it?
“I’ll run to the house and get my truck. I can be back in twenty,” he said.
“Oh. Really?” Alexa asked, those hazel eyes wide with surprise.
Maverick just looked at her. Because no way he was opening his mouth and chancing revealing how deep it cut when she doubted him. Especially since he knew that her not believing in him—in his ability to take care of her—was part of what made her choose the wealthy, seemingly respectable asshole over him. And if that wasn’t enough, her doubts poked at his own fears about himself, born when he’d failed to take care of his mother years before.
“Okay. Wow. Um, are you sure? I can’t imagine you intended to get hung up here all day.”
“I don’t say what I don’t mean, Alexa,” he said, nailing her with a stare.
“I . . . I know. It’s not that. It’s just . . .” She shook her head. “You know what? Never mind. Thank you for offering. If you got your truck, that would be great, actually.”
Maverick nodded. “You got it.” He made for the street, and then an idea had him stopping in his tracks and turning back to her. “What are you going to do?” He’d spent enough time with Alexa and her mom to know that Alexa could only take so much of her mother at a time.
Alexa shrugged and looked maybe just a little lost. It made Maverick want to hold her, claim her, tell her she was fucking found. Forever. Which was a problem given that she was engaged to be married in just two weeks. If his gut wasn’t so sure she was in trouble, he’d cut himself off from seeing her again. Because on one level he was just torturing himself by coming around. “I don’t know,” she said with a rueful chuckle. “Fall down on the grass right here and take a nap maybe?”
“I got a better idea,” he said, a yearning planting itself in his gut. Could be the last time . . .
“Oh, yeah? Do tell,” Alexa said with a smirk and an arched eyebrow. And fuck it was sexy when she came at him with a little playful attitude like that. Always had been.
“Ride with me.” The words flew out of his mouth, and he didn’t want to take them back even though, fuck, it put him out there to be smacked down again. But damn if it wouldn’t be worth it to feel her holding him, pressed up tight against him, laughing in his ear.
She hesitated and maybe even looked a little nervous, but Maverick could see the interest in the liveliness of her eyes.
“Don’t think. Just say yes,” he said.
Alexa tilted her head and narrowed her gaze at him, and then she smiled. “Okay. Yes.”
That’s my girl. He kept the sentiment to himself, but he felt it down deep. His Alexa was in there. The one who could throw caution to the wind and have fun doing absolutely nothing. The one who laughed freely and bantered relentlessly. Maverick gave a single nod.
“Let me tell Mom. Be right back,” she said.
“I’ll bring the bike around.” Maverick took a step backward, but then paused when Alexa turned and hurried toward the house. His gaze traced her curves and lingered on the bare skin of her thighs. Thighs that were going to be wrapped around him in just a few short minutes. Thighs that had been wrapped around him in all kinds of ways many times. Many times. Fuck.
A few houses down, Maverick straddled his Harley Night Rod Special and brought the engine to life on a low rumble. He pulled the bike to the curb in front of the Harmon house and waited. He didn’t have to wait long.
Alexa came flying out through the garage. She made eye contact with him and it fucking seared his blood. For some reason this ride felt weighted with a significance he couldn’t put into words. And he wasn’t trying. He was just going to enjoy the hell out of it. Because Maverick knew her agreeing this one time didn’t change anything. Not anything important.
By the time she reached him, Alexa was smiling even though he could tell she was trying to hold that shit back. But she couldn’t, and that got to him, too. For a moment, she hesitated, like she wasn’t sure what to do. No way that was it, though, because even though it had been years, she’d been in his saddle as many times as his bed. He suspected the real issue was giving herself permission to do what she was gonna have to do—get close and hold tight. To him.
Something she hadn’t done in years.
But then she did it.
She braced one hand on his shoulder and climbed onto the small leather seat behind him. Her thighs hugging his ass. The softness of her breasts against his back. Her breath against his neck.
Fuck. The good old times once more.
He slid on a pair of sunglasses, then handed her his helmet. “Put this on.”
“What about you?” she asked as she took it.
“I’ll be careful.” He looked over his shoulder at her, and she gave a nod when she had it secured. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” she said, and he didn’t think he was imagining the anticipation in her voice.
The moment her hands came around him, Maverick pulled away from the curb. And the rightness of having her on his bike again made him want to drive up into the mountains for the rest of the day. Fists and knees in the breeze for a long ride. Find a quiet spot by one of the lakes. Fuck like a couple of kids against a tree or in the grass. They’d done it before. More than once.
But that wasn’t who they were anymore, was it?
And he was working on accepting that once and for all.
But not today.
THIS WAS PROBABLY a big mistake. Huge. Gargantuan, even. But that didn’t keep Alexa from getting on the back of Maverick’s bike and holding him tight.
One last time . . .
And it was just a ride. For old time’s sake. For fun, something she hadn’t prioritized in so long. And for her mom. Couldn’t forget that, either.
So, yeah. It was just a ride.
A shiver ran through her that had nothing to do with the air rushing over her skin. It was Maverick. His heat, his muscles, his long hair that she’d always loved running her hands through. It was his rough masculinity and his daredevil attitude and his fierce loyalty.
It was Maverick that had her body getting hot and feeling needy. She found even the leather Raven Riders’ patch on the back of his cut alluring, which made no sense since it was his membership in the club that had been one of her rationales for pushing Maverick away. But holding him as she was, all she could think about was how that same image was tattooed on his broad back. Watching the raven perched on a dagger move as his naked body did had always attracted her to him, even if everything the tattoo represented had sorta scared her.
Alexa closed her eyes and heaved a deep breath. Why was she torturing herself like this? She’d made her choice. Her future was set. Her future was Grant.
This? This was just a ride with someone she used to know.
Alexa groaned to herself. She might not want to admit the truth out loud, but it wasn’t like she could hide from herself. And if she was being honest, she hadn’t accepted the ride just to get a break from hanging out with her mother, although that had been part of it. She’d also wanted to ride with Maverick. Deep down, a part of her hadn’t wanted to spend the minutes apart that it would take for him to get his truck and return. Because she wouldn’t have many more—if any—opportunities like this again, not with her wedding just two weeks away. Now, experiencing all these feelings welling up inside her, it made her remember something she hadn’t thought of in a really long time.
Being with Maverick . . . just made her want to be with him even more. It had always been like that between them.
Which was one of the reasons, five years before, that she’d broken things off with him cold turkey. No friendship, even though they’d started out as friends. No hanging out casually or with groups of mutual friends, even though they’d done that all the time before they ever started dating. No asking for his help with her mom, even though he’d done it so many times and she could’ve used the help after Tyler died. She’d just been overwhelmed with grief and anger and responsibility, and it had been too hard for her to be around Maverick and not want him. Even if she’d been convinced he couldn’t give her everything she and her mother needed.
It hadn’t been easy. In fact, it’d hurt almost as much as Tyler’s death had. And that’d made her feel maybe more guilty than she ever had in her life.
And then Grant had stepped in, offering her kindness and support and help. Even as Maverick made a few last attempts to bridge the gap between them.
At first, staying away from Maverick had been her idea—all self-preservation. So it hadn’t mattered when Grant had made it clear early in their relationship that he didn’t want Alexa seeing Mav—or any of the Ravens, really—anymore. In her grief for her brother, she was already avoiding Maverick. In her need to focus on taking care of her shattered mother, she’d already cut him off. So honoring Grant’s preference had been easy because it went along with her own intentions. Either way, it’d been a long time since she’d spent any time with Maverick like this.
And staying away from him had
worked. It had made it easier to avoid feeling what she most desired where Maverick was concerned. Which was him. Had always been him. Since she’d been a girl who was way too damn young to be crushing on a teenager, and then a man, who was four years older than her. A man whose lifestyle had scared her on so many levels and made her choose what seemed like the more rational—safer—choice.
Grant Slater.
But now . . .
Today was the third day in a little over a week that Alexa had seen Maverick. And damn if that desire wasn’t still there. Even after all this time.
And that was a total sucker punch because she’d convinced herself a long damn time ago that she was totally and completely over this man. Emotionally. Physically. In every way.
Maverick took a fast turn, tilting the Harley at what seemed to Alexa to be a dangerously low angle. It’d been years since she’d ridden a motorcycle, but when they’d been together she’d done it all the time with him. As if on instinct, her body leaned the way it needed to handle the turn. Still, she clutched her arms and legs around him tighter, and his laughter floated back to her on the wind. And even though her heart was racing and her belly was flipping from the unexpected move, Alexa had a big smile on her face, too.
She and Maverick had sometimes butted heads, but mostly things between them had been easy, natural, effortless. She hadn’t realized just how true that was, but being with him again held a mirror up to her relationship with Grant. And maybe the comparisons were unfair since they were working on merging their lives as soon-to-be husband and wife, something she and Maverick had never broached during their time together, something Maverick had said he wasn’t sure he’d ever even want. Not after how his parents’ marriage had turned out. And it was far easier to be fun and lighthearted when forever wasn’t on the line. Right?
Right. Stop talking yourself into thinking there are problems where none exist, Alexa. Maybe Grant was right. He said all the time Alexa worried and overthought things too much. This sure seemed like proof.
Gah. Why hadn’t she just stayed at her mother’s?
