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Chapter 1
Mariana Sparketta, or “Sparks” as her delivery friends liked to call her, could feel the sweat dripping down her back. Despite the forty-degree temperature outside on the city streets of Houston, an absolute cold front for the end of January, Mariana pushed along on her skateboard in hopes of delivering the package on time. Being a courier in the city was a bit rough sometimes. She had to deal with traffic, pedestrians, delivery vehicles, obnoxious desk clerks, and asshole business big shots. She swore to herself that once she achieved her college degree and landed a job, making it big, or at least ran her own art gallery, she would be the same quiet, sweet person she really was. But times were tough. Adapting to life on her own in Houston, after her mama dying suddenly, Mariana learned to overcome. So what, that it was taking a little extra time to finish college? She would do it. She had to. There was no Prince Charming, no winning the lottery, and basically men sucked.
“Watch it, moron!” she yelled as she maneuvered around a guy getting out of a taxi who nearly plowed into her. Well, like she was thinking, she would still be the nice, respectful person her mama raised her to be, outside of working as a courier. She had to be tough, and she had to dress the part, too. On Friday and Saturday nights she worked her second job serving food and hors d’oeuvres at parties for the wealthy and prominent in the Houston business district. College cost big bucks, and she had another whole two semesters until she finished and landed her degree. But she still had most of her college loans to pay, that bank loan left behind by mama, along with rent for her one-bedroom shit hole, four blocks from campus. That was a stupid decision, and she should have paid the extra money somehow so she wouldn’t worry about getting mugged or raped on her way home late at night.
Taking those self-defense courses better not come in handy. Or the illegal pepper spray she carried, she hoped, that remained in her purse.
She pumped her foot harder against the concrete as she jumped the sidewalk and headed straight for the open door to the building. The doorman, Stan, was holding it open. She waved and continued on, thinking that he was being nice. He knew that it was a Friday and she needed to get her deliveries finished.
His eyes widened, and it was too late when she realized that he was holding the door for someone else. The well-dressed businessman with the obnoxious expression on his face shot daggers at her as she rolled on by, skateboard and all, then skidded to a halt by the front desk.
“Hey, Lucille. How are you today?” she asked as she placed the box on top of the counter then handed over the slip of paper for L
ucille to sign.
“Hey, Sparks. You nearly took out Walters,” Lucille said as she signed the slip of paper.
She shrugged her shoulders. Dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, knit hat with her hair tucked under, sunglasses, and knee and elbow pads over her skinny jeans, she pulled off punk kid really well. Probably too well for a twenty-four-year-old college student with big boobs. The tight shirts underneath held them in snug. The plus from this job was a great body from all the exercise.
“I’m in a hurry and I don’t have time to wait.”
She took the slip of paper from Lucille, placed it in her backpack, and turned around prepared to take off again on her skateboard when she felt the shove to her shoulder.
“Hey, kid, who the hell do you think you are coming in to this establishment on a skateboard? You nearly knocked me down. What company do you work for? I’m going to call them up and get your little ass fired,” he yelled at her.
“I’m not the regular kid who delivers here,” Mariana began to say, keeping a smile to herself that this moron thought she was a boy. He was a good-looking guy, but his arrogance was so obvious, it instantly put her on guard. Her petite figure and present outfit camouflaged her body well. She decided to go with it.
“I need to get going. It won’t happen again,” she said in her pretend deep boy voice then dropped the skateboard and started to push off when the guy grabbed her sweatshirt and backpack and pulled her back. She fell to the ground, her shirt lifted, and it became quite apparent she wasn’t a boy. She wanted the floor to swallow her up. She needed this job. How the hell was she going to get asshole to stop freaking out?
* * * *
“What seems to be the problem here, Walters?”
Jax Spaulding was standing in the lobby waiting for his brother Jameson to arrive for their meeting. He was fifteen minutes late. He hated to be late. Punctuality was the key to success. Standing in the corner, he watched as the young courier entered the building through the open door, nearly knocking Walters on his ass, which he would have loved to see, and then continued to the front desk as if nothing had transpired. He’d seen that kid before. Not just here in the business center but in other office buildings and locations throughout town. He sure did get around and really knew how to ride that skateboard. Jax was impressed.
As he approached the potential situation, Walters had grabbed the kid and made him fall down. Jax reached a hand down to the kid to help him up, and that was when he saw the belly ring. Holy shit, he’s a girl.
“Take my hand, honey.” As their hands touched Jax got a funny feeling in his stomach. It was almost like a spark of interest. He released her hand immediately, and she pulled down her sweatshirt.
“You didn’t have a right to touch me. I can call the cops and charge you with assault, you know,” she stated firmly to Walters.
“You won’t do that, you’re just a dumb kid on a skateboard. It’s my word against yours. Get lost or I will call the police and get you fired,” Walters said then walked away. The girl flipped him the bird behind his back, and a few people around them chuckled, including Lucille who worked behind the desk.
“Bye, Lucille,” the girl said with a wave.
“Later, Sparks.”
Jax didn’t know why, but he grabbed her sleeve by her wrist. And what was with the name Sparks?
“Hey, wait a minute.”
She jerked her arm away and then crossed her arms in front of her chest. He suddenly wished he could see her face, her eyes, or even her hair. She was camouflaged by the knit hat, sunglasses, and oversized hoodie. She was petite, too, and he liked petite women. But damn, did she look like a kid, a boy, in her getup. All he could do was focus on her lips that were definitely not lips a boy would have. She licked them at that moment and he felt fire in his belly. Jesus H. Christ, she’d better not be a boy and she’d better be over twenty-one. His body and his mind yelled, “Interesting.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Why, so you can get me fired?” Her fake deep voice was cheesy, but he figured she was playing up the boy thing still.
“I’m not going to get you fired. I wanted to know if you were okay. That fall was hard.”
She stared at him. Or at least he assumed that she did behind those damn black sunglasses. What color eyes does she have?
“I’m fine and I’ve taken worse falls. Thanks for the help up but I need to go. I have one more delivery.” She jumped on her skateboard and took off. Jax stared at her in shock as she skated through the lobby, across the marble flooring, and Stan held the door open for her with a smile on his face. Now suddenly her body didn’t look so boyish. The hoodie covered her ass, but it was a woman’s ass, not a boy’s. He turned to look at Lucille who gave him a look as if wondering what was wrong with him.
“Lucille, who was that kid?”
She smiled. “She goes by the name Sparks, Mr. Spaulding. She’s a woman, not a kid or a boy.” His eyes widened despite the fact that his body had known immediately that he was a she. That little nudge of need formed in his belly. He really wished he could have gotten a look at her face, although her lips were very nice.
“What company does she work for?” he asked.
“It wasn’t her fault, you know? Mr. Walters was nowhere near the door to exit. He makes Stan wait there and hold it for him, even if it means letting the bitter cold inside.” Jax admired Lucille’s loyalty to the delivery girl. He saw what Walters did. He was known to be an asshole and even in his own dealings with the man he found him obnoxious and frustrating.
“I know. I was just curious about her.”
Lucille raised her eyebrows at him and he raised his eyebrows back at her.
His instincts had saved him too many times to remember as a Marine in the service. He wanted to know who this Sparks woman was. He had to see her face and to learn more about her. But by the way Lucille was watching him, he didn’t want to come across as some kind of pervert. After all, he did verbally acknowledge the fact that he thought Sparks was a boy.
